POWER October 2014 - 13

POWER Digest
Kemper County Combined Cycle Unit Begins Commercial
Operation. Mississippi Power on Aug. 14 marked a significant
milestone and started commercial operation (on natural gas) of
the combined cycle unit at the $5.5 billion integrated gasification
combined cycle Kemper County energy facility. The unit
was originally synchronized to the grid on Oct. 5, 2013, during
testing using natural gas as fuel. Since then, the Southern Co.
subsidiary has performed critical testing on various components.
The combined cycle unit passed all applicable performance and
environmental tests. The first gasifier (to be used to convert
lignite to synthesis gas) heat-up at the plant is scheduled for
later this year. The 582-MW plant is scheduled to begin operation
using coal in the second quarter of 2015.
China's Fuqing CPR-1000 Reactor Is Connected to the
Grid. China National Nuclear Corp. on Aug. 21 connected Unit 1
of the Fuqing nuclear power plant in China's Fujian province to the
grid. The Chinese-developed CPR-1000 reactor is expected to enter
commercial operation by the end of the year. Six CPR-1000s will
eventually be built at the Fuqing site; construction is ongoing for
Units 2, 3, and 4. Those reactors should come online in 2016 and
2017. Mainland China now has 21 nuclear reactors in operation, 27
under construction, and many more in development.
IEA: Renewables to Grow Less Rapidly Through 2020
on Policy Uncertainties. Renewable electricity generation will
grow by 2,245 TWh through 2020, at a rate of 5.4% a year, says
the International Energy Agency (IEA) in its August-released
2014 Renewable Energy Medium-Term Market Report. Yet, the autonomous
Paris-based organization notes that this forecast has
been revised down largely due to " less optimistic outlooks for
hydropower, bioenergy, wind (onshore and offshore) and [solar
thermal energy]. " Hydropower, including output from pumped
storage, represents about 37% of total growth, followed by onshore
wind at 31%.
Deployment of renewable power capacity is meanwhile expected
to rise from a global total of 1,690 GW in 2013 to 2,555 GW
in 2020. Two global trends will help drive up renewable capacity,
the IEA predicts: Renewable electricity will scale up, and renewable
technologies are becoming increasingly competitive on a
cost basis with alternatives in a number of countries and circumstances.
" Even with growing competitiveness, policies remain
vital to stimulating investment in capital-intensive renewables, "
the agency notes. " Scaling up deployment to higher levels would
require stable, long-term policy frameworks and market design
that prices the value of renewables to energy systems and increases
power system flexibility to ensure system adequacy with
greater variable renewables. "
Four New Indian Ultra Mega Coal Plants Are Taking
Shape. India's government in August began work to establish
four new ultra mega power plants (UMPPs) with a combined capacity
of 16 GW, each of at least 4 GW. One UMPP is planned in
the state of Bihar, another in Jharkhand, and two in Odisha. State
officials report that land for the proposed project in Jharkhand
has been acquired, while the state governments of Bihar and
Odisha have identified suitable sites. Indian power companies
Tata Power, NHPC, NTPC, JSW Energy, Adani Power, and Jindal
Power have reportedly submitted applications to build the massive
coal-fired power plants.
FERC Licenses 1.3-GW California Pumped-Storage Facility.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in June issued an
original license for the proposed 1,300-MW Eagle Mountain Pumped
Storage Hydroelectric Project planned for the site of the inactive
Eagle Mountain mine in Riverside County, Calif. The project will operOctober
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POWER October 2014

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