POWER November 2014 - 16

8. Mountain power. This image shows Mt. Semeru, an active volcano located in East
Java, which last erupted in April 2014. Courtesy: Jurema Oliveira/Wikimedia Commons
power needs when complete.
NTPC Initiates 4-GW Andra Pradesh
UMPP Project. India's state-owned
power company NTPC Ltd. on Sept. 16
announced plans to set up a 4-GW ultra
mega power plant at Pudimadaka near Visakhapatnam,
where it has been allotted
1,200 acres by the state government of
Andhra Pradesh. The project is expected
to use imported coal, requiring about 19.8
million metric tons per year. The company
must now secure environmental clearances
before construction can begin. NTPC also
has plans to build a 1-GW solar park in
Andhra Pradesh, a project for which the
state has allocated 5,500 acres.
China to Back New Nuclear Project
total capacity of about 6.5 GW in its JavaBali
operations area.
Yet the fledgling geothermal sector
has been slow to develop, and not just
because the coal-rich country's plans to
electrify its 17,000 islands have long
been limited by geographical challenges.
Experts blame costs associated with
geothermal technologies and frequent
changes in the regulatory framework, as
well as a general lack of qualified human
resources.
Another prominent setback has been
that most geothermal resources lie in
protected mountain and forest areas,
where mining is forbidden. However, the
new law stipulates that exploration for
geothermal energy and development of
plants is no longer considered mining.
The law also shifts the power to authorize
projects from local entities to the
central government.
This will mean that developers can
work in the country's vast tracts of protected
land and possibly harness power
from its 130 volcanoes (Figure 8), estimated
to hold about 40% of the world's
geothermal potential.
This June, to make the industry more
attractive to investors, the Ministry of
Energy and Mineral Resources also issued
new rules that require PLN to
buy power generated from geothermal
power plants operated by independent
power producers.
-Sonal Patel
16
POWER Digest
Finland Rejects Permit Extension for
Olkiluoto Reactor. Finland's government
on Sept. 25 rejected an application from
utility Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO)
to extend a permit for its proposed Olkiluoto
4 reactor for five years. TVO requested
the extension in light of delays
from its Olkiluoto 3 EPR project, which is
being built by an AREVA-Siemens consortium.
That project is now expected to
come online in 2018, a decade later than
originally planned. Earlier in September,
the government approved an amendment
to Fennovoima's decision in principle to
include Russia's AES-2006 reactor model
for its proposed Hanhikivi plant. Fennovoima
must now submit an application for
a construction license to build the plant
by June 2015.
UAE Approves Construction License
for Barakah 3 and 4. The United Arab
Emirate's (UAE's) Federal Authority for
Nuclear Regulation board of management
in mid-September approved the Emirates
Nuclear Energy Corp.'s (ENEC's) application
to build two more APR1400 reactors
at the Barakah site. Two units, Barakah 1
and 2 are already under construction there
and are planned to come online in 2017
and 2018. Unit 1 is reportedly already
57% complete. Units 3 and 4 will enter
operation in 2019 and 2020. ENEC poured
concrete for the reactor containment
building for Unit 3 on Sept. 24. The reactors
will provide about 25% of the UAE's
www.powermag.com
in Argentina. China will provide equipment
and services for Argentina's fourth
nuclear power plant, Atucha III, under
a $2 billion long-term financing agreement,
Buenos Aires said on Sept. 3.
State-owned company Nucleoelectrica
Argentina will build and operate the
800-MW plant, and Chinese state-owned
entity China National Nuclear Corp. will
provide technical and instrumental support
and other services. The plant, to be
located at the Atucha complex in Lima
about 70 miles northwest of Buenos Aires,
will be a CANDU reactor similar to
the one installed at the country's Embalse
nuclear station.
EnBW to Sell Share in German
Coal Plant. STEAG GmbH on Sept. 23
agreed to take over EnBW's 75% share
in the 780-MW Bexbach Power Station.
STEAG already owns the remaining 25% of
the plant. A purchase price was not disclosed.
The Bexbach Power Station was
commissioned in 1983 and is located in
the eastern part of Saarland.
Siemens, Daewoo Complete 1.6GW
UAE Gas-Fired Plant. Siemens
Energy and South Korean consortium
partner Daewoo Engineering and Construction
Co. on Sept. 2 handed over
the 1.6-GW Shuweihat S3 combined cycle
power plant in the emirate of Abu Dhabi,
United Arab Emirates. The plant's owner
is Shuweihat Asia Power Co., which is
a consortium comprising Japan's Sumitomo
Corp., the Korea Electric Power
Corp., and the local utility Abu Dhabi
Water & Electricity Authority. The plant
is expected to provide much-needed power
to the rapidly growing Abu Dhabi population
and the nearby Ruwais refinery.
The plant uses four Siemens SGT5-4000F
gas turbines, two SST5-4000 steam turbines,
and six generators (SGen5-1000A
and SGen5-2000H). ■
-Sonal Patel
POWER | November 2014
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POWER November 2014

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