|
News
|
LCG, April 13, 2026--The EIA today released an "In-brief Analysis" of U.S. coal-fired generating capacity retirements in 2025. A highlight of the analysis is that, during 2025, the electric power sector retired 2.6 GW of coal-fired generating capacity at four power plants, which is (i) the least since 2010 and (ii) 5.9 GW less than the planned retirement of 8.5 GW at the beginning of 2025.
Read more
|
|
LCG, April 10, 2026--The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced yesterday a rule proposing several revisions to the federal regulations governing the disposal of coal combustion residuals (CCR) and the beneficial use of CCR. The EPA designed the rule to encourage resource recovery, allow for site-specific considerations in permitting, and provide regulatory relief while continuing to protect human health and the environment. The EPA will be accepting comments on the rule for 60 days after publication in the Federal Register, and it will also hold an online public hearing on the rule.
Read more
|
|
|
Industry News
Interior Department Approves 1,000 MW Solar Project in the Mojave Desert
LCG, October 27, 2010--The U.S. Interior Department on Monday approved The Blythe Solar Power Project, a mammoth $6 billion facility with an electric generating capacity of 3,000 MW. The Interior Department will provide a right-of-way grant for over 7,000 acres of public lands in the Mojave Desert near Blythe, California for 30 years to the developer, Solar Mellennium.
Four solar-thermal power plants are planned at the Blythe location, and the combined capacity will be nearly 1,000 MW. With approval from the Interior Department, construction is scheduled to start for the first two plants by the end of 2010, the deadline for qualifying for the U.S. Treasury Department grant, which equates to 30 percent of the project's cost. The first plant is scheduled to be connected to the grid as early as 2013.
The facility will employ a parabolic trough system that uses mirrors to focus solar energy onto collector tubes, with the hot fluid used in a boiler to generate steam, which is in turn used to drive a steam turbine to generate power.
Solar Millennium has power purchase agreements with Southern California Edison (SCE) for the first two plants that were approved by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) last July.
Solar Millennium envisions an equity ratio of 20 to 30 percent and a debt ratio of 70 to 80 percent for the first two plants and states it has sufficient resources for financing the first construction measures.
With the Treasury Grant requiring projects to start construction by the end of this year, the Interior Department recently approved a number of other large solar projects, including a 709-MW project in Imperial County and a 664-MW project east of Barstow.
The increase in variable output, non-dispatchable solar power creates a corresponding need for energy storage capacity. Last month, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger approved Assembly Bill 2514, which is designed to set targets for electric utilities to procure viable and cost-effective energy storage systems.
The new law requires the CPUC to initiate a proceeding to determine appropriate targets for each load-serving entity to procure energy storage systems by March 1, 2012, and to adopt such targets by October 1, 2013.
|
|
|
|
UPLAN-NPM
The Locational Marginal Price Model (LMP) Network Power Model
|
|
|
UPLAN-ACE
Day Ahead and Real Time Market Simulation
|
|
|
UPLAN-G
The Gas Procurement and Competitive Analysis System
|
|
|
PLATO
Database of Plants, Loads, Assets, Transmission...
|
|
|
|
|