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GE Gains Vattenfall’s Backing for Massive 12-MW Offshore Wind Turbine

May 23, 2019

Swedish utility Vattenfall will take up deployment of the massive 12-MW Haliade-X offshore wind turbine in Europe, marking a major milestone for GE Renewable Energy’s effort to boost sales of the largest turbine currently on the market.

The two companies agreed to cooperate after a year of “intensive exchanges during which Vattenfall conducted an in-depth technical due diligence and both companies jointly worked on the customization of the platform,” Vattenfall said on May 16. The companies will likely finalize details of the cooperation this summer, after which Vattenfall plans a “deep dive on specific projects” within its offshore wind pipeline.

Wind power has increasingly buoyed earnings at Vattenfall, a company that wants to achieve “fossil free living” within one generation. During its first quarter 2019 earnings call on April 25, Vattenfall AB CEO Magnus Hall said Vattenfall’s wind investments have grown beyond 3 GW. Projects include the company’s first unsubsidized offshore wind farm, the 750-MW Hollandse Kust Zuid 1 and 2, which is being built off the Dutch coast and expected to come online in 2022.…

GE Is Banking on Africa’s Burgeoning Power Market

May 19, 2019

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Sub-Saharan Africa’s power generation capacity is projected to surge 4% annually through 2040, and its current energy mix—which is today dominated by hydro and coal—will likely be more diversified as interest rises in renewables such as solar and wind, General Electric (GE) said in a white paper surveying market opportunities in the region that it released in May.

The region is characterized by a seeming “over-dependence on governments” to resolve an energy dilemma: “Governments are faced with investment, policy and regulatory framework challenges that oftentimes hinder their ability to fulfill the responsibility of providing affordable and reliable power,” the white paper says. However, with increasingly diverse funding from public and private sources, including innovative partnerships with private investors and independent power producers (IPPs), “the current narrative that two out of three people in the region needs access to electricity is expected to change,” it says. Among major trends the white paper highlights are that IPPs and public-private partnerships (PPP) will account for 35% of the region’s installed capacity, excluding South Africa, by 2020.…

Judge: TVA Deal for Bellefonte Nuclear Plant Stays in Place

May 17, 2019

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A federal judge this week ruled the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) must continue to honor an agreement to sell the unfinished Bellefonte Nuclear Power Plant to a real estate developer who has said he would complete construction of the long-idled project.

U.S. District Court Judge Liles C. Burke, in a 17-page opinion issued after a hearing this week in Huntsville, Alabama, declined to dismiss a lawsuit brought by developer Franklin Haney, who sued TVA in November 2018 for breach of contract after TVA said it could not complete the sale of the Bellefonte site and its assets to Haney’s Nuclear Development LLC.

Haney in 2016 was the winning bidder in an auction for Bellefonte, agreeing to pay $ 111 million for the twin-reactor nuclear plant. He sued TVA last year after the federally owned utility said it needed approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to authorize the sale.

TVA at the 2016 auction said the winning bidder would have two years to complete the purchase.…

GE Tops MHPS, Siemens in 1Q Turbine Orders

May 15, 2019

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General Electric, Siemens, and Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems confirmed their gas turbine sales for the year’s first quarter, with GE taking the top spot with six orders for its advanced HA-class unit.

The three companies on May 14 confirmed the numbers to Reuters. GE, which had no sales in the same period a year ago, said its total includes three units purchased by Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power Co. Those units were not included in the company’s first-quarter earnings report, but were noted in the industry’s closely studied “McCoy Power Report,” which was published Tuesday. McCoy has not commented on the report.

Sources told Reuters, and the companies confirmed, that MHPS had five turbine orders in the first quarter, while Siemens had four.

The three companies have struggled to book turbine orders in recent years as the power industry moves toward renewable generation resources such as wind and solar. Each company has rolled out new, more-efficient models in an effort to gain market share.…

EIA: Gas, Renewables Outpacing Coal for Power Generation

May 11, 2019

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The percentage of coal-fired generation in the U.S. electricity mix will continue to decline, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said May 9, with gas-fired generation accounting for at least 40% of the nation’s power this summer and output from renewables continuing to rise.

EIA’s latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) said coal-fired units will produce only about 25% of the nation’s electricity this summer, as renewables including solar, wind, and hydropower take more market share. EIA said renewables will supply nearly a quarter of the power needed in Western states this summer.

The agency said nuclear power, which supplies about 19% of the nation’s electricity, will continue at that level at least through 2020. EIA forecasts that renewables will produce about 18% of U.S. power this year, rising to about 20% next year. The agency said it expects wind generation will surpass hydropower output this year for the first time, taking over the top spot for renewables.

The EIA report comes two weeks after the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) reported that data shows renewable energy—including hydro, biomass, wind, solar, and geothermal—in April for the first time generated more electricity in the U.S.…

BREAKING: Siemens Abandons Power and Gas Business

May 7, 2019

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Siemens will spin off and give up its majority stake in its lucrative Gas and Power division—comprising its conventional power generation, power transmission, oil and gas, and related services businesses—and transfer its current majority 59% stake in Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) to the new business.

The company’s supervisory board announced the spinoff on May 7 as part of its Vision 2020+ strategy concept. The board said the move would help Germany-based Siemens meet medium-term growth and profit targets by “clearly focusing its portfolio on dynamic growth markets and efficiency gains.”

The Gas and Power spinoff and transfer of SGRE stake would create a new “major player on the energy market” with a business volume of €30 billion and over 80,000 employees, Siemens said. The carveout will give the new company “complete independence and entrepreneurial freedom,” it said. Siemens said the new company will have a stock exchange listing by September 2020.

The move will create a “powerful pure play in the energy and electricity sector with a unique, integrated setup – an enterprise that encompasses the entire scope of the energy market like no other company,” explained Joe Kaeser, president and CEO of Siemens AG.…