Energy Jobs at EnergyNorthwest.com

POWER Notebook: New 1,600-MW Coal Plant in India; Low-Price Solar Deal in Idaho

April 9, 2019

Financing has reportedly been secured for a 1,600-MW coal-fired power plant in India’s eastern state of Jharkhand. Qatar’s Gulf Times newspaper reported April 6 that Power Finance Corp., a state-run lender in India, and its subsidiary REC approved a $ 1.5 billion loan for the project. The report said the new plant would be funded through loans and equity, with Power Finance and REC covering the entire cost of the project, which Bloomberg estimated at just more than $ 2.1 billion.

The plant is being designed to sell power to Bangladesh through a power purchase agreement with the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB). Adani Power Limited, part of India’s Adani Group, one of the world’s largest coal-mining companies, is building the plant. People familiar with the project reportedly said the plant is eligible for tax breaks, as India’s commerce ministry has designated the region as a special economic zone, and the plant as an export industrial facility. BPDB said Bangladesh currently gets about 56% of its power generation from natural gas, with oil and diesel providing most of the rest.…

New Gas-Fired Plants Come Online in Michigan

April 3, 2019

| No Comments

| Industry News

Upper Michigan Energy Resources Corp. (UMERC) placed two new natural gas-fired generating stations into commercial operation on March 31, part of the company’s plan to reshape its generation fleet as it seeks to “balance reliability and customer cost with environmental stewardship.”

UMERC, a subsidiary of WEC Energy Group, also retired the coal-fired 430-MW Presque Isle Power Plant on Sunday. The company in a news release said, “Plans for the future use of the retired coal plant site will be developed as the company continues to evaluate potential uses for the property.”

“The new generating stations are good for our customers, good for business and good for electric reliability throughout the U.P.,” said Kevin Fletcher, president and CEO of WEC Energy Group, in a news release. “Closure of the Presque Isle Power Plant also helps achieve our goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 40 percent, well ahead of our 2030 target.”

The new F.D. Kuester Generating Station, in Negaunee Township near Marquette, and the A.J.…

Working with Peers Is Critical to Power System Reliability [PODCAST]

March 30, 2019

| No Comments

| Industry News

When conversations around the power industry turn to computer hacking, more often than not experts say it’s not a question of if, but rather, how systems have been compromised.

William Doering, adjunct professor in the online Master’s in Business Administration program at Maryville University and a director with Guidehouse—a management consulting services provider—said he has participated in various discussions on how to cleanse infection and how to ensure reliability after the fact. Speaking on The POWER Podcast, Doering said the Stuxnet computer worm and the Ukraine power grid cyberattack in 2015 should provide more than enough evidence that systems are vulnerable.

“For us to think that something like that hasn’t happened yet [in the U.S.] is definitely on the riskier side of optimistic,” Doering said.

“I think the level of sophistication that state-level actors provide is in many cases astounding,” he said. But even more worrisome to Doering is the fact that state-level-actor tools, which are extremely sophisticated, complex, and devastating, have been released and are now in the hands of the broader masses.…

CEOs Say Preserving the Nuclear Power Fleet Is Imperative

March 28, 2019

| No Comments

| Industry News

Several power-sector CEOs—appearing at the Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) Summit in New York this week—suggested that existing nuclear power plants should not be allowed to slowly vanish from the U.S. electricity grid under market pressure caused by cheap natural gas and the growth of renewable energy. The leaders submitted that nuclear power provides important carbon-free energy needed to meet greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goals.

“We have this issue in the U.S. around nuclear. It doesn’t compete against gas, but is a critical component of a decarbonized future,” said Audrey Zibelman, CEO and managing director of the Australian Energy Market Operator. Although Zibelman no longer resides in the U.S., she appeared to still have a vested interest in the country’s energy sector, having previously chaired the New York State Public Service Commission, and having been executive vice president and chief operating officer of the PJM Interconnection, among other things.

Ralph Izzo, chairman, president, and CEO of Public Service Enterprise Group Inc.…

Vogtle Loan Guarantees Praised, Criticized

March 24, 2019

| No Comments

| Industry News

Energy Secretary Rick Perry on March 22 said his department will guarantee up to $ 3.7 billion in additional loans to finance continued construction of two new nuclear reactors at the Vogtle plant in Georgia. While Perry and other government officials stressed the importance of the project to the U.S. nuclear industry, critics called it a case of “throwing good money after bad.”

“The Vogtle project is critically important to supporting the [Trump] administration’s direction to revitalize and expand the U.S. nuclear industry,” said Perry on Friday in a ceremony at the Vogtle site near Waynesboro, Georgia. “A strong nuclear industry supports a reliable and resilient grid, and strengthens our energy and national security. As I’ve witnessed firsthand today, Vogtle is also an energy infrastructure project with a massive scope employing thousands of workers. This project is rebuilding a highly skilled U.S. nuclear workforce and supply chain for the future.”

Perry called the project “the real New Green Deal,” a mocking reference to a Democratic legislative effort on Capitol Hill designed to combat climate change.…

Siemens, Mitsubishi Discuss Merger of Turbine Units

March 22, 2019

| No Comments

| Industry News

A German business magazine reports that Siemens is exploring options for its struggling gas turbine business, and could look to form a joint venture with Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI). Manager Magazin on March 21 said Siemens “wants to accommodate the large turbine business of the Japanese Mitsubishi Group and in the future hold only a minority.”

Reuters, citing two sources, on Thursday reported that Siemens wants a plan in place by its capital markets day for investors on May 8. The sources reportedly told Reuters that talks between Siemens and MHI “had intensified recently,” although Siemens reportedly is looking at other options for the business, including keeping it.

Manager Magazin on Thursday reiterated, as it has reported previously, that Siemens and MHI could combine their large gas and steam generators’ businesses. The magazine said Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser began talks with MHI in 2017 about a joint venture, with the intention to merge the companies’ turbine operations, with Siemens holding a minority stake.…