POWER May 2017 - 15

three proposed Moorside reactors, and six
reactors proposed for construction in the
Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
European TSOs to Explore Power
Link Islands in North Sea. Three European
transmission system operators-
TenneT TSO B.V. from the Netherlands,
Danish firm Energinet, and Germany's
TenneT TSO GmbH-on March 23 signed
an agreement to develop a " North Sea
Wind Power Hub, " which, they said, has
the potential to supply 70 million to 100
million European consumers with renewable
energy by 2050. The hub involves
building one or more large artificial islands
in the middle of the North Sea that
could connect thousands of future offshore
wind turbines. The TSOs said one of
these " Power Link " islands, which would
be built in shallow waters and in optimal
wind conditions for offshore wind farms,
could distribute and transmit wind power
via direct-current connections to all countries
bordering the North Sea: the Netherlands,
Denmark, Germany, the UK, Norway,
and Belgium. The wind connectors could
also function as interconnectors between
the energy markets in these countries, allowing
them to trade power. TenneT and
Energinet will now " spend a few years "
investigating the details and potential
for one or more Power Link islands. If the
project comes to fruition, an island could
be built as soon as 2035.
TenneT in March also noted that a decrease
in natural gas prices and high import
volumes of solar and wind energy
from Germany prompted a record drop in
average day-ahead electricity prices within
the Western European electricity market
over the first eight months of 2016. From
September to December, however, prices
increased due to a power crunch stemming
from nuclear plant troubles in France and
Belgium. In October 2016, " an interesting
switch took place " as the Netherlands,
which typically imports power, began exporting
power, and France began importing
power, it said.
Kudankulam 2 Begins Commercial
Operation. The second unit of the Kudankulam
nuclear power project in the
southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu started
commercial operation on March 31.
The VVER-1000 reactor was built by ASE
Engineering Co., the engineering arm of
Russian state-owned nuclear power entity
Rosatom, for the Nuclear Power Corp.
of India Ltd., an Indian government enterprise
that oversees its nuclear power
plants. It was synchronized to the grid
in August 2016, having attained criticality
in July 2016. It joins Kudankulam Unit
May 2017 | POWER
1, which has been grid-connected since
October 2013. Both reactors were built
with technical cooperation with the Russian
Federation. Excavation on the second
phase of the Kudankulam project (Units 3
and 4) has already been sanctioned by the
government and is in progress.
GEH, ARC Nuclear Partner to Accelerate
Commercialization of SodiumCooled
Fast SMR. GE Hitachi Nuclear
Energy (GEH) and Advanced Reactor Concepts
(ARC Nuclear) on March 13 signed
a memorandum of understanding (MOU)
to collaborate in the development and
licensing of an advanced small modular
reactor (SMR) based on Generation IV
sodium-cooled reactor technology. GEH
and ARC Nuclear have each developed advanced
reactor designs based on the EBRII,
an integral sodium-cooled fast reactor
prototype that was developed by Argonne
National Laboratory and operated for more
than 30 years at Idaho Falls, Idaho. GEH's
PRISM reactor is designed to refuel every
12 to 24 months, while the ARC-100 is a
100-MW unit designed to operate for up
to 20 years without refueling. While the
companies noted there are more than 90
advanced nuclear
technology and SMR
designs under various stages of development,
the company said sodium fast reactors
are the most mature advanced reactor
technology. Under the MOU, the companies
agreed to enter into a pro-competitive
collaboration to speed up progress
on the joint SMR design for global power
generation, planning to initially deploy it
in Canada. Their next steps will entail pursuing
a preliminary regulatory review by
the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission
through its vendor design review process.
They will also now work to confirm projected
construction and operating costs,
and identify a lead plant owner/operator
for the SMR.
Iberdrola Bags Contract for 766-MW
Combined Cycle Plant in Mexico. Spanish
multinational power firm Iberdrola on
March 22 announced it had been awarded
the contract for the Topolobampo III combined
cycle power plant, a 766-MW facility
to be built in the municipality of Ahome,
Sinaloa. The company, which is Mexico's
largest private power producer, will build,
operate, and maintain the $400 million
project. It will also sell its production to
the Mexican Federal Electricity Commission
(CFE) under a 25-year contract
with fixed capacity fees when the project
begins operation, likely in January 2020.
The project will be equipped with HO1
gas turbines fabricated by GE. In March,
Iberdrola also announced it will begin
www.powermag.com
construction on its first two large-scale
photovoltaic power plants in Mexico: the
100-MW Hermosillo and 170-MW Santiago
photovoltaic plants, located in Sonora and
San Luís Potosí, respectively.
MHPS Inks New Deal for J-Series
Gas Turbine. Mitsubishi Hitachi Power
Systems (MHPS) signed an agreement
with Iberdrola on March 20 for two
M501J gas turbines, a steam turbine, a
spare gas turbine rotor, and a long-term
service agreement for the 850-MW El Carmen
combined cycle power plant, located
in Nuevo León, Mexico. The El Carmen turbines
are scheduled for delivery in 2018,
with commercial operation expected in
September 2019. MHPS said that its fleet
of G- and J-Series Advanced Class Gas Turbines
recently achieved a major milestone
by registering 4 million actual operating
hours of service, making MHPS the only
original equipment manufacturer to offer
long-term product verification prior to
commercialization.
Kansai to Mothball Three Oil-Fired
Units. Japan's Kansai Electric Power Co.
on March 16 announced it would mothball
three of four oil-fired generation units at
its 2,100-MW Kainan oil-fired power plant
in western Japan, citing diminished power
demand. Units 1 and 2, each with a capacity
of 450 MW, were expected to be mothballed
on April 1. The 600-MW Unit 3 will
be mothballed on June 9. Kansai pegged
falling power demand on Japan's drive to
improve energy efficiency after the Fukushima
nuclear disaster in 2011.
European Commission OKs Belgian
Plan to Keep Reactors Open. On
March 17, the European Commission said
Belgium's
plans
to compensate EngieElectrabel
and EDF Belgium for potential
financial risks linked to long-term operation
of three Belgian nuclear reactors-
Tihange 1, Doel 1, and Doel 2-are in
line with European Union state aid rules.
Belgium struck two agreements with the
power companies between 2014 and 2015
to prolong the operational lifetime of the
nuclear reactors. Under the agreements,
the companies will invest around €1.3 billion
in the plants in exchange for regulatory
approval to run them for another
10 years. It means that if Belgium moves
to shutter the reactors before the 10-year
period ends, the companies will receive
financial compensation. The European
Commission concluded that the measure
would ensure liquidity on Belgian electricity
markets and help increase competition
between electricity suppliers. ■
-Sonal Patel is a POWER
associate editor
15
http://www.powermag.com

POWER May 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of POWER May 2017

Contents
POWER May 2017 - Cover1
POWER May 2017 - Cover2
POWER May 2017 - Contents
POWER May 2017 - 2
POWER May 2017 - 3
POWER May 2017 - 4
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