The U.S. Energy Dept. said June 12 it would move forward to build a flagship clean-coal power plant in a small Illinois town, reversing a previous Bush administration decision to scrap the ambitious FutureGen project entirely in favor of smaller carbon-capture and storage projects (CCS) around the country. Energy Secretary Steven Chu and his industry partner, the FutureGen Industrial Alliance, a group of 20 leading power utilities and coal companies, reached agreement on the project, a 275-MW integrated gasification combined cycle power plant that could cost between $1.3 billion and $1.8 billion. The plant, to be sited in Mattoon, Ill.,
Federal water-pumping in California’s Central Valley Project jeopardizes the continued existence of several threatened and endangered species, says the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Marine Fisheries Service. Changing water operations to reduce the threat will reduce water available for drinking, irrigation and industry by an estimated 5% to 7%. The cutback could lead to higher water-use rates and, depending on the level of drought, further rationing. The Bureau of Reclamation’s pumping operations will not be immediately affected.
In a rapid-fire series, President Barack Obama and Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced $773 million in funding under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act for geothermal and solar-energy projects. On May 27, Obama announced $350 million for geothermal demonstration projects, research and development, and other geothermal initiatives. He also announced $117.6 million for solar technology development and deployment. On June 1, Chu said the Energy Dept. would invest $156 million in combined heat and power, district energy systems, waste-energy recovery systems and equipment; $50 million in energy efficiency for information and communication technology; and $50 million for advanced clean-energy materials
Rocky Mountain Power Inc. has applied to the Nevada Public Utilities Commission for a permit to build a segment of PacifiCorp’s 1,900-mile, $6-billion Energy Gateway Transmission Expansion Project. On May 21, PacifiCorp’s Salt Lake City-based division applied to build 77 miles of 500-kV transmission and ancillary facilities in Clark and Lincoln counties, Nev. Portland, Ore.-based PacifiCorp’s Energy Gateway, announced in 2007, is envisioned as a network that will branch to the west and southwest from Windstar substation near Casper, Wyo., with north-to-south links between the branches in Utah and a separate segment between Washington and Oregon. The Federal Energy Regulatory
A self-described “geothermal wildcatter” from Oregon intends to use a waste byproduct of oil and gas production to generate electricity along the Texas coast. Geo Texas Co., a Eugene, Ore.-based startup company led by geothermal pioneer Steve Munson, will pay Texas $386,000 a year for leases up to 30 years on 128,758 acres of state land off the coasts of Brazoria and Matagorda counties, near Galveston, to produce geothermal energy. The company will pay more if it produces energy. Munson plans to build a 20-MW, $50-million demonstration plant on land within two to three years. Research has uncovered an estimated
If you’re not in the electricity business today, you may be soon. Developments in generation technologies, regulatory policies, industry standards and digital communication are blurring the distinction between customers and utilities. Renewable-energy generation, primarily solar photovoltaic panels installed on privately owned rooftops throughout the country, is serving load under the roofs, with surplus power being sold into the grid. Utilities also are leasing rooftop real estate on warehouses and big-box stores to site their own PV panels. Slide Show Photo: Southern California Edison Warehouse rooftop will generate 2 MW for Southern California Edison’s grid. Related Links: Smart Grid Will Give
In the Gulf of Mexico, in underwater terrain akin to a mountain range in waters reaching 10,000 ft deep, Netherlands-based Royal Dutch Shell plc, its partners and an extensive team of contractors are setting records for ultradeep oil and gas engineering, construction and development. At 7,817 ft, the Perdido project will be the deepest spar platform in the world as well as the deepest drilling and production facility. It also will have the deepest producing subsea well, at 9,627 ft, and will deploy the first commercial-scale subsea oil-and-gas separation plant. Photo: Shell Oil Co. Perdido’s topsides were towed to the
Brilliant minds—Nikola Tesla, Thomas A. Edison—and great engineers produced the marvel of the electric grid. It has united and fed the vast complex that is modern industrial and post-industrial society. But like the Scarecrow in Oz, the grid lacks a brain. Advances in electronics, communication and information technology now are enabling engineers to give the grid a brain. In the last decade, grassroots initiatives have sprung up around the country to create what has come to be called the smart grid. In a smart grid, sensors can anticipate system disturbances and respond to them before they cripple the system. Communication
Just over a year into a long-term partnership with the U.S. Dept. of Energy to transform Hawaii into a model clean-energy economy, 1,000 MW of alternative-energy projects are in the works along with an undersea-cable transmission project to deliver power among the state’s islands. One goal of the partnership is to offer Hawaii’s experience as a test bed for island economies globally as they make the transition to clean energy. Photo: Castle & Cooke Hawai’i Castle & Cooke’s La Ola solar station recently began generating 1.2 MW. The Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative (HCEI) was launched in January 2008 with a
Electric-utility executives are cheering the announcement that the federal government will promote standards for interoperability and security of a “smart grid” and that Energy Dept. grants for smart-grid investments and demonstration projects will be greatly enlarged. On May 18, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke announced the first set of 16 standards required for smart-grid implementation. DOE also will provide $10 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to the National Institute of Standards and Technology to support development of the standards. DOE’s maximum award of ARRA funds for the Smart Grid Investment Grant Program
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