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CAISO’s First Geothermal Plant in 30 Years Comes Online

August 25, 2022

The first geothermal power plant built in more than three decades within the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) balancing authority has come online. Mammoth Pacific Geothermal, an Ormat Co. subsidiary, declared the 30-MW Casa Diablo IV (CD4) commercially operational on July 20.

CD4 is located on public land two miles east of the Town of Mammoth Lakes in Mono County, California. The project is part of the Mammoth complex, which includes three other plants—one completed in 1985 and two added in 1990—each with a generating capacity of approximately 10 MW. The complex taps into the Long Valley Caldera’s hydrothermal system at a point where the hot water is only a few hundred feet below ground.

CD4 comprises two Ormat Energy Converter (OEC) binary generating units, each 21.2 MW, and vaporizers, turbines, generators, air-cooled condensers, preheaters, pumps and piping, and related ancillary equipment. OEC binary generating units are based on an Organic Rankine Cycle, and work by vaporizing a secondary working fluid (organic, with a low boiling point) that is heated by the geothermal fluid extracted from an underground reservoir.…

California Governor Has Plan to Keep Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant Open

August 15, 2022

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed a plan that would keep the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant open into 2035, a decade beyond the facility’s current closure date.

The proposal, which in part includes giving plant owner Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) a forgivable $ 1.4-billion loan, was included in a draft legislative package sent to state lawmakers late on Aug. 11. The bill has not yet been introduced in the state legislature. The current legislative session ends Aug. 31, though Newsom could call for a special session beyond that date to consider the plan.

The proposal was confirmed by Newsom spokesman Anthony York, according to Associated Press. The news service reported the bill “says impacts of climate change are occurring sooner than anticipated and are simultaneously driving up electrical demand while reducing power supplies.”

“The governor has been clear for months about the potential need to extend the life of Diablo Canyon,” York said. The spokesman said the governor has stressed the importance of all energy options to maintain a reliable power supply, and “this proposal reflects the continued need to keep that flexibility.”…

IAEA: Shelling at Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Plant Raises ‘Real Risk’ of Nuclear Disaster

August 7, 2022

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The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is growing increasingly alarmed by military action at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant, warning that artillery shelling at the plant site on Aug. 5 underlines a “very real risk of a nuclear disaster.”

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi in a statement on Aug. 6 said new information about the Russian-Ukraine conflict at the site poses a “serious situation.” The information suggests that while there has been no damage to the 6-GW Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant’s six reactors and no radiological release, “there is damage elsewhere on the site,” he said.

Military action at Zaporizhzhya—Europe’s largest nuclear power plant—has ramped up in recent days. Russia occupied the plant, which is located in the southern part of Ukraine, in March—relatively early in its occupation of Ukraine. The nuclear plant continues to be operated by Energoatom, Ukraine’s state-owned entity. All 15 of Ukraine’s nuclear reactors are pressurized water reactors of Russian VVER design and are located at four plant sites.…

Rosatom Picks New EPC Lead for Turkey’s First Nuclear Power Plant

August 1, 2022

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A new contractor has been named to finish construction of Turkey’s first nuclear power plant. Russia’s state-owned energy giant Rosatom on July 30 said it had chosen TSM Enerji, a company owned by three Russian groups and incorporated in Turkey, as the project’s new engineering, procurement, and construction lead.

The Turkish government has said it wants to begin operating the first of four reactors at the 4,800-MW Akkuyu facility next year. “All works under current subcontracts will be transferred to TSM … similar new contracts will be signed between TSM and subcontractors,” Akkuyu Nuclear said in a statement on Saturday. The group did not say specifically why the previous EPC deal with IC Ictas, a Turkish company, had been ended.

IC Ictas on August 1 said it planned legal action against Rosatom’s move. Bloomberg News reported that IC Ictas said annulment of its contract was unlawful, and could result in a delay in the project. IC Ictas in a statement Monday said TSM Enerji, the new contractor, is a limited liability company that may not be able to complete the project.…

UK Throws Support Behind Sizewell C Nuclear Plant Construction

July 22, 2022

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The UK government has given the go-ahead for construction of the Sizewell C nuclear power plant in southeast England, which officials have called an important project for the country to meet its net-zero climate goals.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng on July 20 confirmed the government’s support, saying UK officials consider it a major infrastructure project for the country.

Sizewell C, which would be majority-owned by France utility EDF, would be built in Suffolk, a fishing village about 110 miles northeast of London that has been home to nuclear power at the Sizewell site for nearly 60 years. The plant is expected to have 3.2 GW of generation capacity, according to officials who on July 20 announced their support for the project. The plant is expected to feature two, 1,600-MW pressurized water (EPR) reactors.

Sizewell C is sited next to the existing Sizewell B nuclear plant, a 1,250-MW facility that has operated since 1995. Sizewell A, which came online in 1966, was closed at the end of 2006.…

JERA Readying to Start 1-GW Coal Plant as Japan Scrambles to Secure Power Supplies

July 16, 2022

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Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has called for up to nine nuclear plants to be put into operation to mitigate tight supplies expected this winter. The country could meanwhile resume operation of more than 10 thermal power plants to ensure electricity security this summer, he said.

Kishida’s comments at a press conference on July 14 come as the nation grapples with a summer power crunch. Earlier this summer, the Japanese government issued an “electricity shortage alert” for the first time under a new system as parts of the nation, including Tokyo, Saitama, Tochigi, and Ibaraki prefectures, suffered record-high heat.

Security of country’s power supplies has been compounded by the slow startup of its nuclear power plants, which were shut down after the March 2011 Fukushima disaster, as well as retirements of aging thermal plants for environmental reasons. So far, only 10 of Japan’s 33 reactors are operating. Another seven have been cleared by the nation’s nuclear regulator.

The country is meanwhile suffering a surge in fuel prices, which stems from tight markets in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.…