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Geothermal
Electric Power Trends and Opportunities
I was recently reviewing a report issued last year by BMI Research, a Fitch Group company. The Megatrends 2050 Special Report , as it is called, suggests there are three main trends that will transform the
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News
How Nuclear Hybrids Could Redefine the Industry’s Future
The world’s nuclear sector is struggling to stay economically afloat amid a deluge of renewables and natural gas power, and reinvigorating it will require operational flexibility from new or existing
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News
Novel Nuclear Wastewater Treatment Ready for Market
An innovative nuclear wastewater treatment approach that could provide a cost-effective alternative to fixed-column ion-exchange plants is poised to enter the nuclear market. Atkins, a company that
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News
Applying IEEE 1584 in Power Generation Facilities
An arc flash is the explosive energy released when an electrical fault causes an arc. This rapid release of energy causes excessive temperatures in addition to air and metal in the path of the arc expanding
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News
The Power of a ‘Green’ Decommissioning, Remediation, and Redevelopment Plan
Economic pressures coupled with new and proposed regulations to reduce air emissions and regulate cooling water use and the management and disposal of coal combustion residuals (CCRs) continue to drive the
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News
Healy 2: The Story of a Coal Unit’s Remarkable Resiliency
Coal is the reason that Healy, Alaska, exists. To ensure low-cost power and reliability to interior Alaska—a remote place that is bereft of gas and has little sun—and sustain regional employment, Golden
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News
The World-Class Coal Power Efficiency of Rheinhafen-Dampfkraftwerk Block 8
Efficiency has become the mantra of modern coal power. The 912-MW hard coal–fired RDK 8, a unit that operates in Germany’s challenging power market, achieved a 47.5% net thermal efficiency through
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Top Plant
Circulating Fluidized Bed Combustion Is a Winner
New coal power plant technology is being developed by various companies around the world, but there are some pretty efficient and reliable designs already commercially available. Circulating fluidized bed
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Biomass
Biomass Power: Stalled in the Market, Stalled in Washington
After flowering between 2008 and 2014, power from biomass has withered in the face of market forces. Furthermore, lawmakers in Washington, D.C., have resisted regulatory action that could boost the industry
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Legal & Regulatory
NYC Blackout Highlights Importance of NERC’s New Regulation
The North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) recently issued a regulation for all power producers to test their electrical systems for proper coordination between protective relays. This protective-relay coordination standard number 27 (PRC-27) presents a big challenge for all power plants, but particularly for combined cycle/cogeneration plants, whose lean staffs lack the electrical engineering personnel […]
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Research and Development
Power Plant Solutions, Technologies, and Research in a Renewable Energy World
In line with global emissions targets, energy markets are moving ever more quickly to take up renewables. Such a move is obviously important to ensure carbon reduction targets can be met. This does however create an issue—one that’s not been given the attention it deserves—of the impact this has on the conventional power plants that […]
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IIOT
The Industrial Internet of Things and the Global Power Industry
The Implications of Two Technologies and How They Merge for Next-Generation Intelligence Undoubtedly, as the world becomes more complex and interconnected, digitization and technological innovations are vital components of the global power future. The power industry’s digital transformation is not merely developing alongside the industry, it is infiltrating it—transforming the very fabric of how the […]
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Business
How to Position Your Power Company for the Future
Faced with the challenge of making the right moves to accommodate a swiftly changing energy ecosystem, one question draws into sharp focus for generators and the entire power and utilities industry: What will their role become in the years ahead, considering evolving portfolio mixes and changing industry dynamics? Leaders know there’s a very real possibility […]
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Renewables
A Fine Couple They Are (Wind and Solar Power)
The pairing of wind and solar is emerging as a smart strategy to implement renewable energy sources with better economic feasibility. The pairing of wind and solar power is an advantageous complement; the two benefit each other. The synergistic combination is an emerging trend in renewable energy and power generation as costs drop. The pairing […]
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Nuclear
The Clean Energy Conundrum
The worldwide movement toward a clean energy future is barreling ahead. Most clean energy advocates seem to focus on wind and solar power as their resources of choice, and it shows, as the installed capacity
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News
POWER Digest [July 2019]
Taishan-2 EPR Achieves Criticality. A second EPR unit in China’s Guangdong province attained a sustained chain reaction on May 28, marking another major milestone for Framatome, EDF, and China General
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News
Chile Presents a Coal Exit Plan
Chile, a country that relied on coal for about two-fifths of its power generation in 2016, in June announced it would mothball eight coal plants, totaling 23 GW, of its existing 28-plant coal fleet over the
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News
Japan Will Explore New Avenues for Energy Self-Sufficiency
Japan’s government this June adopted a new energy white paper that suggests the country must rely on a larger share of nuclear and renewables to slash its carbon emissions and meet its target of a 26%
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News
Ultrasonic Testing for the Power Generation Industry
Ultrasonic nondestructive testing, also known as ultrasonic NDT or simply UT, is a method of characterizing the thickness or internal structure of a test piece using high-frequency sound waves. The
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News
PVD Coatings Extend Life of Gas and Steam Turbine Components
Industrial gas turbine (IGT) manufacturers and maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) personnel are continually seeking new ways to improve the performance and longevity of critical components. High-value
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News
Maximizing the Solar ITC Phaseout: Lessons from Wind
Every company invested in our nation’s clean energy transition is aware that 2019 is the last year that solar energy can take advantage of the 30% Investment Tax Credit (ITC) under Internal Revenue Code
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Gas
Egypt Megaproject: An Expedited Power Transformation
Winning POWER’s highest honor is a set of three gas-fired power plants and related infrastructure—the Egypt Megaproject—which was the single biggest order ever in Siemens’ long history. Completed in a
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News
A Clean Sweep for Invasive Mussel Biofouling
The rapid proliferation of dreissena rostriformis bugensis—the quagga mussel—has major implications for power plant reliability. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation installed a groundbreaking solution at Parker
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Smart Grid
FPL Uses Smart Technology to Build a Stronger Grid
Facing Florida’s daunting weather issues, Florida Power & Light consciously set out to improve its outage restoration and grid resilience performance. The company turned to increasingly smart
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Distributed Energy
Distributed Energy Award Goes to Unique Hog Farm Microgrid
Power from pig manure is not a public relations stunt, but rather, it’s an innovative solution to several farm challenges. Installing lagoon covers not only reduces odors and eliminates rainwater ingress
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Nuclear
Bringing the APR1400 Reactor to Market
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission conducts an extensive evaluation of reactor technology before approving and ultimately licensing nuclear power plants. Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co. Ltd. began the
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News
Hydropower Is Vital to Africa’s Future
Africa has a number of power supply challenges, many of which can be overcome with renewable energy. Foremost among the options is hydropower. While large projects can meet stiff resistance in the development
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T&D
Drivers for Advanced Distribution Management Systems
There are many reasons for utilities to invest in Advanced Distribution Management Systems, particularly as more renewable resources are utilized and integrated, and the need for reliability and resilience of
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News
Equipment Showcase: Construction Equipment
Successfully operating a power plant or other industrial facility depends on many things, including the vendors who supply equipment for construction of the facility, along with those who provide the materials
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Markets
The EU’s Power Provisions: Is Texas a Reliable Indicator?
What does the 21st century power market look like? That is the question the European Union (EU) is attempting to answer with the new electricity regulation and revised electricity directive passed at the end