5/23/2011
By Tim Lundgren, Water Law Attorney
U.S. EPA has made available a draft discussion text from the Science Advisory Board’s (SAB) review of EPA’s Draft Hydraulic Fracturing Study Plan. The SAB report, while still a discussion draft, makes clear that in the SAB’s view, the major risks to drinking water resources posed by hydraulic fracturing are from flowback water and produced water, and that these need to be more carefully defined and studied.
Flowback waters are those that come back up the wellbore during well construction. Produced waters are those that come back up the wellbore when the well is producing.
The SAB also highlights the difficulties of creating a national regulatory structure when actual practices and their results will be determined by differences in local geology, and the local availability of water and wastewater disposal facilities.
The SAB report supports EPA’s plan to analyze fracking fluid constituents by using existing databases of these constituents, rather than engaging in additional toxicity analyses. The report takes approving note of the newly established FracFocus Chemical Disclosure Registry website (see separate blog entry). The SAB report urges EPA to consider not only the likely constituents present in the fracking fluids and formation waters, but also disinfection byproducts from drinking water treatment systems.
3/4/2011
By Tim Lundgren, Water Law Attorney
Consumers Energy and DTE, co-owners of the Ludington Pumped Storage Plant, have announced a major maintenance and upgrade project that promises 100 construction jobs per year and a 16% increase in the plant’s power generation. The maintenance and efficiency upgrade will increase the generating capacity of the plant from its current level of 1,872 megawatts (MW) to approximately 2,172 MW.
Each utility will invest approximately $40 million per year over 10 years. Toshiba’s U.S. subsidiary, Toshiba International Corp. (TIC), has signed a contract with Consumers Energy and DTE for the overhaul of the hydroelectric power equipment. The $500 million contract involves the replacement of six 312 MW pump turbines and upgrades to the associated motor generators and other equipment. Installation of the new equipment will start in June 2013, and all units are expected to be commissioned by the end of 2019.
Design engineering for the project will be done by Toshiba in Japan, and most of the equipment will be manufactured by a Toshiba subsidiary in China. Installation work for hydroelectric equipment is carried out by Hydro Power Services, LLC. (HPS), based in Chattanooga, Tennessee. TIC owns a majority interest in HPS.
Pumped storage hydroelectric generation assists electric utilities in load balancing to meet fluctuations in electricity demand. The Ludington plant pumps water during the night uphill 372 feet to its 27 billion gallon reservoir. The Ludington plant has the world’s largest motors when in pumping mode. During day-time periods of peak customer electric demand the water is released through turbines to generate electricity.
The Ludington plant serves as a storage facility for renewable energy produced during off-peak periods. As more wind generation is added in the Midwest region, the Ludington plant can be used at night and during other periods when demand for electricity is low to “store” the wind energy until it’s needed by electric customers. The Ludington plant thereby addresses a key challenge of wind energy, which is produced intermittently and cannot be stored.
“We are pleased to be making this investment in the Ludington facility,” said Steve Kurmas, president of Detroit Edison, 49 percent owner of the Ludington plant. “The upgrades will improve its efficiency, increase its role in support of clean-energy sources for Michigan, create jobs and ensure that the plant will continue to contribute to the economy of the Ludington area and Michigan for many more decades. This kind of long-term investment would not have been possible without the comprehensive energy legislation adopted by the state legislature in 2008.”
12/18/2009
by Bruce Goodman
With climate change on everyone’s radar screen this month the discussion is focused on “carbon footprint”. But last month’s GOA study on the use of water in biofuel production reminds us that there is a water-energy nexus. By some counts half of all water consumed in the U.S. is used to produce energy. Coal fired generation consumes a gallon of water for every kilowatt-hour of electricity produced (and emits two pounds of carbon dioxide).
When GHG reporting kicks in next year should there also be reporting on “water footprint”? Some alternative energy technologies are already touting zero water usage. It is a current issue, not one for 2050—Georgia (where electric utilities use 68 percent of all surface water) came close to losing electric supply when recent drought conditions reduced cooling water availability. Are “water offsets” in our future? Of course there is already a law that may cover this — the Law of Conservation of Matter.
