Power Engineering International articles from October 2005

Power Engineering International archives from October 2005

Time for the entrepreneurs?(Up Front)
October 1, 2005... If most of the interest in Asia is in China and India, why was the room so packed for the sessions focussed on Thailand and Indonesia? It could have been the speakers or it could purely have been that those sessions were in the popular...

Following from the front? Siemens has announced a new H-class gas turbine that will set new benchmarks in performance. Siemens says it is blazing a trail with this technology, but can it play catch-up to GE's already proven H concept, asks Sian Green.(Analysis)
October 1, 2005... Siemens Power Generation has announced a new generation of H-class gas turbines and is to implement a new power plant based on the technology at a site in Bavaria, Germany. This new, advanced technology offering is based on a combination of...

Iran plans international tender for two new nuclear power plants.(international)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... Iran plans to issue an international tender for the construction of two new nuclear power plants in the coming months. Iran's intentions were spelled out by Mohammad Sa'idi, the deputy director of the country's Atomic Energy Agency, in a speech...

Finance agreed for Jebel Ali 'L'.(international)
October 1, 2005... South Korea's Hyundai Engineering and Construction (HECC) has agreed a $325m muti-tranche funding facility with Arab Bank to build phase 2 of the Jebel Ali 'L' power and water station in Dubai. HECC is the EPC contractor appointed by the...

Five compete for South African private power plant contracts.(international)
October 1, 2005... Five consortia including international energy companies have been shortlisted by South Africa's minerals and energy department for build, own, operate (BOO) contracts for two gas fired power plants in Eastern Cape and KwaZuluNatal provinces....

Privatization of Bahrain's electricity industry gathers momentum.(international)
October 1, 2005... Bahrain's Al Ezzel independent power plant project, signed in July, could be the first in a series of private projects and could lead to further privatization of electricity production and also of the country ports, according to Finance and...

Russian genset market volatile.(international)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... A new report from researchers Frost & Sullivan shows that despite rapid growth in recent years, Russia's $183.4m genset market remains highly volatile and risky. The report forecast that the market will grow to $353.7m by 2011 as Russia's...

Iraq exhausts power budget.(international)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... Iraq's new electricity minister Mohsen Shlash says the country's 2005 budget for electricity projects has been used up and that he is in discussions with western donors to accelerate disbursement of their pledges in order to speed up...

Armenia.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... Armenia: The Japan Bank for International Cooperation, which financed the reconstruction of the Electricity Network of Armenia (ENA), has questioned the legality of a deal which transferred the rights to manage ENA to a Russian subsidiary of...

Azerbaijan.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... Azerbaijan: Wartsila is to supply five gas fired power plants with a total output of 450 MW to Azerbaijan under a contract worth [euro]30m ($36.8m). Construction of the first 80 MW plant is underway.

Czech Republic.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... Czech Republic: A unit at the Temelin nuclear power plant close to the Czech Republio's Austrian border faces a shutdown for renovation of its turbines following a number of malfunctions in the non-nuclear part of the facility.

Czech Republic.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... Czech Republic: Power auctions undertaken by CEZ at the behest of the Czech energy regulator have resulted in a 14.3 per cent year on year increase in prices. Prices were driven up by traders' expectation of profits from power exports.

Iraq.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... Iraq: Prime Minister Ibrahim Ja'afari has opened the new 216 MW Baghdad South power plant. The new plant consists of two 108 MW gas turbine generators capable of burning residual fuel oil, supplied by the nearby Doura refinery.

Romania.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... Romania: Romanian utility Transelectrica will invest [euro]900m ($1.1bn) in infrastructure improvements in the period to 2013 with funding coming from the EBRD and EIB as well as the company's own resources.

Russia.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... Russia: Power utility Lenenergo is being divided up into four companies as part of Russia's power reform process. Finland's Fortum, which owns one third of Lenenergo, will receive three seats on the board of each company.

Russia.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... Russia: Russia is to lay an undersea high voltage interconnector costing $350m under the Baltic Sea capable of supplying 1000 MW generated by the Leningrad nuclear power station to Finland.

Saudi Arabia.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... Saudi Arabia: The chairman of the Infrastructure Committee of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce has forecast that Saudi Arabia will need to invest $10bn every year until 2025 in its power and water infrastructure.

UAE.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... UAE: Abu Dhabi's publicly listed national power company Taqa has acquired 60 per cent of the shares in the Fujairah power plant run by Union Water and Electricity Company, which is scheduled to be privatized.

Ukraine.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... Ukraine: Delays in removing nuclear fuel from the Chernobyl nuclear power station are costing the country [euro]15m ($18m) a year, a Ukrainian deputy minister has revealed. The minister also said that Ukraine would no longer use French firm...

E.ON UK applies to add 1200 MW to British grid.(europe)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... E.ON UK has applied to the British government for permission to build a [pounds sterling]350m ($619m) gas fired power plant in Derbyshire. The proposed 1200 MW CCGT station in Drakelow would be built on the site of an old coal fired power...

Spain sets ambitious green target.(europe)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... The Spanish government has set the target of generating 30 per cent of the country's electricity consumption and 12 per cent of its overall energy needs from renewable sources by 2010. A new [euro]23.6bn ($28.6bn) renewable energy plan, of...

Eurelectric calls for hybrid grid.(europe)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... Europe is now ready to begin to develop a hybrid grid system that would see the introduction of capacity allocated the day ahead via implicit auctions, according to Europe's electricity association, Eurelectric. The association first...

Utilities warned over efforts to cut costs.(europe)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... Utilities will suffer a loss of custom when the market is fully liberalized in 2007, unless they increase efforts to operate at a lower cost, according to the latest report from Datamonitor. The report warned that utilities of all sizes...

Scotland turns to tidal power.(europe)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... The Scottish Executive has announced new measures that it hopes will unlock the country's 'marine powerhouse' and turn it in to the global capital for the development and generation of wave energy. Enterprise Minister, Nicol Stephen, said...

Belgium.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... Belgium: Two years after market liberalization, around 60 per cent of Flemish households have either changed contracts with their existing supplier or changed to a new one and are paying 20 per cent less.

Finland.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... Finland: Teollisuuden Voima Oy has begun construction of the 1600 MW Olkiluoto-3 nuclear plant. The reactor, dubbed as launching the third-generation nuclear era, will begin generating in May 2009.

France.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... France: EDF's main competitor, Suez, has announced it is to spend between [euro]400m ($485m) and [euro]600m on two or three new 400 MW natural gas fired power plants in the south of France.

France.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... France: Two of EDF's nuclear power plants, which have been in operation for over 20 years, will receive six steam generators from the Japanese firm Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

Germany.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... Germany: A German-Russian consortium is to build a 1200 km gas pipeline through the Baltic Sea. Planned for commissioning in 2010, the pipeline will transport around 27.5 billion [m.sup.3] annually.

Germany.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... Germany: Babcock and Wilcox has signed a ten-year licence that will see its wet flue gas desulphurization technology being sublicensed in the EU, Russia and Turkey.

Germany.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... Germany: In the run up to the general election the right wing political parties, CDU and CSU, both called for an end to the nuclear energy phase out programme.

Italy.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... Italy: As it begins an attempt to gain control of the Edison electricity group, EDF has acquired a further 23.4 per cent stake in Italenergia Bis to take its total share to 61.4 per cent.

Portugal.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... Portugal: REpower has responded to Portugal's call for 1500 MW of wind energy capacity with two separate bids worth [euro]1.5bn ($1.8bn).

Scandinavia.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... Scandinavia: A five-year reliability programme has been launched by Fortum to improve the reliability of its grids. The company's planned investments over the period total [euro]700m ($850m).

Sweden.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... Sweden: Vattenfall has ordered an [euro]11m ($13.3m) biomass fuelled power plant from Wartsila. Fired by wood waste, the plant Motala will be fully operational by 2007.

UK.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... UK: E.ON UK has contracted Alstom to install its boosted overfire air N[O.sub.x] reduction system on three of the 500 MW units at Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in Nottingham.

UK.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... UK: ScottishPower has applied to create a 0.5 MW test site to investigate use the excess power generated from its wind turbines to produce hydrogen.

UK.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... UK: With 52 wind turbines generating 120 MW, the UK's largest wind farm will use ABB transformer and switchgear equipment.

Korea to decide location of nuclear waste repository.(asia-pacific)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... Four regions in South Korea have bid to host the repository for low and intermediate level radioactive waste the national government plans to have built by 2008. It is expected to cost between won800bn ($780m) and wonltn to build, with the...

EVN outlines $1.65bn investment.(asia-pacific)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... Vietnam's state electricity provider, Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), will invest $1.65bn in new power plant construction to help bridge the generation shortfall expected from now until 2010. The company, which produces 97 per cent of the...

Australian power consumption growth hits new high.(asia-pacific)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... Australian energy consumption has risen faster than ever before, according to the latest statistics released by the Energy Supply Association of Australia. The national rate of increase for the period between 2003 and 2004 was recorded at...

PSALM speeds asset sale schedule.(Power Sector Asset and Liabilities Management)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) has said it aims to have sold 50 per cent of the Phillippine's state owned generation assets by the end of the year. By January 2006, PSALM aims to have sold more than 1300...

Government offers incentives to speed Dhabol restart.(asia-pacific)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... A group of India's senior government ministers has granted 'mega project' status to the Dhabol power plant to encourage the company charged with completing it, RGPPL, to have it in commercial operation by the end of 2006. Now labelled a...

Bangladesh.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... Bangladesh: A new 450 MW power plant will sell electricity at the country's lowest ever electricity tariff offered by an IPP. An global consortium will build, own and operate the plant at a cost of $299m.

Cambodia.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... Cambodia: A consortium led by Wartsila has won two contracts for power plants on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. The plants will together deliver 60.6 MW to the national grid and will be fired by heavy fuel oil.

China.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... China: A 2400 MW coal fired power plant is to be developed by the mining firm PT Bukit Asam and China Huadian Corporation after $2.25bn funding was received from national banks.

China.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... China: Alstom will supply some of the largest bulb units in the world to the Qiaogong hydropower station. The [euro]35m ($43m) contract includes four 57 MW bulb turbine generator units with a runner diameter of 7.4 m.

China.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... China: Datang International Power Generation Company has been given consent to construct three power plants with a combined capacity of 4800 MW. The projects will cost a total of $2.6bn.

China.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... China: South Korea's state owned power company, KEPCO, will initially invest $7.68m in a 49 MW Chinese wind farm. The $57.5m project signals the Korean company's entry into the Chinese wind energy market.

India.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... India: A joint venture between Tata Power and Damodar Valley Corporation will construct a 1000 MW thermal power plant in Jharkhand, India. Tata will hold a 74 per cent stake in the $913m project.

Indonesia.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... Indonesia: The country's state owned coal mining company is to construct two new power plants with foreign consortia at a cost of around $1bn. Together, the plants will generate 3600 MW.

New Zealand.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... New Zealand: The state owned Mighty River Power is to develop a NZ$300m ($212.5m) wind farm in partnership with Palmerston North City Council. The project will have a capacity of around 150 MW.

Pakistan.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... Pakistan: The federal government has decided to build two 450 MW plants to provide power to the Water and Power Development Authority system and a 300 MW plant to increase power supply to the Karachi Electric Supply Corp.

South Korea.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... South Korea: A 550 MW power plant built with foreign finance has entered operation. The $354m LNG fuelled project in the city of Suncheon, is owned by the Hong Kong based Meiya Power Company.

Sri Lanka.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... Sri Lanka: The construction of Sri Lanka's largest ever power project, due to begin this month, will reduce electricity charges by around 32 per cent when the final phase enters commercial operation in 2012. The $380m plant will generate 300...

Katrina creates mass devastation.(americas)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... Entergy and Mississippi Power, the utilities most severely hit by the most destructive hurricane in US history, have warned that the pace of restoration will be slow as they continue to asses the damage and move into the worst affected areas....

Progress makes nuclear headway.(Progress Energy Co)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... Progress Energy has informed the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) that it is considering a plan to build a new nuclear power plant to meet its need for additional generation capacity. The company said that dependent on whether it...

Minnesota could host world's cleanest coal fired power plant.(americas)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... US power provider, Excelsior Energy has selected two potential sites as the final candidates to host what will be the cleanest utility scale coal fuelled power plant in the world. Both sites for the $1.5bn Mesaba Energy Project are located...

US electricity demand to grow 70 000 MW in five years.(americas)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... The North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) has said that provided the planned addition of 49 000 MW of new generation capacity is achieved over the next five years, the US will sufficiently meet the rise in demand. However, NERC...

Brazil to hold mass auction.(americas)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... Brazil is gearing up for a mass power auction with a surplus of electricity pushing prices as low as generators are able to sustain. The country's mines and energy ministry is scheduled to tender for 17 new hydroelectric projects in...

US states to introduce own emission cuts.(americas)
October 1, 2005... Nine north-eastern US states are set to introduce mandatory controls on greenhouse gas emissions. If agreed it will be the first plan of its kind in a country that has so far refused to sign the Kyoto protocol. A draft proposal, published...

Brazil.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... Brazil: Federal prosecutors are seeking to halt the planned development of a 5500 MW hydroelectric power plant in the Amazon after the local indigenous population argued that they had not been consulted.

Brazil.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... Brazil: Nearly $6bn will be invested in expanding the country's transmission grid by over 11 000 km by 2009, according to Brazil's national grid operator ONS. SOme 25 per cent of the investment will be spent on integrating the country's...

Canada.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... Canada: Enbridge Inc., will take a one third stake alongside Suncor Energy Products Inc., in the construction of the $60m, 30 MW Chin Chute wind power project in southern Alberta.

Canada.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... Canada: Generation has restarted at DynaMotive Energy System's West Lorne BioOil pyrolysis plant after a shutdown for maintenance.

Canada.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... Canada: The country's largest steel producer, Stelco, has decided to construct its own 60 MW wind farm. The company is currently the subject of a lawsuit after allegedly reneging on a major wind project earlier in the year.

Chile.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... Chile: A subsidiary of Endesa has submitted plans to invest $15.5m to create a 9 MW mini-hydraulic power plant that will generate 60 GWh of electricity per year.

Mexico.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... Mexico: State power company CFE is to call for bids to construct the third La Venta wind farm in 2006. To be located in Oaxaca state, the project will have a capacity of 101 MW.

USA.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... USA: A 400 kW fuel cell commercial demonstration project is to be established in Ohio after the developer, HydroGen Corporation, was given a $1.25m grant by the State's Department of Development. The project will validate the performance of a...

USA.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... USA: Babcock & Wilcox will install two wet FGD units at the Mitchell power plant in Ohio, after it was awarded a $120m contract by American Electric Power.

USA.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... USA: Platts has reported that the rate renewable generated electricity increased by last year was just 1 per cent, lower than both the rise in demand and the growth in overall power supply.

USA.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... USA: San Diego Gas & Electric is considering building a 193 km transmission line by 2011 that would provide 1000 MW of cheaper and cleaner electricity generated outside the region.

Venezuela.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... Venezuela: The state government has asked the power utility Seneca to increase its generation capacity to meet the 21 per cent rise in demand expected over the next 12 months. The utility said it cannot increase capacity without a corresponding...

Gas Natural bids for Endesa.(companies)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... The Spanish energy company, Gas Natural has said it will not adjust its [euro]22.5bn ($27.3bn) takeover bid for its native country's largest electricity generator, Endesa, despite having its bid rejected by the company as 'hostile and clearly...

Suez closes in on total control of Electrabel.(companies)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... The board of Belgian electricity group Electrabel has approved Suez's offer for the remaining 49.9 per cent it requires to assume 100 per cent control. The decision comes after the Belgian regulatory authorities received reports from...

Snowy Hydro buys Valley plant to provide power peak.(companies)
October 1, 2005... The group of companies which own the 300 MW Valley Power peaking plant in Victoria, Australia, are to sell their entire interests to Snowy Hydro Ltd for A$243m ($181m). International Power and Mitsui & Co. (IPM) obtained a 60 per cent...

GE submits bid for reactor license.(companies)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... GE Energy's nuclear arm has submitted a Design Certification application for its new reactor design to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The company believes that its 1500 MW Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor is the most...

Burgmann seals joint venture in Middle East.(companies)(Gas Arabian Services )(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... The German seal manufacturer, Burgmann Industries, has created a joint venture in Saudi Arabia with Gas Arabian Services in Dammam to help boost its presence in the Middle East. Burgmann will hold a 65 per cent interest in the new venture...

Mitsui Babcock continues European expansion plans.(companies)
October 1, 2005... Mitsui Babcock has furthered its plan to exploit what it describes as the high growth potential in Europe by acquiring two niche businesses in the German power sector. The businesses, DH Dampfkessel-und Behalterbau Hohenthurm GmbH and DH...

EDF sells in Argentina.(News digest)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... EDF sells in Argentina: Authorities have approved EDF's sale of 65 per cent of the Buenos Aires electricity distributor Edenor to the local investment fund, Dolphin. Dolphin will pay $100m for the stake. EDF will retain a 25 per cent share in...

Fuel cell closure.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... Fuel cell closure: Sulzer is to close its fuel cell business, Sulzer Hexis, after failing to find a partner to help finance its development. The company said it had become too great a risk in the current market and predicted a likely decline in...

Geospatial solutions.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... Geospatial solutions: The international management consultancy, Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance has awarded GE Energy's geospacial solutions business the ISO9001:2000 certification for its quality management systems.

Mirant emergence.(News digest)
October 1, 2005... Mirant emergence: Mirant Corporation has reached an agreement with a number of key constituencies over the terms it needs to meet to emerge from bankruptcy protection.

Polish investment.(Invenergy L.L.C)(Renewable Energy Systems)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2005... Polish investment: Renewable Energy Generation is to invest around [pounds sterling]7.9m ($14.2m) in Poland's largest wind farm after it reached an agreement with Invenergy Wind to participate in the 50 MW project. Developed by EEZ, the farm...