Otter Tail Power Co. is withdrawing from Big Stone II, a 630 MW, $1.6 billion coal-fired power plant proposed for South Dakota. The utility had been the project’s lead developer.
Otter Tail Power Co. President and CEO Chuck MacFarlane said the economic recession combined with uncertainty about federal climate change legislation pushed the company to change its plans. He also said he did not want to hold up the project while the company tried to resolve its issues.
Project agreements required all companies involved to proceed with the plant after it received all necessary permits. MacFarlane said the company would not commit to raising $400 million for its share of the project.
Great River Energy pulled out of the project in 2007, citing similar reasons. Big Stone II had been scheduled to be on line in 2011. Now the plant would not begin operating until late 2015 at the earliest.
Alstom, Dow Dedicate CCS Plant
Alstom and The Dow Chemical Co. dedicated a pilot plant to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from the flue gas of a coal-fired boiler at the Dow-owned facility in West Virginia.
The pilot plant uses proprietary advanced-amine technology jointly developed by Alstom and Dow to capture approximately 1,800 metric tons of CO2 annually. The pilot will operate for the next two years, generating data that can be used to optimize the technology for use at other coal-fired power plants.
In 2008, the two companies entered into a Joint Development Agreement to develop this technology. In March 2009, the companies announced their plans to design and construct the plant.
NRC to Review COL for AP1000s at 2,200 MW Plant
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has accepted for review the combined license application for two Westinghouse AP1000 reactors at a 2,200 MW Florida Power & Light power plant.
FPL submitted the application on June 30 for the reactors at the Turkey Point station, which are expected to cost between $12 billion and $17 billion. The review acceptance does not indicate if the NRC will approve or reject the license request.
The two AP1000s would join two other pressurized water reactors, two combined gas and oil units and a combined cycle natural gas turbine at the site.
Basin Electric, NextEra to Build 99 MW Wind Farm
Basin Electric Power Co-op and NextEra Energy signed an agreement to develop a 99 MW wind farm, the fifth project between the companies.
NextEra will build, own and operate the project in South Dakota and Basin Electric will buy the electricity. The farm will feature 66 1.5 MW wind turbines and is expected to be ready for commercial operation by mid-2010.
Basin Electric said it will sell the power to the Western Area Power Administration for the first three years of operation. Basin Electric is also building a cooperative-owned wind farm in North Dakota and another in South Dakota. The North Dakota farm is expected to be 115.5 MW while the other would be 151.5 MW. Both are expected to be finished sometime in 2010.
GE Hitachi Submits Design for 1,520 MW Reactor
GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) said it has completed its submittal of the design certification document for the 1,520 MW Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR) to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, providing detailed information to evaluate the design.
The ESBWR is expected to have up to 40 percent lower operating and maintenance costs per kWh than currently operating Generation I and II nuclear reactors, according to GEH. Detroit Edison and Dominion Virginia have both referenced the reactor in their applications to the NRC.