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IIOT Power
A Reimagined Power Future Enabled by Digital Technologies
The power industry is changing and leading companies are turning to digital technologies to revolutionize their operations. Monitoring and diagnostics centers are leveraging vast amounts of data from around
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IIOT Power
Why Open Source Works for the Renewable Energy Sector
According to the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, renewable energy is the fastest-growing energy source globally where 24% of the energy generated in 2015 came from renewable sources such as biomass, geothermal, solar, hydro, wind, and biofuels. This is expected to increase to 31% by 2040 and will heavily depend on a number of […]
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IIOT Power
Short-Term Financing for Microgrid Communication Systems Will Payoff Long-Term
Energy companies are currently taking a hard look at distributed energy and microgrid technologies. That’s a good thing. Microgrids also need advanced communications networks to operate at optimum efficiency. That’s a fact. Microgrids offer incredible potential benefits, including the ability to disconnect from the traditional power grid and deliver electricity during blackouts, natural disasters and […]
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History
THE BIG PICTURE: A Gas Trade Transformation (Infographic)
According to the International Energy Agency, global natural gas trade has grown by more than 40% over the past 15 years. Over the next five years, current trade flows are expected to significantly diversify, boosted by development of liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure. LNG trade, which grew by 11% in 2017 to 391 billion cubic […]
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Press Releases
Equipment Showcase: Mobile Technologies
Mobile technologies have numerous applications in commercial power plants and for the power generation industry. Mobile devices help provide communications and data transfer within facilities, along with
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Commentary
Raising the Next Generation of Energy Leaders
As the electric power industry moves forward with new technology, the workforce that is needed to design, build, and manage the next generation of systems will undergo an equal if not greater transformation
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Distributed Energy
EVs Offer Significant Growth Opportunity for Power Utilities
Do you drive an electric vehicle (EV)? If you answered yes and live in the U.S., you’re among the roughly 1% of drivers doing so in this country. If not, how soon do you think it will be before you become
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Legal & Regulatory
Water Use Down Drastically at U.S. Power Plants
Water withdrawn by U.S. steam-driven power generators fell 18% in 2015 compared to 2010, owing largely to plant closures, coal-to-gas fuel switching, and the use of more water-efficient cooling system
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Energy Storage
Grid-Scale Liquid Air Energy Storage Plant Is Launched
The world’s first grid-scale demonstration of a liquid air energy storage (LAES) plant was officially launched in June. UK-based long-duration energy storage firm Highview Power developed the 5-MW/15-MWh
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Nuclear
Agreements Sealed for the World’s Biggest Nuclear Plant
The massive project to build six EPR reactors at the Jaitapur site in Maharashtra, India, received a significant boost in late June as GE and French utility EDF signed a strategic cooperation agreement that
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O&M
Small Modular Reactors: ‘Sealing’ the Deal
Small modular reactors (SMRs), defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as a reactor less than 300 MW, are fast emerging as a promising option for nuclear energy. They offer flexible power
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O&M
Clinging to Power: Why Extending Transformer Life Is Key
Through much of the developed world, we have come to rely on a steady flow of electricity just as we have a steady flow of air. Power outages are still disruptive, but they are few in number, and we have
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Commentary
What is ‘Resilience’, and Do We Need It?
U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry last year petitioned the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to craft policies to provide for “resilience” in the nation’s generation resource mix. He wrote
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Coal
A Captive Power Plant’s Quest for Reliability
An aluminum smelter in Odisha, India, built a 900-MW coal-fired captive power plant for its own power consumption. Though the plant features new generation turbogenerator sets, it was completed on time and on
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Legal & Regulatory
Dry Fork: A Model of Modern U.S. Coal Power
Dry Fork Station began commercial operation as a swath of older, less-efficient U.S. coal plants contemplated retirement amid a flood of environmental rules. Designed with foresight, this quintessential modern
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Coal
Clean Air Program Makes Shawnee Power Plant a Winner
Emissions standards have changed a lot since the Shawnee Fossil Plant entered service during President Eisenhower’s second term in office, but the Tennessee Valley Authority has done its part to help the
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Legal & Regulatory
Natural Gas: Clear Skies, Some Clouds on the Horizon
Horizontal drilling technology and fracking techniques have created a natural gas revolution in the U.S. The future looks bright for gas-fired power generation but there are three potential storm clouds that
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Renewables
Floating Offshore Wind Farms Exploit a Great Energy Resource
Wind farms are not all created equal. During the previous 12 months ending February 2018, the average capacity factor for U.S. wind turbines—virtually all of which were located on land—was 36.9%. Danish
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History
Fusion Power: Watching, Waiting, as Research Continues
Cheap and abundant electric power from nuclear fusion—power “too cheap to meter”—has been a dream for more than a half-century. But as time passes, practical fusion appears to be moving further into
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Environmental
Top Gadgets to Make Your Appliances More Energy Efficient
You put in a lot of time choosing the most energy efficient appliances you can find, and you work hard to cut back on energy use around the house. But what if there was a way to make your electric bill even lower with very little effort? Introducing the five gadgets you didn’t know you […]
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Infographics
THE BIG PICTURE: The Electric Vehicle Push
Because the widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) could ramp up demand for electricity and slash transportation-related emissions of carbon dioxide and other pollutants, a growing group of stakeholders, including power companies and trade groups, strongly advocate for an accelerated EV rollout. By mid-2018, several countries with potentially large EV markets had set EV deployment targets, as well […]
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Commentary
Has Germany Paved the Way for the World’s Energy Transition?
Germany is often touted as a leader in the global energy transition. Energiewende has been part of the country’s public discourse since the 1970s, stemming from an anti-nuclear movement prevalent at the
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Hydro
Hydropower Grows but Industry Is Changing
New hydropower capacity installed worldwide plunged 36% in 2017 compared to 2016, but the sector remains optimistic about its future despite a transitioning role for hydropower away from baseload power and
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Coal
Water-Capturing Cooling Tower Technology Makes Headway at MIT
A cooling tower water recovery system designed by engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) could capture water from power plant fogs and plumes, potentially rendering them into a source
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O&M
Lubrication: Optimizing the Performance of Today’s Gas Turbines
Modern gas turbines are designed to deliver more power and greater efficiencies. Several manufacturers, including GE, Siemens, and others, have established new marks for efficiency over the past year, reaching
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Commentary
How Will Interstate Natural Gas Pipeline Certification Change?
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on April 19 issued a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) to seek stakeholder input on how the agency should revise its 1999 Certificate Policy Statement regarding the review
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O&M
Commitment, Teamwork, and Perseverance Pay Off as Nuclear Unit Wins Plant of the Year
The Tennessee Valley Authority’s Watts Bar Nuclear Plant Unit 2 was the first new nuclear unit added to the U.S. fleet in more than 20 years. There were challenges along the way, but the colossal effort
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O&M
Mirfa IWPP Doubles Water, Triples Power Capacity
In the United Arab Emirates, demand for power and water are inextricably linked. One of its newer and larger plants, the Mirfa Independent Water and Power Plant—which has a power capacity of 1.6 GW and
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IIOT Power
NYPA’s iSOC: The Path to a Digital Utility
The New York Power Authority’s Integrated Smart Operations Center (iSOC) is the first step in the public power utility’s goal to become the first end-to-end digital electricity system. And it’s a big
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International
Trends and Obstacles in the Power Industry Workforce
Baby boomers are retiring, unemployment is low, skilled craft workers are in short supply, and human resources in the workforce are a growing issue for power industry management. “Demography is destiny.”