The current recovery in global power-sector investment is being driven not only by rising demand for power, but also by the huge levels of liquidity in global financial markets. How long will the current up-cycle last?

Business & Money

Merchant plants now draw investors from three different worlds-each with its own agenda.

It's tempting to chalk up the recent bubble in merchant generation to just another industry cycle, but there's more to consider. Investment in the industry was far from even, leaving some regions teeming with unused peaking plants while other regions continue to struggle with a need for capital investment.

Financial players bring credit depth to energy markets, but will they play by the rules?

The center of gravity for energy marketing and trading activity is moving from Houston to Wall Street. Some major financial institutions already have plunged into the market, while others are testing the waters, gearing up to participate in a bigger way. Already their impact is being felt, and it is most definitely welcome.

Companies that were on a buying spree before 2001 are putting assets worth billions n the block

A casual observer might expect that the industry's economic condition would produce a cornucopia of cheap assets for acquisitive companies . Eventually it might, but so far, it generally has not.

Taking a different view on merchant development.

The Nov. 15 issue of included an article entitled "Power Shortages? Fuhgeddaboutit!" The article, by Betsy S. Vaninetti of RDI Consulting, projects a glut of generation capacity in the United States. "As things now stand, overbuilding is the real concern," Vaninetti wrote.

 

An analysis of the business opportunities behind coal and nuclear plant expansion.

Electric power industry trade publications and the popular media have noted a growing interest in the rebirth of both nuclear power and coal-fired generation. These technologies would be a supplement to, or an alternative to, the natural gas fired generation that appears to be the predominant fuel and technology for new power generation facilities in the coming decade.

Merchant plants should consider MAIN, other opening markets.

More than 47,000 megawatts of new capacity has been proposed in the United States within the next few years. A few thousand megawatts are proposed in Canada.

The totals are a fraction of the more than 180,000 MW of new capacity projected to be needed in the U.S. and Canada by 2010. Some 50,000 MW of new capacity is needed by 2002.

But the problem with the proposed capacity is that its geographic distribution doesn't match forecast need.

Federal Agencies

NOX EMISSIONS. Generating heavy criticism from industry, on September 24 the Environmental Protection Agency released its long-awaited final rules on nitrogen oxide emissions, outlining a plan to reduce NOx by 28 percent by year 2007 in some 22 states and the District of Columbia, with state implementation plans due by September 1999 and controls in place by 2003, to be carried out through a "cap and trade" program to buy and sell NOx emissions credits.