Citing concerns over Fukushima Daiichi, China has called for a timeout in the development of the world's largest nuclear fleet. The Taishan nuclear units being built by Areva in China are just 2 of 25 currently under construction in China. Shaw/Westinghouse is building four units in China and helping to develop two others. The announcement, made March 16 by China's State Council, or Cabinet, could affect four AP1000s being built by The Shaw Group and Westinghouse, two others the group is helping to design, and two reactors being developed by Areva. China is currently building 25 nuclear reactors and had
Megaprojects will dominate construction to meet the world’s growing energy appetite, but securing financing and managing regulatory uncertainties remain key hurdles, according to government and industry leaders who assembled at the annual Massachusetts Institute of Technology Energy Conference in Cambridge, Mass. Photo Courtesy Of Bechtel The Ivanpah solar thermal megaproject in California’s Mojave Desert is set to produce 400 MW of power. While excitement bubbled up around panels and workshops on start-up projects in the clean-energy arena, industry, government and other attendees acknowledged that large-scale power generation would dominate future energy projects because of reliability and low cost. “Megaprojects are
To feed an insatiable need for more energy, countries worldwide are building terminals to import liquefied natural gas and constructing plants to convert waste fumes into LNG. However, the United States is no longer among that group. Photo: Courtesy of Black And Veatch The company is building 11 small LNG plants in China to capture waste coke emissions, turning them into LNG suitable for industrial feedstock or to fuel vehicles. In fact, the market for natural gas in North America has changed so dramatically in the past few years that companies that invested billions in terminals to import LNG now
Even before the crisis at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors has ended, nuclear industry experts from the U. S. are making plans to analyze and apply “lessons learned” from the accident triggered by an earthquake and tsunami. Already, they are beginning to battle a backlash against nuclear power that threatens a revival of the nuclear industry: At least one U.S. company is facing serious questions over the feasibility of its nuclear project, politicians want a temporary moratorium on nuclear power, and financial analysts are downgrading prospects for firms with nuclear interests. Worldwide, most countries are saying they will review their
Administration officials say that nuclear power will remain an integral part of the United States' energy portfolio, despite the disaster unfolding in Japan. In light of Japan's growing nuclear emergency, some lawmakers, including Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), have called for a moratorium on the building of new nuclear powerplants in the U.S. But at a March 14 White House briefing, officials from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Dept. of Energy said they remained confident that the nuclear reactors in the U.S. are built to high enough standards that they could withstand the effects of major earthquakes, tornadoes and tsunami. They
Officials at Husky Energy are still trying to determine the precise cause of an explosion and flash fire that ripped through a natural-gas well approximately 60 miles west of Edmonton, Alberta, British Columbia, on Monday, March 7. The exploratory well was being used to prospect for gas reserves through a technique called hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” in which fluids under pressure are injected into natural fissures within a gas formation to increase the rate of recovery. Thirteen contract workers suffered mostly burns; four workers remain hospitalized, one in serious condition. Husky spokeswoman Carla Yuill said the fire at the well
One of the world’s largest run-of-the-river hydroelectric projects under construction is about to begin, installing unique bulb turbines that eventually will contribute 3,150 MW to Brazil’s energy grid. The $9-billion San Antonio hydroelectric project will require 44 massive bulb turbines seven meters in diameter, considered the largest ever built. Each turbine has 7-m-dia rotors and is capable of producing 71.6 MW of power. The turbine parts are being manufactured by France’s Alstom and the Austrian-German Voith Hydro in São Paulo, then shipped to the jobsite by boat to be re-assembled. The project on the Madiera River in the Brazilian Amazon
Asia’s first large tidal energy farm will be deployed off the Indian state of Gujarat next year, under an agreement signed in January between state-owned Gujarat Power Corp. Ltd. and marine energy developer Atlantis Resources Corp., based in the U.K. and Singapore. Rendering Courtesy Of Atlantis Resources Marine energy developer Atlantis Resources will use its AK1000 turbine design in the Gulf of Kutch, off the coast of Gujarat state in India. Rendering Courtesy Of Atlantis Resources The offshore project, a joint venture of Atlantis and a local power utility, will involve installation of 50 bottom-mounted turbines, each generating 1 MW
Gas supplies to Israel are set to resume this month from a field in Egypt’s northern Sinai desert after a Feb. 5 pipeline explosion that was believed to be terrorist-generated. But Israel’s national infrastructure ministry has decided to fast-track a proposed $300-million liquified-natural-gas project off the country’s central Mediterranean coast as part of an effort to diversify its sources of supply. Photo: AP Worldwide Feb.5 Explosion Of Egyptian Gas Pipeline, Allegedly By Saboteurs, Has Cut Off Exports To Israel. Israel Natural Gas Lines, a state-owned utility, has issued a request for information for the project’s infrastructure. Egypt supplies 40% of
The six companies planning the Nabucco pipeline to bring Caspian gas to Europe—RWE AG of Germany, OMV of Austria, Mol Nyrt of Hungary, Bulgargaz EAD of Bulgaria, Transgaz SA of Romania and Boru Hatlari ile Petrol Tasima AS of Turkey—will each need to arrange $2.3 billion in pre-completion guarantees for the project in addition to $559 million in equity, according to recent news reports. Related Links: Europe Moves, Russia Counters on Gas Lines The Nabucco pipeline will transport 31 billion cubic meters of gas from the Caspian basin to Austria. Bulgaria announced on Jan. 21 that it will borrow $1.7