Platts - Monday, January 22, 2007 http://www.platts.com ------------ ASLB appointed to consider Susquehanna license renewal London (Platts)--22Jan2007 An ASLB has been appoined to consider Susquehanna license renewal, NRC said January 18. The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board will review a January 2 petition to intervene by Eric Epstein of TMI Alert. The board is composed of administrative judges Ann Marshall Young, who will chair the panel, and Kaye Lathrop, and William Sager. The announcement did not provide a schedule for the proceedings. PPL Susquehanna operates the Susquehanna-1 and -2 BWRs, rated at 1,202 MW and 1,207 MW, respectively. ------------ French nuclear group Areva ups investment in German wind sector London (Platts)--22Jan2007 French nuclear group Areva has made an offer for the remaining 70% stake of German wind turbine maker REpower systems it does not yet own, the French company said Monday. The price offered by Areva was Eur105/share ($136/share), a 17% premium over the closing share price January 19, Areva said, to value the company at Eur850 million. The French company has been a shareholder in REpower since September 2005 and currently holds a 29.99% stake. "The complementary nature of the combination will enable REpower to have the necessary financial strength, engineering expertise and commercial reach to accelerate its development, particularly in off-shore projects. REpower already has a strong competitive advantage in this area by being the leader in 5 MW turbines for offshore applications," Areva said. REpower specializes in high output turbine technology particularly suitable for offshore turbines. --Robin Sayles, robin_sayles@platts.com ------------ Finland rejects Areva's uranium prospecting license application Stockholm (Platts)--19Jan2007 Areva's application for uranium prospecting licenses in Finland was rejected January 19 by Trade and Industry Minister Mauri Pekkarinen. He said the application did not contain the information required by Finnish law or the European Union's Natura 2000 environmental guidelines. An Areva spokesman said that the company is reviewing the response of the Finnish government. He said the decision was over 60 pages and very technical. Areva has 45 days to appeal the decision. The spokesman said that both possible options - accepting the decision or appealing it - remain completely open. The ministry did approve a very limited prospecting license for Namura Finland Oy, which is owned by Vancouver-based Cooper Minerals Inc. ------------ Germany must subsidize clean coal with nuclear extension tax: DB London (Platts)--19Jan2007 The only viable energy policy for Germany is to make clean coal power generation competitive with gas-fired power via subsidies funded from windfall taxes on nuclear extensions, Deutsche Bank said Friday in an investment note. Following the European Commission's rejection of Germany's Phase 2 CO2 allocation proposal, the investment bank says gas-fired generation is "the new entrant of choice at Euro 50/MWh [$64.8/MWh]," making the many lignite and hard coal plant proposals unlikely to proceed. Without the subsidy implied by Germany's rejected CO2 National Allocation Plan for 2008-2012, under which Germany proposed awarding 14 years' worth of carbon allowances free of charge to new-entrant power plants commissioned during the period, DB believes that much of the 22 GW of planned new plant in Germany by 2012 will not now get built. If the planned phase-out of nuclear power goes ahead, the bank says a total of 42 GW of new plant would be required by 2020 - 20 GW to replace lost nuclear plants, 12 GW to meet demand growth and ensure adequate reserve margins and 10 GW to replace old fossil-fuel plant. "In addition, we estimate that CO2 emissions from power generators would rise to 293 million tonnes from 250 million tonnes over 2010-20, and that Germany would therefore find it impossible to meet its aspiration of a 40% cut in GHG emissions by 2020 against 1990 levels," the bank says. "Moreover, we calculate that gas used for power generation would increase to 503 TWh from 140 TWh over 2005-20 on this scenario, thus dramatically increasing Germany's dependence on foreign energy supplies." DB thinks Germany can only reduce CO2 emissions and bolster security of supply by extending its nuclear plants' operating lives and subsidizing carbon capture and storage plants via taxes on nuclear lifetime extensions. It estimates that CCS is viable at Eur64/MWh. ------------ Finnish nuclear production down approx 1.6% in 2006 London (Platts)--19Jan2007 Finnish nuclear production was down about 1.6% in 2006, the Finnish Energy Industries association said January 18. Nuclear generated about 22 gigawatt-hours, giving it a 24.2% share of Finland's total 90 terawatt-hour production in 2006. The biggest generation increase came from coal-fired power; it tripled production to cover lost hydropower production due to a dry year and to provide export power in the Nordic region. As a result, Finland's carbon dioxide emissions increased by 11 million tons in 2006, to 21 million tons. ------------ US nuclear industry safety group names Duke CEO Rogers to board Washington (Platts)--18Jan2007 The Institute for Nuclear Power Operations Thursday named Duke Energy Chairman, President and CEO James Rogers to its board. Atlanta-based INPO was created by the US nuclear industry in the wake of the Three Mile Island accident in 1979 to promote safe operation through self-help and peer review. Rogers became Duke's president and CEO following the merger of Duke Energy and Cinergy in April 2006. Before the merger, Rogers served as Cinergy's chairman and CEO. Duke Energy operates the Catawba Nuclear Station in York, South Carolina; the McGuire Nuclear Station in Huntersville, North Carolina; and the Oconee Nuclear Station in Seneca, South Carolina. ------------ Areva will supply, install steam generators at Ringhals-4 Stockholm (Platts)--18Jan2007 Areva will supply and install three replacement steam generators and a pressurizer for Sweden's Ringhals-4, under a contract worth about 200 million euros, the French company's management said January 18. Delivery is scheduled for 2011. Areva will also prepare licensing studies for a power uprate at the unit. The local manager for the project will be Uddcomb Engineering, a Swedish company that Areva acquired in 2005. ------------