Platts - Thursday, March 09, 2006 http://www.platts.com ------------ Virginia House approves energy plan bill in 74-21 vote Washington (Platts)--9Mar2006 Virginia's House of Delegates on Wednesday evening voted 74 to 21 to approve S.B. 262, a bill that will make it easier to develop new nuclear plants and wind farms in the state. The measure, which previously won state Senate approval in a 31-6 vote, calls for the development of a state energy plan, for the State Corporation Commission to develop numerical "scoring systems" to identify optimal sites for nuclear plants, wind farms and liquefied natural gas facilities, and for state siting boards to provide "one-stop permitting" for such projects. S.B. 262 also includes an 0.85 cents/kWh grant or tax credit for wind power production and directs state officials to push for federal executive action and federal legislation that would give Virginia "exclusive jurisdiction" over the development of offshore wind farms. After a quick return to the state senate to approve minor amendments to the bill, S.B. 262 will go to Governor Tim Kaine. The governor, a Democrat, has not indicated whether he will sign the measure or seek further changes. ---Housley Carr, newsdesk@platts.com For more information, take a trial to Nuclear News Flashes at http://www.nuclearnews.platts.com. ------------ EC's energy paper leaves renewables, nuclear groups wanting more Brussels (Platts)--9Mar2006 Renewables and nuclear groups are disappointed with the European Commission's green paper on secure, competitive and sustainable energy for Europe, they said Thursday. "The EC missed a huge opportunity to create a new, sustainable and ambitious strategy tackling the energy challenges in front of us," said European Parliament member Mechtild Rothe. German socialist Rothe is also president of renewables group Eufores and was responsible for guiding the EC's draft law on energy efficiency through the EP. The EC's goals such as securing low carbon energy supplies and reducing import dependency "can only be achieved by a combined strategy of energy efficiency and renewable energy sources," she said. Nuclear trade body Foratom was pleased the paper acknowledged that all energy sources could contribute to ensuring enough generation capacity to meet demand. But it said the paper "failed to highlight the crucial contribution that nuclear energy makes--as a source of secure, affordable and environmentally friendly energy--toward meeting the European Union's energy goals." Nuclear accounts for about a third of European Union power generation. The EC said in its paper that although each member state was free to decide its energy mix, each should recognize that such decisions can impact on other members. For example, decisions to phase out nuclear energy could have "very significant consequences" in terms of the EU's dependence on imported fossil fuels and CO2 emissions. The annual strategic EU energy review proposed in the paper "can play a useful role in ensuring that all costs, advantages and drawbacks of nuclear power are identified for a well-informed, objective and transparent debate," said the EC. On renewables, the EC plans to develop a road map for renewables to present to the 2007 spring European Council of EU leaders. But although this is to look at targets beyond 2010, renewables groups are disappointed it does not mention the long term mandatory targets which they consider essential to give the long term stability for investors. The EC said simply that any future targets would have to be accompanied by a "cost-efficient, market-based regulatory framework" setting up an internal market for renewable energy, with the necessary economies of scale and efficient allocation of resources. The paper also suggests setting a target for the minimum level of secure, low carbon energy sources--including renewables, nuclear and clean coal--in Europe's energy mix. "I would be in favor of clear targets for secure, low carbon energies, for example more than 50% within 20 years," EC President Jose Manuel Barroso said Wednesday. ---Siobhan Hall, siobhan_hall@platts.com For more, request a free trial to Platts Renewable Energy Report at http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/ ------------ APS says Palo Verde-1 to shut for six weeks for repairs Washington (Platts)--8Mar2006 Palo Verde-1 will be shut for six weeks for repairs this month and next, Arizona Public Service said late yesterday in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. APS will take the unit out of service for one week starting March 18 to prepare for the repairs and will then take it offline for five weeks starting in June. The problem centers on vibrations in one of the unit's shutdown cooling lines, APS said. APS said it will spend about $60 million to buy replacement power, including during the unit 1 shutdown and from a period starting December 25, 2005, when the unit began running at about 25% capacity. APS said it will seek to recover its replacement power costs from ratepayers under a mechanism that allows for 90% cost recovery. ------------ Baltic utilities to study new nuclear Marseilles (Platts)--8Mar2006 The chief executives of the three Baltics states' power companies - Lietuvos Energija, Eesti Energija and Latvenergo - signed a memorandum of understanding March 8 to conduct a feasibility study to build a new nuclear reactor in Lithuania. The feasibility study, which is to be completed by November 2006, "is aimed at evaluating the technological, environmental, legal and economic aspects of the project," said Rymantas Juozaitis, director general of Lietuvos Energija, in a press statement. "It will assist us in reaching the most acceptable decision for all three countries to ensure electricity supply in the region and development of diversified electricity generation sources in the future." The MOU comes hard on the heels of an agreement signed late last month by the prime ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, in which they gave their backing to building new nuclear capacity to replace Lithuania's existing nuclear plant, Ignalina. Lithuania committed to shut down both 1.5-GW RBMK reactors of its Soviet-designed plant by the end of 2009 as part of its EU accession agreement. The first reactor was decommissioned at the end of 2004. The feasibility study will also evaluate a possible site for the new nuclear power plant, assess financing options and the possibilities of using EU funds for further research. Preliminary estimates have put the cost of building a new nuclear power plant at about Eur 3 billion ($3.6 billion). For more information, take a trial to Nuclear Fuel at http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/ ------------ Nuclear dispute not affecting Iran talks with IOCs: oil minister Vienna (Platts)--8Mar2006 The ongoing dispute between Iran and the international community over Tehran's controversial nuclear program is not affecting relations with international oil companies interesting in developing the country's oil and gas reserves, oil minister Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh said Wednesday. "We are signing contracts and there is no reason not to do so," the minister told reporters on the sidelines of OPEC talks in Vienna. Current production capacity is 4.2 million b/d, he said, adding: "By the end of the program it is going to get to 5.2 [million b/d]." Asked to comment on the status of talks to involve China in the development of the Yadaveran onshore oil field, Vaziri-Hamaneh said: "Negotiations are ongoing and I hope it will not go for long." A preliminary agreement between Iran and China envisaged the export of 10-mil a year of Iranian LNG to China over a 25-year period. It also offered a stake in Yadavaran onshore oil field to Sinopec, which was given the right to buy 150,000 b/d of Yadavaran output once peak output is achieved. Although it expired in January, both countries have said the deal remains on the table. Iran is pinning its hopes of boosting its oil production, which some analysts believe is currently strapped at around 4-mil b/d, on fields like Yadaveran and another onshore giant, Azadegan, which have yet to come into production. NIOC and Japan's Inpex agreed in February 2004 to a 75:25 partnership to develop the giant onshore field Azadegan, which at the time came with a $2-bil price tag. Total investment for developing the giant discovery has since risen to $4-bil. Inpex has not yet been able to secure major partners for the project, which has put a question mark over previous expectations of the field starting commercial production in mid-2008 at 150,000 b/d. The Japanese side also wants to review the financial terms of the deal, saying costs have risen since the contract was concluded. For more information, take a trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://nucweek.platts.com. ------------ French Senate begins debate on nuclear regulatory bill Paris (Platts)--7Mar2006 France's Senate began debate on the "Nuclear Transparency and Safety Act" today, under an "urgency" procedure requested by the government that ensures fast-tracking of the legislation by limiting debate. In initial debate, members of the ruling center-right UMP and the centrist UDF parties said they would vote for the bill, as amended by the government recently to create a five-member independent nuclear regulatory commission, the High Authority for Nuclear Safety. They also promised a series of amendments related to that authority's functions and those of the Local Information Commissions (CLI) around nuclear facility sites. Former environment minister Dominique Voynet (Green), now a senator, termed the reform "dangerous" because it gives the proposed regulatory body too much power independent of the government and parliament. She said the Greens would vote against it; representatives of the Socialist and Communist parties also disapproved. But the center-right parties have enough votes to pass the bill in both the Senate and the National Assembly. The bill is scheduled for debate in the Assembly late this month, after three days' debate and vote in the Senate. ------------ Poll finds Ontario residents split on need for new nuclear plants Philadelphia (Platts)--7Mar2006 A poll released Tuesday by an Ontario environmental group found the province's electricity consumers strongly support energy efficiency, renewable energy and the provincial government's plan to shut down Ontario Power Generation's remaining coal stations by early 2009, but are evenly split on whether the province should develop new nuclear plants. The poll, commissioned by the Ontario Clean Air Alliance, found that 89% of respondents "totally support" government efforts to enhance conservation and energy efficiency, while 89% support the development of renewable projects such as wind farms and biomass-fired plants. The poll also found that 74% support new hydroelectric projects, but only 49% support new gas-fired plants, and only 36% support new nuclear plants. OCAA said 19% oppose new gas-fired plants and 36% oppose new nuclear plants. Further, the poll found that 55% of respondents agree with the government's plan for coal-fired generation, while 29% oppose it. The group said 65% of those surveyed support its position that the province meet its future electricity needs by conservation and energy efficiency, new renewable power, and gas-fired plants as opposed to new nuclear reactors. The Ontario government is in the midst of reviewing the Ontario Power Authority's December 9 report that calls for the province to improve its currently tight capacity-supply situation over time by adding nuclear, gas-fired capacity and wind power. For more information, take a trial to Platts Nucleonics Week at http://nucweek.platts.com. ------------