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Death Toll at 32 in India Plant Explosion; Officials Point to High Pressure in Boiler

November 4, 2017

NTPC, India’s largest power utility, on November 3 said the death toll has risen to 32 after an explosion and fire November 1 at its Feroze Gandhi Unchahar Thermal Power Station in Uttar Pradesh state. NTPC said flue gases and steam were released in the blast, which occurred in a 500-MW coal-fired unit that was commissioned in March and had been operating on a trial basis at the plant since September.

NTPC officials investigating the incident said pressure inside the unit shot up 70 times its normal level in just a few minutes before the explosion, and an emergency shut-off mechanism that should have disabled the unit apparently failed to work. A fireball exploded in the unit and pressurized steam gushed out onto dozens of workers, who were either killed or severely burned.

NTPC in a statement November 3 said about 80 workers from the plant are still hospitalized. Federal Power Secretary A.K. Bhalla told local media that along with NTPC executives, officials from Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd.…

Death Toll Expected to Rise After Explosion at India Thermal Plant

November 2, 2017

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An explosion at a coal-fired power plant in India has killed as many as 18 people and injured about 100, according to news reports. The blast, which occurred November 1 at the Feroze Gandhi Unchahar Thermal Power Station, was apparently caused when a boiler pipe burst in a 500-MW generating unit that came online in March of this year.

Police confirmed the total number of dead and said they expect the death toll and number of injured may rise because other people were trapped in the plant, which has been shut down. The plant employs 870 workers.

NTPC, the plant’s operator and India’s largest power utility, said in a statement: “There was sudden abnormal sound at 20 mt. elevation and there was an opening … from which hot flue gases and steam escaped affecting the people working around the area.” The NTPC statement also said “an unfortunate accident in the boiler of 500MW under trial unit of NTPC – Unchahar occurred this afternoon.…

Michigan Backs Gas Plants for Upper Peninsula

October 31, 2017

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Michigan regulators on October 25 gave their support to Upper Michigan Energy Resources Corp.’s (UMERC) plan for two new natural gas-fired plants in the state’s Upper Peninsula (U.P.). The plants approved by the Michigan Public Service Commission (PSC) would be built in Baraga and Negaunee townships.

The plants are designed to produce a combined 183 MW of generation. Construction could begin by year-end, and the current schedule calls for both plants to begin operating in 2019. Electricity from the two facilities would partly replace generation from We Energies’ 359-MW Presque Isle Power Plant on Lake Superior in Marquette, Michigan, where the last five coal-fired units are scheduled to close in 2020.

The first of the five remaining units (Units 5 through 9) at Presque Isle begin operating in 1974; the last of those five came online in 1979. Units 1 and 2 at Presque Isle were retired in 2007, and Units 3 and 4 were closed in 2009.

The new gas-fired plants have a combined price tag of $ 277 million.…

IEA Says Southeast Asia Will Keep Coal Demand High

October 29, 2017

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The International Energy Agency (IEA) says the need for cheap electricity in Southeast Asia will drive global demand for coal for power generation through 2040, even as many countries continue to retire coal-fired plants and cancel projects for new coal facilities.

IEA, which is set to release its World Energy Outlook 2017 on November 14, this week said India and Southeast Asia will account for the majority of the use of coal in the coming years, as those areas’ economies continue to grow and demand for electricity rises.

“Coal maintains a strong foothold in [Southeast Asia’s] projected consumption, not only because it is markedly cheaper than natural gas, but also because coal projects are in many cases easier to pursue as they do not require the capital-intensive infrastructure associated with gas,” the IEA said in a report in advance of the release of the November outlook.

The agency said about 100 GW of new coal-fired power generation capacity is expected to come online in Southeast Asia by 2040, increasing the region’s installed capacity to about 160 GW.…

FPL Halfway Through 600-MW Solar Power Expansion

October 23, 2017

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Florida Power & Light (FPL), which recently sustained a blow to its nuclear expansion plans, on October 19 said it’s about halfway through an ambitious plan to add eight new solar plants in the state by early 2018, as it continues to increase its photovoltaic (PV) generation capacity as part of a larger strategy to install more than 10 million solar panels in its service territory by 2023.

FPL already has installed about 1.25 million solar panels at the eight new plants, with another 1.25 million to go. It’s the utility’s largest one-year solar expansion, surpassing the company’s installation of 1 million panels at three solar plants in 2016. FPL said construction at the sites at its peak employed more than 1,000 workers.

FPL President and CEO Eric Silagy on October 19 said the company is “investing nearly $ 1 billion to grow solar in Florida this year alone.” Silagy, visiting the Barefoot Bay Solar Energy Center in Brevard County on Thursday as part of a tour with local officials, said: “Together, these eight new plants are projected to generate an estimated net lifetime savings of more than $ 100 million for our customers, over and above the cost of construction.”…

SCANA Hit with New Subpoena From SEC

October 19, 2017

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SCANA Corp., already under federal and state scrutiny for how it handled the now-abandoned V.C. Summer nuclear expansion, has been served with a document subpoena by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

SCANA said in a news release that it intends to fully cooperate with the investigation of the nuclear project. The development follows a drastic drop in the company’s share price in late September.

SCANA and project partner Santee Cooper in mid-September received federal subpoenas for documents associated with a much-guarded February 2016 assessment report conducted by Bechtel, documentation of meetings with the construction and civil engineering firm, and documentation of site walkdowns and real-time observations at the half-built project.

South Carolina lawmakers on September 26 urged state law enforcement to conduct a criminal investigation into how the project was handled. The measure came after several legislative committee hearings, many focused on the Bechtel audit. At one point, state lawmakers threatened to subpoena if the utilities didn’t release it.…