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Siemens Gamesa Has New Head After Terminating CEO

June 18, 2020

The post Siemens Gamesa Has New Head After Terminating CEO appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) has announced Andreas Nauen, who has led the growth of the company’s offshore wind power business, is taking over leadership of the company after the board of directors and CEO Markus Tacke “mutally agreed to terminate” Tacke’s contract.

SGRE made the announcement June 17, saying Nauen immediately will assume the top post. The news came as the company said it will incur “additional project costs” in the third quarter of this year, as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

“We’d like to thank Markus Tacke for his work over the past three years and, in particular, for the integration of Siemens Wind Power and Gamesa in the course of the merger,” said Miguel Angel López, chairman of the board of Siemens Gamesa, in a statement. The company said it will appoint a new CEO for its offshore division to replace Nauen “in due course.”…

Power Line Management in the Time of Coronavirus

June 14, 2020

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The post Power Line Management in the Time of Coronavirus appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has put communities on lockdown and created a need for social distancing. Many are staying at home, but that’s not an option for the frontline workers running critical power transmission infrastructure and keeping the lights on.

How can utilities keep up with their operational and safety obligations with a reduced onsite workforce? Specifically, how can utilities maintain power line inspection and maintenance regimes, and what are the additional challenges for those in areas such as California, where COVID-19 collides with other threats, such as wildfire season?

Making Hard Work of Field Work

By definition, power transmission and distribution networks deal with long distances. At the best of times power line inspection entails despatching crews into the most remote pockets of a country or state, far from major population centres.

*Paul Frey is chief operating officer of Sharper Shape.*

In many ways that can be a blessing: deep in the forests and mountains you may be more likely to run into a cougar or bear than another human being carrying COVID-19.…

UK Energy Giant Will Cut 5,000 Jobs

June 12, 2020

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Centrica, the major UK utility and the biggest supplier of energy to British homes, on June 11 said it would cut 5,000 jobs as part of a cost-cutting effort. CEO Chris O’Shea, who took over the company three months ago, said he also wants to simplify the utility’s business model.

The company Thursday said the changes would fast-track cost savings as part of its plan to cut $ 2.54 billion from the business by 2022. Centrica is the parent of British Gas, and the company in a February financial report said it lost £849m ($ 1.07 billion) in 2019. It blamed the loss on the UK’s cap on energy prices, and falling prices for natural gas. The government price cap weighed on the company’s profits, and many of the utility’s customers have left to find smaller and cheaper suppliers.

…

Another Court Challenge for Nuclear Waste Storage Site

June 10, 2020

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The post Another Court Challenge for Nuclear Waste Storage Site appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Another legal challenge has been filed against the ongoing effort to build a storage site for U.S. nuclear waste in the New Mexico desert.

Beyond Nuclear, among the environmental and other groups opposed to the project that would be built by Holtec International, on June 4 filed a petition for review in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The group has asked the court to review the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC’s) rejection of their earlier petitions against the project.

Holtec International, a private company that specializes in spent nuclear fuel storage and management, wants to build what it calls its HI-STORE Consolidated Interim Storage Facility (CISF) in southeastern New Mexico. The site in the desert near Carlsbad has been the subject of opposition from several groups, including state lawmakers and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

Supporters of the storage site have said it would bring an estimated $ 3 billion in capital investments to the region, and create about 100 jobs.…

Reduced Cost for Renewables Supports Sector Growth

June 4, 2020

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The post Reduced Cost for Renewables Supports Sector Growth appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A new report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) shows costs for renewable power are increasingly cheaper than those for generation from coal, reinforcing the trend of increased investment in solar and wind power and away from fossil fuel-powered electricity production.

The IRENA report—Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2019—showed that more than half of the new renewable energy generation capacity added worldwide last year operated at a lower cost than even the least-expensive new coal-fired power plants. Its findings echoed the sentiments of several U.S. renewable energy advocates who participated in an online panel discussion Tuesday organized by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) and attended by POWER.

The report, released June 2, said recent power auction results show the trend of cheaper solar photovoltaic (PV) and onshore wind power is accelerating, putting more economic pressure on coal plants, and “reinforcing the case to phase-out coal entirely.”…

EPA Curbs State Review of Energy Projects

June 2, 2020

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The post EPA Curbs State Review of Energy Projects appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The Trump administration on June 1 moved to limit the ability of individual states to use provisions of the Clean Water Act (CWA) to block energy projects, a potential win for the power generation and other energy industry sectors that have battled lengthy licensing and permitting reviews and rejections based on climate change arguments.

The rulemaking is a setback for those who oppose the siting of oil and natural gas transportation pipelines, and power generation projects such as coal- and natural gas-fired power plants, and hydroelectric dams, the permitting of which has been among the biggest legal and political battlegrounds in recent years.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler on Monday signed a rule that restricts the scope of state reviews under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act. Wheeler defended the action in a call Monday with media, saying the EPA wants “to make sure we are limiting the 401 process just to water quality,” noting the rule excludes limits on state reviews of climate and air pollution impacts.…