No Sweat | Tourist Season | Just add water
Happy Friday afternoon.
Let’s get to this week’s energy news.
It’s hard to believe with all this wet and cool weather that summer is just around the corner, but when it arrives, the New Haven Register reports, “No Sweat: Connecticut, New England have enough electricity for summer ahead. Officials with an organization that coordinates electric power grid reliability in the Northeast and parts of Canada said Thursday that Connecticut and New England should have an adequate power supply for this summer. Part of the reason for the adequate supply, according to officials with New York City-based Northeast Power Coordinating Council, is demand for electricity during peak periods continues to decline. The organization’s forecast for overall demand for electricity in New England has decreased by about 600 megawatts from last year’s forecast, to 103,548 megawatts…The NPCC’s forecast for this summer took into account the impending shutdown of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in Massachusetts, he said…The loss of Pilgrim’s 680-megawatt generation capacity is being offset by a 1,185-megawatt increase in new power-producing assets in New England, said Phil Fedora, assistant vice president for reliability services at NPCC. Among the generation increases is the new natural gas-fired power plant New Jersey-based PSEG is building on the site of the old Bridgeport Harbor generation station.”
Speaking of summer and tourist season, from Recharge News we have, “First US offshore wind farm ‘boosts local tourism.’ Researchers at the University of Rhode Island (URI) found tourism has increased on Block Island since five turbines began operating off its coast in 2016, confounding concerns over offshore wind among some in coastal communities. After analysing AirBnB rental data from roughly two years before and one year after the pioneering US array entered commercial operation, they found results for the rental market to be almost entirely positive for the peak July-August summer months.”
For a new technology focus, we bring you an AP story in the New York Post, “Salt could be the future of renewable energy. Amid the hum and heat of Berlin’s Reuter thermal power station stands a shining contraption that looks out of place in the decades-old machine hall. Its silver pipes and vats contain a substance that Vattenfall, the plant’s operator, says could become a key ingredient for a fossil fuel-free future. The energy company, together with a Swedish start-up, is testing the use of salt — though not quite the common table variety — to store heat, which accounts for more than half the power consumed in Germany. If it works well, the system could help solve a problem posed by renewable energy sources like wind and solar the world over: they are unreliable, meaning they sometimes generate too much, and sometimes too little power…Vattenfall and Swedish start-up SaltX have been taking advantage of a simple chemical reaction that occurs when quicklime becomes wet: the salt-like grains soak up the water, becoming calcium hydroxide and releasing large amounts of heat in the process. By removing the water again — a process not dissimilar to baking — the substance turns back into calcium oxide. The process essentially mirrors how batteries work, except that instead of electricity, the system stores heat. SaltX says it has also patented a way of covering the quicklime with tiny particles — known as a nano-coating — to prevent it from lumping together after several heating and cooling cycles. Roeglin says the process can absorb ten times more energy than water, which is currently used for power-to-heat facilities. And unlike tanks of hot water, which slowly cool down over time, the system can retain the chemically-trapped energy for far longer. Need heat? Just add water.”
There are many more stories below. Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!
Natural Gas/Oil/Pipeline/Drilling
Senators renew push to ban offshore drilling off New England, Boston Herald
Longmeadow residents to vote on proposed Tennessee Gas pipeline on May 14, WWLP
Columbia Gas settles on road repairs, Eagle-Tribune
Renewables/Climate Change/RGGI, etc.
One million species face extinction, U.N. report says. And humans will suffer as a result., Washington Post
Crowd oil not crude oil, Nature Communications
We’ll soon know the exact air pollution from every power plant in the world. That’s huge., VOX.com
Salt could be the future of renewable energy, (AP) New York Post
New York to phase out coal by 2020 through strict emissions regulations, Utility Dive
How to Switch to Renewable, Sustainable Energy in Connecticut, NBC Connecticut
Salem PowerChoice Offering More Renewable Energy Options, Patch
Lawmakers hear debate that shows sharp divide over renewable-energy bill, Portland Press Herald
Climate, jobs, power, water: New England candidate debate reveals our priorities, Newcastle Herald
Wind
First US offshore wind farm ‘boosts local tourism,’ Recharge News
Falmouth seeks new location for wind turbines, Cape Cod Times
Northeast planned offshore wind farms already bringing economic growth to the region, Renewable Energy World
Sandwich lobsterman raises concerns about offshore wind farms, South Coast Today
Wood to advise on offshore windfarm near Martha’s Vineyard, Energy Voice
Mass. commercial fishermen decry offshore wind projects’ pace, Providence Business News
Connecticut, wind energy producer strike deal to upgrade New London’s State Pier as industry terminal, Hartford Courant
Guilford Windmills To Stand At 650 Feet Tall, The Evening Sun (NY)
Connecticut Looking to Offshore Wind to Power Homes, NBC Connecticut
Transport boat for offshore wind farm to be built in North Kingstown, Providence Journal
Solar
Development Moves Forward On Massive Simsbury, Conn. Solar Project, WNPR
Ridgefield brewery goes all solar, The News-Times
Efficiency/Storage
Massachusetts’ multipronged policy approach spurs distributed energy storage, Utility Dive
EVs
Cobalt for 500,000 electric cars could be harvested from the oceans, New Scientist
Electric Ridesharing Benefits the Grid, and EVgo Has the Data to Prove It, Greentech Media
Nuclear
Here’s how you shut down a 47-year-old nuclear power station, 25 News
Ocasio-Cortez: Green New Deal ‘Leaves the Door Open’ on Nuclear, Moring Consult
Sen. King blasts Maine Yankee handling at nuclear energy bill hearing, The Times Record
This Company Says The Future Of Nuclear Energy Is Smaller, Cheaper And Safer, NPR
Three Mile Island reactor shutdown to start soon; Exelon says Pennsylvania nuclear rescue is dead, Philly.com
Startup promotes permanent nuclear waste storage via miles-long drilling, South Coast Today
C-10 responds to nuclear plant owner’s legal motion, Daily News of Newburyport
Seabrook signs $36M tax agreement with NextEra, Daily News of Newburyport
Market/Grid/Policy/Prices, etc.
Ethics of Beaton’s move to Lowell energy firm questioned, Lowell Sun
Army Corps Will Take More Comments On Wetlands Construction Of Seacoast Power Line, NHPR
Renewable energy firm heads to Maine’s high court to fight CMP’s $1 billion transmission line, Bangor Daily News
Second wind: CEO of energy firm Anbaric jokes that he’s a ‘liberal arts guy,’ Boston Business Journal
EPA says CMP permit application with Army Corps of Engineers is ‘incomplete,’ MaineBiz
No Sweat: Connecticut, New England have enough electricity for summer ahead, New Haven Register
NYISO: Decarbonization efforts could be slowed without new transmission, Utility Dive
Air Force Issues RFI for Energy-as-a-Service Contract at Massachusetts Base, Microgrid Knowledge
Permit for CMP transmission line appealed, Press Herald
FERC commissioner LaFleur laments spread of ‘polarization’ to independent agency, S&P Global
Energy suppliers top the UK hate list, Energy Central
Groups turn up the heat on efforts to block Connecticut lawmakers’ energy fund raids, New Haven Register
Time to open ‘time-sensitive’ transmission projects to Order 1000 competition, Utility Dive
Wallingford wins big in legal dispute with electric energy cooperative, New Haven Register
No Sweat: Connecticut, New England have enough electricity for summer ahead, New Haven Register
Maine Senate supports study of CMP project’s impact on climate, Portland Press Herald
NH’s Largest Utility Company Wins Business Of The Year Award, Patch
Editorial/Opinion
DPU failing to protect Mass. Consumers, CommonWealth Magazine
Why reducing carbon emissions from cars and trucks will be so hard, Boston Business Journal
New York’s Natural Gas Pipeline Ban: Unconstitutional, Bad For The Environment, Economy & Consumers, Forbes.com
Your Gas Stove Is Bad for You and the Planet, New York Times
New Columbia Gas president spells out agenda, Daily Hampshire Gazette
In the pipeline debate, follow the facts, Crain’s NY Business
Massachusetts Needs to Reconsider Nuclear Energy, Boston Magazine
Rivera: No way to pay for gas disaster distress, Eagle-Tribune