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Technology Triumph: Track 4A Is POWER’s Plant of the Year

July 2, 2021

The post Technology Triumph: Track 4A Is POWER’s Plant of the Year appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Winning POWER’s highest honor is Track 4A, Southern Power Generation’s 1.4-GW natural gas–fired power plant in southern Malaysia that is equipped with the first commercial GE 9HA.02 gas turbines—one of the world’s largest and most efficient power-generating models. Though jolted by the pandemic, an international team brought this first-of-a-kind plant online through innovative continuity efforts. The project is today a showcase of advanced technology integration and a meaningful model for balancing climate awareness, energy affordability, and reliability in power-hungry Southeast Asia.

Jim Vono, services general manager for GE Power’s Asia Pacific and South Asian division, recalled a poignant moment in mid-March 2020, mere days before Malaysia’s government instituted a partial lockdown as an early response to the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. It was as thousands of people around the world who were involved in the design, testing, and construction of the world’s first GE 9HA.02 gas turbine model awaited news of first fire at Unit 1 of the two-unit 1,440-MW Track 4A power plant in Pasir Gudang.…

Xcel Scrapping Plan to Build New 800-MW Gas-Fired Plant

June 28, 2021

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Xcel Energy is pivoting from its plan to build a new 800-MW natural gas-fired power plant at the site of its Sherco coal-fired facility in Becker, Minnesota. Instead, Xcel plans to build two smaller gas-fired “peaker” plants, one in Minnesota and one in North Dakota, as part of a new initiative for the utility’s power generation in the Midwest.

Xcel also proposed two repowered gas-fired plants—one in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, and another in Wisconsin—that also would run only during periods of high demand for electricity. The utility, based in Minneapolis and with operations in eight states, outlined its proposal in a plan submitted to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) on June 25.

Xcel’s still plans to close its Minnesota coal-fired power plants, include Sherco’s three units that have more than 2,200 MW of generation capacity, by 2030. Sherco—short for Sherburne County Generating Station—began operating in the 1970s.…

Consumers Energy to Quit Coal by 2025, Speeding Closure of Five Units

June 26, 2021

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Michigan’s largest energy provider Consumers Energy will stop using coal as a fuel source for power generation within the next four years—15 years earlier than previously planned.

In an updated integrated resource plan (IRP) filed with the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) on June 23, the CMS Energy subsidiary said the effort would lead Michigan’s clean energy transformation, and, if approved, it would make Consumers “one of the first utilities in the nation to go coal-free.”

Under the sweeping plan, Consumers will accelerate the closure of about 2.5 GW by 2025. It will speed up retirement of its three coal-fired units at its Campbell generating complex near Holland to 2025. Campbell 1 and 2—a combined 600 MW—are currently slated to close in six years. The 840-MW Campbell 3 is scheduled to close in 2040. It would also speed up closure of D.E.…

GE Hitachi: Nuclear Costs, Innovation Must Be a Pivotal Focus for Carbon-Free Future

June 24, 2021

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Nuclear energy’s future as a critical pillar in a decarbonized world will depend on its adaptability to rapid change, but the sector must focus on costs, certainty of outcome, reliability, and experience to cement its role beyond the transition, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) President and CEO Jay Wileman told POWER in an exclusive interview.

While the world’s existing nuclear fleet of more than 400 GW already plays an important energy security role—providing affordable and stable power that is largely independent of fuel market price fluctuations—an expansion will be necessary to bolster climate-conscious energy goals. But the challenge is multi-faceted, Wileman said.

First, it will require keeping online the world’s installed base of 450 reactors, both by maximizing their lifetime output and diversifying their commercial applications beyond power generation. “If you lost that installed base, you’re setting yourselves decades backward in your path toward getting to the carbon goals,” he said.…

World-First Test Production of Fossil-Free Hydrogen-Reduced Sponge Iron Completed

June 22, 2021

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A pioneering pilot project in Lulea, Sweden, designed to produce “fossil-free” steel has successfully completed test production of sponge iron, demonstrating it is possible to use hydrogen made with fossil-free power to reduce iron ore, instead of coal and coke.

Swedish energy company Vattenfall, mining company LKAB, and steel manufacturer SSAB—companies that are collaborating under the joint initiative, dubbed “HYBRIT”—hailed the achievement as a technological breakthrough that “is a decisive step on the road to fossil-free steel.”

“Production has been continuous and of good quality,” the companies announced on June 21. “Around 100 tonnes have been made so far.”

As HYBRIT explains it, the ore-based steelmaking value chain starts at the iron ore mine, where the ore is processed in the form of pellets, or “fines.” At a steelmaking site, the iron ore is conventionally converted to metallic iron by reduction of the iron ore pellets with coke in a blast furnace.…

FERC-NARUC Task Force Will Tackle Transmission Issues

June 20, 2021

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Two groups concerned with issues regarding the regulation and production of U.S. electricity have announced formation of a joint federal-state task force on power transmission, an effort to better identify the costs and benefits associated with electric power projects, and support the buildout of renewable energy resources.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), an independent agency that regulates the interstate transmission of energy, and the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) on June 17 said the Joint Federal-State Task Force on Electric Transmission “will explore transmission-related issues to identify and realize the benefits that transmission can provide, while ensuring that the costs are allocated efficiently and fairly””

The initiative, established by a FERC order on Thursday, said the groups would work together on “efficient development of new transmission infrastructure,” which is seen as “essential as the nation continues to transition to clean energy resources.”

“It is increasingly clear that interstate transmission will play a critical role in the transition to the clean energy future,” said FERC Chair Richard Glick in a Twitter post announcing the task force.…