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License Issued for Barakah Nuclear Unit 2

March 10, 2021

The post License Issued for Barakah Nuclear Unit 2 appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The Arab world’s first nuclear power plant has received an operating license for its second unit, and the facility’s timeline still calls for commercial start-up of the first unit later this year.

The Barakah nuclear power station, in the Al Dhafrah region of Abu Dhabi, will include four units with 5,600 MW of generating capacity when complete. It is being built by Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) and will feature four APR-1400 pressurized water reactors. The plant is expected to supply about one-quarter of the peak power demand for the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to government officials.

A Long Road to Completion

The UAE’s nuclear regulator on March 9 announced the operational license for Unit 2. Unit 1 was connected to the UAE’s national power grid in August of last year, and in December 2020 reached 100% of reactor power capacity during testing. Hamad Al-Kaabi, deputy chairman of Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR) and the UAE’s representative at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in a media briefing Tuesday said construction of Unit 3 is 94% complete, with Unit 4 at 87% complete (Figure 1).…

GE Hitachi Advances Collaboration to Bolster BWRX-300 SMR Deployment in Estonia

March 8, 2021

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The post GE Hitachi Advances Collaboration to Bolster BWRX-300 SMR Deployment in Estonia appeared first on POWER Magazine.

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) and Estonian firm Fermi Energia OÜ have entered into a teaming agreement to support potential deployment of a BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR) in the Baltic country.

The agreement between the technology company and the firm established in 2019 by nuclear industry professionals comes two years after the companies inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to examine the economic feasibility of deploying a 300-MWe BWRX-300 SMR in Estonia.

“Through the teaming agreement GEH expects to support Fermi Energia in key areas such as licensing, human resources and supply chain development as well as continued development of the information and analysis needed for potential deployment of the BWRX-300 in Estonia,” GEH said on March 8.

The development is another notable step for Fermi Energia, which has conducted feasibility studies for several SMR technologies along with the BWRX-300. These include Moltex Energy’s 300-MWe Stable Salt Reactor (SSR), NuScale’s small light water reactor modules; Terrestrial’s IMSR-400, a 195-MWe Generation IV nuclear technology that uses a molten fluoride salt; and Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp.’s …

Texas PUC Chair Resigns as Outage Probe Continues

March 2, 2021

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The chairwoman of the Public Utility Commission (PUC) of Texas has resigned, stepping down after the state’s lieutenant governor earlier on March 1 called for her resignation, along with that of the CEO of the state’s power grid operator.

DeAnn Walker, the PUC chair, in her resignation letter Monday to Gov. Greg Abbott, defended her actions and leveled criticisms at others as state lawmakers and energy officials continued to spar over who is to blame for widespread power outages in mid-February that left millions of electricity customers in the dark for days, many without both heat and water.

The PUC regulates the state’s electric, telecommunications, and water and sewer utilities. Walker, whose commission is appointed by Abbott, testified before state lawmakers last week, along with Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) CEO Bill Magness, as the legislature held hearings to address why the state’s power grid could not cope with cold temperatures that brought several days of power outages.…

SGRE Turbines Tabbed for French Offshore Wind Project

February 28, 2021

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Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) announced it was awarded the firm order from the EDF Renewables-Enbridge-wpd consortium for the 448-MW Courseulles-sur-Mer offshore wind power project. The installation will be located just more than 6 miles off the Bessin coast, in an area of Normandy, France.

SGRE on Feb. 22 said the wind turbine nacelles and blades for the Courseulles-sur-Mer project are scheduled to be produced at a Siemens Gamesa manufacturing plant being built in Le Havre, a port city in Normandy, where the English Channel meets the Seine River.

The project will feature SGRE’s SWT-7.0-154 Direct Drive offshore wind turbine (Figure 1). Installation and commissioning of the project is scheduled for 2024.

“We are delighted to again be the partner of choice for EDF Renewables, Enbridge, and wpd, and to deliver our second firm French offshore order to them,” said Marc Becker, CEO of the Siemens Gamesa Offshore Business Unit.…

ERCOT Board Members Resign in Wake of Blackouts

February 24, 2021

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Five board members of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the state’s power grid operator, on Feb. 23 announced they would resign their posts, just days after extreme winter weather left more than 4 million Texas electricity customers without power for several days.

Sally Talberg, chairwoman of ERCOT, is among those resigning. All those leaving the organization apparently live or work outside Texas, and have been criticized by state officials for not being Texas residents. A sixth person, an out-of-state candidate who had applied for a position on the ERCOT board, on Tuesday withdrew that application.

ERCOT manages the flow of electricity for more than 90% of Texas. State officials have criticized the grid operator after last week’s massive blackouts, which left millions of homes without power. State officials said the severe weather has led to more than 30 deaths, including some from hypothermia brought on by the cold.…