|
|
Enron Mail |
Energy Insight News for Wednesday, November 28, 2001
The race is on for new coal-fired generation The race is on! Power plant developers have responded aggressively to the power crisis in the West and the potential for power shortages in the Midwest and Northeast, according to a report, New Coal-Fired Generation: The Race Is On, by Boulder, Colo.-based RDI Consulting. Using data compiled by RDI, a data division of Platts, the report estimates the U.S. will require 296,000 MW of capacity additions by 2015 to meet growing demand and to replace older units likely to retire. This compares with roughly 780,000 MW of installed capacity in the U.S. today. RDI also projects that almost 60% of the required capacity will be built by the end of 2006 and, despite extreme volatility in natural gas prices, the majority of this new capacity will be gas-fired-equaling nearly 170,000 MW. Because of that fact, for developers looking to build coal-fired plants, the race has turned into a marathon. The advantage of proposed coal-fired generation is the potential for low dispatch costs. Hypothetical plants modeled by RDI in all areas of the country show new coal-fired generation can dispatch well ahead of gas-fired plants and somewhat ahead of most existing coal-fired plants. Disadvantages of new coal-fired generation are higher initial capital costs and greater risk, which means that new coal-fired plants are susceptible to depressed market prices that could result from overbuilding new capacity. Developers will have two choices in the near term if coal plants are to succeed: wait out the surge of capacity development and be prepared to enter the market later in the decade when the excess capacity is absorbed; or secure long term power sales agreements and capacity contracts that will provide enough revenue to cover the high development costs of a new coal plant. Read the entire story at http://www.energyinsight.com. Also, catch the latest news headlines on Energy Insight Executive, updated twice daily. /////////////////////////////////////////////// Market Brief Tuesday, November 27 Stocks Close Change % Change DJIA 9,872.60 (110.2) -1.10% DJ 15 Util. 288.43 1.2 0.42% NASDAQ 1,935.97 (5.26) -0.27% S&P 500 1,149.50 (7.9) -0.68% Market Vols Close Change % Change AMEX (000) 173,339 36,795.0 26.95% NASDAQ (000) 2,134,187 411,096.0 23.86% NYSE (000) 1,301,649 213,273.0 19.60% Commodities Close Change % Change Crude Oil (Jan) 19.52 0.73 3.89% Heating Oil (Dec) 0.5402 0.016 3.09% Nat. Gas (Henry) 2.61 (0.107) -3.94% Propane (Dec) 29.75 0.50 1.71% Palo Verde (Dec) 27.25 2.00 7.92% COB (Dec) 31.00 0.50 1.64% PJM (Dec) 26.00 (0.70) -2.62% Dollar US $ Close Change % Change Australia $ 1.913 (0.015) -0.78% Canada $ 1.60 (0.005) -0.31% Germany Dmark 2.22 (0.004) -0.18% Euro 0.8833 0.003 0.36% Japan ?en 124.0 (0.100) -0.08% Mexico NP 9.26 0.080 0.87% UK Pound 0.7071 (0.0007) -0.10% Foreign Indices Close Change % Change Arg MerVal 218.61 (5.26) -2.35% Austr All Ord. 3,291.40 6.70 0.20% Braz Bovespa 13602.88 (156.65) -1.14% Can TSE 300 7462.60 (3.80) -0.05% Germany DAX 5059.57 (54.55) -1.07% HK HangSeng 11261.54 (130.42) -1.14% Japan Nikkei 225 10948.89 (115.41) -1.04% Mexico IPC 5860.44 102.92 1.79% UK FTSE 100 5,265.96 (36.54) -0.69% Source: Yahoo! & TradingDay.com ////////////////////////////////////////////// Executive News OPEC's Khelil requests meeting with Russia's Putin OPEC President Chakib Khelil said Tuesday he had requested a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. "We have asked as the OPEC presidency for a meeting with the Russian President, Mr Putin, we have not yet had a response," Khelil told reporters in Algiers. OPEC is currently lobbying Russia to make a more significant contribution to a planned OPEC/non-OPEC round of output cuts than the 50,000 barrels per day pledged by Moscow late last week. OPEC agreed at its Nov. 14 meeting to reduce crude output by 1.5 million barrels per day, but only if non-OPEC producers contribute a further 500,000 barrels per day reduction. Mexico has said it is willing to cut by 100,000 barrels per day, while Norway said last week it would cut by 100,000-200,000 barrels per day, as long as other producers honor their cut pledges. Nordic to build power plant, ethanol facility in Ohio Nordic Energy plans to develop the first new coal-fired baseload project in Ohio in more than a decade, an 850-MW merchant plant in the northeast part of the state, the company said Tuesday. The coal plant, which would utilize integrated gasification combined cycle technology, would be a cogeneration facility that also would produce steam to run an ethanol production plant that affiliated Nordic Biofuels intends to build nearby. Nordic Energy will initiate an anticipated 18-month permitting process for the coal plant early next year. Commercial operation is expected in June 2006. The coal plant is expected to cost about $1 billion, and the ethanol facility about $150 million. "We decided this is the time to build our own plant and move forward," said Joni Fixel, Nordic Energy director of power supply. To subscribe to our Executive News Service, which is updated twice daily, log on to http://www.energyinsight.com, or contact Platt's Direct Response Team at 1-800-424-2908 (if outside the United States call 1-720-548-5700). ///////////////////////////////////////////////
|