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News
Equipment Showcase: Diesel and Gas Generators
The need for reliable and resilient power generation, including backup power, means the market for mobile and smaller-scale power generation continues to grow. Commercial and industrial sites are using
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Hydrogen
Is Hydrogen the Power Industry’s Holy Grail?
Some power industry insiders believe hydrogen offers a solution to large-scale energy storage problems. The concept generally revolves around utilizing electricity generated by renewables when supply is high
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News
Well-Planned Retirement: Keys to Successful Coal Plant Decommissioning
Hundreds of coal-fired power plants are now retired or facing retirement in the near future, and utilities face a number of decisions. Are there commercial reuse options for the plant or the site itself? Are
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News
10 Power Sector Insights from the IEA’s World Energy Outlook 2019
The International Energy Agency’s (IEA’s) November 2019–released World Energy Outlook 2019 (WEO2019) is studded with interesting findings about emerging trends in the power sector. Here are 10 from the
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Technology
Power Industry Disrupters: Gas, Renewables, and Storage
The power industry is experiencing significant changes. Natural gas, wind, solar, and battery storage seem to be the wave of the future. What’s compelling the transformation? Some people point to
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Commentary
Structural Effects of Climate Change on the Utility Business
Developers and other sellers of electricity have traditionally viewed utilities as creditworthy counterparties. Utilities are longstanding institutions that provide a public service and receive a regulated
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Coal
Transformative Coal Power Technologies Take Shape
The coal power industry acknowledges that to play a stable role in future power markets, it needs to modernize, and perhaps even overhaul its long-held status as a “conventional generator.” Could new
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Nuclear
Innovation Propels Nuclear Power on New Trajectory
Innovation is ushering in a new age for nuclear power. As well as boosting plant economics, efficiency, and flexibility, advanced technologies could open up new markets to meet soaring demand for heat and
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Water
Water Chemistry: Power Plant Life and Death
Power plants that use steam to generate electricity need water. Without it, they can’t do their job. But water and steam are complicated, much as is blood in our veins and arteries. So, water chemistry is a
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Hydro
Hydraulic Stability of Surge Tanks
When needed, surge tanks can provide a critical feature to the hydraulic design of hydropower projects. Principally, they can mitigate the overpressure effects of pressure transients or water hammer and allow
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Connected Plant
Optimizing Power Plant Decisions with 5G Technology
The power industry is always looking for ways to improve efficiency and enhance reliability. 5G, that is, fifth-generation wireless technology, may help utilities reach new heights. Every day, we learn a
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Coal
Electric Power Generation: Coal Is Currently a Vital Component
Over the past decade, there has been a significant change in the U.S. system of power generation in the lower 48 states. The major factors that resulted in these changes were the discovery of new natural gas
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Connected Plant
From Smart Cities to Smarter Services: The State of the Energy Industry in 2020
How the energy industry and the cloud can partner to meet the challenges of smart city development. More than half of our global population resides in urban environments—and by the end of this century, the
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Technology
Power from the People? A Long Way to Go
Wearable power generation and personal mobile power are intriguing. But do they threaten to upset current paradigms for generating electricity? The answer appears to be no. “Power to the people” has long
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Gas
Why America Must Let Go of Coal and Avoid Renewable Subsidies
The 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP25), held in December in Madrid, Spain, showcased politicians and activists vying for the title of the world’s climate savior. In particular, youth
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Gas
How to Optimize Replication in Power Plant Design & Construction
Constructing a power plant is no small task. Due to the scope of the job, many projects experience schedule delays and cost overruns. However, with the right tools and teamwork, similar jobs can benefit
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Safety
Equipment Showcase: Tools and Safety Products
The safety of workers and equipment is an important consideration for power generation facilities, just as it is for other worksites. Power plants feature multiple pieces of complex machinery that can present
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News
Floating Offshore Wind Buoyant on New Developments, Projects
Floating offshore wind made a remarkable splash this fall. As two much-watched projects sailed toward construction, optimism about the industry’s accelerated growth was buoyed by projections from the
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IIOT
Report: Blockchain Not Well-Suited to Transactive Energy
Blockchain—a distributed database technology that allows a network of parties to securely transact with each other—has been hailed as a game-changing innovation in the power sector for its potential to
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Renewables
Decarbonization: Utilities Leading the Way
Decarbonization is a word that seems to be used quite regularly these days. For the power industry, it refers to the shift in electric generating resources from carbon-heavy coal to carbon-free nuclear or
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Connected Plant
Unlocking Value at the Grid-Edge: Extending the Reach of the Utility Control Room
Just 10 years ago, the magnitude of behind-the-meter distributed energy resources (DERs) at the edge of the grid was not materially significant. All that has changed, and we’re now at an inflection point: by
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News
Worm Gear Technology Helps CSP Plant Stay Locked on Target
Solar power generation continues to increase, with forecasts from BloombergNEF (BNEF) calling for global solar generation to make up 22% of the world’s electricity by 2050, up from about 2% today. BNEF has
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Commentary
International Business: Before You Enter a New Market, Do Your Due Diligence
As an attorney who has spent the majority of his career litigating and settling international commercial disputes, I have experienced several instances where U.S. companies jump at the opportunity to expand
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Coal
Smarter Monitoring for Coal Ash Remediation
Total suspended solids probe can help coal-fired power plants reduce compliance risks and avoid additional sampling. Water plays an essential role in coal ash remediation, but managing that process often comes
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Coal
Is Chasing Grid Demand Killing Your Large Coal Boiler? Here Are Four Concerns to Address
Operating pulverized coal-fired boilers under low-load conditions presents several challenges. This article offers tips to keep units in the best possible operating condition. In today’s energy market with
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IIOT
New Monitoring and Analytics Tools Improve Plant Performance
Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technologies can help make electric generating plants more efficient while increasing availability. The electric power industry is going through a transformational change
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News
Decarbonizing with Energy Storage Combined Cycles
Low asset utilization is an increasing financial challenge for both conventional and renewable assets, which are sometimes curtailed due to over-generation at various times of day. Integrating large-scale
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News
Culture Is Key to Optimizing Plant Efficiency
The power industry faces many challenges, which require a dedicated workforce to overcome. How can a company get everyone pulling in the same direction? It starts with a strong culture. The electric utility
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Renewables
Joining Forces with Europe Brings Learning and Promising Results for U.S. Renewable Energy
One of the most hopeful statistics regarding the world’s energy goals comes from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, whose study explained that it’s possible for America
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News
Protecting Critical Infrastructure from Drone Intrusions
Drones represent a classic good news/bad news scenario. The good news is great. The bad news is terrifying. On the good news front, drones can keep utility-sector workers safely on the ground, with the