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GE Marks ‘Ultra Low’ NOx Gas Turbine Technology Triumph

April 21, 2019

In a significant technical triumph, GE has completed first installation of a new gas-fired power plant technology that it says can reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions to 5 parts per million (ppm).

GE on April 11 completed combustion upgrades on nine GE 9E gas turbines at five power generation enterprises in Shenzen, a major industrial city in Guangdong Province, China, outfitting them with the company’s newest iteration of its dry low NOx (DLN) solution—DLN1.0+ with Ultra Low NOx.

The turbines are owned by Shenzhen Nanshan Power Corp., Shenzhen New Power Corp., Shenzhen Datang Baochang Gas Power Generation Co. Ltd., Shenzhen Yuhu Power Co. Ltd., and CNOOC Shenzhen Power Co. Ltd.

The upgrade reportedly reduces NOx emissions from the E-class Chinese turbines from 50mg/m³ (about 25 ppm) to 15mg/m³ (about 7.5 ppm). According to GE, the reductions are achieved through an increase of the flame temperature. “A flame with a lower temperature will produce less NOx, and the key is to be able to mix air and fuel together prior to burning,” it explained.…

Holtec Adds Indian Point Nuclear Plant to Decommissioning Portfolio

April 17, 2019

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Entergy on April 16 said it will sell its Indian Point Energy Center to Comprehensive Decommissioning International, a Camden, N.J.-based jointly owned subsidiary of Holtec International, a company buying nuclear plants that are closed or scheduled for retirement.

Holtec in the deal will receive funds that Entergy has invested in a decommissioning trust, currently worth about $ 2 billion. Entergy has now agreed to sell all its remaining fleet of merchant nuclear reactors to decommissioning firms; the company last year said it would sell its Vermont Yankee plant, which closed in 2014, to New York-based NorthStar.

NorthStar said it would complete decommissioning and restoration of the Vermont Yankee site by 2030. Entergy in its decommissioning report filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) had said its work would not be completed until 2075.

Entergy has said it will shut down the last two of Indian Point’s three reactors in 2021. Unit 1, a 257-MW reactor that came online in 1962, was retired in 1974.…

Ohio Lawmakers Announce Plan to Subsidize Nuclear Plants

April 15, 2019

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Ohio lawmakers on April 12 announced a plan to provide financial support to the state’s two nuclear power plants by adding a surcharge to customers’ electric bills. The bill’s supporters said it also would generate as much as $ 300 million annually for clean power generation in Ohio, though the measure calls for abolishing mandates for renewable energy.

House Speaker Larry Householder (R), leader of the state’s Republican-controlled House that is backing the bill, said the proposal—called the Ohio Clean Air Program (OCAP) —would do more than save the nuclear plants. About half the money raised by the surcharge would go to Davis-Besse nuclear plant near Toledo and the Perry plant near Cleveland.

The nuclear plants are scheduled to close by 2021 unless operator FirstEnergy Solutions (FES) can find a buyer for the plants or financial relief to keep them open. FES sought bankruptcy protection in March 2018, just after the company notified regional transmission organization (RTO) PJM Interconnection that it would close four uneconomic nuclear units—a total of 4 GW, including the two Ohio plants—in the RTO’s footprint.…

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

April 9, 2019

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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

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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.…