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Coal-Fired Generation Down 30% in U.S., 8% Worldwide

August 14, 2020

The post Coal-Fired Generation Down 30% in U.S., 8% Worldwide appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Analysis from a global energy organization said power generation from coal-fired units fell 8.3% in the first half of 2020, with the world’s coal fleet running at less than half its capacity. The drop for U.S. coal generation was more steep, with the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reporting the output from the nation’s coal units was 30% lower this year compared to the first six months of 2019.

The Ember group, a UK-based think tank, said the global drop was in part due to significantly lower demand for power during the coronavirus pandemic, and coal’s share of generation also was eroded by increased production of electricity from renewables such as solar and wind. Investments in renewable energy continue to increase worldwide as wind and solar power have become competitive with fossil fuel-fired generation.

Ember’s global half-year electricity analysis, released August 13, comes at the same time as the EIA’s latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), published Tuesday.…

Watch Stack Come Down at Florida Power Plant

July 21, 2019

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JEA, the electric utility in Jacksonville, Florida, has been decommissioning the St. Johns River Power Park over the past year. A third implosion as part of the decommissioning occurred July 19, as a 640-foot-tall stack and two steam generating boilers were demolished.

Friday’s work followed similar implosions in June 2018, when the plant’s two, 464-foot-tall cooling towers were taken down, and in April of this year when four selective catalytic reactors were destroyed.

The coal-fired plant, which was closed in January 2018 after operating since March 1987, is scheduled to be fully decommissioned in June 2020. JEA has said it will keep at least some of the 2,000-acre site for a future power station, and also for coal ash disposal. The plant was co-owned by JEA and Florida Power & Light.

Total Wrecking & Environmental, a demolition and remediation company based in Buffalo, New York, was awarded a $ 14.5 million contract to demolish the plant and provided video of Friday’s blast.…

POWER Notebook: Investment in Renewables Down in 1H2019

July 15, 2019

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Investments in renewable energy projects slowed in the first half of 2019, primarily due to a 39% year-over-year drop in China, the world’s largest renewables market, according to data published July 10 by BloombergNEF (BNEF).

BNEF said investments in China dropped to $ 28.8 billion, the lowest figure for any six-month period since 2013. China is moving away from government-set tariffs for solar and wind capacity and instead moving to auctions for renewable power. BNEF said global investment in renewables was $ 117.6 billion in the first half of this year, off 14% compared to the January-June 2018 period.

Justin Wu, head of Asia-Pacific for BNEF, in a news release said: “The slowdown in investment in China is real, but the figures for first-half 2019 probably overstate its severity. We expect a nationwide solar auction happening now to lead to a rush of new PV project financings. We could also see several big deals in offshore wind in the second half.”…

Report: Global Renewable Investment Down, Capacity Grows

April 11, 2017

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Global new renewable power capacity grew in 2016 even as global new investment in renewables dropped, according to a report commissioned by the United Nations Environment Program out April 6.

The Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2017 report found that global investment in renewables—excluding large hydro—fell in 2016 by 23% to $ 241.6 billion. That total represented the lowest global investment since 2013.

Global renewable power capacity grew 8% in 2016. “Wind, solar, biomass and waste-to-energy, geothermal, small hydro and marine sources between them added 138.5GW, up from 127.5GW in the previous year,” according to the report.

The reason for the drop in investment is twofold, the report says. “One was lower costs, with average dollar capital expenditure per MW down by more than 10% for solar photovoltaics, onshore wind and offshore wind, improving the competitiveness of those technologies,” according to the report. “The other was not so positive – there was a marked slowdown in financings in China, Japan and some emerging markets during the course of the year.…

France’s Nuclear Storm: Many Power Plants Down Due to Quality Concerns

November 2, 2016

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[Note: This article will appear in the forthcoming December 2016 print issue of POWER.]

The discovery of widespread carbon segregation problems in critical nuclear plant components has crippled the French power industry—20 of the country’s 58 reactors are currently offline and under heavy scrutiny. France’s nuclear safety chairman said more anomalies “will likely be found,” as the extent of the contagion is still being uncovered.

With over half of France’s 58 reactors possibly affected by “carbon segregation,” the nation’s nuclear watchdog, the Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire (ASN) has ordered that preventative measures be taken immediately to ensure public safety. As this story goes into production in late October, ASN has confirmed that 20 reactors are currently offline and potentially more will shut down in coming weeks.

The massive outages are draining power from all over Europe. Worse, new questions continue to swirl about both the safety and integrity of Électricité de France SA’s (EDF’s) nuclear fleet, as well as the quality of some French- and Japanese-made components that EDF is using in various high-profile nuclear projects around the world.…

An Asian Nuclear Duo: Monju Down, Bataan Up?

August 31, 2016

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With costs for a restart escalating, Japan is considering scrapping its troubled Monju fast breeder nuclear reactor, just as a never-started nuclear plant in the Philippines may get a new lease on life.

Monju May Be Finished

Japan Times reported that readying the Monju plant for restart “would cost several hundred billion yen.” Sources said that “a political decision” on decommissioning is likely. The science ministry has been looking for someone to run the 280-MW facility (Figure 1) but has found no takers.

Japan's troubled Monju breeder reactor may be decommissioned after a government agency estimated a restart could cost . Courtesy: Nife/Wikipedia

1. Japan’s troubled Monju breeder reactor may be decommissioned after a government agency estimated a restart could cost billions of dollars. Courtesy: Nife/Wikipedia

Japan’s Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) last year ordered the ministry to come up with a new operator because of the plant’s poor performance. Construction began in 1986, and the plant first went critical in 1994. But a nasty fire caused by a leak of sodium coolant in December 1995 shut the plant down and led to a scandal as the semi-governmental operator at the time tried to cover up the accident.…