Tag Archives: Compressor Station

June 19, 2020 · 1:13 pm

Energy News for week ending June 19, 2020

6 months | Encouraged | Pyroelectric

Good afternoon.

We start this week’s recap with some grim news from The Guardian. “The world has only six months in which to change the course of the climate crisis and prevent a post-lockdown rebound in greenhouse gas emissions that would overwhelm efforts to stave off climate catastrophe, one of the world’s foremost energy experts has warned. ‘This year is the last time we have, if we are not to see a carbon rebound,’ said Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency. Governments are planning to spend $9tn (£7.2tn) globally in the next few months on rescuing their economies from the coronavirus crisis, the IEA has calculated. The stimulus packages created this year will determine the shape of the global economy for the next three years, according to Birol, and within that time emissions must start to fall sharply and permanently, or climate targets will be out of reach. ‘The next three years will determine the course of the next 30 years and beyond,’ Birol told the Guardian. ‘If we do not [take action] we will surely see a rebound in emissions. If emissions rebound, it is very difficult to see how they will be brought down in future. This is why we are urging governments to have sustainable recovery packages.’”

One of the ways to keep emissions down is to bring more renewable resources online. The State House News Service via the Cape Cod Times reported this week that Vineyard Wind got some encouraging news. “Vineyard Wind I, the project that has been eyed as the first utility-scale offshore wind development in the country, will be ready to move forward once a federal permit the developer hopes will be issued by December is in hand, the project’s chief executive said. Vineyard Wind CEO Lars Pedersen said Thursday his company views the recent Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s supplement to the draft environmental impact statement for the 800-megawatt project as a positive step forward. ‘We read it in a way where we feel that BOEM is acknowledging that the impacts that we have, the changes that we have made, all in all makes it a project that should be moving forward, and that the mitigations we have put in place for various stakeholders are sufficient to counter the impacts that the project will have,’ he said. The bureau rocked the entire offshore wind industry in August with its plan to withhold the final environmental impact statement for Vineyard Wind I while it studied the wider impacts of a sector that is hoping to ramp up in Northeast and mid-Atlantic waters also used by the fishing sector. Last week, the agency issued its update and began a 45-day public comment period. A federal decision on a final permit for Vineyard Wind I is expected by Dec. 18. Before federal officials launched the broad review of wind projects, a decision on permit approval had been expected by Aug. 16, 2019. The 800-megawatt project is a joint venture of Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Avangrid Renewables planned for waters 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard.”

For our new energy technology feature this week we look to UConn. “UConn’s Associate Dean for Research and Industrial Partnerships, S. Pamir Alpay, and Yomery Espinal ’18 PhD (ENG) have published a paper on a novel portable pyroelectric technology in Cell Reports Physical Science with support from the Army Research Laboratory. Pyroelectric energy research is focused on how to generate energy from heat that would otherwise be wasted in a catalytic chemical reaction. When pyroelectric materials are heated, their polarization changes, leading to an electron flow that generates energy. These materials are commonly used in household devices like motion sensor lights, which detect body heat to determine when someone is near. Anytime there is a catalytic reaction, heat is generated. These devices harness that heat and use it as energy. For example, a combustion engine in a car produces heat that, with this kind of technology, could be used to power the electrical functions of the car that otherwise rely on battery power. The Army Research Lab (ARL) is particularly interested in this technology because it can provide more power with less weight, which is important for soldiers carrying heavy bags. While scientists have been experimenting with pyroelectric power for decades, the technology proposed in this paper is completely novel.”

That’s the recap for this week. Have a great weekend and as always, stay safe.

Energy Efficiency/Storage

Eversource Providing Virtual Energy Efficiency Pre-Assessments To Customers, Patch.com

IEA calls for $3tn green recovery plan targeting energy efficiency and renewables, Engineering and Technology

Bill would pay home batteries for peak shaving and avoiding power-line buildout, Granite Geek

Homes Gain Momentum as ‘Grid Flexibility’ Resources, Microgrid Knowledge

Sunrun to Turn Home Batteries Into Grid Resources for 2 Major Utilities, Greentech Media

Climate Change/Renewables/RGGI

Climate Change Is Killing Americans. Health Departments Aren’t Equipped To Respond, PublicIntegrity.org

Climate Change Tied to Pregnancy Risks, Affecting Black Mothers Most, New York Times

World has six months to avert climate crisis, says energy expert, The Guardian

A War Against Climate Science, Waged by Washington’s Rank and File, New York Times

Temperature spike: Earth ties record high heat May reading, Politico

Carbon Capture Will Require Large Public Subsidies to Support Coal and Gas Power, Desmog Blog

New York Proposes Regional Greenhouse Gas Changes, National Law Review

Trump’s EPA balks at a chance to save black lives, Vox.com

The deep sea could hold the key to a renewable future. Is it worth the costs?, Grist.org

Cleantech incubator Greentown Labs expands to Houston, Utility Dive

Turning manure into money, Washington Post

Emissions Are Surging Back as Countries and States Reopen, New York Times

Clean energy groups to propose FERC rules for national transmission system saving $47B a year, Utility Dive

Theoharides: Transpo emission pact still priority, CommonWealth Magazine

Maine gets more than $2.5M from cap-and-trade program, Caledonian Record

State Environmental Officials Announce Student and School Recipients of ‘Green Team’ Awards, Lynn Journal

Wind

Vineyard Wind encouraged by federal signals, State House News via Cape Cod Times

New Jersey to Build Nation’s Largest Offshore Wind Port, Greentech Media

As They Reach Retirement Age, Wind Farms Become Prime Investments, Bloomberg Green

FERC schedules technical conferences on carbon pricing, offshore wind integration challenges, Utility Dive

Solar

Solar net metering changes could harm US market, affect energy storage, S&P Global Platts

Boston organization stirs ire of solar advocates, CommonWealth Magazine

Utilities remain mute on FERC net metering petition, leave filing to face overwhelming opposition, Utility Dive

In a first, STAG launches solar projects in Mass., Boston Business Journal (subscriber content)

NARUC, NASEO team up to tackle distributed solar cyber risks as vulnerabilities grow, Utility Dive

EVs

Electric vehicles to set new market share record in 2020, S&P Global Market Intelligence

Lyft Pledges Shift to 100% Electric Vehicles by 2030, Greentech Media

Natural Gas/Oil/Pipeline/Drilling

With Air Permit Vacated, Senators Call For Construction To Stop On Weymouth Compressor, WBUR

New York activists target National Grid gas project after Williams shelves pipeline, S&P Global Platts

Gas disaster settlement fees in question, Eagle Tribune

Natural Gas Heads for Record Drop in Global Demand, Bloomberg

Effort to keep state’s largest power plant open fuels concern about climate, public health, Boston Globe

The Gas Industry Is Paying Instagram Influencers to Gush Over Gas Stoves, Mother Jones

Nuclear

Holtec and state agree on safety and financial terms for decommissioning Pilgrim nuclear plant, Boston Globe

Settlement sets guardrails for Plymouth nuclear plant decommissioning, South Coast Today

Trump policy change could be game changer for small nuclear reactors, Washington Examiner

Bills for Jobs, Local Funding at Indian Point Approved, The Examiner

Global annual installed capacity of nuclear power to decline to 3GW due to Covid-19, Power Technology

Market/Grid/Policy/Prices

Before the U.S. Can Have Clean Power, It Needs More Power Lines, Bloomberg News via Financial Post

Rising energy loads from fewer COVID-19 limits, warming weather spark utility readiness concerns, Utility Dive

Smart Energy Grids Become More Compelling, IoT World Today

What the Coming Wave of Distributed Energy Resources Means for the US Grid, Greentech Media

Divided FERC approves New England ISO short-term fuel security plan despite cost concerns, Utility Dive

Novel Waste-to-Energy Microgrid Aims to Provide Resilience in Camden, New Jersey, Microgrid Knowledge

Opinion

Our view: Huge potential for offshore energy, Salem News

New transmission infrastructure needed for offshore wind, CommonWealth Magazine

It’s time for a green stimulus: Here’s how a small Vermont utility can show the way, Utility Dive

This is not the way to move beyond net metering, Utility Dive

Energy News for week ending May 17, 2019

We’re gonna need a bigger boat | Could not win | Sound advice

Happy Friday afternoon.

We start this week’s round-up with a story about a new demand created by the offshore wind industry. From Bloomberg, “Offshore Wind Will Need Bigger Boats. Much Bigger Boats. How do you install a wind turbine almost the size of the Chrysler building in the open ocean? Just get a boat with deck space larger than a football field and a crane that can lift the weight of 1,100 Chevy Suburban SUVs. Those specialist ships are scarce, numbering about a dozen in the world. And at a cost of more than $300 million, they each need to be capable of hoisting generators the size of shipping containers atop steel towers hundreds of feet tall. While wind turbine manufacturers led by MHI Vestas Offshore Wind A/S and General Electric Co. are expanding the size of their machines quickly, the small cadre of mainly closely-held specialist shipowners that does the installations is hesitant to build more ships before they know how big the vessels need to be. That indicates a looming ship shortage in the next decade, threatening the outlook for a seven-fold jump in offshore wind capacity by 2030.”

From the Monty Python, “Not dead yet” category we have a story from NHPR about Northern Pass. “At N.H. Supreme Court, Eversource Argues It ‘Could Not Win’ On Northern Pass. The New Hampshire Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in Eversource’s bid to revive its Northern Pass transmission line. The justices are considering whether the proposal – a nearly 200-mile high-voltage power line to bring Canadian hydropower through the White Mountains to New England – should get a new hearing with the state Site Evaluation Committee, or SEC. The court’s ruling in the case, which isn’t due out for several months to a year, could also provide new insight on how the SEC functions and whether the legislature should reform it…At Wednesday’s oral arguments, Eversource attorney Bill Glahn contended the utility did pass that test – the SEC just didn’t look properly at all the evidence made available to them. “What they did was put us in a position where we could not win,” Glahn said.”

We wrap up this week with another wind story – this one from EurekAlert! “Can sound protect eagles from wind turbine collisions? Every year, bald and golden eagles are killed when they inadvertently fly into wind turbine blades. One possible way to prevent these deaths is to chase the birds away with acoustic signals — sound. To determine what types of sounds are most effective in deterring the birds, researchers at the University of Minnesota and their colleagues tested the behavioral responses of bald eagles to a battery of both natural and synthetic acoustic stimuli…Perhaps not surprisingly, the eagles were more interested in, and paid closer attention to, natural calls rather than synthetic signals…The study also showed that bald and golden eagles’ ‘working auditory space’ falls within a fairly well-defined frequency band, with an upper cutoff frequency of approximately 6 kilohertz and a lower cut-off frequency below 0.35 kHz. The researchers recommend that signal designers use the data as a developmental guideline in efforts to design effective and efficient acoustic deterrent systems. The results from the project take one critical step forward in the effort to develop acoustic alerting or deterrence technologies that might discourage eagles from flying into wind farm airspaces and reduce instances of injury and death associated with turbine collision, McGee explained.”

That’s the recap for this week. Have a great weekend!

Natural Gas/Oil/Pipeline/Drilling

Mass. should step up gas-disaster plans, consultant says, Boston Globe

Longmeadow Town Meeting voters approve restrictions on natural gas facilities, MassLive

Con ed: no new natural gas for Westchester until 2023?, Yonkers Times

A Keystone-Like Pipeline Opens Fierce Battle Over New York’s ‘Energy Future,’ New York Times

National Grid’s 7-month lockout cost utility $362 million, Boston Herald

N.Y. Deals Critical Blow to $1 Billion Shale Gas Pipeline, Bloomberg

Mixed reviews for $80 million gas deal, Andover Townsman

Weymouth Compressor Station

Protesters Bolster Case Against Weymouth Compressor Station, WGBH

New Report Finds More Safety Concerns About Proposed Weymouth Compressor Station, WBUR

Opposition ramps up in compressor station fight, Patriot Ledger

Natural gas facility opponents gain support, Boston Globe

Professor accuses DEP of accepting Enbridge, “coaching” on air quality, Wicked Local

Two Days Into Weymouth Gas Compressor Hearings, Safety Of Emissions Disputed, WGBH

Renewables/Climate Change/RGGI

‘Net Zero’ proponents say science supports new emissions goals, Wicked Local Cohasset

Proposed state rule changes rekindle biomass debate, Berkshire Eagle

Snowing in New England, Soaking in the South — You Call This Spring?, New York Times

Extremes Are the New Norm: Why This Cold Spell is Lingering, NECN

Bates College achieves carbon neutral status to help stave off climate change, Sun Journal

Old, misleading info among perils of teaching climate change, Portland Press Herald

How climate change will affect the rural northeast: Expect three weeks of heat, Phys.org

Wind

Floating Offshore Wind Holds Promise for Vertical-Axis Turbines, Greentech Media

Offshore Wind Will Need Bigger Boats. Much Bigger Boats, Bloomberg

Anbaric to flip Massachusetts coal plant site into offshore wind facility with 400 MW storage, Utility Dive

Connecticut House Green-Lights Offshore Wind Legislation, North American Wind Power

House approves bipartisan plan for wind power off New London, Hartford Courant

Wind power would bring new energy source to CT, Connecticut Post

Bose volunteers bond with Framingham students on wind projects, Milford Daily News

Vineyard Wind Receives Key Permit for Construction of Wind Farm Interconnection to Grid, Renewable Energy Magazine

Citizen group calls on Cuomo to squelch Lake Ontario wind power project, The Buffalo News

New London gets shorted in the wind deal, The Day

Prysmian reels in major US cable deal for Vineyard Wind, Recharge News

Can sound protect eagles from wind turbine collisions?, EurekAlert!

No vote on controversial wind turbine, Valley Breeze

Barnstable residents object to Vineyard Wind plans, Cape Cod Times

Solar

Scorching revenue growth at solar developer BlueWave, Boston Business Journal (subscriber content)

WoodMac: Solar Plants Cheaper Than Natural Gas ‘Just About Everywhere’ by 2023, Greentech Media

NY school district opens 3-MW solar farm, Renewables Now

New York provides $1 million for Anheuser-Busch solar array, AP

World’s First Drone-Based Shading Tool Approved in New York, Massachusetts, North American Clean Energy

Simsbury solar power project moves forward as developer buys land, Hartford Courant

State launches solar rebate program for customers of municipal light plants like Shrewsbury’s, Telegram

Sometimes solar panels are not a good fit for your home. Here’s why., Boston Globe

Efficiency/Storage

DOE proposal to roll back lightbulb efficiency puts billions in energy savings on the line, Utility Dive

Energy Storage Market size in US worth $4000 million by 2024, MarketWatch

New surface treatment could improve refrigeration efficiency, Science Daily

At Eversource, Energy Conservation Is the ‘First Fuel’, BusinessWest

Two Wayland homes get ‘Gold’ rating for efficiency, WickedLocal

EVs

Self-driving buses come to Providence, Boston Globe

Nuclear

Most Profitable Job in Nuclear Today Is Tearing Down Reactors, Bloomberg

Green New Deal activists dismiss nuclear power, Axios

NJ utility board going to court over $300M nuclear bailout, Press of Atlantic City

The Fusion Reactor Next Door, New York Times

Seabrook selectmen OK $36M tax agreement with nuke plant, Seacoast Online

Regulators ramp up oversight as Vermont Yankee dismantling begins, VTDigger

Disney could still build nuclear power plant after bill fizzles in Legislature, Orlando Sentinel

Market/Grid/Policy/Prices

At N.H. Supreme Court, Eversource Argues It ‘Could Not Win’ On Northern Pass, NHPR

CMP: Bill to create consumer-owned utility amounts to ‘hostile takeover,’ Maine Biz

Northeastern University Aims to Set New Standard for Higher Ed with Advanced Microgrid, Microgrid Knowledge

I-Team: Metering, billing problems at CMP prompt two new state laws, WGME

National Grid says state ownership would delay UK’s move to green energy, Reuters

Massachusetts will have enough power to beat summer heat, ISO New England says, MassLive

With Construction Underway, Opponents Appeal Seacoast Power Line To N.H. Supreme Court, New Hampshire Public Radio

Is there a non-micro role on the New Hampshire power grid for microgrids?, Concord Monitor

Ethics of Beaton’s move to Lowell energy firm questioned, Sentinel & Enterprise

Chairman’s departure leaves Maine PUC with vacancy at critical time, Portland Press Herald

Editorial/Opinion

Accelerated gas leak repair campaign shows power of community advocacy, need for continued accountability (Guest viewpoint), MassLive

BIA Business Perspective: To lawmakers — Tread carefully on energy legislation, New Hampshire Union Leader

Letter to the editor: Oil pipeline can’t be swapped for CMP proposal, Portland Press Herald

Benefits of Killingly Energy Center begin with jobs, Connecticut Mirror

Irony of relying on natural gas, pursuit of pipeline should strike cord, The Telegraph

Letter to the editor: NECEC will benefit Maine’s energy supply, environment, Portland Press Herald

Losing nuclear comes at a cost, Daily Item

Get ready for another biomass battle, CommonWealth Magazine

Energy News for week ending February 8, 2019

Compressor Station Opposition | FERC Twitter Spat | Waste for Good

Hi all. Happy Friday afternoon.

Given that so much has been written about the Green New Deal, we’re going to focus on a few other stories today.

The compressor station controversy in Weymouth continues to grow since it received approval on its air quality permit. From sit-ins at the Governor’s office to protests at the State House, this is a story that keeps on going. The Patriot Ledger reports that, “A group of physicians is challenging the findings of a state-ordered report on Weymouth’s proposed 7,700- horsepower natural-gas compressor station, arguing that the facility would pose “an unacceptable health risk to the surrounding community.” Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility released a report Thursday rejecting the findings of a health-impact assessment that the Metropolitan Area Planning Council conducted on the compressor station proposed by Algonquin, a subsidiary of Spectra Energy-Enbridge. The report, released last month, concluded that the facility would be unlikely to affect health and noise in the area…” To add further to the controversy, WBUR reports that “Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) Executive Director Marc Draisen told WBUR that his agency does not support construction of the compressor station in North Weymouth, citing concerns about climate resilience and public safety. The surprising comments come about a month after the MAPC released its Health Impact Assessment (HIA) concluding that emissions from the compressor station are ‘not likely to cause health effects’ to the surrounding community.”

Considering this guy was nominated by Donald Trump, it’s hard to believe he finds anything on Twitter surprising. From Bloomberg, “The top U.S. energy regulator is chastising his colleagues in a very public Twitter dispute that shines a light on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s inner workings. ‘I do not discuss the commission’s internal deliberations with the public,’ FERC Chairman Neil Chatterjee said Tuesday on Twitter. ‘Doing so would be highly inappropriate.’ Chatterjee was responding to an earlier tweet from the agency’s two Democratic commissioners. Richard Glick and Cheryl LaFleur said they were ‘disappointed that the commission failed to act’ on an offshore wind project’s request for an important waiver.” Considering what else comes out of Washington, their tweets seemed pretty tame to me.

Speaking of garbage, Utility Dive brings us a story of a local company doing something positive with food waste. “Up a steep dirt road in Haverhill, Massachusetts, past a set of old farm buildings, sits one of the newest anaerobic digesters in the country. It’s the fourth facility of its kind from Vanguard Renewables, with many more on the way…Vanguard’s ‘farm-powered’ model is designed to come with automatic community benefits. While Hanselman said the six-year-old company’s original plan was to focus on energy production, their scope has since expanded to include much more. A small adjacent building contains a 1 MW engine capable of generating up to 7,700 MWh of electricity per year from the resulting methane. In addition to a 20-year power purchase agreement with the city of Haverhill, Vanguard is providing free heat to the multigenerational family business — Crescent Farms — that hosts it on their land. The AD facility also handles all of their manure, creates enough liquid fertilizer for them to swear off synthetic material entirely and makes an animal bedding byproduct that has reportedly led to higher quality milk yields among the cows.”

That’s it for this week’s recap. Have a great weekend!

Natural Gas/Oil/Pipeline/Drilling

Doctors’ group challenges report on Weymouth compressor station, Patriot Ledger

The Fight Against A Gas Line Project In Weymouth Is Fought Every Day In Charlie Baker’s Lobby, WGBH

Proposed Weymouth Compressor Station Draws More Opposition, WBUR

Columbia Gas Fined $75,000 For Spikes In Pipeline Pressure Years Before Merrimack Valley Explosions, WBUR

Senate panel gets look at bill that would ban new oil and gas pipelines, VT Digger

Proposed $700M Killingly power plant clears key hurdle, Hartford Business Journal

Nearly 200 National Grid customers in Cranston affected by gas main break, WJAR

Aquidneck Island gas emergency causes 300 to seek unemployment benefits, Providence Business News

5 Newport restaurants sue National Grid, Enbridge over gas outage, Providence Journal

United States : Raimondo Discusses Relief Efforts for Newport County Gas Customers, MarketWatch