Five 170-foot-tall concrete foundations that will support the nation’s first offshore wind farm have been completed in Houma, La., and are starting their barge journey to the Deepwater Wind construction site off Block Island, R.I.
The 1,500-ton foundations, which will support five 6-MW turbines manufactured by Alstom, are expected to arrive off Block Island in mid-July, according to Deepwater Wind CEO Jeffrey Grybowski. The turbines are scheduled to be installed in mid-2016, with the project expected to be operational by the end of that year. National Grid has agreed to buy the wind farm’s output under a 20-year contract.
More: Associated Press
Facebook Powering New Texas Data Center Entirely with Wind
Facebook announced that its new data center in Fort Worth, Texas, will run entirely on wind energy. The Fort Worth facility will be the third Facebook server center to be powered entirely on renewable energy. The other two are in Altoona, Pa., and Lulea, Sweden.
Facebook said it is working with Citi Energy, Alterra Power and Starwood Energy to tie 200 MW of wind energy to the Texas grid, and then to the data center. It said the wind facility will cover a 17,000-acre site about 100 miles from Fort Worth. Facebook says that it aims to produce 50% of its power needs from renewable energy by 2018.
Facebook’s news follows separate announcements from tech giants Google and Amazon.com that they plan to step up commitments to renewable energy.
More: EcoWatch
Brattle Report Puts Nuclear Industry’s GDP Input at $60 Billion a Year
A report commissioned by a nuclear promotional group said U.S. atomic power contributes about $60 billion annually to the country’s gross domestic product.
The report by the Brattle Group, commissioned by the trade organization Nuclear Matters, said the industry accounts for 475,000 full time jobs and provides 19% of U.S. electricity. The report said the industry provides about $10 billion in federal taxes and $2.2 billion in state taxes.
More: Nuclear Street
More than Half of Large Businesses Generating Some of Own Power
A Deloitte survey shows that more than half of about 600 large businesses in the U.S. are able to generate some of their energy on-site. Two years ago, only about a third of the companies generated some of their power.
The study showed that the largest companies – those with $500 million in annual revenue or more – are investing more in energy management, ranging from on-site generation to energy efficiency. The majority of the on-site power is still provided by diesel generators, but it is increasingly likely to include renewables such as solar or wind.
More: Columbus Business First
Coal Company Pans Song Lyrics – in Lawsuit
Peabody Energy, in asking a federal judge in Wyoming to dismiss a lawsuit filed by protesters who were jailed after demonstrating at a shareholders meeting, also wants the judge to purge the lawsuit of the famous John Prine protest lyrics that mention the company’s name.
Thomas Asprey and Leslie Glustrom, who were jailed after demonstrating at a 2013 Peabody shareholders meeting, cited the lyrics from Prine’s 1971 song “Paradise” in the lawsuit. Peabody said the lyrics tarnish its name.
The lyrics include the refrain about the company’s mining practices in Muhlenberg County, Ky.:
And Daddy won’t you take me back to Muhlenberg County
Down by the Green River where paradise lay?
“Well, I’m sorry my son, but you’re too late in asking
Mister Peabody’s coal train has hauled it away”
More: Associated Press
Environmentalists Say Dominion’s Coal Ash Plans Inadequate
A coalition of environmental groups says Dominion Virginia Power’s plan to close its 11 coal ash ponds doesn’t do enough to prevent toxic materials from seeping into nearby rivers, and they’ve asked the state to step in.
The environmentalists have asked the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to halt Dominion’s plans to remove the coal ash if it shows pollutants are escaping. “Dominion’s proposal to cap in place will not stop heavy metals and other toxic pollutants from leaking out of the sides and bottom of coal ash ponds right into water bodies used to kayak, fish and swim,” said Emily Russell of the Virginia Conservation Network.
Company officials say the procedure for closing the ponds and moving the material to prepared disposal sites meets all state and federal regulations, and tests show the method is safe.
More: Richmond Times-Dispatch
Ameren Reaches Settlement on Missouri Coal Ash Plan
Ameren Missouri has settled a series of lawsuits dating back more than five years over its coal ash disposal plan, allowing the power generator to go forward with construction of a coal ash landfill at its Labadie power plant that it says is crucial to the plant’s continued operation.
The settlement with Franklin County and the Labadie Environmental Organization requires Ameren to construct 5-foot berms to keep any ash or ash residue out of the Missouri River floodplain. The company also agreed not to bring in ash from other sites, or to use coal ash in the construction of the berms.
More: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Maine Wind Farm Construction Begins
Construction has started on Maine’s largest renewable energy project, a $420 million wind farm in Bingham that will have a capacity of 185 MW.
Developer SunEdison said it had secured $360 million in financing for the 56-turbine farm, which will increase the company’s total wind generation capacity in Maine to 552 MW. The Bingham project’s output will be sold to Eversource, National Grid and Unitil.
More: Portland Press Herald
Pump Malfunction Forces Indian Point Unit Shutdown
A water pump malfunction forced the shutdown of Entergy’s Indian Point Unit 3 on Wednesday. Control room operators shut down the nuclear reactor after they found that one of the unit’s condensate pumps automatically stopped while the unit was operating at full power, causing the steam generator’s water levels to fluctuate, according to Entergy.
The condensate pumps, which are part of the system that feeds water into the plant’s steam generators, are located away from the nuclear side of the plant, Entergy said. Operators safely shut down the reactor, the company said. The shutdown did not affect Unit 2, which is still operating at full power.
Entergy did not say when it expects to resume operations.
More: Poughkeepsie Journal
Solar Development Grows in Missouri
Ameren is planning a 15-MW solar farm on a 70-acre site in eastern Missouri. The project would be twice the size of Ameren’s first utility-scale solar facility near St. Louis. Ameren’s application with the Missouri Public Service Commission did not detail costs.
The state’s renewable energy standard has stoked interest in renewable projects, as utilities are required to generate a portion of their electricity from non-carbon sources. Developers also are racing to build projects before a federal tax credit for renewable energy falls from 30% to 10% at the end of next year.
More: St. Louis Post Dispatch
Batteries Included, Some Assembly Required
Indianapolis Power & Light has broken ground on the first utility-scale battery storage project in MISO’s 15-state territory.
The AdvancionTM Energy Storage Array will provide 20 MW of interconnected energy storage. The facility, which will provide additional stability to IPL’s system, is due to go online in the first half of 2016.
IPL’s parent, AES, pioneered the use of grid-connected lithium-ion batteries in 2008, in Indianapolis. AES has 86 MW of energy storage projects in operation worldwide and has announced an additional 260 MW of interconnected battery-based storage.
More: Indianapolis Power & Light
Talen Energy to Expand; Eyes AEP
Talen Energy, the independent power producer formed by the spinoff of PPL’s generating assets and competitive producer Riverstone Holdings, is looking to grow. The Allentown, Pa., company holds about 15,000 MW of generation, primarily in the PJM region and some in Texas.
“We’re as open to buying coal as gas as nuclear,” CEO Paul Farr told Reuters. But he said its fuel mix is more likely to become more “gassy” while gas prices remain low. He did say, however, that Talen is looking at American Electric Power’s coal generation holdings in Ohio. AEP has been signaling a willingness to unload its coal assets there.
More: Reuters
Minnesota Power Shutting Down 2 Coal Units at Taconite Harbor
Minnesota Power announced last week that it will retire two coal-fired units at its Taconite Harbor plant in Schroeder, part of a larger plan to shift the company’s generation portfolio from coal.
The company’s commitment will be included in its “integrated resource plan” due to be filed with the Public Utilities Commission in September. Minnesota Power’s fuel-mix currently has about 75% coal-fired generation and 25% renewables. That will change over the next 15 years to about a third coal, a third natural gas and a third renewables.
“It’s a balanced portfolio of energy sources,” said Al Rudeck, vice president of strategy and planning. “We think it’s the best plan, and the most affordable plan, for our customers.” Environmentalists applauded the announcement.
More: Midwest Energy News