Class of 2008

Whether you’ll be voting for “change” or “solutions" in a Red State or a Blue State, you’ll find both in the Class of 2008. Plus, international perspectives from Canada, China and Denmark.

Ian Copeland, newly named as Bechtel’s President of Fossil Power, wants to take IGCC from a technology to a product. He believes renewables should be a good portion of the energy mix and sees Bechtel as the right builder for offshore wind farms. He feels Bechtel’s holistic approach adds significant value by managing the portfolio of risk in an integrated way.

The President of Vestas, Ditlev Engel, wants to see 10 percent of the world’s power production coming from wind energy by 2020. He sees the US wind market overtaking Germany by 2009. “Wind is eternal,” he says and should not be considered an alternative energy source.

World Trade Organization director general Pascal Lamy said a stronger WTO can make a positive contribution to designing a sustainable and fairer energy future. The environmental chapter of the WTO Doha Round can make a very concrete contribution to the promotion of energy efficient technologies, Lamy said. Not only does the Doha Round aim to open markets to clean technology, but it can also contribute to the environmental cause by eliminating or reducing tariffs on certain goods.

Mike Revak sees Siemens Wind business doubling in the next three years and opened a new blade manufacturing facility in Iowa to serve the market. Siemens Wind in concert with Siemens PTI has undertaken numerous projects for wind farm interconnection studies. Revak said Siemens Wind has long supported the PTC and would like to see it extended to 2012.

GE’s renewable portfolio includes wind, solar and hydro assets. Vic Abate shared his vision of investing in the supply chain to increase the number of suppliers to provide customer value. Long term PTCs for wind, ITC for solar and Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) would sustain the industry’s momentum with stable policies in place, Abate said.

Mike Hannaford is a Senior VP at PIC responsible for Field Services, one of three divisions. Field Services is a full service installation, maintenance and repair plant contractor. His plans include recruiting the best craft labor in the industry and launching training initiatives.

Nearly half of North America’s transmission systems are without remote monitoring and control capability, Bahman Hoveida, CEO of Open Systems International, said. His vision of the Utility of the Future embraces modern technology, offering demand side programs, with a substantial renewable energy portfolio, real-time pricing and smart meters. Only 30% of US homes are smart metered.

The US needs 135 gws of new capacity over the next 10 years, Dave Brozek of Hitachi Power Systems America said. He sees a secondary gas bubble coming back to the US. Expect to see Hitachi enter the US wind market in 2009.

Elster Metering Canada was selected by a coalition of five of Ontario’s largest utilities to launch its Smart Metering Initiative. 4.5 million meters will be installed by 2010, Jack Robertson, Vice President and General Manager of Elster, Canada who spearheaded the installation campaign said. The meters are manufactured in Elster’s Raleigh, NC facility at the rate of 7,000 per day.

The challenge the US faces is curbing ghg emissions while meeting current load growth, Steve Specker, of EPRI said, adding coal will remain the dominant source of primary energy to 2030.

China’s Five Year Plan, 2006-2010, calls for 5.5 gws from biomass, 8gws from wind of the 750 gws of installed capacity, Clas-Eirik Strand, President of Wartsila China, said. Coal will continue to dominate the market with over 70% market share. Wartsila entered the Chinese market in the early 90’s and has over 3000 mws installed and Strand sees a new “tri-generation” market evolving.

Steve DeAngelis founded Enterra Solutions in 2003 and is working to transform state-run manufacturers into first-class businesses. In Iraq, he is using IT approaches to introduce Iraq’s products into the world market. He introduced Enterra’s Advanced Management System to integrate in real-time fully auditable inspections for a power plant.

EEI established the Institute for Electric Efficiency under the leadership of Diane Munns. The Institute will work with EPRI and utilities to share case studies and collaborate on technologies to expand energy efficiency. Munns does not see any easy road ahead as the regulatory framework and utility’s orientation to service delivery need to be overhauled.

David Gardner sees advances in technology as merely progressive rather than revolutionary. He wants a change in the industry’s approach to the crisis in the supply of expert workers, dramatic changes in political and financial circumstances and lists four changes for the industry to consider.

For the past three years, Sempra Energy has repositioned its vision under Michael Allman. The CEO exited two coal plants in Texas, divested some gas assets and started developing renewables. He would like to develop 1,000 mws of wind by 2009 on both coasts and Texas.

David Slump, President of Cellnet-Hunt, defines Negawatts as the alignment of policies and technologies in dealing with energy and the environment. By linking smart metering with energy management solutions, utilities can dispatch negawatts, reducing consumption by 10%. He points out the Smart Grid will unlock the potential for the integration of microgrids to tie renewables into the fully integrated grid.

Demand Response helps consumers reduce their energy consumption during peak demand. Tim Healy, co-founder of EnerNoc brings an integrated system with advanced metering to the commercial and industrial markets. He predicts the big consulting firms will start offering energy strategy management programs.

Josh Margolis, co-ceo of Cantor CO² e has participated in the development, review and implementation of environmental credit trading programs for twenty years. He lists 15 maxims that should be adhered to.

Ed Stern is President of Neptune RTS, developers of the 660 mw, HVDC underwater link between PJM and LIPA. He is now working on the Hudson and Green Line HVDC projects and shares his insights on what it takes to get a project up and running on time and under budget.

Ronn Mullins is being honored for his services as Insurance Editor to World-Gen. We are pleased to include him in The Class of 2008.

World-Gen welcomes Letters to the Editor. Please email flanagan@world-gen.com with your comments.

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The March-April issue will be distributed at the 76th EEI convention, Power-Gen Europe, AWEA, IEEE and Electric Power. Closing is April 1st.