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Trump EPA Scraps CCS as BSER for New Coal Units

December 14, 2018

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has significantly relaxed requirements needed to build new coal-fired power units in the U.S.

The revisions proposed on December 6 for performance standards governing carbon dioxide emissions from new, reconstructed, and modified coal power units respond to the Trump Administration’s Executive Order on Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth, which directed the EPA and other agencies to review existing regulations and revise or rescind “those that unduly burden the development of domestic energy resources beyond the degree necessary to protect the public interest or otherwise comply with the law.”

Among the proposal’s key changes to the Obama administration’s 2015-finalized New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) are that they drop partial carbon capture and storage (CCS) as the best system of emission reduction (BSER) for new coal units, citing “high costs and limited geographic availability of CCS.”

Instead, for new units, the EPA proposed limits for CO₂ emissions based on “the most efficient demonstrated steam cycle in combination with the best operating practices.”…

Report: Investments in Coal Risky, Billions in Assets Could Be Stranded

October 31, 2018

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A study from a London-based group focused on financial aspects of the energy industry said up to $ 60 billion of coal-fired power generation assets may be stranded in Southeast Asia in the next 10 years. The study released this week by Carbon Tracker said renewable energy resources and more-stringent environmental policies make investments in new coal generation “a mistake.”

The study was released on the heels of a report last week from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), a Cleveland, Ohio-based clean energy group, that said the U.S. will retire 15.4 GW of coal capacity in 2018, which it said represents 44 coal-fired generation units at 22 power plants. The group said another 21.4 GW of coal generation will close by 2024.

The IEEFA report said the U.S. is still operating 246 GW of coal generation capacity, with announced retirements from 2018 through 2024 (Figure 1) representing about 15% of that total. It said coal plants in at least 14 states are scheduled to close over the next few years, including units in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, according to IEEFA.…

West Virginia Coal Plant Will Remain Open Until 2022

October 23, 2018

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FirstEnergy on October 18 said its coal-fired Pleasants Power Station in West Virginia will stay open until June 2022, after earlier announcing the plant would close in January of next year.

FirstEnergy spokeswoman Jennifer Young said, “Keeping Pleasants in operation … allows the plant to fulfill current capacity obligations and provides additional time for evaluation of the long-term plan for the station prior to deactivation.”

The plant is operated by Allegheny Energy Supply (AES), a FirstEnergy subsidiary. Pushing back the closing date allows Pleasants Power to remain in operation until the transfer of the facility from AES to FirstEnergy Solutions (FES) is complete. The transfer is part of FirstEnergy’s bankruptcy settlement agreement with FES and the FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC), Young said.

FirstEnergy in February of this year said it would close the 1.3-GW Pleasants Power Station by January 1, 2019. The company has been suffering steep losses in competitive markets. It announced a plan in November 2016 to exit competitive generation and become a fully regulated company.…

Coal Silo Failures Reveal the Need for NDE Inspection

October 14, 2018

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In July 2016, a coal silo collapsed at an Indiana power plant. The root cause was identified as cracking of the cone-to-skirt weld. Warnings to inspect this vulnerable weld were published widely in conference proceedings and trade journal articles. Nevertheless, coal silos continue to fail at an alarming rate (Figure 1), which suggests that the needed inspections weren’t completed by all power producers.

1. Recent failures of cone-to-skirt welds on large coal silos point to the need for ongoing inspections. Courtesy: Joe W. Frey Engineering Associates, LLC

If you have any of these suspended cone silos (Figure 2) in your plant and are not yet doing non-destructive evaluation (NDE) inspections of their cone-to-skirt welds, then you need to start today.

2. Coal silos like this need our immediate attention! Courtesy: Joe W. Frey Engineering Associates, LLC

Granted, this particular design is a real challenge to inspect, because the silo’s liner seals over the galvanic cell (in layman’s terms, a corrosion sandwich) that is created at the union of the stainless-steel liner and the carbon-steel structure.…

AEP Will Close Ohio Coal Plant Early

October 10, 2018

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American Electric Power (AEP) this week confirmed it will close its coal-fired Conesville Power Plant in Ohio earlier than originally planned. An AEP spokesperson in an email to media confirmed the plant’s workers were told October 5 that the plant will close by May 31, 2020.

AEP said Units 5 and 6 at the plant, which were originally scheduled to shut down in 2022, will likely close in May 2019. Unit 4 is scheduled to close in May 2020. Those three units began commercial operation between 1973 and 1978.

The first unit at the plant began operating in Coshocton County in 1957, with Unit 2 starting up in 1959, and Unit 3 in 1962. The plant celebrated its 60th anniversary last year. Those three units were decommissioned between 2005 and 2012.

The company said the decision to close the remaining units earlier than planned was made after the plant did not clear the PJM market capacity auction for 2021 to 2022, and only partly cleared the auction for 2020 to 2021.…

Enviros Dispute State Findings on Coal Ash Spill

October 8, 2018

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Environmental officials in North Carolina say their tests show that coal ash released from Duke Energy’s Sutton power plant in Wilmington during flooding from Hurricane Florence has not had a negative impact on the Cape Fear River.

The state’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) on October 4 said its test results on water samples collected on four different days following the hurricane aligned with results from Duke Energy’s water tests. Environmentalists, though, said the state tests are not conclusive because they did not include tests on the sediment at the bottom of the river.

The DEQ said heavy metals found in the river water are within state standards. Paige Sheehan, a Duke Energy spokeswoman, in a statement said the state’s test results show “that Cape Fear River quality is not harmed by Sutton plant operations.” A DEQ spokeswoman said the state did find slightly elevated levels of copper in the river, but said they are not a threat to public health.…