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Xcel Scrapping Plan to Build New 800-MW Gas-Fired Plant

June 28, 2021

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Xcel Energy is pivoting from its plan to build a new 800-MW natural gas-fired power plant at the site of its Sherco coal-fired facility in Becker, Minnesota. Instead, Xcel plans to build two smaller gas-fired “peaker” plants, one in Minnesota and one in North Dakota, as part of a new initiative for the utility’s power generation in the Midwest.

Xcel also proposed two repowered gas-fired plants—one in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, and another in Wisconsin—that also would run only during periods of high demand for electricity. The utility, based in Minneapolis and with operations in eight states, outlined its proposal in a plan submitted to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) on June 25.

Xcel’s still plans to close its Minnesota coal-fired power plants, include Sherco’s three units that have more than 2,200 MW of generation capacity, by 2030. Sherco—short for Sherburne County Generating Station—began operating in the 1970s.…

Exec Calls for Action on New Texas Gas-Fired Plants

June 16, 2021

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The chief executive of a Connecticut-based energy investment firm has called for action on his group’s proposal to build as many as 11 new natural gas-fired power plants in Texas.

Himanshu Saxena, CEO of Starwood Energy Group, in a June 14 interview said, “We would like to see significant steps in countering, negotiating and material tangible actions on our proposal.”

Saxena’s comments, published by Reuters, came the same day the state’s grid operator, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), asked Texans to reduce their electricity use “as much as possible” this week. ERCOT said that power plants accounting for as much as 11 GW of generation capacity were offline due to what it called “forced outages,” at a time when temperatures have soared into the upper 90s in the state. ERCOT in an email to POWER wrote that “forced outages are unscheduled and result from the failure of a power plant to function as designed.”…

$8 Billion Proposals Could Bring New Gas-Fired Plants to Texas

April 28, 2021

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An energy investment group told Texas regulators the company has a plan to help solve some of that state’s electricity reliability issues, proposing a plan similar to one put forth by billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Energy in March.

Starwood Energy Group on April 23 sent the state’s Public Utility Commission a proposal to build 11 natural gas-fired power plants, investing more than $ 8 billion to develop and construct the facilities. Representatives from Berkshire Hathaway Energy last month met with Texas lawmakers and said their group was prepared to spend about $ 8.3 billion to build 10 gas-fired plants across the state.

Starwood, based in Greenwich, Connecticut, in an April 23 letter from CEO Himanshu Saxena to the Texas PUC (PUCT) and the board of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the state’s main grid operator, said it wanted to outline “a compelling proposal to solve ERCOT’s reliability issues as was demonstrated by the energy crisis that occurred in February 2021.”…

8 Rivers Unveils 560 MW of Allam Cycle Gas-Fired Projects for Colorado, Illinois

April 18, 2021

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8 Rivers Capital, inventor of a novel supercritical carbon dioxide (CO₂) cycle, plans to begin operating a 280-MW NET Power natural gas–fired plant within the Southern Ute Indian Reservation in southwest Colorado by 2025. The company on April 15 also said it will team with agricultural and processing firm Archer-Daniels-Midlands Co. (ADM) to locate a 280-MW NET Power facility in Decatur, Illinois.

The proposed projects are a giant leap forward for Durham, North Carolina- headquartered venture capitalist firm 8 Rivers, and NET Power, a firm it holds jointly with industry backers that is working to commercialize the Allam Cycle.

Despite intense interest from industry, NET Power has been quiet about developments surrounding the potentially revolutionary technology, including any achievements at a NET Power test facility in La Porte, Texas. The company marked its last substantial technology triumph in May 2018, when it achieved first-fire of a novel commercial-scale 50-MWth combustor at the La Porte facility. …

Wisconsin PSC Backs Construction of Gas-Fired Plant

January 18, 2020

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Construction of a $ 700 million natural gas-fired power plant near the Wisconsin-Minnesota border was authorized by Wisconsin regulators on Jan. 16, over the objections of environmental groups who have said the plant is not needed.

Dairyland Power Cooperative and Minnesota Power would jointly own the 625-MW Nemadji Trail Energy Center, which on its current timeline is scheduled to come online in 2024. Wisconsin’s Public Service Commission (PSC) voted 2-1 on Thursday to allow the project to move forward. The utilities have said the plant would enable them to move away from coal-fired power and support their integration of wind and solar generation resources.

Several environmental groups oppose the plant, including the Sierra Club, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy. Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) also opposes the plant, citing local impacts such as loss of wetlands and depletion of groundwater.…

Minnesota Court Blocks Construction of Gas-Fired Plant

December 24, 2019

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A Minnesota court on Dec. 23 said a proposed natural gas-fired power plant in neighboring Wisconsin needs more environmental review before construction can proceed, reversing an earlier decision by the state’s Public Utilities Commission that approved the facility.

The state Court of Appeals on Monday said state regulators must look at whether the Nemadji Trail Energy Center in Superior, Wisconsin, which was approved by the PUC in October 2018 and would have a generation capacity of 525 to 625 MW, would have “significant environmental effects” on the surrounding area. The court’s ruling means the PUC must conduct another review of the plant.

Minnesota Power, a utility division of Midwestern energy company ALLETE and headquartered in Duluth, and La Crosse, Wisconsin-based Dairyland Power Cooperative want to build the proposed $ 700 million Nemadji Trail plant on land between the Nemadjij River and Enbridge Energy’s Superior terminal, near Lake Superior at the border of Minnesota and Wisconsin.…