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O&M
Innovative Pipe Conveyors: Effective, Efficient, and Environmentally Friendly
Transporting household and industrial waste as well as sewage sludge from a treatment plant to a power station can be a messy business. The utility company Linz AG found that a pipe conveyor system offered an optimal solution. The conveyor is not only highly energy efficient, but due to its closed design, it also allows […]
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Gas
Are Simple Cycles or Combined Cycles Better for Renewable Power Integration?
It’s been called “filling the duck pond,” and it’s the increasingly common challenge worldwide of balancing supply and demand when variable renewables are not feeding power to the grid. Gas-fired generation is often filling the pond, but the technology mix matters. The growing portfolio of renewable power generation around the world has made the selection […]
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CIP 3-31-15
Careers in POWER Featured Article: How U.S. Power Generators Are Preparing for 2015 Generating companies have different challenges topping their lists for the coming year, depending on their service territory—from integrating renewables, to responding to several new federal regulations, to anticipating variable natural gas prices. All, however, are confident their companies have the… READ MORE » […] -
CIP 3-24-15
Careers in POWER Featured Article: How U.S. Power Generators Are Preparing for 2015 Generating companies have different challenges topping their lists for the coming year, depending on their service territory—from integrating renewables, to responding to several new federal regulations, to anticipating variable natural gas prices. All, however, are confident their companies have the… READ MORE » […] -
CIP 3-17-15
Careers in POWER Featured Article: How U.S. Power Generators Are Preparing for 2015 Generating companies have different challenges topping their lists for the coming year, depending on their service territory—from integrating renewables, to responding to several new federal regulations, to anticipating variable natural gas prices. All, however, are confident their companies have the… READ MORE » […] -
PCL Construction Celebrates 10 Years on FORTUNE’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” List
HOUSTON, TX, (March 5, 2015) – FORTUNE magazine has named PCL Construction to its “100 Best Companies to Work For” list for the 10th consecutive year. PCL, a top general contractor in North America, ranked 67 on the list this year. PCL is one of two commercial construction firms on the list. “It is an […]
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CIP 3-10-15
Careers in POWER Featured Article: How U.S. Power Generators Are Preparing for 2015 Generating companies have different challenges topping their lists for the coming year, depending on their service territory—from integrating renewables, to responding to several new federal regulations, to anticipating variable natural gas prices. All, however, are confident their companies have the… READ MORE » […] -
UNIMAR NOW A CERTIFIED ATEX ASSEMBLER
Unimar Now a certified atex assembler Unimar recEives ATEX cerificate for explosion proof CONTROLS Syracuse, NY: (December 2014) – Unimar Inc., a designer and manufacturer of custom control panels for hazardous environments, proudly announces the completion of the certification process to assemble explosion proof equipment meeting ATEX directives. This includes controls for hazardous duty applications, […]
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Legal & Regulatory
10 Industry Leaders Comment on the Future of Energy, Electricity, and the Grid
Here are selected thought-provoking (and even unexpected) comments made by presenters at the 10th annual MIT Energy Conference on Feb. 27 and 28 in Cambridge, Mass. Comments are summarized and paraphrased unless presented in quotes. For more on the event, see “Exelon: The Utility of the Future Views Change as Enabling, Not Disruptive” and the […]
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Gas
Exelon: The Utility of the Future Views Change as Enabling, Not Disruptive
Integrating more variable generation and storage, but no new nuclear units, are among the characteristics Exelon sees in the utility of the future, as outlined by Chief Strategy Officer William A. Von Hoene Jr. at the MIT Energy Conference, held Feb. 27–28. He began his Saturday address by saying that innovation is “absolutely indispensible.” Old, […]
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Renewables
A Handheld Fuel Cell Generator
After decades of potential but limited deployment, fuel cells are beginning to carve out a role in grid-scale generation (see “59-MW Fuel Cell Park Opening Heralds Robust Global Technology Future” in the
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Coal
SCR Reheat Burners Keep NOx in Spec at Low Loads
Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems installed in steam generators for NOx reduction are ordinarily designed for full boiler load conditions, when SCR inlet temperatures normally exceed unit-specific
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Commentary
Speaking of Cuba, Change, and Coincidence
Sometimes, circumstances have a way of developing in such an unexpectedly serendipitous way that they practically force one to take notice. So it is with Cuba and its power sector. Coincidence It all started
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Geothermal
New Zealand Strives to Maximize the Value of Geothermal Wastewater
Geothermal resources have important strategic value for New Zealand, as they are able to directly supply both heat and electricity (see “New Zealand Geothermal Industry Is Poised for the Future” in this
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Gas
U.S., Netherlands Harness Waste Gases for Distributed Generation
Methane emissions are garnering increasing attention because of their potential impact on the climate. Though far less methane is released to the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, methane has 20 to 25 times the
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Nuclear
Nuclear Industry Pursues New Fuel Designs and Technologies
Late last year, Japanese engineers and technicians accomplished a major milestone nearly four years after the most damaging light-water reactor accident in history at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear station
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Legal & Regulatory
FERC’s Work on the Clean Power Plan
Cheryl A. LaFleur One of the most controversial issues facing the energy world today is how our electric sector will respond to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) proposed Clean Power Plan
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Renewables
New Zealand’s Geothermal Industry Is Poised for the Future
Contact Energy fully commissioned New Zealand’s largest geothermal power plant last year, nudging installed geothermal capacity to a shade over 1 GW. Nearly 80% of the country’s electricity is sourced from
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Coal
Power Shortages Challenge Eskom, Force Load Shedding in South Africa
The South African power system is severely constrained and will remain tight until at least the end of April, according to Eskom. The company generates approximately 95% of the electricity used in South Africa
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Gas
Entergy’s Ninemile 6 Plant Completes Construction
Entergy Louisiana’s two-unit, 560-MW combined cycle plant in Westwego, La., just outside New Orleans, completed construction on Dec. 26, both under budget and several months ahead of its original schedule
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Hydro
Cambodia’s Largest Hydropower Plant Begins Operation
The 338-MW Russey Chrum Krom hydropower plant in southwestern Koh Kong province, Cambodia, was inaugurated on Jan. 12. The Chinese-built project is the largest hydropower station located in the Southeast Asian
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Renewables
POWER Digest (March 2015)
TIC to Build First U.S. J-series GT Plant. The Industrial Co. (TIC), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kiewit Corp. ,was recently awarded an engineering, procurement, and construction contract to build a gas
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O&M
Advanced Bearing Technology Eliminates Subsynchronous Steam Turbine Vibrations
A facility’s steam turbine ranks at, or at least near, the top of the list of vital power plant equipment. Without it, the thermal energy in pressurized steam can not be converted to rotary motion, which is
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Legal & Regulatory
Cape Wind Finally Blows Out
If ever there were a case of winning all the battles and losing the war, it would be the saga of the long-delayed-and-now-probably-dead Cape Wind offshore wind project in Massachusetts. As I wrote last year
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Water
Water and Wastewater Treatment Technology Update
Water is the lifeblood of a thermal power plant. As such, obtaining clean and pure makeup water and dealing with wastewater has been a requirement since the first steam generating unit went into operation. As
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Geothermal
Mining for Lithium in Geothermal Brine: Promising but Pricey
Worldwide, the U.S. is the largest producer of geothermal power; however, geothermal energy provides less than 0.5% of total generation in the U.S. Given geothermal’s small piece of the U.S. electricity pie
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Water
Feedwater Chemistry Meets Stainless Steel, Copper, and Iron
Alloys found in the condensate and feedwater systems of power plants include carbon steel for piping, pumps, and in some cases heat exchangers. Many systems still have some copper-based alloys from admiralty
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General
Manufacturing Supercapacitors from Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide
Researchers at Oregon State University (OSU) have developed a method to manufacture nanoporous graphene for use in supercapacitors from atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). Graphene is a form of carbon that is
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Environmental
Save Power with Natural Cooling for Building Ventilation
With the final Clean Power Plan rule covering existing power plants scheduled for release this summer, and the amount of flexibility that has been afforded to the states to meet emissions targets, states have
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Wind
DOE Wind Forecasting Grant Goes to Finnish Firm
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded a $2.5 million contract to Finnish environmental and industrial data firm Vaisala to coordinate a study of methods to improve wind energy forecasting in complex