Power Engineering International articles from June 2008

Power Engineering International archives from June 2008

The cost of saving the planet? Priceless.(UPFRONT)
June 1, 2008... The International Energy Agency (IEA) has put the price of halving global carbon dioxide emissions ([CO.sub.2]) by 2050--the target set by the United Nations to avoid an increase in world temperatures of 2.0-2.4 [degrees]C (3.6-4.2 [degrees]F )...

Italy latest entrant to Europe's new nuclear club: the announcement last month that Italy plans to revive its nuclear power industry after a 20-year moratorium was an unexpected one. Does this mean the nuclear bandwagon in Europe is really beginning to pick up speed, asks Heather Johnstone?(ANALYSIS)
June 1, 2008... The recent announcement that Italy, after more than 20 years of being at least nuclear generation-free--it currently imports significant amounts of electricity from France's nuclear fleet--is to resume building nuclear power plants is yet...

Azerbaijan.(INTERNATIONAL WORLD NEWS)
June 1, 2008... Azerbaijan: In response to the growing demand for its power plant technology, Wartsila has opened a new office and workshop in Baku. The new facility will provide a full range of sales and support services for power customers locally.

Bahrain.(INTERNATIONAL WORLD NEWS)
June 1, 2008... Bahrain: Alstom has signed a 15-year maintenance contract with Hidd Power Company for its 992 MW power and water desalination plant. The scope of the contract includes the supply of spare parts, a resident engineer and supervision services for...

Jordan.(INTERNATIONAL WORLD NEWS)
June 1, 2008... Jordan: Jordanian and French foreign ministers have signed an accord that will see France helping Jordan create nuclear reactors for electricity production and the desalination of seawater.

Kenya.(INTERNATIONAL WORLD NEWS)
June 1, 2008... Kenya: Construction of the Sangoro hydropower plant, which is estimated to cost Sh3.5bn (pounds55m), is expected to begin in October. The plant will boost power production by 20 MW at the Sondu Miriu plant, currently being built.

Oman.(INTERNATIONAL WORLD NEWS)
June 1, 2008... Oman: The Bank of Muscat has been appointed as the financial advisor to the Oman Power and Water Procurement Company's project to build Barka 3, a new independent water and power project due to begin operation in 2011.

Qatar.(INTERNATIONAL WORLD NEWS)
June 1, 2008... Qatar: Suez of France has signed a strategic partnership agreement with real estate investment companies Qatari Diar and Barwa to create a multi-utility company that will serve the development of new cities in the country.

Russia.(INTERNATIONAL WORLD NEWS)
June 1, 2008... Russia: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has won an order from Russian EPC, E4 Group for an M701F gas turbine for a 400 MW GTCC plant of OAO UGK TGK-8, a regional power producer.

UAE.(INTERNATIONAL WORLD NEWS)
June 1, 2008... UAE: The Ajman Department of Municipality and Planning has announced it is to set up its own power and water projects, which will reduce the delays seen in getting power and water connections to new building and housing projects.

UAE.(INTERNATIONAL WORLD NEWS)
June 1, 2008... UAE: John Wood Group has been awarded a contract by the Sharjah Electricity Et Water Authority to perform control system retrofits on two gas turbines generator sets operated at its Layyah power station.

Cutting [CO.sub.2] emissions by halve to cost extra pounds45 trn: IEA report.(INTERNATIONAL)(International Energy Agency)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... Cuting greenhouse gas emissions by 50 per cent by the year 2050 would cost an additional pounds45trn, according to a recent report by the International Energy Agency (IEA). The Paris-based agency released its Energy Technology Perspectives...

Masdar to tender for CCS scheme.(INTERNATIONAL)
June 1, 2008... The Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, also known as Masdar, is reported by MEED, to be close to issuing a tender for the front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract on its multi-billion-dollar carbon capture and storage (CSS) programme. ...

GE Energy wins further contracts in Saudi Arabia worth $500m.(INTERNATIONAL)
June 1, 2008... GE Energy has signed contracts totaling more than pounds500m to supply gas turbines and generators for power plant projects owned by Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) of Saudi Arabia. In the first agreement, GE Energy has received a contract...

Syria needs in excess of [euro]2bn for proposed power projects.(INTERNATIONAL)
June 1, 2008... According to Dr Ahmad Khalid al-Ali, Syria's minister of electricity, the country needs more than [euro]2bn (pounds3bn) in Arab and foreign loans to finance electricity projects designed to meet its growing demand by 2010. Speaking to the...

Turkey to further expand its wind power capacity.(INTERNATIONAL)
June 1, 2008... Turkey is planning to establish 15 wind farms on its Aegean coastline, said Hasan Koktas, chairman of the Turkish Energy Market Regulation Board. The project would be worth [euro]460m {pounds711m), with the wind farms being built on the...

Czech Republic.(EUROPE)
June 1, 2008... Czech Republic: RWE Innogy has acquired six wind energy projects in the Czech Republic with a total capacity of 100 MW from project developers Aufwind Energie and AFE Bohemia and expects to carry out construction between 2009 and 2011.

Czech Republic.(EUROPE)
June 1, 2008... Czech Republic: Japan's Itochu Corporation plans to spend at least Yen 110bn (pounds1.05bn) to develop solar farms in the Czech Republic and Bulgaria with two or three solar parks planned for construction this year at a cost of Yen 10bn.

Czech Republic.(EUROPE)
June 1, 2008... Czech Republic: German utility E.ON and mining company Czech Coal are expected to halt negotiations over a joint venture coal fired plant in the northern part of the Czech Republic, following a dispute between Czech Coal and state power utility...

Germany.(EUROPE)
June 1, 2008... Germany: Areva's Transmission and Distribution division has inaugurated a new [euro]6m (pounds9.3m) production hall of its Power Transformer Plant located in Dusseldorf, doubling its production capacity.

Germany.(EUROPE)
June 1, 2008... Germany: Gazprom and E.ON Ruhrgas have set up a working group to pursue their project to build a 1200 MW gas turbine power station in the German city of Lubmin, which will use gas supplied through the planned Nord Stream gas pipeline.

Norway.(EUROPE)
June 1, 2008... Norway: StatoilHydro is to build the world's first deepwater floating wind turbine next year off Norway's coast. It plans to attach the floating turbine to the top of a buoy, using technology similar to that of offshore oil and gas platforms.

Spain.(EUROPE)(GE Energy)(Endesa Generacion )(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... Spain: GE Energy is to supply an 840 MW turnkey combined-cycle power station to Endesa Generacion to be located in Sant Adria del Besos, serving the power needs of the city of Barcelona. The plant will be operational by the first quarter of...

UK.(EUROPE)
June 1, 2008... UK: The UK's Drax Group and Alstom have signed a deal worth [pounds sterling]50m (pounds100m) to build the main processing works for a 1.5m tonnes per year biomass co-firing facility to be constructed at the 4000 MW Drax Power Station in North...

Ukraine.(EUROPE)
June 1, 2008... Ukraine: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has received successive orders for M701F gas turbines for power plants in the Ukraine and Turkey.

Italy to reverse policy and build nuclear power stations: minister.(EUROPE)
June 1, 2008... The Italian government has said it will begin building new nuclear power stations, reversing a 20-year ban in an initiative likely to spark strong resistance and take a long time to come to fruition. "During the term of this parliament, we...

Setback for French nuclear development.(EUROPE)(Electricite de France)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... EDF has been ordered to halt work temporarily on its new nuclear power station after France's nuclear safety watchdog ruled that it had failed to address deficiencies in quality controls. The Nuclear Safety Authority (NSA) said it had...

Offshore wind costs set to soar.(EUROPE)
June 1, 2008... The construction of offshore wind farms is becoming more costly, according to Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA). The study found that the capital cost of offshore turbines is likely to increase by a fifth in the next two to three...

EU compromises over utility transmission asset break-ups.(EUROPE)
June 1, 2008... European Union energy ministers have reached an agreement that will spare big electricity and gas companies from being forced to divest themselves of their transmission assets. Many EU members wanted a full unbundling of distribution...

Austria alarmed by Slovenian nuclear incident.(EUROPE)
June 1, 2008... The handling of a water leak at a nuclear power plant in southeastern Slovenia has been slammed by neighbouring Austria. Josef Proell, Austrian environment minister, said his government had serious doubts about Slovenia's atomic warning system...

Vattenfall plans 500 MW CCS plant.(EUROPE)
June 1, 2008... Vattenfall is to build a demonstration plant for CCS technology at one of the 500 MW blocks of the conventional lignite power plant Janschwalde in the State of Brandenburg, Germany. The demonstration plant is estimated to cost around...

Australia.(ASIA PACIFIC)
June 1, 2008... Australia: Ocean Power Technologies and Griffin Energy to develop a wave power station off the coast of Western Australia. The station will produce up to 10 MW of wave power, with potential to expand capacity to 100 MW.

Australia.(ASIA PACIFIC)
June 1, 2008... Australia: Queensland Gas Company has commenced a six-month feasibility study on a proposed $575m gas fired baseload power station in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales. The power station would be fed by coal seam gas from fields in southern...

Australia.(ASIA PACIFIC)
June 1, 2008... Australia: The city of Sydney's nuclear reactor has been restarted. The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization shutdown the Open Pool Australian Lightwater reactor in July last year after several fuel plates were found to have...

Banglasdesh.(ASIA PACIFIC)
June 1, 2008... Banglasdesh: Dhaka is to make the installation of solar panels on the top of high-rise buildings mandatory in a bid to boost the country's current power capacity of 3.5 GW.

India.(ASIA PACIFIC)
June 1, 2008... India: Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited is to build a $268m, 153 MW gas fired power plant in Bhatinda, in the northern state of Punjab. The order was placed by HMEL, a joint venture of HPCL and Mittal Energy.

Pakistan.(ASIA PACIFIC)
June 1, 2008... Pakistan: The Asian Development Bank is to lend $200m to Islamabad as part of an $800m project to augment, rehabilitate and expand the country's primary power transmission system and remove bottlenecks.

South Korea.(ASIA PACIFIC)
June 1, 2008... South Korea: Siemens has won an order to supply key components and gas turbine services for units five and six (500 MW each) of the PESCO Power combined-cycle power plant in Incheon, near the capital Seoul. Commercial operation is expected by...

South Korea.(ASIA PACIFIC)
June 1, 2008... South Korea: Thermo Fisher Scientific has won a multi-year, multi-million dollar contract from Doosan Heavy Industries to supply multiple ex-core neutron flux monitoring systems to units three and four of Ulsan City's Shin Kori nuclear power...

Thailand.(ASIA PACIFIC)
June 1, 2008... Thailand: Amata Corp and Japan's Sumitomo will invest 12.8bn Baht ($388m) to build a 280 MW cogeneration plant in Rayong. The plant is expected to begin commercial operation in 2012.

Japan, US to join hands in building nuclear power plants.(ASIA PACIFIC)
June 1, 2008... Japan said it would help build nuclear power plants in the US, sensing opportunities for Japanese companies. "We reaffirmed our commitment to promoting bilateral nuclear energy cooperation," said a joint statement after talks between...

J-Power, Chugoku Electric to test coal gasification technology.(ASIA PACIFIC)
June 1, 2008... Japan's J-Power and Chugoku Electric Power will jointly conduct large-scale testing of a technology that may dramatically reduce carbon dioxide ([CO.sub.2]) emissions from coal fired power generation. Oxygen-blown coal gasification...

Alsons venture to build $450m coal plant in the Philippines.(ASIA PACIFIC)
June 1, 2008... Conal, a joint venture of the Mindanao-based Alcantara family's Alsons Consolidated Resources and Thailand's Egko, will invest $450m in a 200 MW coal fired power plant in the Philippine province of Sarangani in Mindanao. The Kamanga power...

China's wind power capacity set to triple in two years.(ASIA PACIFIC)
June 1, 2008... China plans to triple its wind power capacity over the next two years, according to a senior policy development official. China's total wind power capacity now stands at six GW, but by end 2008 this will have reached ten GW. And by 2010,...

IAEA will help Bangladesh go nuclear.(ASIA PACIFIC)(International Atomic Energy Agency)(Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will extend technical assistance and support to power-starved Bangladesh to create a civil nuclear programme. Dr. Mostafizur Rahman, the acting chairman of Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission...

Argentina.(AMERICAS)
June 1, 2008... Argentina: Bidding for the 480 MW Chihuido I hydro project is reported to have begun. The project will cost $900m and generate 1.8 TWh/ year. The dam will be built on the Nequen River.

Brazil.(AMERICAS)
June 1, 2008... Brazil: Triveni Engineering ET Industries has signed an agreement with Brazil-based TGM Turbinas Industria e Comercio Ltds to manufacture and sell 25-45 MW impulse and reaction steam turbines at its Bangalore facility.

Canada.(AMERICAS)
June 1, 2008... Canada: The Ontario government has announced that its five coal power plants, which are already scheduled to close by 2014, will reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by two-thirds below 2003 levels by 2011.

Canada.(AMERICAS)
June 1, 2008... Canada: Thiro Limited, a subsidiary of CVTech Group, has won a C$5.7m ($5.6m) contract from Hydro-Quebec to build a 230 kV transmission line between the Sorel and Tracy substations.

Mexico.(AMERICAS)
June 1, 2008... Mexico: CFE, Mexico's state power company, has signed a contract to sell 120 MW to Inde, its Guatemalan counterpart. The project is seen as the first step towards the integration of Mexico's power grid with that of the Central American market.

Nicaragua.(AMERICAS)
June 1, 2008... Nicaragua: The Nicaraguan subsidiary of Polaris Geothermal Incorporated has awarded a contract to Queiroz-Galvao to expand the capacity of its San Jacinto Tizate geothermal project from 10 MW to 34 MW.

USA.(AMERICAS)
June 1, 2008... USA: The Shaw Group and Westing-house Electric Company have been awarded an EPC contract for two of the USA's first nuclear power units to be planned in decades by South Carolina Electric Et Gas Company and the South Carolina Public Service...

USA.(AMERICAS)
June 1, 2008... USA: REpower Systems AG has received an order for the delivery of 100 MM92 wind turbines from US project developer enXco, a subsidiary of EDF Energies Nouvelles, for two planned wind farms in the state of Washington.

USA.(AMERICAS)
June 1, 2008... USA: Detroit Edison has selected GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy's next-generation 1520 MW ESBWR advanced reactor design for a potential new unit at its existing Fermi 2 plant on the shore of Lake Erie, south of Detroit.

Suez wins Brazilian greenfield hydro project.(AMERICAS)
June 1, 2008... Suez Energy International has won a concession to build, own, operate and market a 3300 MW greenfield hydropower project, Jirau, during a recent auction in the Brazilian capital, Brasilia. This project will contribute to meet the growing...

Carbon sequestration scheme commended.(AMERICAS)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... A panel of scientific experts from the International Energy Agency (IEA) has validated that the Department of Energy (DOE) Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships (RCSP) and their large-scale carbon dioxide tests are the world's most...

Canada begins feasibility study into large-scale CCS project.(AMERICAS)(carbon capture and storage)(Spectra Energy )(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... Spectra Energy of Canada has announced plans to pursue a large-scale integrated carbon capture and storage (CCS) project near its existing Fort Nelson natural gas plant in northeast British Columbia (BC). The BC provincial government has...

Guatemala has ambitious plans to rebalance energy mix.(AMERICAS)
June 1, 2008... The Guatemalan government has unveiled a new energy policy that it hopes will overhaul the country's power industry and reduce its dependence on imported oil. President Alvaro Colom said his administration planned to invest $1.83bn in new...

Union Fenosa's Nicaraguan assets threatened.(AMERICAS)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega says his government will nationalize Spanish electricity provider Union Fenosa's subsidiary unless it cedes 16 per cent of its shares to his government. Fenosa agreed to sell the shares for $15m under a...

Brazil to supply own enriched uranium.(AMERICAS)
June 1, 2008... According to Alfredo Trajan Filho, president of the Nuclear Industries of Brazil (INB), the country will have the means to supply its own nuclear power plants, Angra 1 and 2, with enriched uranium by 2012. Brazil currently sends its...

Belgian Francs.(COMPANIES)
June 1, 2008... Belgian Francs: Gaz de France has entered into exclusive negotiations with EDF for the sale of its stake in Segebel, which owns a 51 per cent equity interest in SPE, Belgium's second largest electricity utility.

Metso upgrades.(COMPANIES)
June 1, 2008... Metso upgrades: Stora Enso has ordered its first major upgrade to the Metso Automation combustion optimization controls for the BFB boiler in Anjalankoski, Finland. RThis accompanies a boiler retrofit to increase fuel-firing capacity from 100...

Dolomiti climbs higher.(COMPANIES)
June 1, 2008... Dolomiti climbs higher: Edison has sold its 51 per cent interest in Dolomiti Edison Energy to Dolomiti Energia. The hydropower company has an installed capacity of 180 MW and an annual output of 500m kWh.

SITCA stands up.(COMPANIES)
June 1, 2008... SITCA stands up: Alstom Hydro has acquired SITCA, a Canadian service provider for hydroelectric and cogeneration power plants. Based in Grandby, Quebec, SITCA was established in 1998.

Power move.(COMPANIES)
June 1, 2008... Power move: Kazakhmys, the London-listed copper producer, has bought Kazakhstan's biggest power plant, diversifying into the commercial electricity business at a time of growing energy demand in the central Asian country.

Pooling resources.(COMPANIES)
June 1, 2008... Pooling resources: EDF Energies Nouvelles and EDF Energy have signed an agreement to set up a 50:50 joint venture called EDF Energy Renewables in a bid to become a major player in the UK's renewable energy market.

Super duper conductor.(COMPANIES)
June 1, 2008... Super duper conductor: American Superconductor has licensed one of its proprietary wind turbine designs to Taiwan-based TECO Electric Et Machinery. TECO is the world's third largest motor manufacturer.

Romans for Romania.(COMPANIES)
June 1, 2008... Romans for Romania: Enel and the Romanian state-owned company Electrica have finalized the privatization process of Electrica Muntenia Sud, signing the final documents for the sale of a controlling stake of 64.4 per cent in EMS to Enel. The...

Moving to New York.(COMPANIES)
June 1, 2008... Moving to New York: Suez's North American subsidiary has bought a 30.5 per cent equity interest in the 575 MW Astoria gas fired power plant from SCS Energy. Astoria is the most recent power station built in New York City.

Ex-Airtricity chief's new firm to raise [euro]200m to fund expansion.(COMPANIES)(Mainstream Renewable Power Inc.)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... Mainstream Renewable Power--a new company set up with a [euro]30m ($46m) investment by former Airtricity CEO Eddie O'Connor--is hoping to raise [euro]200m to fund a massive expansion plan. Focusing on wind, solar thermal and ocean current...

Investments give photovoltaics a boost.(COMPANIES)
June 1, 2008... Masdar PV, the UAE state-owned solar company, is to invest over $2bn, representing one of the largest investments ever made in solar, and will fund a three-phased manufacturing and expansion strategy to produce the latest generation of thinfilm...

Alstom creates complimentary energy management business.(COMPANIES)
June 1, 2008... Alstom Power has set up an energy management business to compliment its clean power and Plant Integrator strategies to provide state-of-the-art, optimized solutions for plant management and grid connection. The new business unit,...

GE, Schlumberger creates [CO.sub.2] capture and storage alliance.(COMPANIES)
June 1, 2008... GE and oilfield services company Schlumberger have agreed to work together on carbon dioxide ([CO.sub.2]) sequestration technology and storage. The accord is the first global pact on [CO.sub.2] linking an energy technology provider and an...

Mitsubishi heavy targets nuclear power plant market.(COMPANIES)
June 1, 2008... Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is aiming to win orders to build 25-30 per cent of the 130 nuclear power plants expected to be needed globally by 2030, amid soaring energy costs. Mitsubishi plans capital spending worth 50bn yen ($482m) over a...

RWE Innogy enters Italian market.(COMPANIES)(Fri-El Green Power SpA)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... The newly founded company RWE Innogy Italia is forming a joint venture with the Italian developer and renewable energy power plant operator, Fri-El Green Power SpA, to jointly develop wind and biomass projects in the country. RWE Innogy...

Look east: how the other half lives: accession to the European Union was seen as a passport to modernization by Eastern European countries eager to update an aging power infrastructure. Although the global squeeze on investment has slowed progress in the region the new member states still present significant opportunities.(power report)
June 1, 2008... Energy has become one of the key issues in Eastern Europe. Almost two decades of freedom from communism have opened up markets to a degree, but the road to liberalization is proving to be a long and bumpy ride. Enlargement of the European...

Supercritical CFB boiler technology enters utility-scale territory: with commercial operation of the world's largest and first supercritical CFB boiler with once-through technology at the Lagisza power plant in southern Poland only months away, PEi takes a look at this key project--a significant milestone in the greater implementation of CFB technology in large power plants.(Supercritical CFB Technology)
June 1, 2008... Although Poland is one of the few countries in Europe that is currently a net exporter of electricity, there is growing concern, especially amongst energy analysts, that the country could face blackouts in the not too distant future unless its...

EU energy-climate policy: joined-up thinking, please: the process of adopting two new major energy packages, plus the other relevant legislation gives national and EU policymakers a unique opportunity to put in place a more coherent approach to a wide range of vital energy issues. Weaving all these strands together to create the right energy-environment policy will not be easy, but is essential, says EURELECTRIC.(European Energy Legislation)
June 1, 2008... Europe's electricity companies are clear about their basic mission: to provide a secure, competitively-priced supply of electricity to customers large and small. This primary goal of powering industry and business and 'keeping the lights on'...

Meter data management and AMI trends 'down under': advanced metering Infrastructure (AMI) is starting to take off in Australia. In the state of Victoria a government mandated roll-out of AMI is to be implemented from 2009. Paul Nelsen of Itron explains what this will mean for AMI in the land 'down under'.(Paul Nelsen, Itron, Australia)
June 1, 2008... In Australia, utilities are moving towards advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) implementations. This move has been strongly influenced by a recent mandate in the state of Victoria, which has changed the way utilities across the continent...

Energy crisis? What energy crisis? It's time to "think differently".(Q&A)(Interview)
June 1, 2008... Dr. Ad van Wijk is chairman and founder of Econcern, which has blossomed from a one-man start-up in the mid- 1980s to a [euro]1 billion, global energy efficiency and renewable energy outfit operating in 20 countries with over 1000 staff....

Carbon captures the moment: a chilled ammonia pilot project: the first pilot project that uses chilled ammonia to capture carbon dioxide ([CO.sub.2]) from coal fired power plants is now operational. Sean black of Alstom explains how the chilled ammonia process works.(Carbon Capture Technology)
June 1, 2008... Alstom has developed a chilled ammonia process (CAP) to capture carbon dioxide ([CO.sub.2]) and isolate it in a highly concentrated, high-pressure form. In laboratory testing, it has demonstrated the potential to capture more than 90 per cent...

New marine legislation: threat or opportunity for offshore renewables? In April the UK government published its draft Marine Bill. Though cautiously welcomed by organizations representing the tidal, wave and wind energy communities, there remain fears that new laws to safeguard the marine environment could frustrate efforts to boost offshore renewable energy capacity. Chris Webb reports.(Offshore Renewable Power)
June 1, 2008... It is an ambitious target. A further 25 GW--in addition to eight GW currently in the pipeline--of wind power and an additional 5000-7000 offshore turbines stretching the length of Britain's shores. It would mean a wind power generator would be...

Transient operating conditions can now be monitored in real-time.(Condition Monitoring)
June 1, 2008... Condition monitoring models based on archived measured data contain all the relevant information needed by O&M personnel. But up to now it has only been possible to apply them to steady-state conditions. This has now changed with the...

Milan at the centre for power: PEi presents a report on the recent meeting of European power industry professionals in Milan, Italy.(POWER-GEN EUROPE)(Conference news)(Industry overview)
June 1, 2008... For one week in early June the Italian city of Milan took centre stage as the home of Europe's largest power industry event. Around 12 500 power industry professionals headed for the Fiera Milano City between 3-5 June to be part of three power...