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New 1.1-GW GE-Powered Gas-Fired Plant Enters Service in Michigan

July 12, 2022

A new $ 1.1-billion natural gas-fired power plant, built by Kiewit and featuring equipment from General Electric (GE), has entered service in southwest Michigan. The Indeck Niles Energy Center in Niles, a community just north of South Bend, Indiana, will provide 1,100 MW of generation capacity.

The plant is operated by Indeck Energy Services along with its South Korean partners, Korea Southern Power Co. (KOSPO) and DL Energy, formerly known as Daelim Energy. Indeck, based in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, is a developer of thermal and renewable energy power generation projects across the Upper Midwest and U.S. Northeast. KOSPO is South Korea’s largest electric utility.

The Niles plant features two GE 7HA.02 gas turbines, powering two GE-supplied H65 generators. The facility also includes an STF-D600 steam turbine powering a H84 generator, and two heat recovery steam generators that are triple pressure reheat drum. The plant also includes GE’s Mark* VIe Distributed Control System software, along with services to support the availability and reliability of the plant, according to GE.…

Unit 3 at Barakah Nuclear Plant Licensed, Set to Load Fuel

June 19, 2022

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The third unit of the Barakah nuclear power plant (NPP), the first such facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Arab world, is ready to begin fuel loading, according to a statement issued by the country’s nuclear regulatory agency on June 19.

The Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR) on Sunday said it would send inspectors to oversee the process, in order “to ensure the fuel load and testing processes are completed according to requirements.”

The FANR on June 17 granted Nawah Energy Co., the operations and maintenance division of Emirates Nuclear Energy Corp., a license to operate Unit 3 for 60 years. Christer Viktorsson, FANR’s director-general, said the licensing of Unit 3 means the plant’s operators can being a commissioning period to prepare for commercial operation.

FANR in a news release said its decision to issue the operating license “is a culmination of efforts made by FANR since it received the Operating License Application from Nawah in 2017 for Units 3 and 4.…

Latest APR-1400 Reactor Now Online at South Korea’s Shin Hanul Nuclear Plant

June 11, 2022

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The first of what could be as many as four APR-1400 nuclear reactors at the Shin Hanul site in South Korea is now supplying electricity to the country’s power grid.

Unit 1 at Shin Hanul is a 1,400-MW reactor. It was connected to the grid on June 9, just more than two weeks after the pressurized water reactor reached first criticality on May 22, according to officials with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP).

South Korean officials said Shin Hanul, located in Uljin on the country’s east coast, is part of the new government’s strategy to achieve energy security while also supporting environmental goals. The start-up of the reactor comes three months after the election of Yoon Suk-yeol as South Korea’s new president. Suk-yeol has said he plans to reverse the strategy of former President Moon Jae-in, who wanted to phase-out nuclear power generation. Jae-in adopted that policy after he assumed office in 2017, in part citing the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi accident in Japan.…

Two Killed in Collapse of Coal Pile at Colorado Power Plant

June 3, 2022

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Two employees of a company that manages coal-handling operations for Xcel Energy’s Comanche Generating Station in Colorado were killed June 2 when they were trapped in a coal pile that collapsed at the power plant.

The collapse happened Thursday morning about 8:30 a.m. Mountain time, according to officials. Rescue crews located the victims Thursday afternoon. Officials said the victims, whose names were not immediately released, were working on the 80-foot-high pile of coal. Officials said it is not known what the workers, sub-contractors from Savage Services, were doing at the time of the incident.

Comanche is a three-unit coal-fired plant. Comanche’s 857-MW Unit 3 is the largest coal-burning unit in Colorado.

Pueblo Fire Inspector and Public Information Officer Erik Duran told media, “EMS emergency services responders on site determined that [the victims] were dead on scene.” Duran said responders recovered the bodies of “two men, one in his 20s and one in his 30s. We reached the first victim at around 3 p.m.…

Philippines May Restart Bataan Nuclear Plant Project

May 24, 2022

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The winner of the Philippines’ presidential election earlier this month has made another move in support of reviving nuclear power in that country, holding talks with South Korea about enlisting help to restart a nuclear power plant project that was abandoned nearly 40 years ago.

President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. met with Kim Inchul, South Korea’s ambassador to Manila, on May 23 to discuss reviving the 620-MW Bataan Nuclear Power Plant. The Bataan plant was championed by Marcos Jr.’s father, Ferdinand Marcos Sr., during the latter’s time as the country’s leader, and $ 2.3 billion was spent on the plant’s construction.

Ferdinand Marcos Jr., son and namesake of longtime Filipino president Ferdinand Marcos Sr., was elected as president of the Philippines on May 9. Marcos Jr., known as Bongbong, has said nuclear power will be a priority for his administration. Source: Wikipedia

The Bataan facility—what would have been the country’s first and only nuclear plant—was never commissioned, as safety concerns arose after the Three Mile Island accident in the U.S.…

GE Turbines Will Equip Vietnam’s First LNG-Fueled Power Plant

May 16, 2022

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Two units of a new gas-fired power plant in Vietnam will feature the first use of General Electric’s (GE’s) H-Class turbine in the country.

GE on May 16 announced that PetroVietnam Power Corp.’s (PV Power’s) Nhon Trach 3 & 4 Power Plant, with 1.6 GW of generation capacity, will use two GE 9HA.02 gas turbines. It also will be the first power station in Vietnam fueled by liquefied natural gas (LNG).

The new units are expected to provide electricity for three large industrial areas in the southern region of the country including Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, and Ba Ria–Vung Tau provinces.

LNG projects are being developed in Vietnam as the country tries to wean itself off coal-fired power generation, which supplies about half the country’s electricity. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in November of last year said Vietnam wants to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The country’s ruling Communist Party has said it does not want to build nuclear power plants, and in 2016 scrapped plans for reactors backed by both Japan and Russia.…