POWER

When I started working in the energy industry in 1999, I had a conversation one day with Adam, a researcher who was writing a report for utilities that were marketing “green energy” programs. At the time, customers’ ability to purchase solar- or wind-generated electrons was limited to fewer utilities, and those companies were looking for […]

Owner/operator: Great River Energy Recent news has focused on the decline of the coal-fired power industry, but this highly efficient combined heat and power plant offers one template for keeping coal generation viable. Although electricity markets remain challenging, partnering with steam customers can help stabilize revenue. Combined heat and power (CHP), also known as cogeneration, […]

Rate design is sexy again. On July 3, 2015, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) issued its long-awaited decision altering California’s residential rate structure. Most of the focus on the CPUC’s decision has understandably been on the move from a four-tiered to a two-tiered rate structure and the introduction of a Super-User Electric Surcharge for […]

Rooftops with arrays of tiny wind-powered microturbines and hydro microturbines generating power as water flows through municipal drinking water systems or the outflow of municipal sewage treatment systems?  They’re real. For many in the electric power business, the term “microturbine” conjures up images of small, gas-fired machines, a fad a decade ago that never caught […]

On August 3, 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a much-anticipated suite of regulations, featuring the final Clean Power Plan’s guidelines for carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from existing power plants under Clean Air Act section 111(d). This package has sparked great interest, and early reactions run the gamut from enthusiastic support to entrenched opposition. […]

Despite media headlines and coal industry hand-wringing, reports of coal’s death have been greatly exaggerated, to adapt Mark Twain’s famous (but misquoted) comment. What’s more, some of the coal sector’s current suffering is the consequence of self-inflicted wounds. Throughout the dog days of summer, the financial pages in dozens of U.S. newspapers have run headlines […]

Kuwait’s government in August approved the construction of several power plants and desalination facilities to boost its capacity by 3,580 MW. Like its oil- and gas-rich neighbors in the Gulf Cooperation Council region, Kuwait is seeing a power shortage owing to its growing population and economy. With only five power plants, the country has experienced […]

If you’re looking to generate distributed power with gas, your options are broader than ever, with a range of efficient, clean-burning technologies to chose from. Knowing which option is the right one depends on a balance of site constraints, fuel supplies, and environmental oversight. When California State University San Marcos (CSUSM), a 14,000-student university north […]

Power-strapped South Africa on Aug. 30 celebrated the inauguration of its first new power plant in 20 years, putting online Unit 6 of Eskom’s long-delayed 4.8-GW Medupi facility. Construction of the $7.89 billion power plant near Lephalale in Limpopo province was begun in 2007, but completion has been paralyzed by a number of mishaps, including […]

Though newer distributed generation options like microturbines, solar, and batteries have grabbed the headlines, diesel remains the go-to option because of its established technology and reliability. But growing competition and new regulations are threatening its traditional role. Here’s what diesel is doing to stay relevant. If you pay attention to nothing but the headlines in […]

Before the official start of its Minds + Machines event in San Francisco this week, GE announced the launch of its “Digital Power Plant” during a briefing for the trade press. A formal announcement was to follow in the afternoon. Dick Ayres, general manager of software solutions, power generation services, explained that the company’s Predix […]

Researchers looking at “quantifiable differences in security performance” across industries from August 1, 2014, to August 1, 2015, found “challenging performance trends” in the critical energy and utilities sector. The third annual BitSight Insights Industry Benchmark report analyzed security ratings of nearly 10,000 organizations in six industries: finance, federal government, retail, energy and utilities, healthcare, […]

 Fort Montgomery, NY  – August 24, 2015 – IPERC (Intelligent Power & Energy Research Corporation), the industry leader in cybersecure, intelligent microgrid controls solutions for military and commercial applications, has announced that the Department of Defense (DoD) has accredited the company’s GridMaster™ control system at Camp Smith, Hawaii with Platform IT Risk Approval (PRA).  This is […]

Warren Buffett bought Nevada’s NV Energy two years ago, a move widely seen as a play for solar and renewable generation. That’s working out. But as the company transitions away from legacy coal and high-priced renewable contracts signed years ago, large customers are rebelling, and the company faces a challenge to keep its big dog […]

Sharing borders with Saudi Arabia, Israel, Syria, and Iraq, Jordan sits in a very precarious part of the world. To make matters worse, the country’s economy is among the smallest in the Middle East. Chronic

The Turkish electricity market was opened to competition in 2001 when the Turkish Grand National Assembly passed the Electricity Market Law, which unbundled its generation, transmission, and wholesale power

In the early 2010s, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) was staring down the barrel of dangerously low reserve margins, a combination of growing demand and an energy-only wholesale market that

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is facing major population growth over the next several decades and, with it, rapidly growing electricity demand. In 2013, the country generated 292.2 TWh of electricity, which

On June 29, much of the power sector rejoiced when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) rule, finding that the EPA had

As with many areas in North America and Europe, electricity generation in the Canadian province of Alberta is in transition toward cleaner, more efficient, more water-wise power. According to statistics from

For decades, hydropower plants were mainly built and operated as a cost-efficient source of clean electricity. But despite more than a century of development, there is still scope for expanding generation from

There is a synergistic relationship among the three major cooling water treatment issues: corrosion, scale or deposit formation, and microbiological fouling. In order to control one, you need to control all

Though most power generators and states might have preferred to not deal at all with a new rule regulating greenhouse gas emissions, the final Clean Power Plan (CPP), released August 3, gives most of the power

It’s certainly no secret that for many years, the power industry has been a top target for hackers around the world. However, whereas in the past, many of these attacks were relatively easy to block using

The Korea Radioactive Waste Agency (KORAD) on July 13 disposed its first waste in a newly completed low- and intermediate-level nuclear waste disposal facility underground at Gyeongju in North Gyeongsang

In today’s digital world, an optimally run power plant relies on valuable and accurate data in order to ensure assets are running reliably and with minimal downtime. Streaming in from control systems, SCADA

A subsidiary of Rosatom’s nuclear engineering division, Atomenergomash, says a new nickel-alloy steel grade developed for the VVER-TOI core shell will extend the service life of the reactor vessel up to 120

South Korea on July 24 put online its 24th nuclear power plant. Shin Wolsong Unit 2 (Figure 3) will be the last to use the domestically developed OPR-1000 reactor design. Originally called the Korean Standard

ABB Snags $450M Contract for Norway-UK Undersea Link. ABB on July 14 won a $450 million contract to supply high-voltage direct current (HVDC) converter stations at both ends of the North Sea Network (NSN), a

Power-strapped Egypt’s first fast-track natural gas–fired project was completed in a record 159 days from groundbreaking to commissioning this July. The 650-MW Attaqa Simple Cycle Power Plant near Suez