Power line
State-of-the-art Lackawanna Energy Center goes on line
CHICAGO -- Commercial operations have commenced at Invenergy's Lackawanna Energy Center, a 1,485-megawatt (MW) natural gas combined-cycle electric generation facility with the capacity to power over 1 million homes.
The plant, located just outside of Scranton, Pennsylvania, is expected to generate over $50 million in revenue for its host community, the Borough of Jessup, over the course of its lifetime.
The Lackawanna Energy Center will likely displace generation from older, dirtier units in the PJM Interconnection, the largest organized power market in the nation. The facility is home to a cutting-edge single-shaft design: Each of its three 500- MW power islands comprise a combustion turbine and a steam turbine sharing a single generator, maximizing efficiency while still allowing for the independent operation of each natural gas turbine.
The plant's LEED-gold certified Administration and Control Building's design, complete with a rooftop solar array, is 60-percent more energy-efficient than similar buildings.
For more information, visit www.invenergyllc.com or call (312) 224-1400.
Trump signs bill to modernize nuclear regulation
WASHINGTON -- President Trump recently signed the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act (NEIMA). The bill, a bipartisan effort, is intended to modernize the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) by instating a new budget and fee structure and developing a revised licensing framework for advanced nuclear reactors.
The bill establishes a cap on the NRC's annual fees for existing reactors to avoid unjustly impacting the operating fleet as reactors go offline. It also directs the NRC to develop a licensing process for advanced nuclear reactors within two years, paving the way for innovation and commercialization of such reactors going forward.
For fiscal years 2020-2024, $14.42 million per year will be allocated to the NRC to complete the tasks outlined in the bill.
For more information, visit www.nei.org or call (202) 739-8000.
DOE to fund studies on carbon capture systems
WASHINGTON -- The DOE has issued a Notice of Intent for a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to complete at least two front-end engineering and design studies on commercial carbon capture systems for use in coal and natural gas power plants.
The FOA, planned to be issued in the second quarter of the 2019 fiscal year, seeks to solicit and reward research and development projects for carbon capture systems for retrofit at an existing coal-fired plant and at a coal or natural gas plant that generates CO2 suitable for storage and utilization. The projects are expected to advance carbon capture, utilization and storage in the U.S.
Applicants are encouraged to assemble multidisciplinary teams that include industry partners as well as host site power plant owners and operators.
For more information, visit www.netl.doe.gov or call (304) 285-4263.
Report: Managing cyber risk in the electric power sector
NEW YORK -- A recent Deloitte Global report assesses some of the most dire cyberthreats facing the electric power sector, the network of power plants and lines widely considered to be one of the world's most important systems of infrastructure. The report emphasizes the ever-evolving sophistication and frequency of cyber-attacks and the constantly- growing pool of threat actors, with energy among the top three most-targeted sectors in the nation.
Deloitte Global suggests how electric power companies might be able to mitigate these risks: Companies should map infrastructure assets, evaluate vulnerabilities and suppliers' security processes, and engage with industry peers and government agencies.
For more information, visit www.deloitte.com or call (212) 492-4000.
NERC, water sector launch new security partnership
WASHINGTON -- A new partnership between the North American Electric Reliability Corp.'s (NERC's) Sharing and Analysis Center (E-ISAC) and the Water Information Sharing and Analysis Center (WaterISAC) aims to improve cross-sector collaboration and take advantage of the electricity and water industries' interdependencies.
The WaterISAC will work with the E-ISAC to enhance coordination on potential security risks concerning the supply of electricity to water and wastewater treatment plants, and the supply of water to electric utilities for cooling power plant turbines and for office operations.
The main objectives of the partnership include improving security collaboration on common threats and incident response, providing joint analysis of security concerns and events, and advancing shared processes for information sharing.
For more information, visit www.nerc.com or call (202) 400-3000.
