Owner/operator: NTPC Ltd. India’s state-owned generator NTPC operates a large fleet of power plants across the nation, and one of its top performers is found outside the capital of New Delhi. Staff at NTPC Dadri have taken a proactive, innovative approach to maintaining their plant, making it one of the most efficient in India despite […]

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) last week unanimously adopted a final rule on reliability standards to address the threat to the grid from geomagnetic disturbances (GMD).

In response to what was a record earthquake for the country, four of South Korea’s 25 nuclear power plants have been shut down as a precautionary measure.

As the U.S. enters the final stretch of what seems like an interminable presidential campaign, I’ve been thinking about the motto “ e pluribus unum” (out of many, one). That motto also applies to the power industry. The U.S. is composed of many states, individuals with family origins in virtually every part of the world, […]

Deciding to retire a coal-fired unit is often a tough call, but even tougher decisions follow. The next steps taken by a generation owner have multiple economic, environmental, and stakeholder consequences. Since 2000, U.S. generating companies (Gencos) have announced the closure of more than 200 coal-fired power plants, totaling 102 GW of generating capacity. Closures […]

A new assessment tool developed by engineers at Oregon State University (OSU) could allow people, agencies, and communities interested in developing small-scale hydropower plants in remote places to easily and accurately assess whether a potential project would meet their current and future energy needs. The free, open-source computer modeling package dubbed the Hydropower Potential Assessment […]

The U.S. nuclear power business is in trouble, and Exelon has six units totaling more than 5,300 MW of dependable capacity on the chopping block. How will the Chicago electricity giant respond? Perhaps by acquiring more nuclear capacity? Chicago-based Exelon Corp., the largest nuclear power generator in the U.S., is facing what could be the […]

Danish firm DONG Energy has begun building one of the world’s first bioresource power plants that will produce electricity from household waste by using enzymes to convert the waste to biogas. The commercial 5-MW plant under construction in the UK city of Northwich could be commissioned in early 2017. It will use the company’s proprietary […]

P OWER Editor Gail Reitenbach interviewed King Lee of Lloyd’s Register on June 29 at the World Nuclear Exhibition in Le Bourget, France. The firm is a “non-profit distributing charity with a public benefit

UK Abolishes Climate Change Department. As part of the major governmental shakeup triggered by Brexit—the UK’s momentous vote to leave the European Union—newly appointed UK Prime Minister Theresa May

Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) this June approved 20-year license extensions for the aging Takahama 1 and 2 reactors, a first for the power-strapped country that has been conflicted about the future of its nuclear power plants since the Fukushima Daiichi catastrophe in 2011. A regulatory system established in the aftermath of Fukushima limits the […]

Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) deployed its first commercial PB3 PowerBuoy—a wave energy conversion system that incorporates energy storage—off the coast of New Jersey this July. The Pennington, N.J.–based firm has been working to advance its PowerBuoy technology since the firm was founded in 1994. Development of the wave energy conversion technology for naval and civilian […]

Asset data is crucial in the power generation industry. Without it, utilities are forced to speculate about how long their assets will last, when they will need repair, and which strategies will maximize plant efficiency. With it, plant owners have the tools to drive down operational and maintenance costs while ensuring highly reliable power delivery. […]

In an industry as slow-moving as power generation, where planning horizons are measured in decades and assets can remain in operation for the better part of a century, it’s rare that things happen fast enough to catch anyone by surprise. But that’s exactly what’s happened to the U.S. merchant nuclear business over the past four […]

Owner/operator: Louisville Gas and Electric Co. and Kentucky Utilities Kentucky has always been coal country, but times are changing, and its generation fleet is changing with them. Facing the prospect of costly emissions control upgrades at the 60-year-old Cane Run Generating Station, Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities opted to retire the aging facility […]

Owner/operator: A2A When a plant goes into mothballs—especially because of poor economics—it’s often a harbinger of impending retirement. Upgrades to improve performance may help, but in changing markets, returns can be highly uncertain. Italian energy firm A2A partnered with GE to return one plant to profitability with a combination of hardware improvements and cloud-based analytics. […]

To alleviate chronic power shortages, the first gas turbine unit at this fast-tracked 640-MW plant was synchronized to the grid within a record-breaking 159 days—two days ahead of schedule. The revolution in

Owner/operator: APR Energy Within roughly 90 days, APR Energy set up a 60-MW turnkey power plant—complete with novel natural gas filtration and compression solutions—to support the operations of a massive Egyptian polyethylene plant until a bigger, permanent power plant can be built. It all began in April 2013, when Egyptian Ethylene and Derivatives Co. (ETHYDCO) […]

Owner/operator: PSEG New Jersey’s second-largest power plant has been a leader since it opened in 2006, when it was named a POWER Top Plant for its use of reclaimed water for cooling and for fitting an advanced four-unit facility into a constrained brownfield site. Now PSEG’s Linden Generating Station becomes a two-time Top Plant winner […]

Owner/operator: We Energies Converting a boiler’s fuel source from coal to natural gas involves a lot of planning and reengineering. When the plant is the sole steam service supplier to a downtown metropolitan area, it also involves a rigid schedule. The Valley Power Plant overcame several challenges to successfully complete one such conversion. The Valley […]

The second World Nuclear Exhibition was held at a moment in time when the prospects for nuclear power are both tantalizing and frustrating. One thing is clear: The dynamics of the nuclear power industry have changed recently—and so have the solutions proposed for achieving greater certainty. One of the strongest arguments nuclear power has going […]

As combined cycle gas turbine plants are called upon to play a larger and more flexible role in the generation mix, it’s important to schedule a comprehensive assessment of major components at key intervals to ensure reliable operation. Just like humans, power plants can benefit from regularly scheduled condition assessments, which are sometimes called “health […]

A unanimous vote by New Mexico’s Public Regulation Commission (PRC) today determined that Public Service Co. of New Mexico (PNM) will be allowed to provide new renewable capacity to a proposed Facebook facility through a special service agreement.

According to a Duke University study, future climate warming will likely cause only minor reductions in power output at most U.S. coal- and gas-fired power plants.

Turkish President Erdogan’s meeting with Russia’s President Putin could signal a major shift in energy flows into the EU and increase the West’s dependence on Russian gas, which could open the door wider for U.S. LNG.

Tony Clark, the only Republican on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, announced Aug. 4 that the agency’s September meeting will be his last.

Southern Co., one of the nation’s largest investor-owned utilities, appears torn between enormous recent investments in advanced coal and nuclear technologies—the company’s successful strategy in the past—and a competing sense that natural gas and distributed energy might be the company’s ultimate future. The Southern Company, based in Atlanta, Ga., is a regional utility behemoth, mostly […]

Electrical cable and conduit offers a reliable and proven way to get power where it needs to go, but that doesn’t mean it is always the best method. Busway can save space, while offering a less-expensive, more-flexible power distribution solution for applications where change and adaptation are important. As is the case in many other […]

Readers of a certain age will recall a scene in the movie Jaws when the local police chief, having glimpsed the gigantic shark up close from the back of the deck, reels back into the cockpit to observe: “You’re going to need a bigger boat.” In climate change, we have reached the “bigger boat” moment. […]

Dutch power grid operator TenneT on June 10 unveiled plans for a large-scale island transmission hub in the North Sea that could connect numerous offshore wind farms and transmit their generated power to the Netherlands, the UK, Belgium, Norway, Germany, and Denmark via direct current (DC) cables. Those cables, or “spokes” could also serve as […]