February 14 NEC Energy News
¶ “Safety Panel Urges Fukushima Operator To Communicate With Public Better” • A panel of safety experts urged the operator of the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan to communicate more quickly with the public over incidents such as last week’s leak of contaminated water, which went for a week without comment. [ABC News]
¶ “Poland Analyzes Whether Nuclear Plant Will Be Ready By 2033 Amid Delays” • Poland is analyzing whether its first nuclear power plant can be built by 2033 amid delays the project suffered under the previous government that lost power in October, the climate minister said. She said the financing model to build it has not been decided. [Reuters]
¶ “Bills That Would Open The Door For Virginia Utilities To Charge Customers For Nuclear Development Costs Advance” • Bills that would allow Dominion and Appalachian Power to seek approval to start charging customers for the costs of developing small modular nuclear reactors moved forward in the Virginia House of Delegates and Senate. [Cardinal News]
¶ “AGL And AEMO Search For Answers On Loy Yang Outage” • In Victoria, storms tore down at least six transmission towers on one of the main 500 kV transmission lines, triggering a massive frequency excursion that took 2,700 MW of generation capacity, including the Loy Yang A brown coal generator owned by AGL Energy. [RenewEconomy]
¶ “China’s Renewable Installations Surpass Expectations, But Potential Utilization Risks Exist” • China is set to reach its 2030 wind and solar capacity target of 1.2 TW six years early, with installed capacity already reaching 1.1 TW by end-2023, Fitch Ratings says. The China Electricity Council forecasts 260 GW of new installations in 2024. [Mettis Global]
¶ “New Mexico Legislators Seek Cleaner Transportation Fuels, Would Follow West Coast’s Lead” • New Mexico’s Legislature has approved a bill aimed at reducing climate-warming pollution from cars and trucks through financial incentives to businesses. California, Oregon, and Washington are already enforcing carbon fuel standards. [ABC News]
¶ “Feds Finalize Areas For Floating Offshore Wind Farms Along Oregon Coast” • The federal government finalized two areas for floating offshore wind farms along the Oregon coast, authorities announced, bringing the state closer to commercially developing and producing a renewable energy source that’s part of the fight against climate change. [ABC News]
¶ “Siemens Invests In US Transformer Factory” • Siemens Energy is investing $150 million in a power transformer factory in Charlotte, North Carolina, creating almost 600 local jobs. Today, only 20% of US large power transformer demand is met by domestic supply with lead times of up to five years, according to the company. [reNews]
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