fbpx
01 / 05
Advanced Nuclear Plant Planned for Tennessee Grid by 2030

CNBC | Energy Production

Advanced Nuclear Plant Planned for Tennessee Grid by 2030

“Alphabet’s Google and Kairos Power will deploy an advanced nuclear plant connected to the Tennessee Valley Authority’s electric grid by 2030, the companies announced Monday.

TVA has agreed to purchase up to 50 megawatts of power from Kairos’ Hermes 2 reactor. It is the first utility in the U.S. to sign a power purchase agreement with an advanced reactor like Hermes 2, according to the companies.

Hermes 2 is the first deployment under an agreement that Google and Kairos signed last year to launch the startup’s nuclear technology at a commercial scale. The reactor’s output is the equivalent of the consumption of about 36,000 homes. The electricity will help power Google’s data centers in Montgomery County, Tennessee, and Jackson County, Alabama.”

From CNBC.

Quaise Energy | Energy Production

The World’s First Superhot Geothermal Power Plant

“Introducing Project Obsidian: the world’s first superhot geothermal power plant.

Right now in Central Oregon, our team is pushing geothermal beyond its limits and into a whole new era.

For the first time, we’re building a plant designed to generate electricity where Earth’s natural heat is most powerful: 300–500°C. At those temperatures, a single well can deliver 10–100x more power than all other forms of geothermal.”

From Quaise Energy.

Fervo Energy | Energy Production

1.7 GW Geothermal Turbine Supply Framework Agreement Announced

“Turboden America LLC, subsidiary of the technology provider for power generation and heat electrification Turboden S.p.A. (a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Group company), today announced a three‑year framework agreement with Fervo Energy, a leader in next-generation geothermal development, to supply Organic Rankine cycle (ORC) units for up to 35 GeoBlocks totaling 1,750 MW of carbon-free, dispatchable power capacity.

This agreement is expected to enable the optimal conversion of geothermal heat into baseload carbon‑free electricity, and expands the US-based supply chain for Turboden’s proprietary ORC turbine design. These strengthened capabilities are intended to help shorten lead times for current and future customers and provide geothermal energy developers with a more efficient path to meeting rising power demand. This framework agreement also establishes delivery timelines that are expected to enable faster project execution and support supply chain resilience as Fervo scales.”

From Fervo Energy.

Financial Times | Energy Consumption

World’s Biggest Battery Maker Takes Ambitions to the High Seas

“CATL, the world’s biggest battery maker, has vowed to “spare no effort” to electrify parts of the global shipping fleet as it tries to replicate its success with electric vehicles on the high seas.

The Chinese group, which controls 37 per cent of the market for EV batteries and 22 per cent for energy storage systems in power grids and data centres, has deployed batteries on about 900 ships, mostly smaller craft operating close to the Chinese coastline, at ports or in rivers…

Batteries, which are best suited to nearshore operations, are among a suite of alternatives to highly polluting heavy-fuel oil. Chinese companies are also exploring commercialisation of clean fuels such as green methanol, ammonia and hydrogen.”

From Financial Times.

Live Science | Mineral Production

Countries May Race to Harvest Antarctica’s Huge Mineral Caches

“A warming climate could expose a Pennsylvania-sized chunk of ice-free land in Antarctica by 2300, which could drastically reshape Antarctic geopolitics as well as the continent’s geography.

A study published in Nature Climate Change is the first to incorporate glacial isostatic adjustment — how land beneath heavy ice sheets uplifts after the ice retreats — into projections of ice-free land emergence in Antarctica. The results reveal that climate change could expose potentially valuable mineral resources that may spur renegotiations of the international treaties that currently govern Antarctica…

Within the area that Lucas and the research team projected would be ice-free by 2300 lie known or suspected deposits of copper, gold, silver, iron, and platinum — critical minerals used in manufacturing and valuable metals in and of themselves. In particular, the study found the largest land emergence in Antarctica is likely to occur over territories claimed by Argentina, Chile, and the United Kingdom and contains a range of mineral deposits, including copper, gold, silver, and iron.”

From Live Science.