Three Mile Island nuclear plant: Closure now appears certain

[Eugene]

Source: WFMZ-TV and Associated Press

Three Mile Island nuclear plant: Closure now appears certain

Shutdown set to be finished by September 30

By: 69 News & Associated Press
Posted: May 08, 2019 11:23 AM EDT

Updated: May 08, 2019 11:53 AM EDT

LONDONDERRY TWP., Pa. - Three Mile Island, the nuclear power plant built by Berks County-based Met-Ed a half-century ago, now appears destined for closure.

The plant's current owner, Exelon Corp., released a statement Wednesday, two years after the Chicago-based energy giant said it would close the money-losing plant in Londonderry Township, Dauphin County, without what critics have called a bailout. It's licensed to operate through 2034.

"Today is a difficult day for our employees, who were hopeful that state policymakers would support valuing carbon-free nuclear energy the same way they value other forms of clean energy in time to save TMI from a premature closure," said Bryan Hanson, Exelon's senior vice president and chief nuclear officer.

A roughly $500-million package for Three Mile Island and Pennsylvania's four other nuclear power plants has stalled in the Legislature. Exelon has won rescues in three other states, but in Pennsylvania, it faced opposition from the state's natural gas industry.

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Read more: http://www.wfmz.com/news/pennsylvania/three-mile-island-nuclear-plant-closure-now-appears-certain/1076356980

[progree]

1. Also, renewable growth rate flatlined in 2018 -- same 177 GW capacity addition in 2018 as in 2017

That's worldwide.

Was that posted here anywhere?

Growth in renewable energy capacity didn’t increase in 2018, Chemical and Engineering News, 5/8/19

https://cen.acs.org/business/investment/Growth-renewable-energy-capacity-didnt/97/i19

Last year, for the first time since 2001, the world did not increase its rate of growth for new capacity to produce renewable energy, according to an analysis from the International Energy Agency.

That’s a problem because meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement to curb greenhouse gas emissions will require 300 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity every year until 2030. In both 2017 and 2018, new capacity grew by only 177 GW.

Not only that, but energy-related emissions of CO2 went up last year by 1.7%, reaching 33 gigatons, a historic high.

... Growth in solar flattened in 2018 after the Chinese government made a sudden move to cap incentives to curb its own costs and slowed the construction of new projects and to catch up on infrastructure to tie solar projects to the electric grid. The changes caused new solar installations in China to fall to 44 GW in 2018 from 53 GW in 2017.

Worldwide, the amount of renewable energy capacity additions grew every year for 17 years (each year's capacity additions were larger than that of the year before). 2018 is the first year when new capacity additions did not exceed the previous year's amount.