Last month, the Federal District Court for DC vacated EPA’s notice that EPA intended to stay the Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) standards for industrial, commercial and institutional boilers and process heaters (the Boiler MACT Rule) to reconsider some parts of the regulation. This action added considerable uncertainty for operators of affected boilers (primarily the 14,000 boilers that are large sources of air toxics emissions) because the courts’ action made the originally proposed Boiler MACT effective immediately with compliance dates already established for spring of 2015.

EPA may appeal the District Court's opinion, may issue a new stay of the Boiler MACT that avoids the deficiencies noted by the District Court or given the timeframe, simply issue the new rules. If EPA does revise and reissue the rule in the spring as it has indicated it will do, the emission standards in the current rule will most likely change as well as the number and types of subcategories of boilers that are affected by various portions of the rule. With this uncertainty, boiler operators now planning to meet the requirements of the original and now current MACT will also need to consider the different standards in the rule proposed by EPA in December 2011.

The following speakers will help us understand the current situation and suggest how boiler operators might deal with the impact of the current and proposed rule, address the likely impact of the current and proposed IB MACT on boiler operators, potential control technologies and strategies available for operators to achieve compliance and the advantages and disadvantages of the various control technologies as well as criteria for selecting specific technologies – existing facility configuration, existing control equipment installed, fuel type and others.

Connie Senior, Director of Technology Development, ADA Environmental Solutions, will discuss "Low Capex Solutions for Compliance with Industrial Boiler MACT." The Industrial Boiler MACT is a multi-pollutant regulation in that it sets emission limits for mercury, HCl, particulate matter and carbon monoxide. Finding a low-cost solution for multiple pollutants is highly desirable. Integration of sorbent injection with particulate control can provide control of both mercury and HCl, if care is taken to select the right sorbents and design the system correctly.

Katherine (Kate) L. Vaccaro, Associate at Manko, Gold, Katcher & Fox LLP, an Environmental Law Firm, will discuss the current regulatory status of the Boiler MACT and EPA's Proposed Reconsideration of the rule, the judicial challenges to the rule that are still pending before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals and how the uncertainty created by these circumstances impacts boiler owners and operators.  She will also focus on some of the key aspects of EPA's Proposed Reconsideration of the Boiler MACT, including certain relevant compliance deadlines, and highlight some of principal concerns voiced by industry in response to EPA's proposal.

David South, President of Technology & Market Solutions, LLC, a consulting firm, will discuss some compliance activities boiler operators could be doing now. While BMACT emission reduction requirements and schedule are still uncertain, the rulemaking specifies several compliance activities that are less contentious and would improve boiler operations regardless of the ultimate emission requirements.  The presentation will highlight some of these compliance activities.

Mack McGuffey, Partner at Troutman Sanders LLP Atlanta office and a specialist in regulatory compliance under the Clean Air Act, will provide a brief overview of the MACT program generally, explain how EPA's newly proposed Industrial Boiler MACT revisions will change the standard issued in March 2011 and outline some of the legal issues associated with the EPA's boiler MACT rule.

To register for the Hot Topic Hour on March 22, 2012 at 10 a.m. (DST), click on:

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/hot_topic_hour_registration.htm.

#1065 – March 9, 2012

• AES has shut down Somerset, Plans to Auction off the Power Plant
• ODEC's proposed Cypress Creek Coal-fired Power Plant secures Land-use Approval
• Environmental Equipment for 207 MW Asbury
• EPA accepts North Dakota’s Regional Haze Plan
• GE Capital could acquire Homer City and keep it running
• First Energy could Repower Eastlake
• Coffeyville Resources Refining & Marketing settles with EPA over Air Violations

• KESC to install 300 MW Coal-fired Power Plant in Pakistan
• Beijing strives to be Coal-free
• Tecpro to supply Coal Conveying System for 2x800 MW Sri Damodaram Sanjeevaiah in India
• NTPC gets Tax Exemptions for 500 MW Sampur Power Project in Sri Lanka
• NTPC expects to have Land for the 1,600 MW Gajamara and Darlipalli Power Projects by June
• ALSONS Consolidated Resources looking for Funding for 100 MW Sarangani Province Power Plant in the Philippines
• Hitachi/Daelim to build 2x1050 MW Taean 9, 10 in South Korea
• E.ON withdrawing Application for New Kingsnorth Units
• Local Opposition to Subic Bay Power Project in Philippines
• MAAMBA Collieries Power Project in Zambia will be completed in 2015

• MidAmerican could build Natural Gas-fired Power Plants in Iowa

• GE to build Combined Cycle Power Plant in Erzin District, Turkey
• Enea and PGNiG could build Gas-fired Power Plants Together in Poland
• PDB aims to Triple Output by Conversion of two Units to Combined Cycle
• US$167 Million 300 MW Gas-fired Power Plant Project in Dominican Republic
• New 255 MW Power Plant in Bhola (Bangladesh) by 2014
• GDF SUEZ and International Power Preferred Bidder for 1500 MW Az Zour in Kuwait
• Wärtsilä to supply Indonesia's First Gas Engine-based Peaking Power Plant

• Scotland to Require Carbon Capture on all Coal-fired Power Plants by 2025

• Preparation for Darlington Refurbishment to begin
• Xcel adding Pumps and Portable Generators to Nuclear Power Plants
• Chinese-engineered Third Generation Nuclear Power Plant in Putian County, Fujian, China
• Muhleberg in Switzerland to be Shut Down
• Baltic Governments still Support Visaginas Power Project
• Russia offers help with Nuclear Power Plant Construction in Jordan
• China to resume Nuclear Power Plant Construction

• Progressive and Opportunistic Cleaner Energy should be the Strategy
• 4th Annual Dry Hydrate Users Group Meeting

• "SO₃ Measurement and Control" - Hot Topic Hour on March 8, 2012
• "Mercury Measurement and Control" is Hot Topic Hour on Thursday March 15, 2012
• Upcoming Hot Topic Hours

For more information on the Utility Environmental Upgrade Tracking System, click on: http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/energy.html#42ei.

Wind Energy Areas Moving Ahead in Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey and Delaware

Echoing President Obama’s State of the Union call for an "all of the above" energy strategy, the Department of the Interior marked a major milestone for offshore wind energy along the Atlantic coast.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Tommy P. Beaudreau announced that the department’s renewable energy initiative has cleared an important environmental review, allowing Interior to move forward with the process for wind energy lease sales off Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey and Delaware.

BOEM’s National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) assessment found that there would be no significant environmental and socioeconomic impacts from issuing wind energy leases in designated Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) areas off the mid-Atlantic Coast. Recently, BOEM also published Calls for Information and Nominations for Maryland and Virginia to solicit lease nominations from industry and request public comments regarding site conditions, resources and multiple uses of the Wind Energy Areas.

 World’s Biggest Offshore Wind Farm Consolidates UK’s Global Lead

RenewableUK, the trade association representing the UK wind, wave and tidal energy industry, has welcomed the official opening of the world’s largest offshore wind farm by the Energy Secretary Ed Davey.

Walney Offshore Windfarms off the coast of Cumbria (consisting of 2 projects, Walney 1 and Walney 2), has the capacity to power 320,000 homes.

Maria McCaffery MBE, RenewableUK’s Chief Executive said: "With the opening of Walney, the UK now has more than 1.7 gigawatts of wind capacity installed offshore — enough to power more than 950,000 homes. A further 7.4 GW is under construction, approved or in planning. Beyond that, the next round of offshore wind farms, Round Three, will add a further 32 GW, giving us more than 40GW  before 2030 — more than half the UK’s current capacity to generate all electricity".

"To supply the turbines that will be needed for the massive expansion in offshore wind, multinational companies have already submitted plans to build factories in the UK which will employ thousands of people. Nearly 90,000 people will be working in the sector by 2021".

EDF Energies Nouvelles and Alstom Announce the Submission of Four Projects Forming the Basis for a Sustainable French Wind Energy Equipment Manufacturing Industry

EDF Energies Nouvelles has on behalf of a consortium consisting of strategic partners submitted four projects in response to the French offshore wind energy call for tenders. These projects go hand in hand with a highly ambitious and balanced industrial plan to manufacture the wind turbine designed by Alstom in France that will create around 7,500 jobs.

EDF Energies Nouvelles on behalf of the Consortium with Alstom acting as its exclusive supplier is participating in the offshore wind energy call for tenders launched by the French government in July 2011, by submitting a total of four projects for the Saint-Nazaire, Saint-Brieuc, Courseulles-sur-Mer and Fécamp sites.

This balanced industrial plan will deliver economic benefits for numerous ports on the French coast. Alstom, the exclusive supplier of the next-generation 6 MW turbines that will be used by the consortium, plans to set up four plants at two sites, namely Saint-Nazaire and Cherbourg, to manufacture all the turbine’s key components, leading to the creation of around 5,000 sustainable equipment manufacturing jobs for qualified workers, including 1,000 direct jobs. In parallel, the consortium plans to set up as many as eight units to build the foundations and assemble wind turbines at the Saint-Nazaire, Brest, Cherbourg and Le Havre port facilities, as well as four Operations & Maintenance centers in the local ports of La Turballe, Saint-Quay-Portrieux, Caen-Ouistreham and Fécamp. This industrial program will also help to shape and develop the activities of a network of industrial operators and local subcontractors during construction and operation of the wind farms. It will be supported by local engineering and R&D units, working in harmony with regional university-based partners.

The four projects submitted by the consortium are based on wind and environmental studies conducted over a period of around four years, as well as in-depth geotechnical surveys carried out at each location to determine the characteristics of the sea bed. All this data is crucial for selecting the best technical solutions at each location and designing robust projects that are well-suited and realistic by the key project submission stage.

EDF Energies Nouvelles leads the consortium of strategic partners including DONG Energy, Nass&Wind Offshore, wpd Offshore and Alstom.

 DONG Starts Construction of Anholt Offshore Wind Farm

400,000. This is the number of Danish households that as of next year will have their power consumption covered by Anholt Offshore Wind Farm.

"It’s in fact somewhat of a record; in early July 2010, we won the project based on the Danish Energy Agency’s tender. And already 18 months later, the first monopile was driven into the seabed. This is the first time in DONG Energy’s history that we’ve achieved this so quickly, and as far as I know, neither has anyone else." says Senior Vice President in Renewables, Christina Grumstrup Sørensen.

The first monopiles were driven into the seabed between Christmas and New Year. Anholt Offshore Wind Farm will consist of 111 wind turbines across an area of 88m², 15 km from shore. The wind turbines will be erected at water depths of 15 to 19 meters, and they will have a rotor diameter of 120 meters.

Anholt Offshore Wind Farm is owned jointly by DONG Energy (50 percent), PensionDanmark (30 percent) and PKA (20 percent). DONG Energy is responsible for the construction and operation of the offshore wind farm.

Facts on the wind turbines:

• Wind turbines: Siemens 3.6MW-120
• Number of wind turbines: 111
• Wind turbine capacity: 3.6 MW
• Overall wind farm capacity: 400 MW

For more information on Renewable Energy Projects and Update please visit

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/Renewable_Energy_Projects_Brochure/renewable_energy_projects_brochure.htm