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  • ELECTRIC POWER Conference Set for Denver

    POWER magazine will host its 22nd annual ELECTRIC POWER Conference & Exhibition April 14–17, 2020, at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado. ELECTRIC POWER is the premier conference and

  • Safety Innovation Creates New Opportunities for Energy Companies

    Innovation in worker safety may not be a top priority for some companies, given all the other business concerns managers must focus on, but a culture of listening to workers and identifying ongoing

  • Georgia Commissioner: EVs Help Utilities and Ratepayers

    There’s general agreement among industry analysts that sales of electric vehicles (EVs) will continue to grow. Those same analysts, though, may not agree on the pace of growth. BloombergNEF (BNEF) in its “Electric Vehicle Outlook 2019” report said it expects yearly passenger EV sales will hit 10 million in 2025, up from just more than […]

  • Fast Fixes to California’s ‘New Normal’ of Power Outages

    Experts say the solution is simple: increase the role of distributed renewables and deploy energy storage-based microgrids throughout the state. As California continues to cope with looming scheduled blackouts, the harsh reality is that not only is this the new normal for citizens and businesses on the West Coast, but it could remain that way […]

  • The New Due Diligence: Understanding the Climate-Related Vulnerabilities of Our Infrastructure

    Rich Sorkin, CEO of Jupiter Intelligence As the reality of climate change begins to soak in, enterprises, organizations and governments around the globe are trying to get a handle on the economic and social implications of rising temperatures and sea levels. One area most immediately threatened by climate change—and one that hasn’t received nearly enough […]

  • Report: Global Transformer Market Will Exceed $90 Billion by 2026

    A recent study from Global Market Insights, a global market research and management consulting company, shows the value of the global transformer market will exceed $90 billion by 2026. The company has a market report dedicated to the global transformers market. Ankit Gupta, a research manager at Global Market Insights, recently answered some questions from POWER […]

  • Public Safety Power Shutoffs: How Utilities Could Partner

    Catastrophic wildfires have devastated California in recent years. This article seeks to outline a plan wherein neighboring utilities can send energy to support a utility that has shut down critical paths during wildfire mitigation efforts. On the morning of Nov. 8, 2018, the Camp Fire erupted 90 miles north of Sacramento, California (Figure 1). This fire […]

  • How Utilities Can Better Manage and Maintain the Quality of Their Data Assets

    Utilities are becoming increasingly skilled at adapting to changes brought on by the digital age: pressure from automation, disruption from new technology, and challenges with how to ingest, manage, and utilize mountains of data. Viewing “data as an asset” is becoming the new industry norm and utilities are beginning to invest heavily in digital tools […]

  • Fault Ride-Through Using Slip-Capable Torque-Limiting Couplings

    As more intermittent renewable energy resources are added to the power grid, generator connectivity during a grid fault becomes ever more important to mitigate the risk of cascading blackouts. An innovative

  • Show Preview – Connected Plant Conference

    The Connected Plant Conference allows for interaction with the industry’s early adopters. Attendees will meet generators who are using the latest connected plant tools. The speaker lineup (Figure 1) provides

  • Data Is the New Power: Key Learnings from a Successful ERP Migration

    Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software allows an organization to use a system of integrated applications to manage and automate many business functions related to operations, technology, services, and

  • Increasing Automation for Fossil Energy Plants

    An Electric Power Research Institute study has developed a systematic process for introducing sequence automation to fossil power plants. Researchers are now exploring its implementation in case studies. As

  • Using Self-Service Analytics to Improve Power Plant Efficiency

    There is a widespread movement to reduce carbon emissions around the world. One way to do so is by improving plant efficiency, but that can be easier said than done. However, self-service analytics could play

  • Is Biomass Dead?

    With subsidies running short and emissions regulations still a challenge, the promise of biomass as a sustainable source for utility-scale power generation remains elusive. Yet, there are novel applications

  • Community Solar: Ready for the New Decade

    Community solar refers to local solar facilities shared by multiple subscribers who receive credit on their electricity bills for their share of the power produced. Community solar allows homeowners, renters

  • Taking Efficiency and Flexibility to the Next Level

    In a rapidly changing energy market, the competitiveness of any power producer increasingly depends upon the reliability, efficiency, and flexibility of its power plants. As the share of renewable energy

  • Backup Power for Critical Loads Can Save Lives and Money

    In a modern economy increasingly dependent on electric power, blackouts can wreak havoc when the loads are critical to life, business, and even a comfortable lifestyle. The problem may be growing, but there

  • Hype and Hope: Artificial Intelligence’s Role in the Power Sector

    Artificial intelligence (AI) is a term power professionals are seeing increasingly to describe sophisticated digital technologies. Could it be the breakthrough that is so highly hyped? There is no argument

  • Energy Storage—Operational Versatility Causes a Regulatory Identity Crisis

    The next decade could belong to energy storage. Project development costs are dropping. Enhanced state and corporate focus on climate-related issues is producing more opportunities for renewable generation and

  • Seal Design Key as ORC Turbine Manufacturer Enters Geothermal Market

    When a global leader in the design, manufacture, and maintenance of binary Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) power systems entered the geothermic energy market, company engineers knew its existing turbines would be

  • Minimizing Exposure: RVI Videoscopes Take Radiation Exposure to a New Low

    For personnel in nuclear power plants, time and distance are critical measurements when it comes to safe inspections. When workers need to enter a high-radiation area to examine a potential problem or make a

  • POWER Digest [February 2020]

    Indonesia Readying to Build 145-MW Floating Solar Plant. Pembangkitan Jawa Bali (PJB), a subsidiary of Indonesian state electricity company PT PLN, is planning to begin construction of the $129 million Cirata

  • Endesa to Close Two Giant Spanish Coal Plants

    Endesa on Dec. 27 formally moved to shutter two massive coal-fired power plants—the 1.4-GW As Pontes plant in A Coruña, Galicia, which is the biggest coal-fired power plant in Spain, and the 1.16-GW

  • Australia, Long a Uranium Champion, Mulls Nuclear Power

    An Australian federal inquiry last December recommended partially lifting a nationwide ban on nuclear energy, urging that the government pursue a “goal-oriented” and community-focused strategy as it

  • Policy Support for Carbon Capture Critical to Clean Energy Future

    Analysis by both the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and International Energy Agency shows that achieving a zero-carbon energy system by 2050 will require large-scale deployment of carbon capture

  • Is Your Plant Cyber Secure?

    Sponsored by:
    Siemens

    In this insightful webinar, Jonathan Tubb, cyber security expert at Siemens Energy, Inc., will discuss strategies power plants can employ to mitigate security risks, assess readiness to meet future attacks and maximize security efforts.  He will share insight about how he helps customers confront growing cyber threats with extensive protection, detection and monitoring solutions.

  • Life Time Extension of Gas Turbines Components

    Sponsored by:
    MD&A

    In this webinar we will cover the typical limiting factors of gas turbine components and how they can be repaired. We will cover the steps used in implementing a life time extension and will show some case studies. Some examples of how new parts are redesigned with features that make them more robust will also be covered.

    This webinar will be beneficial to the engineers and power plant personnel involved with the refurbishment and replacement of the gas turbine hot gas path components.

  • A Guide to Total Performance™ for Condensers & Heat Exchangers

    Sponsored by:
    Conco

    Conco enables power plants, refineries and industrial production facilities to improve profitability, productivity and reliability through a uniquely integrated platform of products and services for condensers and heat exchangers.

    With Total Performance™ you can anticipate problems and keep your condenser tubes at optimum efficiency. The three part process identifies the status of condenser tubes, detects equipment fatigue that can cause inefficiency, and cleans the tubes to improve flow and heat transfer. Together, Conco’s Total Performance™ platform can increase efficiency by as much as 4%.

  • Pushing Plant Performance to the Next Level

    Sponsored by:
    Siemens

    Welcome to the next level of performance and efficiency: The Siemens combined cycle solution merges best-in-class gas turbine technology with industry leading steam turbines. With the development of the HL-class, Siemens continues its leadership in large air-cooled gas turbines by pushing plant efficiencies beyond 63%, with a clear roadmap to even higher values. The focus of the webinar will be the SCC-9000HL power plant for the 60Hz markets, which provide a 1×1 combined cycle power output of ~577 MW. The HL-class is designed for highest operational reliability and flexibility to fulfill the requirements of base load units while also being a perfect fit for flexible applications. This makes the HL-class turbines a versatile solution for operators who anticipate energy systems with a rapidly increasing share of fluctuating production by renewables.

  • Modernizing Utility Infrastructure: Smart, but Not Always Secure

    Sponsored by:
    Sierra Wireless

    To increase operational efficiency, utilities are migrating more to smart grids which integrates traditional grid infrastructure with sensor and communication technologies to collect and process large amounts of data. With a large complex network composed of millions of devices and remote entities connected with each other, such a massive network comes with many security concerns and potential vulnerabilities.

    This webinar provides key insights into the building blocks in security solutions for the smart grid network to mitigate risk for the modern utility infrastructure.