Power Gen's ENewsletter 3/27

9HA.01 Gas Turbine Testing Nears Completion Over the last four months, a team of engineers in Greenville, South Carolina, have been testing one of GE’s latest innovations – the 9HA.01 air-cooled gas turbine. The 866,000-pound machine promises to provide power producers the flexibility, efficiency and speed they need to accommodate the increasing use of intermittent wind and solar power. Read More Share: Video Highlights Duke Energy to appeal $25M fine by N.C. environmental regulators California first to generate 5% electricity from utility-scale solar power Ningde 3 nuclear power reactor connects to power grid B&W lands $40M emission control contract for Colorado Springs Utilities View Now Share: Top Stories Dominion Va. Power proposes $1 bn, natural gas-fired power plant Dominion Virginia Power (NYSE: D) said the company is proposing to build a $1 billion, 1,600-MW natural gas-fired power plant in Greensville County. Read More Share: Duke Energy to appeal $25M fine by N.C. environmental regulators Duke Energy will appeal a $25.1 million penalty, imposed by North Carolina environmental regulators, over groundwater violations at the retired L.V. Sutton Steam Electric Plant. Read More Share: EIA:California first state to generate 5% electricity from utility-scale solar power California has become the first state with more than 5 percent of its annual utility-scale electricity generation from solar power, according to EIA's Electric Power Monthly. Read More Share: B&W lands $40M emission control contract for Colorado Springs Utilities Babcock & Wilcox Power Generation Group has been awarded a contract valued at $40.3 million by Colorado Springs Utilities to engineer, procure, construct and commission an emissions control project for the Ray D. Nixon Power Plant. Read More Share: The Week's Most Read Articles Top 5 U.S. Coal Plant Heat Rates Peabody Energy recently ranked the top 5 cleanest burning coal-fired power plants in the U.S. under three categories: SO2 emissions, NOx emissions and best heat rate. Read More Share: Making the Blade: How and Where Wind Turbines Get Their Swoosh An industrial wind turbine is a complex machine made up of hundreds of moving parts, but it takes just three of them to make the magic possible: the blades. Read More Share: Energy efficiency might slow coal's bleeding under EPA CO2 plan Natural gas combined-cycle generation is destined to benefit under the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Clean Power Plan, although the dash-to-gas won't be quite as severe if states make energy efficiency part of their compliance plan. Read More Share: Senate leader urges all 50 governors to not comply with EPA's Clean Power Plan U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. called on the nation's governors to reject the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposed regulation that requires states to dramatically restructure their electricity systems based on how the agency thinks electricity should be produced and used in each state. Read More Share: More Headlines • Siemens’ consortium to develop energy management solutions • Video: GE Hitachi Nuclear reveals tool for nuclear power uncoupling • Regulators meeting about SC, Georgia nuclear projects • Japan audit: Millions of dollars wasted in Fukushima cleanup • Maintenance, refueling outage planned at Cook nuclear plant • 13 community meetings planned for Hawaii energy merger • New Mexico House votes to roll back renewable energy standard • Ningde 3 nuclear power reactor connects to power grid • US issues wind energy research lease off Virginia coast • Hungary says EU to OK Russian fuel deal for nuclear plant • Justices to hear arguments over EPA mercury limits • Lawmakers say next year for renewable energy legislation • Entergy completes outage & overhaul at Indian Point 3 nuclear unit • Combined cycle power plant to use Toshiba steam turbine and generator • Natural gas CHP plant in Florida breaks ground • New power grid manager poised to open at Little Rock • Ankney proposes fees for companies that close coal plants • Video: FPL launches new smart grid technology center Industry Trends Henry Hub Average Natural Gas Spot Prices The Henry Hub is the pricing point for natural gas futures contracts. Here's a look at how prices have changed up to March 18, 2015. Read More Share: Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' Economic Indicators The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas offers a glimpse into how the markets are doing domestically and internationally. Read More Share: EIA’s weekly coal production report The U.S. Energy Information Administration has released its coal production report for the week ending March 21. Read More Share: White Paper Return on Investment Analysis: The Economics of Regular Condenser Maintenance This White Paper summarizes a decade of research by Conco Systems, Inc. to obtain a better understanding of the behavior of steam surface condensers and their impact on your plant’s bottom line. This research was followed by the development of techniques to model condenser performance, with a view to converting deviations from proper behavior to the equivalent avoided costs. Mathematical techniques were also developed to ascertain the optimum frequency of condenser cleaning to minimize these avoided costs. The full details of this work are published in a book by ASME Press, New York entitled, Steam Surface Condensers: Basic Principles, Performance Monitoring and Maintenance. Read More Share: What is System Level Thermo-Fluid Analysis? This paper will explain some of the fundamentals of System Level Thermo-Fluid Analysis and demonstrate why 1D CFD is not an accurate description. It will shed some light on both the philosophy that underpins the system approach and how and why it is used. It will cover Building Blocks of System Level Analysis; Thermo & Fluid Dynamics; Pressure Drop: Paying your Dues; and Understanding The Fourth Dimension. Read More Share: Join In Send UNLIMITED delegates (employees) for one flat rate! Does your company generate electricity? Is your company a utility, muni, co-op, public power provider, on-site power producer or IPP? Does your company generate at least 1 MW of energy? If you answered YES to any of these questions then your company qualifies for the Power Generators Discount Program!* Read More Share: Add your hero to our Wall of Honor! The Wall of Honor pays tribute to military personnel around the world. It is on display at all of PennWell's North American conferences. Click to add a name or sponsor the wall. Read More Share: Power Generation Week 2014 Post-Show Report It was another successful year at Power Generation Week 2014! As the world's largest power generation event, the week was spent focusing on the industry's latest innovations, technical trends, and business strategies. The event boasted over 22,000 attendees from 115 countries, and 1,400+ exhibitors. Click here to learn more about Power Generation Week and what happened in 2014! Read More Share: From GenerationHub House GOP wants to give states a break while the Clean Power Plan is fought out in court House Energy and Power Subcommittee Chairman Ed Whitfield, R-Ky., on March 23 unveiled a discussion draft of the Ratepayer Protection Act, which would empower states to not have to comply with the Clean Power Plan while inevitable lawsuits over it are fought out in court. Read More Share: JinkoSolar to supply panels for Utah Red Hills project of Scatec JinkoSolar Holding Co. Ltd. announced March 25 that it will supply 104 MW of photovoltaic solar panels for the Utah Red Hills Renewable Park project. Read More Share: Power Engineering Slideshow U.S. Coal Plants with the Lowest NOx Emission Rates The Top 5 U.S. coal-fired power plants were rated on the lowest NOx emissions. Read More Share: Callaway Energy Center's Replacement Reactor Vessel Closure Head Project Progress photos of the replacement reactor vessel closure head, during fabrication, at Equipos Nucleares SA in Santander, Spain. Read More Share: POWER ENGINEERING SPONSORED EVENTS POWER-GEN Europe Amsterdam Jun 9, 2015 - Jun 11, 2015 Click here for details POWER-GEN Africa Cape Town South Africa Jul 15, 2015 - Jul 17, 2015 Click here for details POWER-GEN Natural Gas Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio Aug 18, 2015 - Aug 20, 2015 Click here for details POWER-GEN Asia Bangkok Thailand Sep 1, 2015 - Sep 3, 2015 Click here for details POWER-GEN Middle East Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. Oct 4, 2015 - Oct 6, 2015 Click here for details POWER-GEN International Las Vegas, NV USA Dec 8, 2015 - Dec 10, 2015 Click here for details NUCLEAR POWER International Las Vegas, NV USA Dec 8, 2015 - Dec 10, 2015 Click here for details POWER-GEN International Financial Forum Las Vegas, NV USA Dec 8, 2015 - Dec 10, 2015 Click here for details COAL-GEN Las Vegas, NV Dec 8, 2015 - Dec 10, 2015 Click here for details