Your Source for Energy Jobs & Industry News
State-run China Energy News reported that officials on August 19 approved construction of 11 nuclear reactors across the country, part of a wave of new reactors that could see China […]
The post China Approves 11 New Nuclear Reactors, Including Fourth-Generation Design appeared first on POWER Magazine.
The U.S. Senate on April 30 passed—by unanimous consent—a bill to ban imports of unirradiated low-enriched uranium (LEU) produced in Russia. The bill now heads to the president’s desk for […]
The post Congress Approves Ban on Imports of Enriched Uranium From Russia appeared first on POWER Magazine.
The post SRP Approves Arizona Expansion with 16 Gas-Fired Turbines appeared first on POWER Magazine.
The board of directors of Arizona’s second-largest public utility has approved a nearly $ 1 billion plan to expand the natural gas-fired Coolidge Generating Station, adding 820 MW of generation capacity.
The Coolidge station at present is a 575-MW power plant with 12 single-cycle gas turbines; the plant began operating in 2011. The expansion plan approved Sept. 13 would add another 16 gas-fired turbines to the site.
The Coolidge station is operated by Salt River Project (SRP). The expansion plan was approved by an 8-6 vote of the utility’s board on Monday. The board also rejected a motion to table the decision for one month so the proposal and associated data could be analyzed.
The utility has not provided extensive details about the project, and SRP did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the expansion. An Aug. 24 presentation to the Salt River Project Power Committee said expanding the gas-fired plant would be more cost-effective than building carbon-free power generation under scenarios that included “low gas prices.”…
The post Judge Approves PG&E Bankruptcy Exit appeared first on POWER Magazine.
A federal judge in California has approved Pacific Gas & Electric’s plan to exit bankruptcy, clearing the way for the utility to compensate victims of a series of wildfires in the state that left more than 100 people dead in 2017 and 2018.
The action by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali on June 20 authorized $ 13.5 billion in compensation for more than 70,000 businesses and homeowners for losses sustained during the fires, which officials said were started by PG&E’s equipment. The company will emerge from bankruptcy with about $ 40 billion in debt, after agreeing to settle claims from people, insurers, and local government agencies for $ 25.5 billion.
Montali’s approval also will allow PG&E to take part in a $ 20 billion state fund established by lawmakers, designed to help utilities operating in the state cover liabilities from future wildfires attributed to their transmission lines and other equipment. …
The $ 23.8 billion Hinkley Point C nuclear project has received the UK government’s green light, but the country wants to ensure that project’s ownership cannot change without government agreement.
After a “comprehensive review” of the project and a revised agreement with French power generator EDF, the UK Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial (DBEI) Strategy on September 15 confirmed plans to build the nation’s first new nuclear power plant in decades in Somerset, southwest England.
EDF will build the plant with a $ 7.94 billion investment from Chinese state nuclear firm China General Nuclear.
EDF made a final investment decision to proceed with construction of two EPR units (after a lengthy review process and several postponements) on July 28. But in an abrupt turn, just as contracts between EDF and the UK government were to be signed on July 29, the government signaled that it would carefully reconsider an agreement reached with EDF on key commercial terms reached in October 2013.…
The European Union (EU) parliament on July 6 approved the first community-wide rules designed to bolster cybersecurity throughout the EU.
According to the official statement, the new law “lays down security and reporting obligations for ‘operators of essential services’ in sectors such as energy, transport, health, banking and drinking water supply. EU member states will have to identify entities in these fields using specific criteria, e.g. whether the service is critical for society and the economy and whether an incident would have significant disruptive effects on the provision of that service.”
In addition, some “digital service providers” such as search engines and online marketplaces will be required to take measures to secure their infrastructure and report significant cybersecurity incidents to national authorities.
“Cybersecurity incidents very often have a cross-border element and therefore concern more than one EU member state. Fragmentary cybersecurity protection makes us all vulnerable and poses a big security risk for Europe as a whole.…