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Veterans Support Construction of New Texas Solar Farm

November 11, 2021

A new solar power project in Texas has entered commercial operation, with military veterans a major part of the facility’s construction workforce.

The 163-MW Elm Branch solar farm, operating in part under a power contract between L3Harris Technologies and Lightsource bp, featured an apprenticeship program led by McCarthy Building Companies, the project’s EPC contractor, and Adaptive Construction Services (ACS). The program brought in about 50 veterans to directly support construction at the site, or complete their training.

Construction of the solar farm began in January of this year and created about 250 overall construction jobs.

Watch a video about the Elm Branch project and how U.S. military veterans were instrumental in construction of the solar farm in Texas.

“Veterans are a critical part of our company and our country’s workforce,” said Byron Green, Vice President, Global Operations, L3Harris. “This new solar project serves as a model of the benefits that shared goals among several organizations can create to support veterans, communities and the environment.”…

Southern Will Close More than Half of Coal Fleet

November 9, 2021

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Southern Company, the third-largest power utility in the U.S., said it will close more than half its coal-fired power generation fleet over the next few years as the group moves toward a goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Southern on Nov. 5 said the closures include units at the two largest U.S. coal plants, along with the previously announced retirement of Plant Daniel in Mississippi. Georgia Power, a Southern subsidiary, expects to retire about 3 GW of coal-fired generation in that state, including two of the four units at the 3,450-MW Plant Bowen and one at the 3,500-MW Plant Scherer, the nation’s largest coal plant.

The utility also said a closure would occur at the 1,840-MW Plant Wansley in Georgia.

Southern CEO Tom Fanning in a call Friday with Wall Street analysts said the latest cuts mean the company will have reduced its coal-fired generation capacity by 80% since 2007. Atlanta, Georgia-based Southern at one time operated 66 coal-fired generating units, with capacity of nearly 20,500 MW across the U.S.…

ISO-NE Move Puts New Gas-Fired Plant in Doubt

November 7, 2021

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The future of a natural gas-fired power plant planned in northeastern Connecticut is in jeopardy after regional grid operator ISO-New England (ISO-NE) asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for permission to end a capacity contract with the project.

Florida-based NTE Energy’s plan to build the 650-MW Killingly Energy Center has been delayed due to permitting issues. NTE Energy secured an obligation in ISO-NE’s 2019 energy supply auction for the 2022-23 supply period, meaning it agreed to produce a certain amount of power at a specific cost that would be funneled into the larger New England power grid.

ISO-NE in a Nov. 4 letter to FERC asked the agency for authorization to cut Killingly from future power considerations, known as Capacity Supply Obligation (CSO) plans. The ISO said its monitoring of the project’s progress found NTE Energy would not hit its “critical path schedule milestones” until more than two years after the start of the agreed-on commitment period. ISO-NE in its filing said, “Killingly was required to achieve commercial operation on June 1, 2022.”…

India Sets Net-Zero Goal for 2070, Calls for $1T in Firm Climate Finance Commitments

November 3, 2021

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India, a nation heavily reliant on coal power, will set out to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2070, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged in a surprise declaration at the ongoing COP 26 climate summit on Nov. 1.

While India’s central government has yet to issue a detailed plan to achieve the necessary carbon reductions, the nation will kick off its climate ambitions by issuing five aggressive near-term targets.

“First, India will increase its non-fossil energy capacity to 500 GW by 2030,” Modi said in a 12-minute speech (in Hindi) on the first day of the conference in Glasgow, Scotland. “Second, India will fulfill 50% of its energy requirements from renewable energy sources by 2030,” he said. “Third, between now and 2030, India will reduce its total projected carbon emissions by 1 billion tons. Fourth, by 2030, India will reduce the carbon intensity of its economy by 45%. And fifth, by 2070, India will achieve the target of net-zero emissions.”…

New York Officials Deny Permits for Proposed NRG Gas-Fired Plant

October 28, 2021

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New York officials have denied permits for NRG Energy’s proposed natural gas-fired power plant upgrade project in Astoria, a decision made after an environmental agency said the plan was “inconsistent” with a state measure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The state’s Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) on Oct. 27 said the proposed new power plant “would be inconsistent with or would interfere with the statewide greenhouse gas emissions limits established in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA).”

DEC’s determination stated, “Astoria NRG failed to demonstrate the need or justification for the proposed project notwithstanding this inconsistency.” Wednesday’s ruling came after the DEC in July approved draft permits for the Astoria Replacement Project, a 437-MW plant that would have replaced half-century-old gas-fired units in the Ditmars-Steinway area of Queens County in New York.

The DEC’s reversal came after a series of public hearings this summer in which the agency received more than 6,000 responses in opposition to the project.

Lawmakers in Opposition

New York Gov.…

DOE Envisions Future Grid’s Transformation into a ‘Network’

October 26, 2021

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The grid must accommodate more inverter-based generation and adequately handle the bi-directional flow of electricity, but it must also apply alternative grid configurations and coordinate planning and operations across multiple participants and jurisdictions. That’s the vision Michael Pesin, deputy assistant secretary for the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Advanced Grid Research and Development division, outlined in detail in a keynote speech for attendees at the Experience POWER conference and exhibition, which took place this week in San Antonio, Texas.

The vision is rooted in multiple priorities laid out by the Biden administration, which include ensuring the nation’s power infrastructure is “fully modernized, secure, resilient, and reliable,” said Pesin. Its urgency is also remarkable: “The goal is to have a pollution-free power sector by 2035 and a net-zero greenhouse gas [GHG] emission economy by 2050,” he noted.

However, it is already rife with challenges: “In the wake of major rolling blackouts, like the energy emergencies in 2020 and 2021, it is no secret to anyone that today’s electric grid is being pushed to do more than it was originally designed to do, and, designed 100 years ago, it is pretty much based on the same principles.”…