Worth highlighting: Leaders of some of the world’s top electricity companies met this past week and released a New York Summit Statement on energy and the ongoing need for nuclear power:

Today the 13 Chairmen of the Global Sustainable Electricity Partnership met to discuss the need for clean energy and the trend observed in some areas of the world to review nuclear strategies, by taking it out completely from the mix of technologies that provide affordable, reliable, clean power.

The Chairmen emphasize the need for a balance of advanced coal, large hydro and other renewables, natural gas, nuclear and energy efficiency that provide energy security, jobs, economic growth and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

By limiting the use of nuclear power, the Chairmen are concerned that short and long term impacts will occur in certain countries including significantly higher costs, less CO2 free emission capacity and risks to reliability.

The statement was unanimously agreed by:

American Electric Power (USA)
Duke Energy (USA)
Comisión Federal de Electricidad (Mexico)
Electricité de France (France)
Eletrobras (Brazil)
Enel S.p.A. (Italy)
Eskom (South Africa)
Hydro-Québec (Canada)
Kansai Electric Power Company Inc. (Japan)
RusHydro (Russia)
RWE AG (Germany)
State Grid Corporation of China (China)
Tokyo Electric Power (Japan)

In another important step to deliver renewable energy and jobs to Washington state, ADAGE, the biopower joint venture between AREVA and Duke Energy, announced today that it has signed its first long-term biomass fuel supply agreement with Green Diamond Resource Company, who owns and manages timberland in the immediate area.

Through this agreement, a portion of the woody biomass for the ADAGE Mason County facility would come from wood residuals. This material is what remains in the forest after harvest operations, and it will be removed by Green Diamond Forestry ensuring compliance with Washington forest practice regulations and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative Standard.

The proposed Mason County facility would bring 55 megawatts of renewable biomass generation and addition to a $250 million initial investment in Mason County. The project is expected to create more than 400 direct jobs during construction and more than 100 direct jobs during permanent operation and will use state-of-the-art environmental controls to protect public health.

For more information check out the ADAGE website where you can find much more on biomass and how it contributes to clean energy generation.

Mark Flanagan of NEI is highlighting a CFR interview with Duke Energy’s CEO, James E. Rogers, in which he talks about the future of the energy industry – and the importance of nuclear energy not only for our CO2-free energy future, but also for our economy:

But the difference in the jobs is quite different, because if you’re wiping off a solar panel, it’s sort of a minimum wage type of job, [with] much higher compensation for nuclear engineers and nuclear operators. If our goal is to rebuild the middle class, nuclear plays a key role there, particularly if coal is out of the equation.

He also talks about the U.S. regaining its role as the leader in nuclear energy:

People forget that [the United States was] the innovator of nuclear energy. We developed the technologies. And what people have also forgotten is that 20 percent of our electricity comes from nuclear, and that we produce twice the amount of electricity from nuclear than any country in the world. We sit here today, not turning dirt on a single nuclear plant. [. . .] We have a competitive advantage on building nuclear, on building recycling to address the spent fuel, and that would be a great loss of opportunity if we don’t find a way to seize it and rebuild the supply.

Like Mark Flanagan said, we could spend all day highlighting great lines from this interview, but it would probably be better if you just read the interview for yourself.  You should also know that Duke Energy is teaming up with AREVA on the ADAGE joint venture focusing on the biopower sector. ADAGE was recently in the news because JEA, the energy company for Jacksonville, Florida, announced that it plans to power 40,000 homes with power generated from ADAGE’s biomass plants.  We’re proud to be working with Duke Energy and Jim Rogers, who clearly “gets it” when it comes to the future of energy generation in the U.S.

• More posts about ADAGE Biopower
• Official Website for ADAGE Biopower

The Jacksonville Business Journal is reporting (you need a subscription to read the whole article) that JEA (the energy company for Jacksonville, Florida) is planning to buy electricity for 40,000 homes from ADAGE‘s Hamilton County biopower plant.  The plant, operated by ADAGE, a JV between Duke Energy and AREVA, converts woody biomass – debris from forest operations that would otherwise go to waste – into usable, renewable energy.
 
We’re glad that JEA’s going to be working with us.  Customer demand for clean, renewable energy has a big role to play in the debates going on right now over climate change and renewable energy. If the people are asking for more of their energy to be generated by green energy sources like nuclear power, biomass, wind, and solar, it’s easier to get to a cleaner, CO2-free energy future.
 

• ADAGE Biopower Website
• Previous blog posts about ADAGE Biopower

by Katherine Berezowskyj

Jobs and renewable energy were the topics of conversation during a roundtable in Hamilton County, Florida last week. Local officials and residents joined representatives from AREVA and Duke Energy, to talk about the impact that the planned ADAGE biopower facility will have in the area.

AREVA Inc. President Jacques Besnainou speaks to the economic roundtable.

A joint venture between AREVA and Duke Energy, ADAGE is the first partnership in the United States between two major companies to develop new facilities based on biopower─ biomass to electricity. Using local clean wood byproducts and residue as fuel, this planned biopower facility in Hamilton County will create a significant impact on the surrounding communities, producing both clean energy and much-needed jobs.

During the construction and initial operation phases, the facility is expected to create roughly 700 direct and indirect jobs throughout the community. These job estimates provided by Dr. Julie Harrington, an independent economist and Director of Florida State University’s Center for Economic Forecasting and Analysis, also show a $105 million direct impact on the local economy in the first 2.5 years. After full startup, she estimates that it will create 24 direct operation jobs, at least 100 fuel supply jobs, and 150 indirect jobs in the local economy. Representative Leonard Bembry (D-Madison) added that “following the construction period, the facility will provide over $70 million in economic impact every year.”

ADAGE expects to break ground in 2010 on the facility and to have it up and running by as early as mid-2012. When fully operational, the facility will produce 50 Megawatts of renewable energy, enough to power 40,000 homes.

During the roundtable, ADAGE president Reed Wills shared his thoughts about the project saying, “Together, we can create renewable energy for homes and businesses while also creating local jobs─ a win-win for Hamilton County and Florida’s energy future.”

• More information on the ADAGE Economic Roundtable

From left: Jim Rogers, CEO of Duke Energy; Jean-Pierre Benque, President of EDF North America; Anne Lauvergeon, CEO of AREVA; Ted Strickland, Governor of Ohio; and Randy Runyon, SODI Director

by Katherine Berezowskyj

It couldn’t have been said better: “Investing in new nuclear power plants, which produce electricity 24 hours a day and seven days a week, can be a major growth engine for our economy,” while also being an energy source that is “tailor-made for addressing climate change.” This came from Jim Rogers, the CEO and President of Duke Energy, in an editorial yesterday in the Wall Street Journal. Rogers spoke about how the United States is not leading the charge in developing green energy technology, but he made the point “we are still the world’s largest operator of commercial nuclear power. We have 104 licensed commercial nuclear reactors—generating about 20% of our electricity and more than 70% of all carbon-free electricity.”

Of these 104 nuclear reactors, Duke Energy has seven, and they are planning to build three more. One of these three includes a reactor proposed as part of the recent announcement of the first U.S. Clean Energy Park Project for Ohio. The park is an alliance between key players—Duke Energy, AREVA, Unistar Nuclear Energy, USEC Inc., and Sothern Ohio Diversification Initiative—in which they will look at the Department of Energy site in Portsmouth, Ohio as a potential location for a new nuclear power plant. As part of the development, the project will focus on the deployment of Generation III + reactors on the site, which will include an evaluation of AREVA’s US EPR™ technology.

The construction and operation a new nuclear power plant, like the one under consideration for the Clean Energy Park in Ohio, creates thousands of jobs during construction and hundreds during operation. This is exactly what Rogers points out, “Our private-sector expertise and interest in new nuclear plants is causing regional energy hubs to sprout up, creating thousands of well-paying jobs.” One of these hubs is Charlotte, N.C., where Duke Energy has its headquarters. You will also find 600 AREVA employees here, and during this next year, our numbers will be growing throughout the United States as we are hiring another 600 people. And the economic benefit of nuclear energy does not stop there, as he refers to how “each year the average nuclear plant generates approximately $430 million in sales of goods and services in the local community and nearly $40 million in total labor income.”

While nuclear energy is the most reliable form of CO2-free energy, Rogers concludes that “We must also invest in and expand our use of wind, solar, and other new renewable energy technologies,” which includes a key partnership in renewable energy between Duke Energy and AREVA. This joint venture, ADAGE, is currently working to develop 50 megawatt biopower plants that will use clean wood waste as fuel to produce electricity. They recently announced the first proposed site for their biomass plant in Hamilton County, Florida.

Be sure to check out of the rest of Jim Rogers’s editorial “Why Nuclear Power is Part of Our Future” here.

by Katherine Berezowskyj

As AREVA is committed to be the leader in CO2-free energy power generation, we’re actively engaged in strengthening its already diverse portfolio. One part of this pursuit is our operations in the wind power market, specifically with the production of offshore wind turbines through our subsidiary Multibrid.

In March, AREVA signed a memorandum of understanding with Wet Feet Offshore Windenergy GmbH to supply more than 80 of the M5000 turbines to the Global Tech 1 farm. The 400MW farm, located about 55 miles off the German coast in the North Sea, will have a production capacity of 1.4 billion kWh per year.

The 5MW M5000 turbine offers advanced technology with a light-weight hybrid drive-train solution, suited for all foundation types. They’re particularly designed for use in harsh sea conditions. They are outfitted with a fully enclosed structure and wear-resistant construction. This protection guarantees little maintenance and high technical availability because the components are shielded from the corrosive sea environment.

Based on the success of the Multibrid wind turbines in Europe, with nearly 270 turbines selected for major offshore wind parks, and the anticipation of favorable market condition in the U.S. and Canada, we’ve accelerated the expansion of our renewables business in North America. This business expansion began with ADAGE, the biomass partnership between AREVA and Duke Energy. ADAGE has plans to build or operate a fleet of 50 MW woody biomass plants throughout U.S., already announcing the first proposed site in Hamilton County, Florida.

In the wind sector, to bring the proven offshore wind technology of the M5000 to the North American market, AREVA has a business development team in place to link up with development companies pursing wind turbine projects in the U.S. and Canada. This team, actively pursuing new projects, is located at the AREVA Inc. headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland.

Click here for more information on the M5000, AREVA and Multibrid.

by Jarret Adams

As the House considers the American Clean Energy and Security Act, we want to point out that AREVA supports legislation that will encourage more investment in new sources of clean energy. As the world leader in CO2-free power generation, we would like to see greater interest in sources of electricity that do not produce greenhouse gases.

We are delighted to join with many of our partners and competitors in our support for this legislation, including Constellation, Duke Energy, Exelon, FPL Group, PG&E Corp., PSE+G and GE. In fact, Constellation issued a press release yesterday calling for passage of the measure.

Approaches that would help us reduce our nation’s greenhouse gas emissions are critical to addressing climate change. It is also important to recall how important nuclear energy is helping prevent CO2 emissions. America’s 104 nuclear power plants represent nearly 75 percent of our CO2-free generation. Each year, these plants avoid the production of some 700 million metric tons of CO2.

Today U.S. nuclear plants only produce 20 percent of our electricity. Even a small increase in nuclear generation could have a significant impact on CO2 emissions. While nuclear energy will remain the largest CO2-free energy source in the U.S. for years to come, we do not believe it is the only solution.

AREVA also has a rapidly growing renewables business. Our ADAGE joint venture with Duke Energy plans to develop a fleet of biopower facilities that can play a major role in helping meet renewable generating standards. We just announced the location of the first potential plant west of Jacksonville, Fla., a few weeks ago.

We are also actively looking for locations for our 5 MW offshore wind turbines along the U.S. and Canadian coastlines or in the Great Lakes.

Thus, we urge Congress to support climate legislation that recognizes the important roles nuclear energy and renewables play in helping prevent CO2 emissions and protecting our environment.

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UPDATE: We are happy to see that this legislation passed the House (219-212) and now will move on to the Senate process.

AREVA's Anne Lauvergeon, Duke Energy's Jim Rogers, and former President Bill Clinton at the Clinton Global Initiative

ADAGE LLC, a joint venture between AREVA SA and Duke Energy Company, just announced the proposed site of its first U.S. biopower plant in Hamilton County, Florida, during the annual Forest Landowners Association conference. The site, the first in a series of 50 megawatt biopower plants that ADAGE plans to develop in the United States, will use clean wood waste as fuel to produce electricity.

Not only are the ADAGE biopower plants an emerging source of renewable energy within the United States, but the Hamilton County biopower facility will also help to fuel the economy through the creation of approximately 400 jobs during construction, including 125 facility and fuel-related jobs during operation.

ADAGE has already met several key project milestones, including securing rights to the 215-acre site in Hamilton County and submitting applications for state environmental permits. ADAGE has also begun exclusive negotiations with JEA, an electric utility from the Jacksonville area, for the potential purchase of energy from the biopower plant and with The Langdale Company for the supply of wood waste to be used for the project.

While there are still several steps that need to be taken before construction work can begin, once completed, the ADAGE facility will provide clean reliable electricity to around 40,000 households in Florida. That power will be carbon-neutral, and will help meet important sustainability goals.

Stay tuned for more exciting site announcements as ADAGE continues to bring sustainable energy to the United States. Which lucky state will be next?

Via World Nuclear News comes this quote from the Charlotte Observer:

The construction of new nuclear power plants would be the only viable way for Duke Energy to meet increasing electricity demand should carbon emission taxes be introduced, according to Jim Rogers, the company’s CEO. Duke needs to build new power plants in order to meet demand, but a carbon tax would cost the company heavily if it constructed more coal-fired plants. Rogers said: “The only way we could do it is with nuclear. The higher the price (of carbon) goes, the stronger the case for nuclear.” . . .

In January 2007, Rogers called nuclear energy “almost the perfect choice” for Duke.