Five European energy companies this month announced a joint-venture agreement to develop and build an electricity link under the North Sea between the U.K. and Norway. The NorthConnect joint venture aims to have the 1,200-MW to 2,000-MW power cable operational by 2020. The total length of the high-voltage, direct-current interconnector could measure from 350 miles to more than 400 miles, depending on the choice of the landing points. For the shortest link, Scotland is likely to be the preferred U.K. landfall, though other options will be studied during the next 12 to 18 months. The non-profit Scottish European Green Energy
The European Wind Energy Association is forecasting that up to 1,500 MW of offshore wind power will be connected to European national grids this year, continuing the region’s growth trend in offshore wind-power installations. + Image The association says offshore wind-power installations grew 51% to 883 MW last year from 582 MW in 2009, even though onshore wind-power installations (8.4 GW) were down 13.9% compared to the same kind of installations (9.7 GW) in 2009. However, monopiles are considered suitable in water depths up to about 30 meters. As wind farms are sited farther from shore, new styles of foundations
Disputes between Bechtel Corp., San Francisco, and Duke Energy, Charlotte, N.C., have become a focus of those questioning cost overruns at Duke’s integrated gas combined-cycle (IGCC) plant in Edwardsport, Ind. Photo: Courtesy of Duke Energy Indiana The 630-MW integrated gas combined-cycle powerplant, the biggest facility of its type, is being built by Bechtel for Duke Energy. As the price of the facility—which is 60% complete—has risen to $2.9 billion now from $1.6 billion in 2006, the Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana and others are calling on the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to probe whether fraud, concealment and gross mismanagement are
Carter & Burgess Inc., a unit of Jacobs Engineering Group, will be back in a California court on Feb. 28, seeking dismissal of a December ruling ordering the company to pay the city of Victorville $52.1 million over a failed powerplant project. The project’s price tag had more than quintupled before it was scrapped for parts in 2006. Photo: Courtesy of Gibbs, Giden, Locher, Turner & Senet LLP Powerplant, now defunct, is focus of fight between city and Jacobs Engineering unit. Riverside County Superior Court Judge Ronald Taylor ruled on Dec. 17 against the Fort Worth-based engineer, which was acquired
National interest electric transmission corridors, laid out by the Dept. of Energy to help facilitate development of larger transmission lines in mid-Atlantic and southwestern states, are in question following a Feb. 1 decision by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The court ruled that the DOE failed to consult the affected states before designating the two areas for fast-track development of high-voltage lines. DOE designated the corridors in 2007 as Congress directed it to do under the Energy Policy Act of 2005 in an effort to reduce transmission congestion. The court said that the DOE also didn’t consider the
In his recent State of the Union address, President Obama pledged to support efforts to generate 80% of the nation’s electricity from clean sources by 2035. Days before his speech, the U.S. Energy Dept. offered two conditional loan guarantees—one for a solar farm in Arizona, the other for a renewable diesel facility in Louisiana—that will help achieve Obama’s goal and diversify the nation’s fuel mix. Photo: Courtesy Of First Solar Sarnia, Ontario’s 80-MW plant is currently the world’s largest operating PV solar plant. Photo: Courtesy of First Solar First Solar’s 21-MW project in Blythe, Calif. On Jan. 21, DOE awarded
A panel that advises the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has determined that Atlanta-based utility Southern Cos. and its utility partners can build and operate two AP1000 nuclear power units at its Vogtle site in Waynesboro, Ga., “without undue risk to the health and safety of the public.” It reports that a final construction and operating license should be issued. The opinion, issued on Jan. 24, will be considered by the five-member commission when it makes a final decision on Southern’s license at the site later this year. The Shaw Group Inc., Baton Rouge, La., and Westinghouse Corp., Pittsburgh, Pa., have
Devices to harvest kinetic energy from the briny waste stream of seawater desalinization plants are to be used for the first time at an industrial scale in two plants now being built in Spain. Image: Courtesy Of Energy Recovery Inc. A kinetic energy exchanger (lower right) recaptures water-pressure energy in the outflow stream and transfers it back into the raw-water stream. Pressure-exchange devices supplied by Energy Recovery Inc., San Leandro, Calif., are to be installed in reverse-osmosis plants being built by Spain’s Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs at the Mediterranean coastal cities of Moncofa and Oropesa. Together,
As global interest in nuclear power grows, two major European design firms have joined forces to capture a share of the business. London-based W.S. Atkins plc. and Paris-based Assystem S.A. now are targeting international projects jointly while continuing to operate independently in their home markets. Based in France, the joint venture Nuclear Atkins Assystem Alliance (NAAA) claims that, drawing from the two companies, it will have access to 3,000 employees with market-relevant skills. NAAA executives believe that 30 countries are considering entry into the nuclear power market and that a similar number already have operational plants. Martin Grant, managing director
Turkey has revived its nuclear energy program after four decades of canceled projects. A deal has been brokered with Russia to build Turkey’s first nuclear powerplant on the Mediterranean coast, and talks have started with Japan and France regarding a second nuclear facility on the Black Sea. In December, Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom signed an agreement to construct four 1,200 MW VVER reactors totalling 4,800 MW in Akkuyu in the province of Mersin on Turkey’s southern coast. The water-cooled, water-moderated energy reactors will be designed to withstand earthquakes of up to 6.5 on the Richter scale. The licensing process
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