Power Engineering International articles from April 2006

Power Engineering International archives from April 2006

Divided on a common goal.(Group of 8)
April 1, 2006... Sometimes a common goal is not enough to unite a group of individuals. A leaked draft copy of the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized nations' "Action Plan", intended for publication in St Petersburg on July 16, states: "We believe that the...

Facing up to reality: the European Commission has furthered its ambitions for a single energy market by announcing plans for a common energy policy. Can it bring all 25 states into line, asks Sian Green?
April 1, 2006... A regular Strategic European Energy Review, a European regulator, and greater investment in networks and energy research and development are just a few of the proposals put forward by the European Commission in its new vision for Europe's...

Plants planned to ease South Africa's power crisis.(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Two new power plants are to be built by the independent power generation developer IPSA to ease South Africa's national energy crisis. The company has signed preliminary agreements to develop an 800 MW combined cycle gas turbine power...

Metso to automate unique CFB boiler.(circulating fluidized bed)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Metso is to provide an automation system to the new 460 MW Lagisza power plant in southern Poland, home to the world's first supercritical circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boiler island. The automation system will be tailored to meet the...

Baltic region unites in nuclear.(Eesti Energija, Latvenergo and Lietuvos Energija signed a agreement)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Energy companies from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have agreed to start the necessary preparations to jointly develop a new nuclear reactor in the region. The heads of Eesti Energija, Latvenergo and Lietuvos Energija signed a memorandum...

IAEA safety team rates PBMR.(International Atomic Energy Agency)(Pebble Bed Modular Reactor Ltd)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... A Safety Culture team under the leadership of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has visited Pebble Bed Modular Reactor Ltd. to benchmark its safety practices against the "world's best". The South African nuclear power plant...

EVN bid beats CEZ and Enel.(Energie- Versorgung Niederosterreich AG contracts)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Austrian utility EVN has emerged the successor of a 90 per cent stake in Macedonia's national distribution company with a bid of [euro]225m ($271m), [euro]44m higher than its nearest rival. The final price is the largest amount paid for a...

Pilot grid system set for take-off.(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Poland is to host the world's first demonstration of a technology that aims to dramatically improve power line reliability and capability. IntelliGrid transmission architecture has been developed to give utilities an easily automated power...

Commission to crack down on consolidation.(European Commission on the merger of Gaz de France, Suez)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... High-ranking members of the European Commission have issued a series of stark warnings to member states seeking to create national champions in the energy sector. France and Spain have borne the brunt of the Commission's wrath with the...

Holland hosts E.ON's ultra-modern plant.(control of standard carbon dioxide emissions)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... E.ON is to build a [euro]1.2bn ($1.4bn) pulverized coal plant near Rotterdam in the Netherlands that will generate electricity at a new high of 46 per cent efficiency and reduce standard carbon dioxide emissions by around 20 per cent. The...

Ceres signs home fuel cell agreement for UK market.(contracts)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Fuel cells could soon be a common feature in UK households after Ceres Power entered a [pounds sterling]2.7m ($4.7m) contract with Centrica to develop combined heat and power systems suitable for the average home. Ceres will work closely...

Biomass CHP for Baden-Baden.(new facilities)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Wartsila has delivered its first BioPower combined heat and power plant in Germany to a business and service park near Baden-Baden. At an inauguration ceremony attended by Germany's Chancellor, Dr. Angela Merkel, Wartsila's president and...

Deadline set for Portugal project.(contracts)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... The Portuguese government has set a deadline of July this year for parties interested in developing 1500 MW of wind energy capacity in the country to submit their bids. A consortium led by the Portuguese Energy Company and including...

Lillgrund offshore.(contracts)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... The largest offshore wind farm in Sweden will generate around 330 GWh per year from 48 wind turbines supplied by Siemens when it enters operation in late 2007. Siemens was awarded the contract to construct the 110 MW Lillgrund wind farm by...

US and India sign nuclear pact.(contracts)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... US President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have signed a pact that should lead to cooperation between the two countries over civilian nuclear technology and clean energy sources. The deal still needs to be ratified...

Shaw wins Indonesian geothermal work.(contracts)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... PT Pertamina has awarded Shaw Stone & Webster, the Indonesian subsidiary of engineering firm Shaw Group, an EPC contract for a new 60 MW geothermal power plant to be located in Kamojang, Java, Indonesia. The work will be carried out in...

Court blocks EGAT sale.(Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... A Thai court has ruled that plans to privatize the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) are unlawful. The court rescinded two royal decrees and blocked what would have been Thailand's largest stock market float. The Supreme...

China shows HTS technology.(high temperature superconductor)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... A prototype superconductor-based power transformer has been successfully demonstrated in a power grid in China, according to China's Institute of Electrical Engineering (IEE) and American Superconductor Corporation (AMSC). The high temperature...

Projects attract mega interest.(contracts)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... India's State Finance Corporation has received significant interest from domestic and foreign developers in response to the Ministry of Power's tender for the first two 4000 MW ultra mega power projects. Some 33 expressions of interest (EoIs)...

Indian rural electrification initiative launched.(finance of GE Energy )(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... A rural electrification programme for India backed by GE Energy and USAID was launched in New Delhi in March. USAID plans to contribute $600 000 to the programme with GE providing $2.7m of direct and indirect funding through its worldwide...

Mirant marks return with Caribbean expansion.(contracts)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... US power company Mirant is to proceed with plans to expand one of the largest power plants in the Caribbean after it signed a 30-year power purchase agreement with Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (T & TEC). The company's $39m...

GE teams up for new offshore wind turbine.(partnerships)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... GE and the US Department of Energy are to collaborate on developing what they see as the next generation of offshore wind turbine, with an output of between 5 and 7 MW. The partnership on the project will last for around four years, by...

CEL awards Colon contract.(Comision Hidroelectrica del Rio Lempa )(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... El Salvador's district of Colon will soon have an extra 50 MW of base load power supplied by Wartsila after the company's North American branch was awarded a $50m contract by the state owned utility, Comision Hidroelectrica del Rio Lempa (CEL)....

Radical turbine design scoops wind.(contracts)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... A new wind turbine design looks set for success after the US company behind its design unveiled plans of an installation in Cheyenne this quarter, shortly after it received several significant international and domestic patents. Terra Moya...

Duke and Cinergy complete merger.(electric and gas utilities will now all be known as Duke Energy)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Duke Energy has completed its $9bn acquisition of Cinergy after the last regulator involved in the proceedings gave its blessing for the creation of one of the largest energy companies in the US. After Duke's and Cinergy's shareholders...

UK firm extends US reach.(fifth largest gas distributor)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Keyspan, America's fifth largest gas distributor, is to be sold to the UK's National Grid in a $7.3bn deal that will see the new owner assume $4.5bn of debt. If the deal receives the necessary approvals from shareholders and regulators it...

Global biofuels index launched.(futures contracts on ten physical commodities )(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... The world's first commodity based index for biological fuels has been launched by UBS AG and Diapason Commodities. Designed to be a highly liquid and international benchmark for biofuel investments, the global index covers a range of...

Guinness alternative slow to settle.(storage of alternative energy)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Guinness Atkinson Asset Management has launched an alternative energy fund warning investors that the volatile market is unlikely to show significant short-term returns. The no-load Alternative Energy Fund will invest in companies that generate...

E.ON to paddle off UK shores.(marine generation technology)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... E.ON UK has announced that a new division will trial several marine technologies in the near future before deciding which to use for a possible large-scale commercial development. The new unit of the German company will study wave and tidal...

Westinghouse takes over PBMR shareholding.(British Nuclear Fuel Limited)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Westinghouse will play a role in developing the world's first commercial fourth generation nuclear power plant after it assumed control of British Nuclear Fuel Limited's (BNFL) 15 per cent share. The share in South Africa's Pebble Bed...

AEP comes top of climate change class.(Cycle clean coal power plant)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... American Electric Power (AEP) has received the top score for the electric utility industry in the first ever ranking of 100 global company's climate change strategies. Using a 100-point scoring system, the CERES report ranked the largest...

Record breaking year for power and gas M & A activity.(new benchmarks)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... New records were set for the total number and total value of electricity and gas merger and acquisition deals in 2005, according to a new report from PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Power Deals 2005 reports that, in addition to the combined records...

MENA.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... MENA: Steam and gas turbine markets in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) will grow from $2.53bn in 2005 to $3.25bn by 2011, according to a report from Frost & Sullivan.

Azerbaijan.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... Azerbaijan: The national electricity company, Azerenerji, has contracted Wartsila to provide five plants, the first of which has recently been inaugurated, that will produce a combined 454 MW for the national grid.

Dubai.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... Dubai: Bids have been invited by the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority for the right to build a new power and desalination plant in the country by 2010. The project, which will have a capacity of 2000 MW, is estimated to cost Dh5.5bn...

Iraq.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... Iraq: As part of Japan's pledge to provide $1.5bn of financial assistance to reconstruction efforts, Marubeni Corporation has been awarded a contract to equip a power plant in southern Iraq.

Kuwait.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... Kuwait: Nine foreign companies in the bidding process for a $700m, 500 MW power and desalination project in Shuaiba have until 7 May to submit their final bids. The final value of the project for the winning EPC contractor is expected to be...

Nigeria.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... Nigeria: A 480 MW power plant built in an isolated swamp by Alstom, which burns gas that was previously burned off in the oil extraction process has received its Provisional Acceptance Certificate from Nigerian AGIP Oil Company.

Qatar.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... Qatar: The national Electricity and Water Corporation has contracted Siemens to construct five turnkey substations in a deal worth around [euro]110m ($132m). It is the third project the company has secured in the country in 2006, equating to a...

Saudi Arabia.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... Saudi Arabia: Alstom has celebrated the synchronization of the second of six 400 MW units planned for Shoaiba II. When completed the project will be the largest single power station in the region.

Slovakia.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... Slovakia: To comply with EU standards, the International Energy Agency has recommended that Slovakia enforces an energy efficiency plan to offset high energy prices, compensate for decommissioning generation capacity and open its markets to...

GE Energy.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... Turkey: GE Energy's first wind turbine contract in Turkey will establish the country's largest wind energy farm. The company will provide 20 of its 1.5 MW turbines for the 30 MW facility.

Voith Siemens.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... Turkey: Under a turnkey contract Voith Siemens is to supply two 59.3 MW vertical Francis turbines for the Dalaman Akkopro hydroelectric plant located in the south west of the country.

Europe.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... Europe: Sulphur dioxide (S[O.sub.2]) and nitrogen oxide (N[O.sub.x]) emissions fell by 72 per cent and 45 per cent respectively between 1980 and 2004, despite a 50 per cent increase in electricity production, according to a new report published...

Belgium.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... Belgium: The International Energy Agency has said that Belgium needs to do more to better understand the implications of its nuclear phase-out policy if it is to capitalize on its geographic position within liberalizing European energy markets....

Finland.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... Finland: One of the world's largest steel mills will soon be powered by a peat and biomass circulating fluidized bed boiler after Tornion Voima contracted Foster Wheeler to design, supply and erect the new island for its combined heat and power...

Germany.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... Germany: E.ON is to invest [euro]50m ($60m) in a project that will see Voith Siemens supply equipment for the modernization of the Waldeck I pumped storage station in a contract worth [euro]24m to the hydropower technology company.

Trithor GmbH.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... Italy: A superconducting magnetic energy storage research project coordinated by Ansaldo Ricerche will use 20 km of high temperature superconductor wire supplied by the German company Trithor GmbH.

Italian Bridge of Archimede.(waves has been transmitted to a national electricity grid)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Italy: Electricity generated from waves has been transmitted to a national electricity grid for the first time anywhere in the world, according to the developers of a project in Sicily. A three-propeller turbine dubbed Kobold and developed by...

Portugal.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... Portugal: Alstom is to reduce emissions of dust, nitrogen oxide (N[O.sub.x]) and sulphur dioxide (S[O.sub.2]) at two 300 MW coal fired units at the Pego power plant in Portugal after it was awarded a contract by Tejo Energia.

Spain.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... Spain: In the largest deal of its kind in the world, Repsol and Acciona have agreed to invest [euro]300m ($363m) to construct and develop bio diesel plants in Europe, which could produce more than 1 million tonnes of fuel per year.

Northern Renewables.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... UK: Northern Ireland's quest to develop more renewable energy has received a boost with news that a small domestic energy company, Northern Renewables, has launched a [pounds sterling]100m ($174m) private equity fund to invest in new...

University of Nottingham.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... UK: The University of Nottingham has developed a new process that uses chemicals to dissolve unwanted minerals in coal. It believes that the technology could lead to a reduction in carbon dioxide (C[O.sub.2]) emissions from coal fired power...

Australia.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... Australia: VRB Power Systems is supplying a 10 kW VRB ESS Energy Storage System to an off-grid Remote Area Power Supply system for a rural property southwest of Hobart in Tasmania.

China.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... China: Voith Siemens Hydropower Generation has won a [euro]51m ($62m) order for four vertical Kaplan turbines, each with an output of 128 MW, for the Caojie hydro power project in Chonqing Province.

India.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... India: The International Finance Corporation is providing $12.5m of debt finance for the construction and acquisition of six small hydropower facilities for the India Hydropower Development Corporation.

Indonesia.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... Indonesia: Some $10-11bn will need to be invested in new power plants to provide the additional 3300 MW capacity required by 2009, according to Indonesia's state power company PT PLN.

Japan.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... Japan: Plug Power of the US has signed agreements with Honda R & D Company to continue a fourth phase of development of the fuel cell-based Home Energy Station and to conduct further fundamental research into the technology, funded by Honda.

Pakistan.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... Pakistan: The next six years will see Pakistan build 45 new power plants with a combined capacity of 11 900 MW under a recently finalized government plan that is expected to attract $11.2bn of IPP investment.

Philippines.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... Philippines: ABB has won an order from Fuji Electric Systems Co. to supply its System 800xA and field instruments for the new 40 MW Northern Negros geothermal power plant in the Philippines.

Singapore.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... Singapore: The first solar panel to be incorporated into Singapore's national grid has been installed by Sunset Solar, a German solar power systems company at a cost of $120 000.

South Korea.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... South Korea: GE Energy has been selected to supply its solar energy equipment for a new installation in Mara Island, Korea. It has supplied 2010 GEPV-75W modules with a total output of 150 kW.

Construction has begun on two much delayed power projects in Sri Lanka.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... Sri Lanka: Construction has begun on two much delayed power projects in Sri Lanka. The Upper Kotmale hydropower project and the Norochcholai coal fired plant involve an investment of $660m, some of which has come from the Japanese and Chinese...

The Sri Lankan government has finalized a programme of rural electrification.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... Sri Lanka: The Sri Lankan government has finalized a programme of rural electrification that will link the national grid to 85 per cent of the population by 2010 and will use solar and mini hydro schemes to meet the needs of a further 5-10 per...

VRB Power Systems.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... Canada: A 10 kWh energy storage system has been sold by VRB Power Systems to the National Research Council of Canada, where it will undergo evaluation to assess its potential for use in a number of national government agencies.

E.ON UK and the Canadian International Test Centre for C[O.sub.2] Capture.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... Canada: E.ON UK and the Canadian International Test Centre for C[O.sub.2] Capture are to work together to develop "more efficient and viable techniques" for the post combustion capture of carbon dioxide from fossil fuel fired power stations.

Ontario Power Authority.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... Canada: Under new fixed prices for renewable energy in Ontario, the Ontario Power Authority will purchase the power produced by wind at C$0.11/kWh ($0.09) and solar at C$0.42/kWh.

International.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... International: The Canadian International Development Agency has agreed to provide $890 000 to the Inter-American Development Bank for a joint work programme to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in Latin America and the...

Peru.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... Peru: Voith Siemens is to equip the Peruvian hydropower project EI Platanal with two vertical Pelton turbines, each with an output of 110 MW, after it was awarded a [euro]25m ($30m) contract by Peruvian Cementos Lima.

Cambridge Energy Research Associates.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... USA: A broad series of discussion groups held by Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) has highlighted that before any future market-based greenhouse gas emissions trading programme is introduced in North America, the critical issues of...

FuelCell Energy.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... USA: A record efficiency benchmark of 56 per cent has been achieved by FuelCell Energy's sub-MW DirectFuelCell Turbine for 800 continuous hours during initial testing.

Fuel Cell Energy.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... USA: Fuel Cell Energy has been selected to join the US Department of Energy's Fuel Cell Coal-Based Systems Programme to research, develop and demonstrate a fuel cell that can achieve over 50 per cent efficiency and capture 90 per cent of...

GE Energy and Bechtel.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... USA: GE Energy and Bechtel have signed an agreement with Cinergy/PSI to proceed with the preliminary engineering and design work for a 600 MW Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) power plant in Indiana.

MidAmerican Energy.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... USA: MidAmerican Energy has completed its $5.1bn acquisition of PacifiCorp from Scottish Power of the UK "considerably" ahead of schedule after the deal encountered no problems gaining approvals from regulators and shareholders.

Abraham for Areva.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... Abraham for Areva: Former US secretary of energy, Spencer Abraham, has accepted the position of chairman of Areva's board. As a non-executive, Abraham will concentrate on expanding business in North America.

Acciona opens hub.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... Acciona opens hub: Acciona has officially opened its new wind turbine manufacturing facility in Spain. In 2006, the 24 employees at the [eruo]535 000 ($658 000) facility will oversee the production of 184 hubs and 161 main shafts.

Algerian service centre.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... Algerian service centre: A new gas turbine service centre will be constructed in Algeria as Sonatrach, Sonelgaz and GE plan to expand their joint venture, Algesco.

Calpine restructures.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... Calpine restructures: In an effort to cut costs, reduce risk and concentrate on core markets Calpine has restructured its management team.

Emerson buys Bristol.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... Emerson buys Bristol: Emerson Process Management has acquired Bristol Babcock from FKI for $121m. Bristol's technologies include remote terminal units, flow computers, transmitters and distributed process controllers.

Foil expansion.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... Foil expansion: DayStar Technologies is to create a new operating division in a newly leased facility than will enable it to expand development of photovoltaic foil products.

Industrial wind.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... Industrial wind: HgCapital has invested [pounds sterling]4.6m ($8m) working capital, which could rise to [pounds sterling]20m, in a joint venture with Wind Direct that will see wind turbines installed at up to 50 industrial sites over the next...

Nuclear safety solutions.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... Nuclear safety solutions: Invensys Process Systems and Westinghouse Electric Company have signed a long term agreement that could lead to the two working together to provide safety solutions for nuclear power plant applications.

Single MAN.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... Single MAN: The worldwide after-sales service divisions of MAN B & W Diesel Group will now trade under the single name of MAN B & W PrimeServ. Five new branches will be opening this year.

South Bank cash splash.(News digest)
April 1, 2006... South Bank cash splash: The UK engineering firm, South Bank has acquired the motor and pump group Hayward Tyler Group for [pounds sterling]16m ($28m).