Welcome to your Friday Rundown for the week ending Feb. 9. Feedback is always welcome at info@clearpathaction.org.
CONGRESS GIVES MAJOR CARBON CAPTURE, NUCLEAR WIN
Congress delivered a game-changing clean energy victory by fixing two critical carbon capture and advanced nuclear tax incentives as part of a broader budget deal signed into law Friday.
“This is an awesome one-two punch for the future of U.S.-led clean and reliable energy,” ClearPath Action Executive Director Rich Powell said.
“This is not only a huge win for two of our most important clean energy prospects but also a product of tremendous bipartisan teamwork,” ClearPath Action Founder Jay Faison said.
The budget deal includes the FUTURE Act (S. 1535), which would extend and expand the Section 45Q tax credit for carbon capture projects. Led by Sens. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), the 45Q fix gives a boost to pioneering efforts such as NET Power that could capture and use all the carbon emitted from facilities powered by both coal and natural gas. House lawmakers pursued a similar bill sponsored by Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas) and – especially Rep. David McKinley (R-W.Va.) – were hugely instrumental in getting language included in the final budget deal.
It also includes a bill (H.R. 1551) led by Reps. Tom Rice (R-S.C.) and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) that extends the 45J nuclear production credit. That frees up the credit to be used not just to help complete Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle AP1000 reactor project but also NuScale Power’s small modular reactors and other advanced technologies that represent the future of the nuclear sector. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) had also introduced a companion measure.
The deal also establishes a budget framework that could clear the way for broader domestic energy innovation investments.
WHY CARBON CAPTURE BOOSTS GAS- NOT JUST COAL
Ahead of the 45Q congressional victory, ClearPath Founder Jay Faison explained in a blog Wednesday that carbon capture is not just crucial to the future of coal but also a valuable insurance policy for our booming natural gas industry.
Tax credits will allow us to affordably scale up carbon capture from natural gas at NET Power and elsewhere and protects our gas industry from whatever supercharged Clean Power Plan a future Democratic White House will inevitably throw at the power sector, Jay wrote. It could mean coal and gas can both have a future that’s clean and bright, no matter who wins the White House or what regulators in Europe and China decide on.
The U.S. nuclear sector is at a “tipping point,” the Department of Energy’s top nuclear official Ed McGinnis told the House Energy Subcommittee Feb. 5. “The United States is still unequivocally the leader in the design development of advanced reactors, bar none,” McGinnis said. “We’re challenged in deployment.”
A new idea being explored is combining small modular reactors with wind and solar. “We don’t use the word game-changer lightly,” McGinnis said.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Victor McCree told lawmakers that the estimated 42-month process that began last month for NuScale’s small modular light-water reactor design certification is “progressing on the established schedule.”
Five non-light-water reactor developers are also interested in beginning regulatory interactions with the NRC, McCree said. That includes pre-application efforts regarding Oklo’s compact fast reactor design. More pre-application reviews are expected during the next two fiscal years, with one or more advanced reactor application reviews beginning in the next two to four years, McCree said.
Nuclear Energy Institute President Maria Korsnick said Congress should still set deadlines for NRC to review new fuel types and advanced reactor designs.
NEWS NUGGETS
The Department of Energy announced $35 million for 24 advanced manufacturing projects as part of a broader effort by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. “Successful projects will reduce technical uncertainty and develop new knowledge associated with potential breakthrough materials, processes, and tools for U.S. manufacturers that could improve their competitiveness and enhance their energy efficiency,” DOE announced. DETAILS
DOE also announced up to $40 million to design, permit and construct an open-water, grid-connected national wave energy technology testing facility. The facility will be constructed by the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center at Oregon State University. DETAILS
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