Large Public Power Systems Are Evolving [PODCAST]

September 2, 2019
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The power grid is changing across the U.S. More distributed energy resources are being added every day. That brings challenges for power utilities, but also opportunities.

John Di Stasio, president of the Large Public Power Council (LPPC), which represents 27 of the largest locally governed and operated not-for-profit electric systems in the U.S., was a guest on The POWER Podcast and discussed how the changes are affecting his organization’s members.

As large infrastructure developers and asset owners, the LPPC’s members are uniquely affected by certain policies in Washington, D.C. Di Stasio, who previously served as general manager and CEO of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) from June 2008 through April 2014, said his group has been focused on tax, infrastructure, cybersecurity, environmental regulation, electrification, and grid modernization initiatives.

Di Stasio noted that the U.S. power grid was originally designed as a central station system with one-way power flow from generators to consumers. “Now, we’re looking at much more distributed generation potentially, and also the fact that two-way power flow provides some additional opportunities and capabilities for consumers, also some additional complexity,” Di Stasio said.…

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Pipeline Deal Means More U.S. Natural Gas for Mexico Power Plants

August 29, 2019
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Mexico is preparing to import more U.S. natural gas to supply the country’s gas-fired power plants and industrial facilities after the Mexican government reached a deal that will allow several stalled pipeline projects to be completed.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez-Obrador on Aug. 27 said his administration’s deal with Canadian pipeline operator TC Energy; IEnova, a Mexican subsidiary of San Diego, California–based utility company Sempra Energy; and Mexican construction firm Grupo Carso ends a $ 3 billion stalemate over contracts for a handful of pipelines that will bring natural gas to Mexico from the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas and the Permian Basin of West Texas.

Grupo Carso is owned by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim. He said Tuesday that the agreement will give Mexico access to cheap natural gas, some of which can be used to further the development of natural gas-fueled vehicles in Mexico.

“This will allow us to substitute diesel and gasoline, which are not only more expensive but more polluting,” Slim said.…

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Power Sector CEOs Join Top Execs in Redefining Corporate Purpose

August 25, 2019
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The list of 181 CEOs who earlier this week moved to publicly degrade shareholder value in a bid to redefine the “purpose of a corporation” includes several chief executives from power companies. 

The Aug. 19 statement issued by the Business Roundtable, an association of CEOs “to promote a thriving U.S. economy and expanded opportunity for all Americans through sound public policy,” moves away from the primacy of shareholder interests. That notion—that corporations exist principally to serve shareholders—has belied principles endorsed by the group since 1997.

Instead, the group sought to outline a “modern standard for corporate responsibility.” While it still emphasizes a commitment to generate “long-term value” to shareholders, who provide capital that allow companies to “invest, grow, and innovate,” the group’s new statement prioritizes delivering value to customers, investing in employees, dealing fairly and ethically with suppliers, and community support. 

The shift comes as large corporations face increasing public pressure over their societal impacts, including over working conditions, wages, and product safety.…

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Southern Nuclear Adds New Power Plant Simulators

August 19, 2019
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GSE Systems said it has delivered and commissioned three additional full-scope simulators for Southern Nuclear’s new Operations Training Centers. The simulators are for the Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant, and the Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant.

Simulators provide efficient hands-on learning for power plant operators. While power plants of any type can benefit from simulators, nuclear plants perhaps gain the most value, as missteps on a live reactor plant can result in grave consequences. Simulators generally operate on personal computers and are provided for a broad audience of technical and non-technical professionals, students, and instructors.

GSE said Southern Nuclear’s additional simulators will add flexible scheduling and increased capacity that can drive operator performance. The simulators will also offer more availability to each plant’s engineering and maintenance staff, who find the simulators useful for virtually commissioning plant changes, validating plant procedures, management certification, and a variety of other training activities. Furthermore, the simulators are said to have been upgraded with some of the latest technology, including GSE’s new OpenSim 7.0 simulator operating system and enhanced containment modeling program and its PSA-HD program to train operators on beyond-design-basis events.…

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SwRI to Design Flameless, Low-Emission Coal Combustion Pilot 

August 17, 2019
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San Antonio-based Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) said on Aug. 12 it will get $ 3 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and another $ 760,658 from an assortment of industry giants to design a large-scale flameless pressurized oxy-fuel combustion pilot plant. 

The announcement is a major boost for the promising, but yet unproven technology, that industry observers herald as a groundbreaking new approach to utility-scale power generation. As SwRI explained, “the process uses air that is stripped of other elements like argon and nitrogen until it is pure oxygen. It is then combined with a fuel, usually either coal or natural gas, into a stream of carbon dioxide (CO2) and water inside a combustor. The fuel and oxygen chemically react, and the hot gas can be used to boil steam, which pushes a turbine that generates power.” 

Among the benefits of pressurized oxy-fuel combustion is that it has the potential to substantially improve overall cycle efficiency. Because it uses oxygen-rich combustion, it could also generate pure CO2 that can be easily captured and stored, or reused.…

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