A 7,100-MW±600-kV high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) line that runs 2,375 kilometers (km) from new hydropower plants on the Madeira River in the Amazon Basin to major load centers in southeastern Brazil

Unbundled Renewable Energy Credits and the Benefits of Standardization Unbundled renewable energy credits and certificates (RECs) separate the renewable, or green, component of energy from the actual

Resource-rich Poland’s push to prioritize coal as its main energy source and to cultivate a nuclear power program to boost energy security at the expense of climate objectives has provoked its portrayal

Kelly Speakes-Backman Every day there is increasing evidence that we need to accelerate our nation’s transition to a cleaner energy infrastructure. The American Climate Prospectus released by the Risky

Arizona-based solar photovoltaic (PV) system provider First Solar in August said it had achieved a cadmium-telluride (CdTe) PV research cell conversion efficiency of 21%—a world record. The thin-film PV

Careers in POWER Featured Article: Rapid Cycling: The Human Factor Careers in POWER Featured Article: CIP 9-30-14 … READ MORE »   FRESH JOBS IN POWER GENERATION Senior Project Engineer – CalEnergy GenerationCalipatria, California  Power Plant Manager – City of TallahasseeTallahassee, Florida Transmission and Generation Coordinator – ISO New England Inc Holyoke, Massachusetts Electrical Engineer / Designer…… READ MORE »   FRESH JOBS […]

Careers in POWER Featured Article: Rapid Cycling: The Human Factor Careers in POWER Featured Article: Rapid Cycling: The Human Factor Careers in POWER Featured Article: CIP 9-23-14 … READ MORE »   FRESH JOBS IN POWER GENERATION Power Plant Control System & Instrument Technician – Roseburg Forest Products, Co.Roseburg, Oregon  Rates & Regulatory…… READ MORE »   FRESH JOBS […]

Careers in POWER Featured Article: Rapid Cycling: The Human Factor Careers in POWER Featured Article: Rapid Cycling: The Human Factor Careers in POWER Featured Article: CIP 9-16-14 … READ MORE »   FRESH JOBS IN POWER GENERATION Lead Environmental Engineer – HoneywellFrankford, Pennsylvania  System Operator II or Certified System Operator – Kissimmee Utility AuthorityKissimmee, Florida…… READ MORE »   FRESH JOBS […]

Careers in POWER Featured Article: Rapid Cycling: The Human Factor Careers in POWER Featured Article: Rapid Cycling: The Human Factor Careers in POWER Featured Article: CIP 9-9-14 … READ MORE »   FRESH JOBS IN POWER GENERATION Instrument & Controls Technician – Georgia Power CompanyAtlanta, Georgia  Electrical Engineer – Power Plant – Platte River Power…… READ MORE »   FRESH JOBS […]

They call themselves “Fractivists.” Environmental and community activists fearful of relatively new natural gas and oil drilling technologies that have transformed the U.S. energy economy have launched a high-profile, highly hyped campaign to shut down new natural gas production. But their prospects of success look dodgy. Ground Zero in the debate over fracking—shorthand for the […]

Careers in POWER Featured Article: Rapid Cycling: The Human Factor Careers in POWER Featured Article: Rapid Cycling: The Human Factor Careers in POWER Featured Article: Rapid Cycling: The Human Factor Careers in POWER Featured Article: CIP 9-2-14 … READ MORE »   FRESH JOBS IN POWER GENERATION E&I Technician A – Santee CooperCross,…… READ MORE »   FRESH JOBS […]

Cybersecurity threats facing the power industry have escalated dramatically in the past few years, as state-sponsored, organized crime, and hacktivist groups all seek to infiltrate U.S. energy infrastructure for cyber-espionage and sabotage purposes. A recent example of the severity of this threat can be seen in operation “Energetic Bear”—a Russian campaign to infect U.S. and […]

At the graveyard wherein resides the “nuclear renaissance” of the 2000s, a new occupant appears to be moving in: the small modular reactor (SMR). This is a statement that might have appeared nonsensical even a year ago. SMRs looked to be the Next Big Thing in nuclear, a way to circumvent the biggest obstacle to […]

Like some of those tests your doctor is always after you to get, boiler chemical cleaning is something that most of us would rather not think about but that we all agree is necessary. Adding to our general discomfort with the process are new Environmental Protection Agency regulations, which make the disposal of chemical cleaning […]

The experiences of the electric and gas markets in the Northeast this past winter highlighted better than any article, speech, or prediction the interesting and urgent challenges and opportunities arising from increased reliance on natural gas to heat and power homes, offices, and factories. The use of natural gas has risen so much that demand […]

Though “social costs” may be a new term of art in the power industry, it is about to become a critical one. Here’s what you need to understand about the concept in general and how it applies to the recently finalized cooling water intake rule.  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) recently released rule regarding […]

Construction on a $1 billion commercial-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) system—one of the world’s largest to use post-combustion capture technology—began this July at NRG Energy’s W.A. Parish Unit 8 near Houston. The facility is expected to be operational by the end of 2016. Formerly known as the NRG Energy Parish CCS Project, it is […]

Once merely a staple of backup and distributed generation, reciprocating engines are now challenging other resources for utility-scale generation—in addition to carving out some new niches. Grant County is a rural, sparsely populated county in southwestern Kansas. It doesn’t have a lot of people—its population in the 2010 U.S. Census was just 7,829—but what it […]

Australia in July became the first nation to abolish a price on carbon, after the Senate passed the Abbott government’s repeal bills by a vote of 39–32. Yet the country’s carbon conundrum continues because Prime Minister Tony Abbott must still get his Direct Action Plan, a proposed replacement for the country’s emissions trading scheme, to […]

While several methods exist for sizing collector pipes on steam lines, the results obtained from the various approaches can be quite different. This article will show how design parameters can be used to calculate the dimensions much more accurately. In the steam lines of thermal and nuclear power plants, condensed steam is usually discharged from […]

EU Doles Out €1 Billion in Funding for Renewable Projects Under NER 300. The European Commission on July 10 awarded €1 billion ($1.34 billion) to 19 renewable energy projects and a carbon capture and storage (CCS) project under its NER 300 program. The projects will cumulatively raise European Union (EU) renewable energy production by about […]

Geothermal generation is clean, renewable, and cost-effective over the long term, and the U.S. has vast untapped geothermal resources. So why is it still operating on the sidelines?   For the U.S. geothermal energy industry, 2013 ended on a positive note. Cyrq Energy’s Dale Burgett geothermal plant, a 4-MW unit in southwest New Mexico, began […]

Since March, Hong Kong has been contemplating two options as it prepares to phase out its coal-fired power plants—which currently produce more than half of its electricity—to improve an enduring local and regional air quality and visibility crisis. One option calls for buying more power from coal-heavy mainland China, and the other is to increase […]

To ensure that its nuclear plants do not meet the same fate as those damaged and destroyed by the March 2011 events at the Fukushima Daiichi plant—should they be hit by similarly severe natural disasters—Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is using multiple new approaches to enhance safety. First Installation of New Spent Fuel Pool Instrumentation Spent […]

The world’s nuclear power generation capacity is slated to grow between 17% and 94% through 2030, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) forecasts in its 2013 Annual Report, released this July. However, it notes, those figures are slightly lower than projections made in 2012, owing to the continuing impact of the Fukushima Daiichi accident, the […]

Skilled maintenance and service teams inspect critical infrastructure, perform preventive maintenance, and quickly respond to issues to keep service levels high. It is critical that such teams work with as-built drawings that reflect original plans along with the cumulative changes. Armed with the current drawings, service teams can avoid surprises. The challenge is that drawings […]

Despite stagnant economic growth globally, primary energy consumption surged in 2013, with growth for nuclear power and renewables in power generation expanding at above-average rates, BP said in its recently released Statistical Review of World Energy 2014. According to the report, world power generation grew 2.5% in 2013, slightly up over 2012 (which saw 2.2% […]

Commissioning of all 18 generating units at China’s 13.9-GW Xiluodu Hydropower Station has been completed, making it the world’s third-largest hydroelectric project (Figure 5), China Three Gorges Corp. announced in early July. 5. Hydropower giant. Commissioning of all 18 generating units at China’s 13.9-GW Xiluodu Hydropower Station has been completed, making it the world’s third-largest […]

For a country focused on wooing big businesses, constructing large industrial complexes, and building new administration offices, having a reliable electricity supply is vital. But with few natural resources, flexible and efficient generation is imperative. Korea Southern Power Co. (KOSPO) CEO Lee Sang Ho has a vision of making KOSPO into a “global top 10 […]

Awash in a sea of wind turbines, California’s Coachella Valley needed reliable peaking generation to back up its intermittent wind power. Competitive Power Ventures answered the call with the eight-unit, 800-MW Sentinel plant. Driving west on Interstate 10 through the Mojave Desert in California is a mostly monotonous experience of sand, scrub brush, and rolling, […]