Posts Tagged ‘electric power costs’

December 7 Energy News

December 7, 2012

Technology:

¶   GE says a new blade design could reduce blade costs by 25 to 40 per cent, making wind energy as economical as fossil fuels without government subsidies. The design incorporates fabrics developed by GE and the University of Virginia. [DesignBuild Source]

Japan:

¶   The Japanese government could restart idle reactors next summer. A law requires all reactors to pass safety tests by July. [Japan Daily Press]

¶   A strong earthquake of magnitude 7.3 hit northeastern Japan. There was no indication of damage to the nuclear power plants. [Wall Street Journal]

World:

¶   Australian BHP Billiton, the world’s largest mining company, admits that climate change is real, and is retrofitting at least one old coal facility at a seaport to withstand worse weather in the future. [Energy Collective]

¶   Investment in the Scottish renewable energy industry exceeded £900 million during the first half of 2012. The figure for the entire year of 2011 was £750 million. [ic Dumfries.co.uk]

¶   EON SE  cut its earnings forecasts as an excess of electricity from wind turbines and solar PV’s makes its gas-fired generating plants unprofitable. [Businessweek]

US:

¶   California’s Little Hoover Commission, which has the task of seeing to it that the state is run efficiently, is warning that state agencies need to be reorganized to meet the needs of the rapid increase in renewable power. [Clean Energy Authority]

¶   Next semester, members of Harvard University’s highest governing body will meet with students who advocate for the University to divest its more than $30 billion endowment from fossil fuels. [Harvard Crimson]

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November 25 Energy News

November 25, 2012

Japan:

¶   The US will help Japan by supplying liquified natural gas. [Asahi Shimbun]

World:

¶   Indian cabinet minister K. H. Muniyappa explained to residents of Bangarpet that dumping nuclear waste in the Kolar mine shafts is merely an idea, not a decision. The protests against the idea are still going on anyway. [Deccan Herald]

¶   The Australian government issued an energy white paper, which says fossil fuels will provide most of the electricity for the next 20 years. The climate commissioner contradicts this, saying the economy could be powered “almost entirely by renewable energy” in coming decades. [The Australian Financial Review]

US:

¶   A  small leak at the new plant in Hanford, Washington, being built to vitrify radioactive waste from weapons production, combines with a recommendation leaked to the media that a supervisor should be fired to show there are questions that need to be asked about a $12 billion dollar project. [OregonLive.com]

¶   Some in Louisiana are questioning whether the collapse of a salt dome cavern at Corne Bayou, local earthquakes, and nearby drilling for oil are related. [Examiner.com]

¶   Residents of Long Island who went without power for weeks after Hurricane Sandy are finding their electric bills are just as high as ever. [NewsMax.com]

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October 15 Energy News

October 15, 2012

Technology:

¶   Solar Junction, a Silicon Valley based developer of high-efficiency solar cells for the concentrating photovoltaics market, has set a world record of 44% for energy efficiency of a commercial-ready production solar cell. [U.S. Politics Today]

Japan:

¶   The internal document produced by TEPCO, in which it admitted the Fukushima Disaster could have been prevented, is available online. [TEPCO web page]

World:

¶   In a non-binding referendum, 32% of Lithuanians voted in favor of  a nuclear power plant, and 62.1% voted against it. The Japanese reactor builder is likely to pull out of the project, given the poll results. [Baltic Business News]

¶   A worldwide poll on nuclear power shows an increase in support since the period immediately after the Fukushima Disaster, but worldwide, most still oppose it. [Nuclear Engineering International]

US:

¶   In southern California, ratepayers are being charged an average of $10 each month to cover costs of a nuclear power plant that has not delivered them any power for nearly a year. [Los Angeles Times]

¶   In an election year, no decision is forthcoming on regulating coal waste. [Washington Post]

¶   The Bayou Corne sinkhole is covered with a thick layer of crude oil, which is spreading into the adjacent environment. [Examiner.com]

Vermont:

¶   Governor Shumlin’s administration is being criticized for opposing a wind project in Windham County. The administration takes the view that they cannot support the project because local regulations block the project. [NewsOK]

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August 2 Energy News

August 2, 2012

Japan:

¶   Shunichi Tanaka, who was nominated to head the new atomic regulatory authority, said he expects the reactors at Ohi to shut down if an active fault is found underneath them. [The Japan Daily Press]
… He also advocates a very cautious approach to restarting more nuclear reactors. [The Daily Yomiuri]

¶   Fukushima residents gave government officials an earful at a public meeting on nuclear policy. [Asahi Shimbun]

¶   Prosecutors from three districts are opening criminal investigations relating to the Fukushima Disaster.  Both TEPCO executives and government officials are under scrutiny for professional negligence resulting in death, injury, and economic loss.  [The Japan Times]

¶   Solar electric generation is growing so rapidly in Japan that some experts expect the country to be the second greatest producer, after Germany. [NewScientist]

World:

¶   A massive blackout hit India, possibly the worst blackout ever. Solar panels maintained electricity for poor, off-grid villages, while wealthier people supplied by grid electricity went without. [Energy Matters]

US:

¶   The NRC Atomic Safety and Licensing Board considering a license for a new reactor at Calvert Cliffs has decided to delay its decision by a month.  Peter Bradford of the Vermont Law School, a former NRC commissioner, said during panel discussion “whatever the NRC licensing board decides … the proposed reactors at Calvert Cliffs and South Texas are not going to be built-in the foreseeable future,” adding that nuclear reactors “always cost too much compared to available alternatives.” [Southern Maryland News]

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July 24 Energy News

July 24, 2012

Technology:

¶   Scientists are working on a way to prevent zirconium based cladding of nuclear fuel rods from reacting with steam. [Lincoln Journal Star]

Japan:

¶   A government report says the underlying cause of the Fukushima Disaster was belief in a “myth of nuclear safety.” Managers and officials simply did not believe a major accident was possible, so dangers were ignored, with both preventative measures and disaster preparations unaddressed. unaddressed[The Japan Times]
… The same report says TEPCO is still failing to ensure safety properly and is unwilling to examine the problems that caused the Fukushima Disaster. [Wall Street Journal]
… In addition, the report suggests all nuclear power plants are vulnerable to the same problems that underlay the Fukushima Disaster. [The Guardian]

¶   Many hospital patients being evacuated because of the Fukushima Disaster died because of lack of planning and preparation. [Asahi Shimbun]

¶   Consumers are avoiding beef from the areas around Fukushima. [The Japan Times]
… Nevertheless, octopus from the northern coast of Fukushima prefecture have returned to market. [The Japan Times]

¶   A citizen’s group has found high levels of radioactive cesium at the side of a river 178 km (110 miles) from the Fukushima Daiichi plant. [Infoshop News]

World:

¶   Falling costs of photovoltaics and lithium batters are bringing Australia to the point that off-grid power is economically competitive with grid-based power. [Newsmaker]

US:

¶   The Oyster Creek plant was shut down yesterday because of loss of offsite power. [Star Ledger]

¶   The governor of New Jersey has signed a bill to maintain encouragement of solar power in that state. [Bloomberg Business Week]

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July 13 Energy News

July 13, 2012

Japan:

¶   A set of 1198 census evaluations of animal populations compares the Fukushima Disaster to Chernobyl. The idea that nuclear disaster creates a sort of wildlife refuge where things can grow in abundance is a myth. [New York Times]

¶   Evacuees from Fukushima are dying of fatigue and stress. [The Japan Daily Press]

¶   Jobs lost when nuclear plants close may be more than replaced by jobs in the renewable electric sector. A combination of reports indicates that for every job lost in the japanese nuclear industry, renewable power might create ten. [Wall Street Journal]

¶   Some scientists have revised the estimates on Fukushima radiation doses from high to safe. [Asahi Shimbun]

World:

¶   In the UK, prices are going up for both nuclear plants and the electricity nuclear plants generate. [Bloomberg]

US:

¶   The NRC has released a detailed report on the steam generator tubes at San Onofre. Reports differ on the meaning of the report, and I am sure there will be updates on this.  The Associated Press report indicates 3420 tubes in one generator need to be replaced, nearly five times the maximum at which the generator needs to be retired. [Associated Press]
… Another take on the same data is that things are bad, but no worse than had been previously acknowledged. [Orange County Register]

¶   US anti-nuclear groups are warning that the mindset that underlay the Fukushima Disaster also characterize the NRC. [Environment News Service]

¶   Solar Power works in the rain forest of southeastern Alaska. [Juneau Empire]

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July 5 Energy News

July 5, 2012

Opinion:

¶   Can a nuclear disaster happen here?

Japan:

¶   The Japanese Parliament released its report on the investigation into the Fukushima Disaster.  A one sentence summary: “Japan’s Fukushima nuclear crisis was a preventable disaster resulting from ‘collusion’ among the government, regulators and the plant operator.”  [Reuters]

¶   Some say TEPCO is repairing the damaged reactors at Fukushima Daini. [Associated Press]
 … Another take on the situation is that they are considering decommissioning the plant. [Wall Street Journal]

¶   Because of ongoing fallout from Fukushima Daiichi, at the Fukushima Daini plant, it is safer inside the reactor buildings than outside. [Wall Street Journal]

World:

¶   The Brazilian national energy agency says electricity from home solar panels is now cheaper than power supplied by many of grid suppliers. [Clean Technica]

US:

¶   Economics may close the San Onofre power plant. [Washington Times]

¶   The Connecticut Attorney General has come out against Indian Point license renewal, based on dangers to human health and safety. [Stamford Advocate]

¶   Californian electric customers have installed over a gigawatt of solar capacity. [PV Magazine]

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June 25 Energy News

June 25, 2012

Japan:

¶   Japanese based Taiwanese journalist Liu Li-erh says the Fukushima disaster caused her property, 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the plant to lose half its value.  She gives this message to the people of Taiwan, “Now is the time to go nuclear free.” [Taipei Times]

¶   After testing for radioactive substances, seafood caught off the coast of Fukushima has gone on sale at a reduced price to test the market. [China Daily]
…  A different fishing expedition off Fukushima returned with a radioactive haul. [Radio Australia]

¶   TEPCO has installed another cover for the Unit 4 spent fuel pool. [Break Bulk]

World:

¶   British green utility Good Energy is growing at over 12% and now has over 30,000 customers. [NewsNet]

¶   Solaria, a German solar company, is planning to build an unsubsidized 60 MW solar generating station in Spain, and projects the cost at $1.25 per watt, with an opening date in 2013.  [REneweconomy]
…  Solaria says  costs of electricity from the plant should be $68 to $75 per MWh.  By comparison, the US DOE’s projected cost for power from nuclear plants is at $113.80 per MWh, excluding costs of managing nuclear waste and potential taxpayer liabilities for loan guarantees and disaster insurance. [US DOE projected costs]

US:

¶   Workers at the Pilgrim nuclear plant are now picketing the plant.  A contract negotiation had failed, and the workers had been locked out by Entergy. [Nuclear Street]

¶   War games scheduled to test security at Indian Point have been delayed.  The issue is that during such practice at Seabrook, a participant nearly passed out because of carbon monoxide produced by the fake ammunition. [Journal News- lohud.com]

¶   Physicians for Social Responsibility have endorsed Allison MacFarlane to chair the NRC. [IBTimes]

¶   Contrary to claims by the NRC that seismic studies were done at Limerick before it was constructed, they were not completed until two years after the first reactor was delivered. Now we know the plant sits on top of a fault. [The Mercury]

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