The U.S. offshore wind market, which has lagged behind Europe for 20 years, has made significant strides in the past month as the controversial Cape Wind project near Cape Cod, Mass., received the first-ever approval from the U.S. Dept. of Interior to build such a wind farm. The project inked a power sales agreement with National Grid for half the output of the 468-MW wind farm. + Image Illustration: Walter Konefal Related Links: Britain’s Huge Offshore Wind Farm Faces An Array of Challenges Boston-based Cape Wind is years ahead of most other projects; its contract with London-based National Grid Plc
Despite last year’s economic downturn, global wind power capacity kept growing—particularly in China, which has squeaked past Germany to become the world’s second-largest wind power market behind the U.S. China more than doubled installed capacity in 2009 to 25.8 GW, says the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC). “The biggest difference in terms of expansion comes from local Chinese manufacturers,” says Dheeraj Choudhary, the global renewable-energy business-unit chief at Cleveland manufacturer Parker Hannifin, which has provided hydraulics and other parts for Chinese-made wind turbines for a decade. GWEC reports about 80 domestic wind-turbine makers. Joanna Lewis, assistant professor at Georgetown University,
As the Tennessee Valley Authority reviews options for its power generation network, it soon will decide whether to shut down old coal-fired units and determine how many nuclear units to build, says Tom Kilgore, the federal power producer’s CEO. TVA has a goal of producing half its power with clean energy sources by 2020. Its plan is to focus on construction of nuclear generation and increased energy efficiency, Kilgore says. The utility has 59 units in its coal-fired fleet, 17 with scrubbers installed, but the remaining 42 are candidates for retirement, Kilgore says. A number have selective catalytic reduction equipment,
After nearly a decade of review, the Dept. of the Interior gave the go-ahead on April 28 for the nation’s first offshore wind farm—the $1 billion Cape Wind project, located off the coast of Nantucket. Construction on the project could begin as early as this year, says the project’s developer. But the project is highly controversial, and a broad coalition of historic-preservation and environmental groups, along with Indian tribes, say they will file a lawsuit to attempt to block the project. In response to critics, the Interior Dept. says it will require Cape Wind Associates LLC, the Boston-based developer of
The U.S. Energy Dept. is seeking an additional $9 billion in loan-guarantee authority from Congress for nuclear powerplants so it could approve before Sept. 30 three leading applications that have been submitted by large utilities, according to an agency spokeswoman. If granted, the extra funds would boost DOE’s loan-guarantee authority to $19.2 billion. Agency Secretary Steven Chu would not identify specific beneficiaries. Industry officials say the leading contenders are NRG and Toshiba’s south Texas project, UniStar’s Calvert Cliffs project in Maryland and the South Carolina Electric & Gas Summer project.
Commercial-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) for coal powerplants moved closer to reality in April after the U.K. approved legislation to subsidize four large-scale CCS demonstration plants. The nation’s Dept. of Energy and Climate Change recently committed “millions” to support front-end engineering and design by two utilities competing to secure subsidies for the first of those plants. Two utilities are competing for construction of demonstration “green” coal plants in the United Kingdom. DECC aims next year to decide whether E.ON U.K. plc., Coventry, or a team led by ScottishPower plc, Edinburgh, will get backing for a large demonstration unit able
Petrobras, Brazil’s state-run energy giant, has formally opened South America’s largest-capacity natural-gas pipeline, the 179-kilometer Gasduc III, near Rio de Janeiro, which required tunneling 3.8 km through Santana Mountain. The 40-million-cu-m-per-day, 38-in.-dia pipeline was built by Odetech, a joint venture of Odebrecht and Techint Engenharia. It is the largest-dia gas pipeline in South America.The pipeline awaits the completion later this year of the Caraguatatuba-Taubaté (GASTAU) gas pipeline, which will receive gas coming from the Santos Basin in the Atlantic Ocean.
The Dept. of Energy has awarded $452 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grants to states and localities to help fund energy-efficiency upgrades to buildings. In announcing the “Retrofit Ramp-Up” grants on April 21, DOE said the federal funding will be complemented by $2.8 billion from non-federal sources over three years. DOE received more than $3.5 billion in applications, far more than the amount it had available. The largest of the 25 grants was $40 million, to the New York State Research and Development Authority. Maine, Michigan and Los Angeles County, Calif., each were awarded $30 million. DOE says
The team of European engineering firms which last month won a $200-million design contract for a nuclear-power research complex to be built in southern France, with a cadre of global sponsors, already is starting work, officials say. The engineering award for the $13- billion International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) is the project’s largest contract awarded to date and one of the largest design awards of any kind in Europe. Photo: ITER A-TeamCardache complex in France will be built by a Franco-British-Spanish team. Photo: ITER Power ParkThe 42-hectare site has been prepared for foundation work to begin next spring. Photo: ITER
India’s goal to achieve 20,000 MW of solar power by 2022 is proving to be a challenge as the industry awaits tweaks to a draft policy that will determine the tariff and allow the country to import photovoltaic cells—a technology that is not established in the country. But the road bumps haven’t stopped the development of some solar facilities in the country. The grid is underpowered, but PV sector is gaining turf. While the country currently has almost no grid-connected solar power, a recent McKinsey& Co. survey ranks India as the most attractive destination in the world for solar PV
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