Tampa Electric Seeks to Convert Big Bend to Gas

TECO Energy, parent company of Tampa Electric, plans to seek regulatory approval to convert the 1,700-MW coal-fired Big Bend power plant to natural gas.

If approved, the $1 billion conversion would take up to a decade to complete, the Tampa Tribune reported. The company has already been conducting studies and engineering analysis on the site for a potential conversion for several years, said TECO executive Rob Bennett.

“It’s a big decision,” Bennett said. “It has to work. It has to make sense for 35 or 40 years.”

Under the plan, two of the four coal units would convert to combined cycle gas generators within two years, while the other two would change over in five to ten years.

Bennett said the main reason for the conversion was to continue to phase out coal. The Big Bend units are the oldest in Tampa Electric’s fleet. The utility also plans to add 600 MW of solar capacity. Last year, five workers were killed at Big Bend when a blockage burst and covered molten slag on employees cleaning hardened slag from the bottom of a tank. Bennett said the conversion is not related to that accident.

E.ON Begins Construction of Wind Facility in Texas

Renewable developer E.ON has officially begun construction of a ٢٠١-MW wind facility in Kenedy County, Texas.

The Stella wind farm will be powered by 67 three-MW wind turbines manufactured by Nordex, and marks the fifth Texas development for the company.

Stella is expected for completion by the end of this year.

Additionally, E.ON marked the official commercial operations of two additional wind facilities – the ٢٢٨-MW Bruenning’s Breeze in Willacy County, Texas and the 306-MW Radford’s Run in Macon County, Illinois.

Sammons Renewable Acquires Wind Development

Sammons Renewable Energy has purchased the 162.9-MW Midway Wind from Apex Clean Energy. Planned for the Texas Gulf Coast in San Patricio County, Midway Wind will incorporate 47 Siemens Gamesa G132 turbines.

The project has an anticipated commercial operation date of December 2018.

“Midway’s location near Texas’ wind-rich Gulf Coast, and its proximity to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas’ South Hub, position the development to fill an energy gap that will widen as coal-generation in ERCOT is retired,” said Heather Kreager, CEO of Sammons Enterprises, the ultimate parent company of Sammons Renewable Energy. 

Report: Untapped Potential in Existing Wind Fleet

A new study by Uptake Technologies concludes existing turbines in the United States aren’t producing as much power as they could, and have the potential to generate an additional 12 TWh of electricity.

The study indicates operational hurdles have prevented wind facilities from reaching ٩٩ percent availability due to unforeseen issues resulting in reactive maintenance, unorganized and decentralized data, unnecessary inspections based on time instead of component condition, challenges in managing parts inventory and flaws in wind equipment, such as defects in anemometers and poor vertical and horizontal alignments.

“Some existing wind parks have underperformed preconstruction energy assessments,” the report said. “For projects under development, producing more energy will be necessary as renewable procurement auctions press for ever-lower costs to find an energy buyer.”

California Approves Closure of State’s last nuclear plant

California utility regulators have approved an agreement to retire the state’s last nuclear power plant.

The California Public Utilities Commission voted unanimously Thursday to ratify a 2016 deal to mothball the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant at San Luis Obispo.

Environmentalists and plant-owner Pacific Gas & Electric Co. have agreed that the state no longer needs the electricity from the nuclear plant. That’s due in part to the growing affordability of solar and wind power, as well as natural gas.

Utilities Commission President Michael Picker says Diablo Canyon no longer makes economic sense.

The deal also allows PG&E to recover $241 million from ratepayers for closing the plant.

AES, Siemens Storage Businesses Combine

Fluence Energy, an energy storage technology and services company jointly owned by Siemens and The AES Corporation, announced the receipt of all government approvals and authorizations and the launch of business operations on Jan. 1, 2018.

Fluence combines the engineering, product development, implementation and services capabilities of AES Energy Storage and Siemens’ energy storage team and now embarks on an aggressive expansion of the business backed by the financial support of the two parent organizations.

Fluence also announced it will be the supplier of the world’s largest lithium-ion battery-based storage project, a 100 MW/400 MWh (4-hour duration) installation that will be part of AES’ Alamitos power center in Long Beach, California serving Southern California Edison and the Western Los Angeles area

Renewables Account for Nearly Half of New Capacity in 2017

The estimated 25 GW of new, utility-scale renewable generation that came online in 2017 will have comprised 49 percent of all new electric capacity for last year, the Energy Information Administration reported.

That proportion represents a drop from recent years, as renewables made up of 62 percent of all capacity added in 2016 and 67 percent of capacity added in 2015.

EIA indicated more than half of renewable capacity came online in the fourth quarter, due to timing qualifications from federal, state or local tax incentives.

An estimated 67 percent of new hydro and 69 percent of new solar came online in the western United States, with wind more evenly spread over the Midwest, south and western parts of the country.

Advanced Power Activates Gas Plant in Ohio

Advanced Power announced official commercial operations at its 700-MW Carroll County Energy natural gas electric generation facility in Ohio.Carroll County Energy, which services the PJM market, was built in an area with low priced natural gas production as well as AEP’s 345 kV transmission lines and Kinder Morgan’s Tennessee Gas Pipeline system.

Plans to build Carroll County Energy were announced in July 2013. In April 2015, Advanced Power closed the $899 million project financing.

The facility features two GE gas turbines and a steam turbine.

Gas Overcame Predictions, Surpassed Coal in 2017

Though the Energy Information Administration had predicted coal would top natural gas in 2017, the latest short-term energy outlook indicated coal generation fell short – and will continue to fall behind.

EIA now indicates coal consisted of 30 percent of all generation last year, compared to 32 percent for natural gas.

Natural gas generation is now expected to continue growing and make up of 33 percent of all generation in 2018 and 34 percent in 2019. By contrast, coal will drop to slightly lower than 30 percent in 2018 and to 28 percent in 2019.

Nuclear generation reached 20 percent in 2017, and is expected to average 20 percent in 2018 and 19 percent in 2019. Non-hydro renewables consisted of 10 percent in 2017, increasing to 11 percent in 2019.

Natural gas prices are now expected to drop slightly, going from a 2017 average of $2.99 per million British thermal units to $2.88/MMBtu in 2018 and $2.92/MMBtu in 2019.

Invenergy Fully Funds Nebraska Wind Farm

Invenergy has completed construction financing for its ٢٠٢.Ù¥-MW Upstream Wind Energy Center in Antelope County, Nebraska. 

Santander Global Corporate Banking, a division of Santander Bank, acted as sole lead arranger for the construction loan. Santander also acted as administrative agent and provided a letter of credit facility in support of the project.

Upstream Wind Energy Center is currently under construction and scheduled to begin commercial operation in the fourth quarter of 2018. With 81 wind turbines, the wind farm will be able to power as many as ٦٨,٠٠٠ homes and businesses.

U.S. to Add More Wind and Solar, Retire More Coal

Over 116 GW of new wind and solar capacity is expected to be installed in the United States through the end of ٢٠٢٠, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission projected in its latest Energy Infrastructure Update.

That total includes 72.5 GW of wind in 465 units and 43.5 GW of solar in 1,913 units.

However, coal is expected to keep shrinking, with 20.7 GW of retirements in the same timeframe.

The totals are based on proposed additions and retirements announced through November of last year, and only includes plants with capacities of 1 MW or greater.

Even with the shift away from coal, FERC indicated 1,927 MW of new coal capacity in four new units has been proposed.

FERC Rejects Perry’s Call to Subsidize Coal, Nuclear

Despite early support, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission unanimously rejected a call from Energy Secretary Rick Perry that would have subsidized coal and nuclear plants.

The five commissioners include three Republicans and four appointed by President Trump.

Instead, FERC has initiated new proceedings to “holistically” examine the resilience of the country’s power system. The goal of these proceedings would be to “develop a common understanding among the Commission, industry and others of what resilience of the bulk power system means and requires; to understand how each regional transmission organization and independent system operator assesses resilience in its geographic footprint; and to use this information to evaluate whether additional Commission action regarding resilience is appropriate.”

The statement by the FERC expressed their appreciation for Perry’s advocacy of reinforced grid resilience.