Facility | EnergyNorthwest.com

An Inside Look at a State-of-the-Art Training Facility [PODCAST]

March 9, 2019

Royce Peters, senior technical coordinator for the Carpenters International Training Center (ITC) in Las Vegas, Nevada, was a guest on The POWER Podcast. The ITC is the largest and most-comprehensive training facility of its kind in the world. Following the completion of phase six of construction in 2018, the center now has more than 1.2 million square feet under-roof.

Peters listed some of the unique training tools available at the facility, including a Frame 7 gas turbine, a 64-MW steam turbine, eight overhead bridge cranes, and a 16,000-gallon underwater-welding dive tank, among other things. The facility is one of the largest publishers of technical training materials in the world, with more than 120 books created and more under development.

The Carpenters International Training Fund and its affiliated funds invest more than $ 200 million a year to develop and deliver training, enhance knowledge and skill sets, and create new opportunities for United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (UBC) members.…

Billions Over Budget, Kemper Facility Gasification Portion Is Suspended

June 29, 2017

| No Comments

| Industry News

Operations and start-up of the lignite gasification portion of the Kemper County Energy Facility, marred by exorbitant delays and cost overruns, and will be suspended immediately, Mississippi Power announced on June 28.

The Southern Co. subsidiary plans to continue running a combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant that was completed as part of the $ 7.5 billion project three years ago, pending the Mississippi Public Service Commission’s (MPSC) decision on future operations.

Southern Co said the step was “appropriate” to manage skyrocketing costs, given the economics of the project, and the MPSC’s recent intent to establish a settlement docket to address matters related to the future operation of the gasifier portion of the project.

The proposed settlement docket is to be established by the commission on July 6. “The company will make any future announcements as to the status of the project based on the outcome of that process or future Commission action,” Southern Co. said.

Jack Bonnikson, a Southern Co.…

Mississippi PSC: Kemper Facility Should Operate Using Only Natural Gas

June 25, 2017

| No Comments

| Industry News

The Mississippi Public Service Commission (MPSC) at an open meeting on June 21 unanimously passed a motion instructing its counsel to prepare an order pursuing potential solutions regarding the Kemper County Power Generation Facility.

In a press release, the MPSC said the “Kemper Facility should operate using only natural gas.” The commission said it wanted to remove risk from ratepayers for the lignite coal gasifier and related assets, and ensure no further rate increases were incurred by Mississippi Power Co. customers. (In fact, the commission strongly encouraged rate reductions, particularly for residential customers.)

Mississippi Power issued a statement on the MPSC decision. It said, “The PSC provided several guidelines to consider for the negotiations, including the possibility of the project only operating as a natural gas-fueled combined cycle plant. We expect the process for any negotiations and this new docket will be formally addressed as part of a proposed order the Commission will consider at their July 6 meeting. We look forward to reviewing the order.”…

Oregon Wave Energy Center Gets $40 Million for Test Facility

December 23, 2016

| No Comments

| Industry News

Oregon State University’s (OSU’s) Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center (NNMREC) was awarded up to $ 40 million by the Department of Energy (DOE) on December 21 to create what the center calls the world’s premier wave energy test facility in Newport, Ore.

The NNMREC facility, known as the Pacific Marine Energy Center South Energy Test Site, is planned to be operational by 2020. It will be able to test wave energy converters that harness the energy of ocean waves and turn it into electricity. Companies around the world are already anticipating construction of the new facility to test and perfect their technologies, OSU officials say.

Oregon State University’s Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center was awarded up to $ 40 million by the DOE on December 21 to create a wave energy test facility in Newport. Source: OSU

“We anticipate this will be the world’s most advanced wave energy test facility,” said Belinda Batten, director of NNMREC and a professor in the OSU College of Engineering.…

Paducah Laser Nuclear Enrichment Facility Gets Fuel but Not Formal Construction Decision

November 12, 2016

| No Comments

| Industry News

While GE-Hitachi Global Laser Enrichment (GLE) confirmed it hasn’t made a formal decision to proceed with licensing or construction of a laser enrichment facility at Paducah, Ky., the Department of Energy (DOE) announced it has agreed to sell depleted uranium to the company over a 40-year period to help produce nuclear power plant fuel.

The DOE said that GLE would finance, construct, own, and operate the Paducah Laser Enrichment Facility proposed for a site near the DOE’s Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in western Kentucky. The commercial facility is expected to use, under a Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) license, depleted uranium to produce natural uranium, which will then be used for production of fuel for U.S. civil nuclear reactors. The agreement provides for the sale of about 300,000 metric tons of DOE-owned high-assay uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) inventories for re-enrichment using proprietary SILEX technology to produce natural-grade uranium.

Yet, as a GE Power spokesperson told POWER on November 11, GLE “has made no formal decision to proceed with licensing or construction of the facility.”…