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Duke Energy Could Power Purdue with Nuclear Project

April 28, 2022

Small modular reactors (SMRs) are widely considered the best technology to increase the use of nuclear power worldwide, with advocates touting their zero-emission production of electricity, smaller land footprint, and scalability. SMRs also offer a cost savings over construction of new utility-scale nuclear reactors.

Powering a college campus with nuclear energy has increasingly been a topic of discussion in recent years, as universities try to reduce their carbon footprint and many seek to upgrade older, fossil fuel-powered central utility plants. Purdue University and Duke Energy on April 27 announced that officials will jointly look at the feasibility of using nuclear power to meet the school’s energy needs.

“No other option holds as much potential to provide reliable, adequate electric power with zero carbon emissions,” said Mitch Daniels, Purdue’s president since 2013 after serving two terms as Indiana’s governor. “Innovation and new ideas are at the core of what we do at Purdue, and that includes searching for ways to minimize the use of fossil fuels while still providing carbon-free, reliable, and affordable energy.…

EPA Proposes Tighter Controls on NOx Emissions from Power Plants, Industrial Sources

April 18, 2022

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A sweeping new proposed rule published in the Federal Register by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on April 6 establishes new nitrogen oxide (NO_x) emissions budgets that will require fossil fuel–fired power plants in 25 states to participate in an allowance-based ozone season trading program starting in 2023.

The proposal, which builds on the agency’s existing Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR), seeks to implement the EPA’s 2015 National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone of 70 parts per billion by imposing federal implementation plans (FIPs) on these states using its authority under the “good neighbor” requirements of the Clean Air Act. States affected are: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

The EPA’s existing CSAPR ozone-season NO_x program limits NO_x emissions from fossil fuel–fired electric generating units (EGUs) in 22 states during the ozone season, which runs from May 1 through September 30.…

Tri-State Moves to Retire Rifle Combined Cycle Power Plant

April 9, 2022

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Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, a wholesale power supply cooperative with 45 members in four states—Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Wyoming—announced its intentions to retire the Rifle Station, an 85-MW combined cycle facility in Rifle, Colorado.

The announcement was made on April 5 in conjunction with a filing with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). If approved, the plant would be closed “on or about Oct. 6, 2022,” Tri-State said.

The Rifle plant runs infrequently, according to the cooperative, because “sufficient and lower-cost resources” are available to serve member power requirements. The station reportedly would need “significant investments” to continue operating.

“The decision to retire Rifle Station comes as we transition to cleaner resources and reduce our wholesale rates,” Tri-State CEO Duane Highley said in a statement. “We appreciate our Rifle employees’ commitment and service through the years, and will be working with them to ease the impact of this transition.”

In January, Tri-State reached an agreement with more than two dozen parties on Phase I of its 2020 Electric Resource Plan (ERP), which was before the CPUC at the time.…

Power Companies Must Plan to Deal with Climate Risks

April 5, 2022

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The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a report at the end of February titled “Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability.” Among the warnings found in the 3,675-page report is that human-induced climate change is causing dangerous and widespread disruption in nature and affecting the lives of billions of people around the world, despite efforts to reduce the risks.

“When we look at the quantitative evidence, we clearly see that global average temperatures and sea levels have risen over the last 150 years, and that we are still on that trend. We also see that climate models cannot replicate historical observed global and continental changes without the human-related inputs, such as greenhouse gas emissions and land use activity,” Dr. Steven Rose, senior research economist and technical executive in the Energy Systems and Climate Analysis Group at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), who was also one of the lead authors of the IPCC report, told POWER.

“The evidence that climate change is affecting society and ecosystems has grown and is continuing to grow.…

Gas Power Outlook: Volatility and Viability

April 1, 2022

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Natural gas generation’s future hinges on a precarious and exceptionally volatile set of issues that the conflict in Ukraine intensified. Experts from the full natural gas chain shed light on how that uncertainty could play out for the fossil gas sector as decarbonization gains momentum, and countries reprioritize energy security and affordability.

In late February, as Russia began its large-scale invasion of Ukraine, the energy world flew into high alert, bracing for major disruptions to energy markets that remain highly dependent on Russian oil and gas. The fallback was swift, prompting an unprecedented volatility that has reverberated across the world.…

Fueling a Cleaner Future with a Hydrogen-First Economy: The New Green Energy Disrupting Power Distribution Companies

March 28, 2022

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Today, hydrogen is experiencing unprecedented demand. Its potential to become a key facilitator of a global transition to a net-zero emission economy, and provide a clean energy solution, has not gone unnoticed by industries worldwide—especially in the energy, utilities, and resources sector. But introducing a hydrogen-powered energy economy is no light decision, it will affect all aspects of how we generate and transmit power. Organizations must rely on modern technology and infrastructure to support a shift that will have an impact on the industry for the next 150 years.

Rising concerns about the effects of climate change, pledges to net-zero carbon emissions, and commitments to reducing greenhouse gases populate our energy landscape. Many would agree that hydrogen has the potential to help solve all. From its energy efficiency, lack of emissions, and access readiness to representing the most plentiful energy source on earth and throughout the galaxy—ultimately, hydrogen has the greatest potential to transform energy, utilities, and resources (EUR).…