December 20 NEC Energy News

¶ “Rolls-Royce Receives Huge Boost As It Ties Up Required Funding To Start Supplying Parts For Mini Nuclear Reactors” • The Qatar Investment Authority, the country’s wealth fund, will pour £85 million into the Rolls-Royce nuclear offshoot, which now has total funding of £490 million. It means it can start scouting sites for factories. [This is Money]

Rolls-Royce small modular reactor (Rolls-Royce image)

¶ “China Puts Pioneering ‘Pebble Bed’ Nuclear Reactor Into Operation” • China launched a high-temperature gas-cooled nuclear plant in the eastern coastal province of Shandong. It is the first to use ‘pebble bed reactor’ technology developed by state-run China National Nuclear Corporation. The reactor is now connected to the grid. [MarketScreener]

¶ “SEA To Convert 10,000 US School Buses To Electricity” • SEA Electric, a provider of electric commercial vehicles originally from Australia and now based in Los Angeles, has stuck a deal with Midwest Transit Equipment to convert 10,000 existing school buses to electric vehicles over the next five years. Midwest will provide the buses. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “The Arctic Should Never Feel Like The Mediterranean” • A warming Arctic should alarm all of us. The BBC has reported that it’s been seeing Mediterranean-like temperatures in the summer. The UN’s World Meteorological Organization recently verified the record that was set on June 20, 2020, in the Siberian town of Verkhoyansk. [CleanTechnica]

Arctic Ocean (NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio)

¶ “TotalEnergies To Develop 160 MW Of New Caledonia PV” • TotalEnergies is to develop solar farms in New Caledonia totaling 160 MW and 340 MWh of energy storage to supply electricity under a 25-year renewable power purchase agreement for the industrial operations of mining and metallurgy consortium Prony Resources New Caledonia. [reNews]

¶ “Ford F-150 Lightning Battery Specs Revealed” • The Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck will come in two flavors. The entry level Pro will come with a 98 kWh (usable) batter only and an EPA range rating of 230 miles. The XLT will have a 98 kWh battery, but a larger 131 kWh (usable) battery will be an option with an EPA range of 300 miles. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “SWEPCO Plans For Coal Plant Retirements, Renewable Energy Capacity Additions” • Southwestern Electric Power Co, an American Electric Power utility, released its Integrated Resource Plan. It includes timelines for retiring coal plants and adding renewable energy capacity, but the Sierra Club says they aren’t happening soon enough. [UA Little Rock Public Radio]

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