POWER [December 1, 2013]

Alqueva II Pumped Storage Hydropower Plant, Alqueva, Portugal

Owner/operator: Energias de PortugalCourtesy: Alstom Sunny Portugal enjoys a climate much like that of Southern California and likewise has considerable wind resources. Unlike California, Portugal has

Macarthur Wind Farm, Victoria, Australia

Owner/operator: AGL Energy/Malakoff Corporation Berhad Though endowed with some of the world’s largest coal resources, Australia—whose southern coasts experience strong westerly winds called the “Roaring

Mesquite Solar 1, Maricopa County, Arizona

Owners/operators: Sempra U.S. Gas & Power and Consolidated Edison Development Courtesy: Sempra U.S. Gas & Power California has been pursuing renewable generation since enactment of its Renewable

Polaniec Green Unit, Polaniec, Poland

Owner/operator: GDF SUEZ Energy Poland Historically, Poland has relied heavily on coal for electricity generation. International Energy Agency statistics show that coal generation accounted for 86.5% of total

Shams 1, Madinat Zayed, United Arab Emirates

Owner/operator: Shams Power Co. Courtesy: Masdar The small nation of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), despite having the world’s seventh-largest proven reserves of both oil and gas, has been working hard to

A Plan for Optimizing Technologies to Support Variable Renewable Generation in China

Recently, the variable generation (VG) industry has been strongly promoted in China to advance sustainable energy development, especially for wind power and solar photovoltaic (PV) power, which have entered

A Wind Energy Plan That Fits America's Resources

America is blessed with long coastlines and relatively deep waters. But ironically, this has been a disadvantage to the U.S. offshore wind industry. Compared to more than 1,000 turbines that are already

Optimized SCR Catalysts Maximize Mercury Removal Co-Benefits

The new Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) have given coal-fired power plant owners a short time to bring their plants into compliance with rules that require significantly less mercury (Hg) in stack

Photovoltaics Overshadow Concentrated Solar Power

As solar technologies, both solar photovoltaic (PV) and concentrated solar power (CSP) are often discussed collectively, along with solar thermal and solar fuels. But the difference between the two power

Power Plant Training Simulators Explained

Training simulators are worth their weight in gold to the power industry, as well as to most process industries in general. People tend to learn the fastest and the most thoroughly when hands-on trial and

When It Comes to Nuclear Plants, Is Small Beautiful?

In 1973, an obscure economist from Britain’s National Coal Board, which then owned and operated all the coal mines in the country, published a book that posited—as the title proclaimed—that Small Is

Defining the Future: Time to Get Real

Christoph Frei The global energy environment is increasing in complexity and uncertainty. We are in a much more challenging world than previously envisaged. The World Energy Council’s (WEC) analysis has

New Products (December 2013)

Rising energy costs necessitate new ideas and techniques for heat recovery—such as the Hitec Economizer from GEA Heat Exchangers. It is designed for equipping or retrofitting gas turbines and boilers, as

Federal-State Cooperation Is Needed in Transmission Project Development

Beginning with its landmark Order No. 888 in 1996, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has aggressively pursued policies designed to foster planning and construction of new transmission facilities

Preventing Failure of Elastomeric Expansion Joints in FGD Systems

Fossil-fuel-based power generation plants with wet scrubbing systems use slurries of sorbents to remove sulfur dioxide from their emissions. These highly abrasive slurries accelerate wear on the expansion

CORRECTED: Germany Raises Renewables Levy by 20%

Germany’s levy to promote renewables under the 2008 Renewable Energy Act (EEG) will climb to €0.624/kWh in 2014—a 20% increase that represents nearly a fifth of residential electricity bills. The measure

Headway for Congo’s Long-Delayed 40-GW Inga Hydro Project

Plans to build the $12 billion Inga 3 hydropower project may be finally coming to fruition after a new energy treaty signed by South Africa and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) promised to give the

IEA: Wind Power Could Supply 18% of World’s Power by 2050

Up to 18% of the world’s electricity could be generated with wind energy by 2050, but the massive jump from 2.6% today would require the nearly 300 GW of current wind capacity worldwide to increase eight- to

India Withdraws Tender for Chhattisgarh UMPP

The Power Finance Corp. (PFC), India’s nodal agency that conducts bidding for 16 proposed Ultra-Mega Power Plants (UMPPs)—coal projects of a 4,000-MW scale to make power available at a minimum cost—in

POWER Digest (December 2013)

First Kundankulam Unit Synchronized to Grid. The state-owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) on Oct. 22 synchronized to the grid the first of two units at the Kundankulam Nuclear Power

Spain Inaugurates 2-GW Pumped Storage Facility

Europe’s largest pumped-storage power plant was inaugurated this October in the Júcar River basin in Spain’s eastern province of Valencia as Spanish utility Iberdrola commissioned the final

The When, Where, and Why of Energy Patents

New research conducted by Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Santa Fe Institute researchers finds that the number of energy patents is increasing faster than patents overall. However, the trend lines