The 3,600-MW Vuhlehirska Thermal Power Plant in Svitlodarske, Ukraine, was heavily damaged on Mar. 29 by a fire that killed one worker and seriously injured at least eight others. Four units at the seven-unit coal-fired plant were destroyed, and the region was temporarily without power and heating.

In its 2013 report on the state of U.S. infrastructure, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gives the energy sector a grade just shy of failure. In its previous report, in 2009, the ASCE also gave energy a D+.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on March 28 finalized updates to emission limits for new power plants under the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS). The rule includes emission limits for mercury, particulate matter (PM), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), acid gases, and certain individual metals.

Apparently, deciding that half a loaf is better than none, Southern California Edison (SCE) on Monday submitted a draft proposal for a voluntary license amendment to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for the troubled San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), in hopes of salvaging its plan for a five-month limited-power restart test. The move appeared to be in response to pressure from local groups seeking to keep the reactor shut down.

Three workers were injured by an arc flash while working in the switchyard at the Callaway Energy Center in Missouri on April 2. Ameren Missouri said the accident, which happened outside the nuclear plant’s protected area, did not affect power generation.

Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) canceled plans to buy power from two planned BrightSource Energy Inc. 250-MW solar thermal plants on the same day that BrightSource asked regulators to suspended permitting for the $2.7 billion project in California’s Inyo County.

Southern Co. has withdrawn plans to seek a $1.5 billion federal loan guarantee for the 582-MW lignite-fired integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plant its Mississippi Power Co. unit is building in Kemper County.

By Thomas Overton San Diego, April 3, 2013 — Despite all the sound and fury surrounding potential U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG), industry observers have consistently suggested the market is unlikely to support more than three to four operating terminals. In the race to nab one of those coveted spots, Dominion’s Cove Point […]

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is made up of seven emirates, yet two dominate the demographic, economic, and geopolitical landscape. Download the report.

Several European governments have so far this year bucked a reluctance to extract shale gas via hydraulic fracking even as the practice continues to be strongly opposed in countries like France and Bulgaria.