POWER January 2016 - 11

reach a budget deficit target. Power
Minister Piyush Goyal told reporters on
Nov. 18 that a sale could be completed
before March 31, dropping the government's
share of the entity to 69%.
Construction Begins on 750-MW
Zambian Hydro Plant. China's Sinohydro
Corp. on Nov. 30 began construction
of Zambia's 750-MW Kafue Gorge
Lower hydroelectric power plant, a project
seen as critical to address a power
crisis in the southern African country.
China and Zambia signed an agreement
this October for construction of the $1.97
billion plant on the Kafue River, a primary
tributary of the Zambezi. Sinohydro is
expected to arrange debt financing from
the China ExIm Bank and Industrial and
Commercial Bank of China to fund the
project. The plant's five units (each 150
MW) are slated to be completed within
six years. According to governmentowned
utility ZESCO, the plant's owner,
the project will also address the growing
demand for power in the Southern African
Power Pool.
Hungary's Plans to Build Paks II Nuclear
Plant Hampered by EU State Aid
Investigation. Hungary in mid-November
reiterated plans to begin construction of
the two-unit Paks II nuclear power plant
in 2018. However, the European Commission
(EC) soon after opened an investigation
into how the Hungarian government
plans to finance construction of the two
Russian-built VVER-1200 units, raising
concerns about how compatible the project
is with European Union public procurement
rules.
Hungary signed an agreement with
Russia in 2014 for the supply of the two
reactors at the Paks plant site, which
currently comprises four VVER-440 reactors
that were built between 1982 and
1987. In early November, the government
announced that a site license for
Paks II could be issued by 2016 and
a construction permit in 2017. The EC
investigation will determine whether
Hungary's investment in the plant constitutes
state aid and whether it would
lead to distortions of competition in the
Hungarian energy market.
Germany Cuts Support for Onshore
Wind, Biomass. Germany will slash subsidy
levels for onshore wind and biomass
power as of Jan. 1, 2016, the country's
energy regulator, Bundesnetzagentur, announced
on Oct. 30. Support values under
the Renewable Energy Sources Act, which
are determined by deployment in the preceding
12-month reference period, will
be reduced 1.2% for onshore wind and
January 2016 | POWER
by 0.5% for biomass. The regulator noted
that current wind capacity stands at
3,666 MW-well above the statutorily set
deployment range of 2,400 MW to 2,600
MW. Biomass capacity, by contrast, stands
at 71 MW, below the deployment limit of
100 MW, but biomass expansion has seen
a " sharp fall, " it said.
E.ON Permanently Closes Iconic UK
Coal Plant. E.ON's Ironbridge Power Station
in Shropshire, UK, reached its 20,000hour
generation limit under the European
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Union's Large Combustion Plant Directive
and was permanently closed on Nov. 20.
The plant, opened in 1969, was originally
designed to run on coal in its two 500MW
units. In 2012, it was converted to
wood pellet-fired biomass with an output
of 740 MW. Only one of the two units was
operational following a fire in 2014, causing
the plant's capacity to be further reduced
to 370 MW. ■
-Sonal Patel is a POWER associate
editor.
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POWER January 2016

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