Energy Update

The U.S Jones Act affects the construction of U.S. offshore wind farms by limiting certain activities in U.S. waters to U.S.-registered vessels owned and operated by qualified U.S. citizens. Much of the expertise in the construction of offshore wind farms is European based. The logical mechanism for marrying European expertise with U.S. firms qualified to operate where the U.S. Jones Act applies are joint ventures. Such joint ventures must take into account the stringent U.S.

(Thu, 21 Mar 2019) Electricity generation from U.S. nuclear power plants totaled 807.1 million megawatthours (MWh) in 2018, slightly more than the previous peak of 807.0 million MWh in 2010, based on preliminary annual data. Although several nuclear power plants have closed since 2010, a combination of added capacity through uprates and shorter refueling and maintenance cycles allowed the remaining nuclear power plants to produce more electricity.

Renewables-including biomass and other resources-accounted for 17.6 percent of electricity generation in the U.S. last year. Natural gas prices, however, will continue to dictate the overall direction of the U.S. power generation market.

Norsk Hydro has suffered from a cyberattack that has crippled some of its infrastructure. Norsk Hydro is primarily an aluminum manufacturer, but the company also owns and operates 17 hydroelectric power stations in Norway.