California regulators say they can't recommend certification of the proposed 510 Mw combined cycle natural gas-fired Otay Mesa generation project without more information on air quality and transportation issues. The staff of the California Energy Commission said air quality, and traffic and transportation issues could have "potentially significant" environmental impact. In a report Friday, the staff said it is reviewing the proposal to mitigate particulate matter and traffic issues and will present its findings at a November workshop. The application for the project was filed in August 1999 by Otay Mesa Generating Co. LLC, a unit of PG&E Corp. A spokesman for the commission said Otay Mesa is proposing to offset particulate matter emissions by taking diesel trucks off the road.
TECO Energy Inc. reported its TECO Power Services subsidiary is acquiring for about $330 million GenPower LLC's interests in the McAdams and Dell combined cycle, natural gas-fired power projects being developed in Arkansas and Mississippi. The combined capacity of the two plants will be nearly 1,200 Mw. The plants are scheduled to be in commercial service in the second half of 2002. Both projects will be interconnected with the Entergy Corp. transmission system. The projects are expected to add to TECO's earnings in 2003, the first full year of operation, the company said.
Singapore Petroleum Co. (SPC) has bagged a 5-year contract to supply Pasir Panjang gas turbine station and Senoko power station with about $50 million (Singapore) of diesel fuel. SPC will supply about 600,000 bbl of low-sulfur diesel fuel from January 2001. As part of plans to liberalize the power sector, the Pasir Panjang and Senoko plants will be divested to government-owned Temasek Holdings by 2001. Power generating companies are then expected to be able to sell electricity direct to supply companies and consumers.
Taiwan Premier Chang Chun-hsiung said the cabinet voted to halt construction of the island's fourth nuclear power plant. Chang said halting construction of the $6.4 billion (US) project will not result in a shortage of power. He said the government has stepped a search for alternatives. Halting construction will cost about $2.3 billion, compared to the $3.73 billion required to complete the project, he said. Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Boston-based Stone & Webster Engineering Corp., and General Electric Co. are all involved in the supply and construction of the two 1,350 Mw boiling water reactors. The government has said that it will honor the agreements made with contractors, and will compensate foreign suppliers.
In a complaint filed with the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Puget Sound Energy has requested federal regulators to uniformly impose price caps on sellers of wholesale electricity in both the California and Pacific Northwest power markets. The company points out that thousands of energy transactions occur each month between California and the Pacific Northwest. Price caps set only in California without the same applied in the Pacific Northwest would result in California buying Pacific Northwest power at artificially low prices when they needed it and Pacific Northwest customers paying higher costs when the need is reversed, the company said.
Canada's National Energy Board said it has received a revised application from Sumas Energy 2 Inc. (SE2) to construct an international power line originating in the US and crossing the international boundary near Abbotsford, BC. The proposed power line would extend approximately 8.5 km from the border and would operate at 230 000 volts. The proposed facility would enable SE2 to transmit power from the international border through the Clayburn substation to the main electric grid which services British Columbia, Alberta and 11 western US states. SE2 originally applied in July 1999 to construct the proposed power line. Subsequent to the filing of the application, NEB said it received about 1,100 comments on the application and petitions signed by nearly 3,200 people.