Energy News for week ending April 3, 2020

Nukes Offline | Open for Business | Climate Change Vodka

Happy Friday afternoon.

We start with news from the CT Mirror that “Most NE nuclear power offline due to timing fluke and problem. All but unnoticed as the coronavirus pandemic tears through the Northeast: the New England power grid is without 75% of its nuclear power – with more to go…The Seabrook Nuclear plant in New Hampshire went offline on Tuesday for its refueling – that’s 1,245 megawatts of power. Unit 2 of the Millstone Nuclear Power Station, with about 870 megawatts, is due for refueling this spring as well. But in the meantime, Millstone Unit 3, which carries about 1,230 megawatts , tripped offline less than a day after the Seabrook shutdown due to a circuit fault between the main generator and the switchyard, according to Kenneth Holt, spokesman for the plant’s owner Dominion Energy. The automatic reactor protection system kicked in as it was supposed to and the plant was shut down. As of Friday noon, the grid mix showed nuclear at 8% and natural gas at a whopping 68%.”

According to ReNews.biz, “Brayton Point Commerce Center in Massachusetts is open for business for the offshore wind industry, having completed upgrades to support heavy-lift port operations and receive deep-draft vessels at the site…Works include preparing Brayton Point as a suitable location for an offshore wind marshalling port and hub for manufacturing offshore wind components…CDC has been engaged in discussions with offshore wind industry companies. Prospective tenants include manufacturing, logistics, cable interconnections, maintenance, and other bulk materials, said the company. CDC executive vice president Stephen Collins said: ‘e have seen significant interest from prospective tenants wishing to use the port for offshore wind operations. These discussions take time as the investments are sizable.’ To date Brayton Point has received a total of nine vessel calls, including offshore wind research boats. In May 2019 grid asset developer Anbaric signed an agreement with CDC to build a 1200MW high voltage direct current converter and 400MW battery storage plant at Brayton Point to support the offshore wind industry.”

For our new technology feature we bring you this story from the New York Times, “Vodka From Thin Air: An Unusual Climate Prize Hits a Coronavirus Snag. In 2017, Stafford Sheehan handed a friend an unusual bottle of booze. He had made it himself — but not the usual way. A chemical physicist, Dr. Sheehan had invented a process to make alcohol from carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas associated with climate change, not cocktail hour. ‘‘I said, ‘Hold on, you made this from carbon dioxide?’’ recalled his friend, Gregory Constantine, who worked in marketing for Smirnoff. Now the two are in the vodka business, using Dr. Sheehan’s technology and marketing it as a way to fight global warming. Their company, Air Co., was one of 10 finalists for a pair of $7.5 million prizes to be awarded this year to the teams that can devise the most profitable use for carbon dioxide…The five-year competition, the Carbon XPrize, was designed to create a financial incentive to capture carbon dioxide and use it profitably, instead of releasing it. However, just as the Brooklyn vodka makers — along with the nine other finalists from as far afield as Nova Scotia (stronger concrete), India (an ingredient in pharmaceuticals) and China (a plastics replacement) — were approaching the finish line, the competition has been delayed by the coronavirus crisis.” Bummer.

That’s the recap for the week. Have a wonderful weekend and stay well.

Natural Gas/Oil/Pipeline/Drilling

Fracking Once Lifted Pennsylvania. Now It Could Be a Drag., New York Times

New York’s last coal-burning power plant closes on Lake Ontario shore, The Buffalo News

Curing hospitals’ addiction to the fossil fuels that make people sick, Boston Globe Magazine

Coronavirus, cheap natural gas and building electrification, GreenBiz

Climate Change/Renewables/RGGI

What the Renewables Industry Wants From the Next Stimulus Bill, Greentech Media

Vodka From Thin Air: An Unusual Climate Prize Hits a Coronavirus Snag, New York Times

COVID-19 will slow the global shift to renewable energy, but can’t stop it, The Conversation

The missing puzzle piece for getting to 100% clean power, Vox

Legislature Opposes Governor ‘Fast Tracking’ Renewable Energy Projects, The Post Journal