FERC staff issues Energy Infrastructure Update for October 2011. Excerpts from each section (charts and graphs are in the document):
Natural Gas Highlights
— National Fuel placed into service its Line N Replacement and Lines R and I Expansion Projects which will provide 150 MMcf/d of firm transportation of Marcellus Shale gas on its Line N system in western PA to TETCO in Greene Co, PA.
— Tennessee placed into service its Line 300 Expansion Project which will provide increased system reliability and 350 MMcf/d of firm transportation of natural gas supplies including Marcellus Shale gas to markets in the Northeast.
— Northern Border placed into service its Princeton Lateral Project which will provide 120 MMcf/d of firm transportation for Central Illinois Light Company near Princeton, IL.
— National Fuel and Tennessee received authorization to construct and operate their Northern Access and Station 230C Projects. These projects will provide 320 MMcf/d of new capacity for transportation of Marcellus Shale gas in PA and NY.
— El Paso filed an application to construct and operate its Wilcox Lateral 2013 Expansion Project. This project is designed to increase capacity in El Paso’s Wilcox Lateral in Cochise County, AZ by 185 MMcf/d.
Electric Generation Highlights
— enXco’s 205.5 MW Lakefield Wind Project in Jackson County, Minnesota, is online. The project delivers electricity into the MISO transmission system for the benefit of Indianapolis Power & Light Co.’s generation portfolio under a 20-year power purchase agreement. The project consists of 137 GE 1.5-MW turbines.
— Golden Spread Electric Cooperative’s 78.2 MW Golden Spread Panhandle Wind Ranch in Oldham and Potter Counties, Texas is online. The project is comprised of thirty-four 2.3-MW Siemens wind turbines.
— Element Power’s 50-MW Macho Springs Wind Project in Luna County, New Mexico, is online. The project consists of 28 Vestas V100-1.8 MW turbines. The electricity generated from the project is contracted to Tucson Electric Power through a long-term power purchase agreement. The energy output is delivered via El Paso Electric’s existing line.
— First Wind’s 40-MW Sheffield Wind Project in the Town of Sheffield in Vermont, is online. The Sheffield Wind Project is Vermont’s first large-scale commercial wind power operation. The project is comprised of 16 Clipper Liberty 2.5-MW turbines. The renewable energy generated is sold to three Vermont utilities.
— Chevron’s 29-MW Coalinga Solar at the Chevron Coalinga Oil Field in the San Joaquin Valley, California, is online. Coalinga Solar is a thermal solar-to-steam enhanced oil recovery project, the largest of its kind in the world. It is comprised of 7,600 mirrors that reflect the concentrated sunlight to a receiver on top of a 323-foot solar tower to
produce steam. The steam is then injected into wells throughout the oil field to heat up heavier oil and thus lower its viscosity to make it easier to extract. The project replaces some of the steam production now powered by natural gas.
— Arizona Public Service Co. and First Solar announced two photovoltaic projects that came online, the Paloma Solar Power Plant and the Cotton Center Solar Plant. Both plants are 17-MW each and located in Gila Bend, Arizona.
— Public Service Company of New Mexico’s 5-MW Alamogordo Solar Energy Center is online. This project is the fourth of five PNM completed this year.
— Lime Energy Co. announced that the Zemel Road Landfill’s 5.6-MW landfill gas-to-energy project in Charlotte County, Florida is online. Methane gas from the landfill is collected to fuel two 2.8-MW reciprocating generators.
— Eastern Illinois University and Honeywell unveiled the school’s 15-MW Renewable Energy Center (REC) in Charleston, Illinois. The REC is the largest university biomass installations in the country, with a 10,000-square-foot steam plant that provides heat for buildings on the campus. The REC is driven by two large biomass gasifiers that
use an estimated 27,000 tons of wood chips per year, replacing the 10,000 tons of coal burned annually by its decommissioned old system and reducing an estimate of 80% of carbon dioxide emissions.
— Republic Services, Inc. dedicated a new 1-MW solar energy cover on the closed Hickory Ridge Landfill near Atlanta, Georgia. An exposed synthetic cover has been approved as the final closure mechanism for the 45-acre landfill. The innovative flexible solar panels are adhered to 10-acres of the cover to generate electricity. This is the world’s largest
landfill solar energy cap.
Electric Transmission Highlights
— American Transmission Co. LLC plans to build a 5.3 mile long, 345-kV interstate transmission line from the Pleasant Prairie substation in Wisconsin to the Zion Energy Center substation in Zion, Illinois. The project is estimated to cost $31 million and is expected to be in service in 2014.
— Clean Line Energy Partners, a private transmission developer, has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Tennessee Valley Authority. The MOU allows TVA to study potential benefits of the proposed Plains and Eastern Clean Line project. The proposed 800-mile, $3.5 billion, HVDC transmission line projects could bring wind energy from Oklahoma and Kansas to the Southeastern Region.
— U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray of the State of Washington have asked Stephen Wright, the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) Administrator, to delay the release of the draft environmental impact statement of the I-5 Corridor Reinforcement until January 2012. The 70 mile long, 500kV I-5 Corridor Reinforcement Project is the first high-voltage project in the region in more than 40 years. The interstate transmission project would run between Castle Rock, Washington, and Troutdale, Oregon, near Portland.
— The San Luis-Calumet-Comanche line, a joint project with cooperative utility Tri-State Generation and Transmission Inc. and Xcel Energy Inc. has been canceled due to a drop in the load forecast. The 100 mile long project had also experienced delays due to siting and permitting.
