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Enel CEO: ‘Please Put Price on Carbon’

October 5, 2021

Coal Fired Power Plant with Wind Turbine

The head of Europe’s largest utility said countries need to put a price on carbon in order to cut emissions of greenhouse gases and meet climate targets. Francesco Starace, CEO of Italy-based Enel, speaking Oct. 5 at the Reuters Impact virtual summit, said the world’s larger economies need to lead on developing strategies and taking more action to reduce emissions to meet the targets set in the 2015 Paris agreement.

“Please put a price on carbon,” Starace said at the event, being held less than one month before the United Nations’ COP26 conference on climate change begins in Glasgow, Scotland. Many analysts agree that putting a price on carbon—be it via a tax, emissions trading system, or cap-and-trade strategy—is needed to lessen emissions from the power generation sector and help cleaner energy resources better compete financially with legacy generation such as coal- and natural gas-fired power.

The World Bank earlier this year reported that only about 20% of global emissions were involved in a carbon-pricing scheme, and said most of those prices were not high enough to achieve the Paris agreement’s target of a rise in global temperatures of less than 2C, or preferably just 1.5C, above pre-industrial levels.…

Stanton Energy Reliability Center Hybrid Supplies Power When Southern California Needs It Most

October 3, 2021

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Stanton Energy Reliability Center is a unique hybrid power station that includes two GE LM6000 gas turbines, each integrated with a battery energy storage system. The station provides reliable and stable power generation needed by the California power grid.

California has long been a leader in the world’s transition toward renewable energy. In 2018, California established a landmark policy requiring that 100% of electric retail sales to customers in the state be supplied by renewable and zero-carbon energy resources by 2045. The U.S. Energy Information Administration has reported that renewable resources, including hydropower and small-scale (less than one MW) customer-sited solar photovoltaic systems, are already supplying more than half of California’s in-state electricity generation. In March this year, the California Energy Commission (CEC), California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), and California Air Resources Board (CARB) issued a joint agency report that found the state’s clean energy goals are indeed achievable, and in multiple ways.

Yet, the state has also felt the effects of power shortages in recent years.…

Collaboration Brings the Energy for Pennsylvania Community

October 1, 2021

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It took a team effort, led by Kiewit as the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor, to overcome numerous challenges and build a 1,000-MW natural gas-fired facility that has sparked a regional renaissance.

A power plant often provides a region with more than just electricity. A large generation facility can also be an economic engine for an entire community.

The Hickory Run Energy Center (Figure 1, and above), a 1,000-MW natural gas-fired combined cycle power plant, has proven to be just that for Lawrence County in Pennsylvania. Tyr Energy LLC is the asset manager for the plant, located in New Castle in North Beaver Township, about 45 miles northwest of Pittsburgh. The facility has been a driving force behind more than $ 1 billion in capital investment projects in the county over the past few years, providing even more of a boost to the local economy after coming online in May 2020.

Hickory Run is contributing to a rebound in manufacturing in the New Castle area, a region with a rich industrial history, starting with iron and brick works in the mid-1800s and continuing for many years as a hub for iron and steel.…

Former SpaceX Engineer Driving New Battery Technology

September 29, 2021

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An executive and entrepreneur who designed battery packs for SpaceX has partnered with a leader of India’s transportation industry in a venture designed to improve the lifecycle of lithium-ion batteries, and help that country’s transition toward electric passenger vehicles.

Porter Harris, a battery engineer known for his work in thermal cooling and heating methodology, and Pankaj Dubey, who made his mark in bringing all-terrain vehicles and snow scooters to India, on Sept. 28 announced their Power.Global venture has agreements with stationary storage integrator PositivEnergy and battery recycling processor Redivivus in support of Power.Global’s effort to upgrade battery technology.

Power.Global, formed in 2019, designs high-performance clean energy and mobility products. The company in a news release Tuesday said the company “is building toward a fully sustainable and equitable battery economy through strategic partnerships, responsible manufacturing practices and product lifecycle management.”

“To help alleviate some of the stress on global supply chains, we’re developing in-country battery manufacturing in India, the U.S. and other global markets, and working with local cell manufacturers to develop our 100% made-in-country electric battery module,” Harris told POWER.…

SMRs May Replace Polish Coal; GE Hitachi in Fuel Supply Pact

September 27, 2021

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Poland’s push for nuclear power could include repurposing of coal-fired power plants with small modular reactor (SMR) technology from NuScale Power. NuScale on Sept. 23 announced it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with two Polish companies, KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. (KGHM), and Piela Business Engineering (PBE), to explore how NuScale’s technology could be used to provide electricity and heat for KGHM’s industrial processes along with cleaner power for the country.

NuScale then later Thursday said it had signed an MOU with Oklahoma-based energy company Getka Group (Getka) and Poland’s UNIMOT S.A. (UNIMOT) that also looks at deploying NuScale’s SMRs, again to repurpose Polish coal-fired power plants. Getka is an integrated energy company providing construction, and delivery of petroleum, refined products, and alternative energy. UNIMOT is a multi-energy capital group that offers its wholesale and retail customers fuel products, gas and electricity, including renewable energy.

Poland, which relies heavily on coal, was the only member of the European Union not to commit to climate neutrality by 2050 when the EU set the target in 2019.…

Nuclear Is the Bastion of Pennsylvania’s Newest Climate Action Plan

September 25, 2021

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Pennsylvania, a major power producer that relied on fossil fuels for 66% of its net power generation in June, plans to maintain its nuclear generation at current levels until it can ramp up other carbon-free supplies to 100% by 2050, the state’s Sept. 22–released 2021 Climate Action Plan suggests.

The measures are part of a broader 18-strategy suite outlined in the Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP’s) fifth iteration of the plan, which is updated periodically as required by the 2008 Pennsylvania Climate Change Act. But because electricity generation is the greatest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the Commonwealth, accounting for nearly 30% of total emissions, they are a priority, officials told reporters on Wednesday.

The plan acknowledges Pennsylvania’s historic and current role as a significant regional energy hub. The state is the third-largest energy-producing state in the U.S. (after Texas and Florida); it ranks in the top three for coal and natural gas production, and it is the nation’s second-largest nuclear generator.…