Power Engineering International articles from November 2002

Power Engineering International archives from November 2002

Closing the lid on Pandora's box. (Upfront).
November 1, 2002... "At first the life of man on earth was happier than it is now, and then misery and discontent gradually crept in..." Most of us know the story (although versions vary) of Pandora's box from Greek mythology. Pandora, "all gifted", who gave in to...

Powergen gains from TXU woes. (News Analysis).
November 1, 2002... TXU Europe has become the latest victim of the UK's competitive wholesale electricity market, but its woes have brought a reversal of fortune for Powergen. TXU Europe has agreed to sell its UK generating and retail businesses to EON...

UES lengthens moratorium. (International).
November 1, 2002... The UES working group, comprising shareholders, government officials, advisors and the company's CEO, Antoly Chubais, has agreed to extend the sales moratorium on core assets until Russia's electricity industry restructuring process is...

RWE buys into Poland. (International).
November 1, 2002... Germany's RWE Plus has reached a deal to acquire an 85 per cent stake in Polish electricity utility Stoen for $363m, strengthening its position in the east European energy markets. RWE has pledged to invest a further $10.5m in the group...

Lebanon cautious on privatization. (International).
November 1, 2002... Lebanon's government has said that the state will remain a key partner in the country's power sector until 2006 to 2008, despite the recent approval of draft laws to privatize the sector. The government will, however, continue to seek...

Bulgaria strengthens power transmission ties with Turkey. (International).
November 1, 2002... Bulgaria and Turkey have strengthened transmission ties by completing the 400 kV Sakar power line, the second link between the two countries. The latest link will increase power exchanges and secure Bulgarian power exports to Turkey,...

PB bags Qatar expansion project. (International).
November 1, 2002... PB Power has been selected by Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa) to carry out the consultancy services for stage 1 of the Qatar transmission system expansion project. The project involves the expansion of Kahramaa's...

EBRD finances Albania's power rehabilitation push. (International).
November 1, 2002... Albania has turned to The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and other sources to finance the rehabilitation of the country's power sector. The EBRD has approved a [euro]24m ($24m) loan to national power company KESH to allow the...

Atomic Energy Alexander Rumyantsev. (News Digest: Iran).
November 1, 2002... Russian Minister of Atomic Energy Alexander Rumyantsev said that Russia would proceed with nuclear cooperation with Iran and that the Bushehr nuclear power plant will come on stream by the end of 2003.

Siemens Power Transmission. (News Digest: Israel).
November 1, 2002... Siemens Power Transmission and Distribution has been awarded a contract for a distribution management system (DMS) by the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC). The DMS will provide IEC with a more reliable energy supply and enhanced outage...

RWE Group. (News Digest: Kosovo).
November 1, 2002... Innogy, an RWE Group company, is to start work on restoring power at Kosovo B2 power station. The station was hit by an electrical storm and the fire caused major damage, reducing electricity generation capacity in Kosovo by 80 per cent.

The European Investment Bank. (News Digest: Morocco).
November 1, 2002... The European Investment Bank has granted power utility ONE a $117.1m loan for a power project. The project includes a one-fold increase in the transmission capacity of the interconnectors between Morocco and its neighbours, Spain and Algeria,...

Mozambique. (News Digest: Mozambique).
November 1, 2002... Mozambique's electricity requirements are expected to rise to 3000 MW by 2015, if the various social and industrial projects currently on the drawing board are taken into account.

Qatar. (News Digest: Qatar).
November 1, 2002... Qatar is planning $3bn worth of investments in the country's electricity generation sector over the next ten years. These are needed to expand the capacities of the existing electricity generating stations and to build new stations over the...

Russia's Atomic Energy Ministry. (News Digest: Russia).
November 1, 2002... Russia's Atomic Energy Ministry announced that maintenance work has been launched at a nuclear facility in the Urals. The BN-600 fastbreeder reactor at the third unit of the Beloyarsk nuclear power plant was taken off line for planned repairs...

Slovenske Elektrarne. (News Digest: Slovakia).
November 1, 2002... Slovenske Elektrarne, a Slovak power producer, announced it will invite a tender for the decommissioning of two nuclear reactors in the Bohunice nuclear power plant, which was constructed during the Soviet era.

The International Finance Corporation. (News Digest: Tajikistan).
November 1, 2002... The International Finance Corporation and the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development have joined forces to develop a new electricity and distribution project in a remote eastern region in Tajikistan.

The Union Water and Electricity Company. (News Digest: UAE).
November 1, 2002... The Union Water and Electricity Company awarded a Dh114.5m ($31.2m) contract to India's Larsen and Toubro for the supply and installation of a 400 kV overhead power transmission line.

Courts oppose British Energy loan. (Europe).
November 1, 2002... The decision by the UK government to loan struggling nuclear power generator British Energy [pounds sterling]650m ($1bn) faces challenges both in the UK courts and in under European law. The environmental group Greenpeace, along with...

Deregulation has partial impact on power prices. (Europe).
November 1, 2002... The latest results from a study on the deregulation of European electricity markets by Cap Gemini Ernst & Young and Enerpresse suggest that power prices do not invariably fall when markets are opened up although in many countries there is a...

New size-class wind turbines installed at Olsvenne 2. (Europe).
November 1, 2002... Swedish utility Vattenfall will this month erect the tower of Olsvenne 2, the country's largest wind power plant at Nasudden on southern Gotland. The plant is among the first of the new size class that several manufacturers are now producing...

ESB awards peat fired power plant contracts. (Europe).
November 1, 2002... Foster Wheeler Energia Oy, the Finland-based subsidiary of Foster Wheeler Ltd, has won a $342.2m power plant contract to build two peat fired power plants for the Irish state-owned Electricity Supply Board (ESB). The EPC contracts are for...

New CCGT plant for N. Ireland. (Europe).
November 1, 2002... A consortium made up of Austria's VA Tech Hydro, equipment and services supplier Combined Cycle and General Electric has been awarded a contract worth [euro]180m by Coolkeeragh ESB to build a new combined cycle power plant near Londonderry,...

Chancellor opens supercritical Niederaussem. (Europe).
November 1, 2002... The new Niederaussem power station, one of the world's largest and most advanced coal fired power plants, was officially opened in September by German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder. The Niederaussem Unit K uses a supercritical boiler...

British energy and services group. (News Digest: Europe).
November 1, 2002... British energy and services group Centrica plc has said it will start trading wholesale electricity in mainland Europe, initially focusing on Germany, France and the Benelux region. Centrica's trading arm Accord Energy already trades gas in the...

The European Commission. (News Digest: France).
November 1, 2002... The European Commission has permitted France to allocate almost [euro]1bn to its coal industry for 2002 to ease the social and regional impact of its closure programme over the next three years.

Vattenfall. (News Digest: Germany).
November 1, 2002... Vattenfall's first microturbine in Germany has been commissioned in Hamburg by HEWContract, a company in the Vattenfall Group. It is the first commercial application of the small-scale decentralized cogeneration technology in Germany following...

Second offshore wind farm. (News Digest: Germany).
November 1, 2002... Germany is about to approve a second offshore wind farm, the 240 MW Butendieck North Sea wind park, and has about 30 applications pending. Germany plans to create 25 000 MW of offshore wind capacity by 2030.

Public Power Corporation. (News Digest: Greece).
November 1, 2002... The European Commission has approved Greece's plans to compensate its Public Power Corporation for the impact of electricity market liberalization on its long-term investments. Compensation relates to three areas of costs and could be as much...

A GE 70 MW Frame 6FA gas turbine. (News Digest: Italy).
November 1, 2002... A GE 70 MW Frame 6FA gas turbine has been chosen for a new independent combined cycle power plant to be built in Novara, Italy. The plant will be owned and operated by Atel Energia and is due to go into service in 2004.

Spain and Portugal. (News Digest: Iberia).
November 1, 2002... Plans by Spain and Portugal to establish a single Iberian electricity market have been delayed with completion of the interconnection project now not expected until 2006.

Spain's Economy Minister plans. (News Digest: Spain).
November 1, 2002... Newspaper reports suggest that Spain's Economy Minister plans to block the sale of Iberdrola's high voltage electricity transmission assets to CVC Capital Partners for [euro]577m, preferring Spanish grid operator REE to be the buyer.

Ford Motor Company. (News Digest: UK).
November 1, 2002... Renewable power developer Econtricity has applied for permission to build three 1.8 MW wind turbines at Ford Motor Company's Dagenham engine plant.

Virgin Energy. (News Digest: UK).
November 1, 2002... UK: Following a four month investigation energy regulator Ofgem has taken steps to impose a [pounds sterling]2m ($3.1m) fine on energy supplier London Electricity for failing to stop its sales force, and that of affiliate company Virgin Energy,...

Philippines needs 7000 MW to avert energy shortage. (Asia-Pacific).
November 1, 2002... Officials of the Philippine government said the country will need 7150 MW within the next ten years if an energy crisis is to be averted. Energy Undersecretary JV Emmanuel de Dios briefed the press last month stating that thc 7.6 per cent...

Vietnam gets World Bank backing. (Asia-Pacific).
November 1, 2002... The developers of Vietnam's Phu My 2.2 power plant have reached out to the World Bank for a $75m loan to construct the $480m project. The 715 MW gas-fired power plant will help to ease power shortage worries throughout the country. The...

EU, USA review nuclear deal with North Korea. (Asia-Pacific).
November 1, 2002... The EU and US have expressed concern over their continued participation in a programme to construct nuclear power plants in North Korea after learning the country is developing nuclear weapons. President Bush of the US named the country as...

Structural reform underway in China's power industry. (Asia-Pacific).
November 1, 2002... China's power sector is making drastic changes to break up the country's state-owned power utility, State Power Corporation, into five generation and two grid corporations to promote a higher level of competition. The regrouping, hoped to...

India to install $48m Vizag II HVDC system. (Asia-Pacific).
November 1, 2002... India's PowerGrid Corporation has selected ABB to design, build and install a 500 MW high voltage direct line system. The contract is worth $48m. The system will connect two vital regional grids to feed power to millions of consumers in...

Foster Wheeler. (News Digest: China).
November 1, 2002... Foster Wheeler announced that it has completed work on a 2100 MW (6 x 350 MW) coal fired plant in Shanxi province, 800 km south west of Beijing -- the first coal-by-wire power plant to be undertaken in the People's Republic. of China for...

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (News Digest: Japan).
November 1, 2002... Tokyo Electric Power Co. said that it falsified data during government safety tests ten years ago to keep a nuclear power plant in operation. The company will suspend the operation of the 460 MW Fukashima Daiichi nuclear reactor. The Nuclear...

The PNOC-Energy Development Corporation. (News Digest: Philippines).
November 1, 2002... The PNOC-Energy Development Corporation has signed a memorandum of agreement with the Aboitiz group for the construction of the second phase of a proposed $120m wind power project.

Napocor's generation and transmission operations. (News Digest: Philippines).
November 1, 2002... The Philippine government has said it hoped to generate $2bn from the sale of the country's power transmission company. It estimates $5bn in total revenue from the sale of Napocor's generation and transmission operations. Foreign owners will be...

Nong Khae Cogeneration Company and Samutprakarn Cogeneration Company to Gulf Electric Public Company. (News Digest: Thailand).
November 1, 2002... Tractebel has agreed to sell 100 per cent of two of its Thai subsidiaries, Nong Khae Cogeneration Company and Samutprakarn Cogeneration Company to Gulf Electric Public Company, a Thai-Japanese joint venture company. Both subsidiaries own and...

Electricity of Vietnam. (News Digest: Vietnam).
November 1, 2002... Electricity of Vietnam has set up a $196m joint venture company to build a 600 MW coal fired power plant in Haiphong City. The authorities of Haiphong have approved building of the power plant, estimated to cost $640m.

Electricity transmission system. (News Digest: Vietnam).
November 1, 2002... The World Bank will provide Vietnam with $225m credit to help the country carry out a project to optimize the electricity transmission system and reduce electricity losses from 15.5 per cent to ten per cent. The project is due for completion by...

Nicaragua plans private geothermal power projects. (Americas).
November 1, 2002... Plans to develop Nicaragua's first fully private geothermal power plant have been released by consultants to the project, Sinclair Knight Merz. They include plans to install a 10 MW pilot plant and progressively add to this until the fully...

Machala gas fired plant completed early. (Americas).
November 1, 2002... Ecuador's first natural gas fired power generating plant, the Machala project, has gone into commercial operation ahead of schedule and under budget. Units 1 and 2 of the 130 MW simple cycle plant owned by Noble Energy started in September -...

Underground power grid progresses. (Americas).
November 1, 2002... Engineering group Black & Veatch has completed the preliminary design in respect of environmental permitting as well as development of technical specifications for the largest underground high voltage transmission system in the US for PG&E in...

Bids invited for Hydro One. (Americas).
November 1, 2002... Strategic investors are being invited to submit expressions of interest in buying a 49 per cent stake in Hydro One, Ontario province's transmission grid operator. The Canadian province has appointed advisors who have indicated that...

Alstom in US DOE coal tests. (Americas).
November 1, 2002... Alstom is to participate in two US Department of Energy-sponsored programmes to develop and test new coal combustion technologies. Alstom will build and evaluate the Circulating Moving Bed combustor, a new type of steam generator using a...

Enersis may sell Peru transco. (Americas).
November 1, 2002... Latin American energy group Enersis says it may sell the transmission lines of Peruvian subsidiary Edegel as part of a programme reduce its $9.2bn debt. The company also needs to ensure payment of a $1.4bn loan to its Spanish parent Endesa amid...

South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries. (News Digest: Barbados).
November 1, 2002... South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries said it has received a $60m order from Barbados Light and Power company to build a 60 MW diesel-fueled power plant in the Caribbean island country.

The aging Point Lepreau nuclear plant. (News Digest: Canada).
November 1, 2002... New Brunswick's public utilities board ruled yesterday against a plan to refurbish the aging Point Lepreau nuclear plant, saying the $845m upgrade does not make financial sense. The board said there is little difference in price between...

Belgian energy outfit Tractebel. (News Digest: Peru).
November 1, 2002... Belgian energy outfit Tractebel, whose $167m purchase of two Peruvian state electricity firms has been frozen in courts since June, has said it will work with local officials to bring the dispute to a close. Tractebel won a June auction for...

The CU HVDC Project. (News Digest: USA).
November 1, 2002... ABB has won two $10m orders to upgrade the control systems for the Square Butte high voltage direct current (HVDC) scheme and the CU HVDC Project. Both are HVDC transmission systems, which link together the states of North Dakota and Minnesota....

Adoption of fuel cell technology. (News Digest: USA).
November 1, 2002... Adoption of fuel cell technology is moving forward with the planned installation of seven 200 kW units -- the worlds largest application -- at a call-routing centre in Long Island, New York. The units will be supplemented by four gas-fired...

Powerspan Corp. (News Digest: USA).
November 1, 2002... Powerspan Corp., developer of ECO multi pollutant control technology for power plants, and Amerenue, a Missouri-based electric utility, have developed plans for a full-scale installation of the technology at Amerenue's Sioux Plant in St....

Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co. (News Digest).
November 1, 2002... USA: In Korea's first-ever export of a key nuclear power station facility to the US, Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co. dispatched four steam generators for use in the Sequoyah nuclear power plant. The four Doosan-built 1200 MW class...

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Westinghouse Electric Corporation. (News Digest: USA).
November 1, 2002... Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Westinghouse Electric Corporation have received an order for replacement work of reactor vessel heads from one of the leading electricity companies in the US market. The order is for a plant generating 900 MW.

Dynegy changes. (News Digest).
November 1, 2002... President and CEO Steve Bergstrom has resigned from the board of Dynegy. It was also announced that its worldwide trading activities will cease. Bruce Williamson, previously with Duke Energy, is to replace Bergstrom.

Metallic milestone. (News Digest).
November 1, 2002... Metallic Power has achieved a milestone with the first commercial shipment of its proprietary zinc fuel cells package for backup power in the 1-5 kW range. The regenerative fuel cells offer a cost-effective, clean alternative to lead-acid...

Mitsubishi expands. (News Digest).
November 1, 2002... Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is to support its business expansion in the US by channelling its business through Mitsubishi Heavy Industry America, Inc., based in New York. The subsidiary is to operate a new marketing planning division and be the...

Nexans steady. (News Digest).
November 1, 2002... Cable specialists Nexans reported marginally lower nine-month figures, despite a sharp deterioration in the telecoms market.

PB in Spain. (New Digest).
November 1, 2002... Tyneside-based engineering, construction and consultancy PB Power has opened an office in Barcelona, Spain in support of its increasing activity and anticipated power market growth in the country.

Schlumberger portal. (News Digest).
November 1, 2002... SchlumbergerSema has launched its MyEnergyInfo web portal with which energy providers can offer customers a real-time web-based energy management tool as a way of controlling energy use. Easy-to-read graphs display data on electric, gas and...

Superconductor funds. (News Digest).
November 1, 2002... American Superconductor Corp. has been awarded a $2m, two-year cost-sharing grant by the US Department of Commerce's Advanced Technology Programme to speed up steps towards the high volume manufacture of its high temperature superconductor...

Teco sells. (News Digest).
November 1, 2002... Florida utility Teco Energy is to sell assets totalling $400m and cut spending next year. It will sell its coal-bed methane gas assets in Alabama and repatriate cash and non-recourse financings on power plants in Guatemala. Third quarter...

Tomen shifts. (News Digest).
November 1, 2002... Japan's general trading house Tomen Corp. has sold all its stakes in eight power utilities in New York and other states and instead will focus on wind power generation mainly in developed countries where it expects demand for renewable energy...

Volvo increases. (News Digest).
November 1, 2002... Genset manufacturer Volvo Penta reported sales up eight per cent for the first nine months of 2002 against an overall declining market. Industrial sales, which account for a quarter of Volvo Penta sales, were up six per cent.

Fortum sells boiler business to Aker Kvaerner. (Companies).
November 1, 2002... Norwegian-based industrial group Aker Kvaerner is to acquire the Finnish boiler business of engineering and contracting company Fortum for an undisclosed sum. The pulp and paper industry has historically been Aker Kvaerner's main market...

More cost cutting and restructuring at ABB. (Companies).
November 1, 2002... A decline in orders and earnings in engineering group ABB's third quarter results has prompted newly appointed CEO Jurgen Doormann to announce a further business restructuring in an attempt to trim the cost base. The business has also been hit...

New branches for Wood. (Companies).
November 1, 2002... John Wood Group's gas turbine division has added to its international maintenance, repair and overhaul services to the energy industry through three recent acquisitions. The firm has bought UK electrical generator services company, Rotary...

Ruhrgas Industries adds ABB metering. (Companies).
November 1, 2002... In a recent deal, ABB Electricity Metering is to become part of Ruhrgas Industries' global metering service. ABB's electricity and water metering business, employing 3800 across 30 countries, will team up with Ruhrgas Industries' gas metering...

Mitsui buys into CO2e. (Companies).
November 1, 2002... Japan's Mitsui & Co. has paid $1.2m for board representation and a minority stake in greenhouse gas emissions broker CO2e. Mitsui & Co. and CO2e have a team of brokers in Japan to broker trades. The companies will offer solutions to...

Insight Energy secures $100m backing. (Companies).
November 1, 2002... Chicago-based Insight Energy Inc, a power generation project acquisition and development company, has announced backing of $100m from affiliates of private equity investment firm Warburg Pincus. The company is actively pursuing power projects...

Policy makers pursue competition--consumers yawn. (From the Whitehouse).
November 1, 2002... Many regulators and policy makers continue to promote competition and deregulation in the retail electricity markets. Despite their best efforts, it remains an elusive goal. The US Energy information Administration says that retail...

A market for the future.
November 1, 2002... The United States stands at a historic crossroads in the restructuring of its electric industry. The outcome will determine whether we successfully develop the power markets necessary to support the future economic growth of the nation. ...

Outline of the US Electricity Sector.
November 1, 2002... Table 1 Electricity Net Generation at Electric Utilities, 1990-2000 (Billion kWh) Hydroelectric Year Coal Petroleum Natural Gas Nuclear Pumped Storage 1990 1,559.6 ...

Generating a new breed. (Energy Trading).
November 1, 2002... US energy companies are teetering on the brink of collapse following the trading scandals of 2002. As they try to restore confidence and rebuild their businesses, the energy company of tomorrow could look very different. The energy trading...

Managing the legacy. (Nuclear Waste).
November 1, 2002... In November 2001, the UK government announced its intention to change the current arrangements for nuclear clean-up funded by the taxpayer. In July 2002, it produced a White Paper outlining its proposals. The UK government has produced a...

Car: A visualization of power. (Network Control).
November 1, 2002... Transmission bottlenecks can be extremely limiting in competitive power markets, but a new software system can help participants visualise market activity. The software has been likened to air traffic control systems, and is set to improve...

Wabash River tests the clean coal fuel cell. (Fuel Cell Technology).
November 1, 2002... Coal will remain the primary fuel for power generation in the USA for some years, yet environmental concerns are generating interest in technologies such as fuel cells. An innovative project in the US will demonstrate the operation of fuel...

The challenges of Phu My 3. (Combined Cycle Technology).
November 1, 2002... Vietnam's Phu My 3 power plant is one of the biggest and most exciting power projects under construction in South-East Asia. The 700 MW plant will set a benchmark for future gas fired projects in the region. In March 1995, the Vietnamese...