For a minute there I thought I had to get off my couch, when all the while the fact is we don't have to do anything much but keep things afloat for just a few decades more! In fact, we'd best shut up about PO, because if our offspring finds out we knew about it all along, they'll turn and wring our necks come 2036!
Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2005 10:06 pm Post subject: Energy Infrastructure Progress Report
There is a lot of talk about "potential" energy sources, whether it be wind, coal to liquids, more nuclear, or the myriad of “other” solutions. But what is actually being built? Where are the ground-breaking ceremonies taking place?
Let us use this thread to post reports on actual facilities and infrastructure being built, not planned or under consideration, but where the ground has actually been broken and construction has started.
Here is a general list of things to report on:
Nuclear power plants
Coal & Natural gas powerplants, including LNG ports.
Solar/Wind/Tidal power plants
Biofuel production facilities
Geothermal/hydroelectric power plants
Tar sands/oil shale production facilities
Oil refineries
Remember, post only reports or articles on actual construction.
Not planned or proposed or budgeted, or "in the works."
Let's try to keep the chat to a minimum and use this mostly as a "news update." _________________ A Saudi saying, "My father rode a camel. I drive a car. My son flies a jet-plane. His son will ride a camel."
Live in Arizona? Check out: http://sustainablearizona.org and read my blog.
Last edited by MonteQuest on Sun Dec 04, 2005 1:08 am; edited 1 time in total
Te Apiti is Meridian Energy's first wind farm, located north of the Manawatu Gorge in the north island of New Zealand. It is situated across 1,150 ha of farmland owned by four separate landowners including Meridian Energy.
It is the first New Zealand wind farm to use megawatt-class machines. Each of the 55 turbines produces 1.65 MW, capable of generating enough power for up to 900 average homes, or up to 45,000 average homes in total for the wind farm.
Joined: Feb 20, 2005 Posts: 2677 Location: Uppsala, Sweden
Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 4:52 pm Post subject: Re: Energy Infrastructure Progress Report
Quote:
Finland: Construction of the Olkiluoto-3 nuclear power reactor was marked on 12 September with the laying of the foundation stone. The stone will be buried under the foundation of the main cooling water pumping building of the new unit. First concrete for the new reactor was poured in July. An Areva and Siemens consortium is constructing the 1600 MWe European Pressurised Water Reactor (EPR) for Teollisuuden Voima Oy (TVO). Commercial operation of the unit is scheduled in 2009. (
Quote:
Sweden: The Swedish nuclear power inspectorate SKI has approved a plan to increase the capacity of the Oskarshamn-3 nuclear power reactor, but operator OKG must await a government decision on nuclear policy before going ahead with the project. OKG plans to achieve the 18% uprate through a series of efficiency, equipment-replacement and modernisation measures. An OKG spokesman said the capacity of Oskarshamn-3 - a 1200 MWe boiling water reactor - would increase to 1450 MWe and the work should be completed by 2008. The OKG spokesman said the uprate approval had become part of a wider debate concerning nuclear energy policy in Sweden.
Quote:
China: The construction of the China Experimental Fast Reactor (CEFR) will be completed by the end of 2006, according to the Russian Federal Nuclear Agency. The 65 MWt reactor is being built in China under an intergovernmental agreement signed on 18 July 2000 between China and Russia. Reactor fuel has already been delivered and the main reactor components have been installed.
India's first large reactor in operation.
Nuclear Power Corporation of India has put Tarapur-4 into commercial operation - the first of its large indigenous PHWR units. Construction of the 540 MWe unit began in March 2000, and it started up this year. Its twin - unit 3 - is expected to start up early 2006.
Meanwhile the Kalpakkam fast breeder reactor appears likely to be finished ahead of its 2010 schedule, despite a setback from December's tsunami. The 500 MWe unit is a key part of India's civil nuclear energy strategy involving use of thorium fuel.
India’s Tarapur-4 Starts Commercial Operation
Unit four of India’s Tarapur nuclear power plant went into commercial operation on 12th September 2005, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) has announced.
India’s largest unit to date, the 490-megawatt (MW) pressurised heavy water reactor (PHWR) was designed and built by NPCIL. Tarapur-4, situated 100 kilometres north of Mumbai, achieved criticality in March 2005 and was connected to the grid ahead of schedule in June 2005 (see News in Brief No. 28, 9th March 2005 and News No. 95, 7th June 2005).
Including Tarapur-4, a total of 15 reactor units are now in commercial operation in India and a further eight units are under construction.
Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh has said the country could increase its total installed nuclear electricity generating capacity from the current level of about 3,000 MW to as much as 40,000 MW in the next 10 years (see World Nuclear Review No. 135, 19th August 2005).
NPCIL added that Tarapur-3, a second 490 MW PHWR being built at the Tarapur nuclear plant, is in an advanced stage of commissioning and is expected to achieve criticality in early 2006.
Quote:
Go-Ahead For Commercial Operation At Ukraine’s Khmelnitsky-2
Unit two of Ukraine’s Khmelnitsky nuclear power plant has been given the go-ahead to start commercial operation.
National nuclear utility Energoatom said the go-ahead was given by the Ukrainian State Acceptance Committee at a meeting on 7th September 2005 in the town of Netishyn, in the Khmelnitsky region of western Ukraine, where the unit is situated.
Khmelnitsky-2 was first connected to the grid on 8th August 2004 (see News No. 159, 9th August 2004). The regulator, the State Nuclear Regulatory Committee of Ukraine (SNRCU), allowed the unit to be put into operation but set a number of conditions before a “permanent licence” could be issued. Conditions included modifying the safety analysis report for the unit and coordinating the development of a schedule for post start-up safety improvements at the unit with the SNRCU.
By the time the VVER 1000 unit achieved power start-up on 5th August 2005 Energoatom had already completed several of the required key safety upgrades.
Meanwhile, the country’s parliament has ratified two guarantee agreements with Euratom and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development related to post start-up safety upgrades at both Khmelnitsky-2 and Ukraine’s Rovno-4 unit (see also News in Brief No. 16, 2nd August 2004).
Swedish reactor shuts down
Barseback-2 has finally been shut down as a result of political edict, related to Danish pressure over many years. Unit 1 was closed in 1999, with compensation of some EUR 900 million. The 602 MWe reactor had operated since 1977. The Swedish government has indicated its support for uprating a number of the country's ten remaining nuclear power reactors, including 410 MWe at three Forsmark units. The closure will also enhance the prospects for TVO building a sixth reactor - probably a 1600 MWe EPR - in Finland to follow Olkiluoto-3 which is now commencing construction.
Quote:
New Japanese reactor in operation
Hokuriku Electric's Shika-2 nuclear power reactor has been connected to the grid. The 1358 MWe advanced boiling water reactor - Japan's fourth 3rd generation unit, started up in May and commercial operation is expected in March 2006.
Quote:
New Brunswick to refurbish power plant
The New Brunswick government has announced that it will proceed with the refurbishment of its Point Lepreau reactor as the most cost-effective option to secure power supplies, with Atomic Energy of Canada (AECL) as the contractor. The 635 MWe unit was commissioned in 1983, and the refurbishment outage will be over 18 months from April 2008. The C$1.4 billion cost includes purchase of replacement power.
Joined: Dec 25, 2004 Posts: 446 Location: Salem, MA
Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2005 8:45 am Post subject: Re: Energy Infrastructure Progress Report
yeah they're planning a big wind farm 4 miles off the coast of nantucket. planning...
what this thread demonstrates is that talk is cheap. what's being done? there is a lot of talk here about what COULD be done. so... what's being done? i would be really happy if this thread was being added to on a regular basis with communities all throughout the globe (including the US) reporting on new solar and wind farms, biomass and geothermal plants, algae biodiesel production... but it has been depressingly dormant.
Joined: Feb 20, 2005 Posts: 2677 Location: Uppsala, Sweden
Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2005 5:48 pm Post subject: Re: Energy Infrastructure Progress Report
Quote:
Namibia: A ceremony was held at the Langer Heinrich uranium project to officially mark the start of construction activities at the site. The ceremony was attended by a number of Namibian government officials (including the Minister of Mines and Energy, Mr E Nghimtina), local community representatives, as well as Namibian media. The project, based on the original feasibility study schedule, is progressing as planned, with engineering and design well advanced and on-site works now commencing. Langer Heinrich will be the country's second uranium mine and will make Namibia the fourth largest uranium producing country in the world.
To dismiss wind energy as an expensive, niche green luxury, as many do, is to ignore what has happened in Spain, the world’s number one wind market”, said Millais. “The political drivers in Spain have largely been about economic development especially in the regions, creating jobs, competing in world markets, all against a background of surging energy demand, an increasing proportion of expensive energy imports, and recently a challenging Kyoto target. On all these points, wind is a winning choice
Seperatly, when arrived in Berlin, Germany the other week, I was blown over by the windmills everywhere on the landscape.
--J _________________ Doomerosity now at 2 (occasionaly 3, was 4)
Currently (mostly) taking a break from posting at po.com. Don't trust the false prophets of doom - keep reading, keep learning, keep challenging your assum
I believe they are selling the product into the NG lines int he area, they plan on implementing the tech on various farms in the area. Thing is, this area has one of the lower NG prices around, if the farm was closer to an urban area, the Ng would have a premium market, and the bitching about the smell would be greatly diminished as well.
a bit here, a little there, soon you have something
Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2005 5:49 pm Post subject: Re: Energy Infrastructure Progress Report
New windfarm in Norway
Europe's biggest land-based wind-farm was opened yesterday. (Norway's total electicity production from hydropower is 119 TWh, approx. 25000 KWh per capita)
Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2005 7:19 pm Post subject: Re: Energy Infrastructure Progress Report
Century Wind Project in northern Iowa had completion ceremonies
last week. It's 150MW, and the company claims they will add 35MW
more before year's end.
Joined: Dec 25, 2004 Posts: 446 Location: Salem, MA
Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2005 6:59 am Post subject: Re: Energy Infrastructure Progress Report
Not exactly in production currently, but unless Greenfield blows up, should be in place in the next few months. This AP article was printed in the Boston Metro newspaper this morning:
Firm Speeds Up Alternative Fuel Efforts
A Massachusetts-based biodiesel company announced plans yesterday that could make the alternative fuel more available and cost-efficient across the Northeast.
Northeast Biodiesel president Lawrence Union said 75 percent of the biodiesel his company plans to start making will be sold to Biofuel Brokers, a Michigan company that will distribute the fuel to nearby refineries and wholesale suppliers.
"The mission here is to have biodiesel available on every street corner," Union said.
But that goal isn't about to happen overnight.
Northeast Biodiesel still needs to build its production facility, which is scheduled to open in a Greenfield industrial park next spring. And by the end of 2006, Union said the company will be ready to make about 5 million gallons of biodiesel a year from the recycled vegetable oil it's been buying from a New York-based business.
Biodiesel, which can be used on its own or blended with petroleum-based diesel fueld, can be used as home heating oil and can power cars, trucks and farm equipment with diesel engines. It can be made from recycled vegetable oils or soybeans. [deconstructionist's note: Vegetable oils and Soybeans are two of the least effecient sources of biomass with which to produce biodiesel. Check out this list of biodiesel yields from various sources. Soybeans are near the bottom of the list. Rapeseed is the most common feedstock for biodiesel production in Europe--it is far more effecient than soybeans. We should get on that tip...]
Its popularity has been growing since 1992 when Congress passed the Energy Policy Act to reduce the nation's dependency on foreign oil. [deconstructionist's note: I'm gunna have to check up on that act, we have not reduced our dependence on foreign oil one iota since 1992. In fact, we have increased it.] It has since been approved by the federal Environmental Protection Agency as an alternative fuel. _________________ UNLESS
Joined: Feb 20, 2005 Posts: 2677 Location: Uppsala, Sweden
Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2005 11:12 am Post subject: Re: Energy Infrastructure Progress Report
Quote:
Canadian reactor rejoins grid.
After nearly eight years being laid-up, Ontario Power Generation's Pickering 1 nuclear reactor has been reconnected to the grid after a 14-month, C$ 1 billion refurbishment.
Quote:
Ontario scraps two laid-up reactors
Ontario Power Generation has announced that it will not recommission Pickering 2 & 3 reactors which were closed in 1997. While refurbishing would be technically feasible, it would be uneconomic compared with building anew. OPG will now focus on improving the performance of its other ten reactors and seeking life extension for them, while defuelling and mothballing these two. Of the four 25-26 year old units laid-up in December 1997, unit 4 returned to service in 2003 and unit 1 has just restarted after a C$ 1 billion refurbishment. Each is 515 MWe net. The OPG decision increases the probability that the government will work out a deal with Bruce Power to refurbish one or two of the laid-up 769 MWe Bruce units.
Quote:
Dutch reactor extension
Following a change of policy, the Dutch Prime Minister has proposed to abandon the government's original plan to shut down the 481 MWe Borssele nuclear plant in 2013, and to allow its operation to 2033, giving it a 60-year life. The environment minister has confirmed to parliament that he is negotiating an agreement with the plant's owners. Unconfirmed reports say that both government and the Borssele owners should contribute EUR 500 million for investment in "sustainable energy" out of the extra revenue and the avoided compensation for premature closure, and that the government is considering a new Nuclear Energy Law specifying 40-year licences for new nuclear plants.
Quote:
UK reactor life extension
The first of British Energy's Advanced Gas-cooled Reactors - two 571 MWe units at Dungeness B in Kent - have been granted a ten-year life extension, to 2018. The plant has been operating since 1983. BE is investigating other life extension possibilities for its AGRs.
Quote:
South Korea's 20th reactor fully operational
Ulchin-6, South Korea's newest reactor, is now in commercial operation. This is the last of six Korean Standard Nuclear Power Plants (KSNP) incorporating many of the US advanced reactor features. The next four plants ready to start construction - Shin Kori 1 & 2 and Shin Wolsong 1 & 2 - are 950 MWe KNSP+ units with further substantial improvements.
_________________ Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.
Joined: Feb 20, 2005 Posts: 2677 Location: Uppsala, Sweden
Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2005 12:54 pm Post subject: Re: Energy Infrastructure Progress Report
Quote:
Czech Republic: The Ministry of Industry has decided to keep open the country’s only uranium mine, Dolni Rozinka, owned by state-owned Diamo, due to a turnaround in the mine’s prospects because of the soaring price of uranium. The mine had been set to shut by in mid 2006. However, the ministry said that some 687 tonnes of uranium could be extracted using conventional mining methods without much further investment and the mine can run profitably until the end of 2008.
_________________ Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.
Joined: Feb 20, 2005 Posts: 2677 Location: Uppsala, Sweden
Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2005 8:22 am Post subject: Re: Energy Infrastructure Progress Report
Quote:
Sweden Approves Power Uprates For Ringhals
The Swedish government has approved power uprates for units one and three of the Ringhals nuclear power plant, as well as the relincensing of unit two, it has been confirmed.
In a statement on 20th October 2005, the government said Ringhals plans to uprate the two units by a combined total of 200 megawatts (MW). Ringhals-1 is an 830 MW boiling water reactor that began commercial operation in 1976. Ringhals-3, a 915 MW pressurised water reactor, began commercial operation in 1981.
Ringhals was the first of the Swedish nuclear licensees to apply for increased power in its reactors. The Swedish government is also due to make a decision on uprate applications from Forsmarks Kraftgrupp AB, for all three reactors Forsmark nuclear power plant, and OKG AB, for unit three of the Oskarshamn plant (see also News in Brief No. 39, 11th October 2004 and News in Brief No. 81, 13th September 2005).
An environmental court reviewing Ringhals’ environmental impact statement asked the government in May 2005 to consider the uprates and the relicensing. The court decided the issues were of such significance that, by law, the government should make the decision (see News in Brief No. 53, 11th May 2005).
Quote:
Site Preparation Begins On US Savannah River MOX Facility
Site preparation work has begun for the construction of a mixed oxide (MOX) fuel fabrication facility that will convert surplus weapons-grade plutonium into MOX fuel for use in commercial nuclear power plants.
The facility, at Savannah River in South Carolina, will be an integral part of the National Nuclear Security Administration's (NNSA) plutonium disposition programme. It will convert weapons-grade plutonium into MOX fuel for use in power plants operated by US utility Duke Power. Duke operates the Catawba and Oconee nuclear power plants in South Carolina, and the McGuire plant in North Carolina.
The NNSA's plutonium disposition programme aims to eliminate a total of 68 tonnes of surplus weapon-grade plutonium both in the US and in Russia, and is based on a 2000 nonproliferation agreement between the two countries. Both countries will dispose of their plutonium by converting it to MOX fuel. Once the MOX fuel has been irradiated, the plutonium can no longer be readily used for nuclear weapons.
At a 17th October 2005 ceremony to mark the start of site preparation work, NNSA administrator Linton Brooks said the MOX facility will create hundreds of new jobs at the DOE’s Savannah River site and will provide “a pathway out of South Carolina” for plutonium brought there for disposition.
The facility will be built by DOE contractor Duke Cogema Stone & Webster, and owned by the NNSA, a semi-autonomous agency within the DOE. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the facility in March 2005 following an application submitted in 2001 (see News in Brief No. 56, 1st April 2005).
In May 2005, Duke Power announced that four MOX fuel lead assemblies it planned to test at its Catawba plant had arrived from France (see News in Brief No. 51, 5th May 2005).
_________________ Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.
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