Cameron calls for coal phase out.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron has called for existing coal-fired power plants in the UK to be phased out in the next 10 to 15 years in a tweet following his speech at the UN climate summit in New York. His words come despite concerns in the industry that coal is still needed to play a vital role in energy generation and supply.

Cameron’s tweet, posted by the UK Mission to the United Nations, read: ’We’ve said no to new coal [without] carbon capture and storage and plan to phase out existing coal over next 10-15 years.’
While not stated explicitly in his speech at the climate summit, the UK team at the UN in New York said on the Twitter social media site afterwards that the UK government intends to phase out existing coal stations, with new coal-fired power stations to use carbon capture and storage technology.

This is the first time that a phasing out measure has been announced in the UK, though European Union rules on pollutants from coal-fired power stations state that older coal-fired plants will have to be fitted with clean technology sooner rather than later.

In contrast to the prime minister’s stance, UK energy companies such as EDF Energy have expressed that coal-fired power stations are critical to “bridging the energy gap between now and when the company can deliver new low-carbon generating capacity” and that switching away from coal too quickly could lead to higher carbon generation.

’If the UK were to close all its existing coal stations in the next few years, it is possible that they could be replaced by new gas-fired stations,’ EDF Energy says on its website. ’While the carbon footprint of new gas-fired generating plant would be smaller than the existing coal-fired power stations, they could still be substantial. Early replacement could therefore lock the UK into higher carbon generation for the lifetime of the new fossil-fuelled plants.’

EDF said it believes that the UK should use a “diverse range of fuels” including nuclear, renewable energy sources, and as the government proposes, coal and gas fitted with CCS technology, to ensure the long-term security of electricity supply in the UK.

Interestingly, the Guardian previously reported in August this year that the UK government was requesting that one of Europe’s most polluting coal power stations should stay open, despite its nitrogen oxide emissions exceeding new legal limits by five times.

The Aberthaw power plant in South Wales was said to be in the top 30 highest carbon-emitting plants in Europe by the Climate Action Network and alliance of non-governmental organisations in the “Europe’s Dirty 30” report.

Following Cameron’s announcement on Twitter, green campaigner Greenpeace UK called for both the Conservative and Labour politicians to announce a clear end date for polluting coal plants. 

This article originally appeared on www.cleanenergypipeline.coma clean energy news service operated by VB Research, a sister publication to The Engineer

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Shortage of electricity, Power plants-Shut down

From: The editor, Business Today. DT.: 24-09-2014

At the time of going to press, news was coming in that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would launch his ambitious "Make in India" campaign next week. Companies from across the globe have been invited for the function, and many have indicated they would attend. At the function, the Prime Minister is likely to announce major incentives to make India an attractive destination for setting up manufacturing plants for even global companies. A number of manufacturing hubs are expected to be created because of this programme, bringing in investments, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs, and giving a boost to the economy.

One of the crucial things that can make or break this programme is the availability of power. Reliable, inexpensive and uninterrupted power is an absolute must for a manufacturing unit to function smoothly. (There are others, of course, like tax incentives, land availability for expansion and peaceful labour, but even after all those are in place, manufacturers need to be assured of good power supply.)

The problem is that currently a number of thermal power plants in the country have shut down because they have run out of coal - and there are others which are in a precarious situation because they have just one or two days of stocks left as buffer. Almost one-third of the power capacity in the country is not generating any electricity due to fuel supply problems. Thus, unless the problem of domestic coal production and supplies is fixed - and fixed very quickly - Modi's dreams of making India a global manufacturing hub cannot come true.

The irony is that India has over 300 billion tonnes of fuel as reserves, and this is enough to fulfil our needs for the next 200 years. The issue is that we have been producing less than 600 million tonnes a year of coal from domestic mines, though we need a minimum of one billion tonnes per annum immediately.

Unless the coal crisis is sorted out, the Prime Minister's Make in India campaign will come to nought. And even the economic recovery currently under way could come under strain.

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L&T Construction Wins Orders Valued Rs 2050 crore

Mumbai, Sept 15 (IBNS): The construction arm of L&T has won new orders worth Rs 2050 crores across various business segments in Aug and Sept 2014.

The Power Transmission & Distribution business of L & T has bagged international and domestic orders worth Rs 1213 crores.

Larsen & Toubro Saudi Arabia LLC, a fully owned subsidiary of L&T, has bagged a major international order from the National Grid, Saudi Arabia (a subsidiary of Saudi Electricity Company) for the construction of an Extra High Voltage Double Circuit Transmission Line with a route length of 192 km.

This project will improve the power system reliability in Shedgum and Uthmaniyah areas in the eastern region of Saudi Arabia. Secured against stiff competition, L&T’s scope in this turnkey order involves design, engineering, testing and supply of EHV transmission towers, conductors, insulators, other transmission accessories, testing and commissioning of the line. The project is scheduled to be completed in 24 months.

On the domestic front, a turnkey order has been received from the Tamilnadu Transmission Corporation limited (TANTRANSCO) for establishing 400/230kV AIS & GIS substations at Karamadai near Coimbatore, Poiyur near Trichy and at Chennai Central.

Another order has been secured from the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited. The Project involves supply, erection, testing and commissioning of 33/11 kV Medium Voltage substations as part of the Power Distribution Network for enhancing electricity infrastructure under the RAPDRP Scheme in major towns of West Bengal.

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