Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from power plants plunged 10% in 2012 largely due to the coal-to-gas switch and a slight decrease in power production, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said on Wednesday. Earlier this week, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported similar findings. The EPA’s 2012 data from its GHG Reporting Program, which collects annual […]

COAL POWER DIRECT   Email to a Friend Subscribe Free Current Issue        Find a Job        Post a Job        Back Issues        September/October 2013 In This Issue Electrical Area Classification in Coal-Fired Power PlantsEIA: Four U.S. Coal Companies Supplied Over Half of 2011 U.S. Coal World Coal Association Promotes Practical Steps to Combat […]

While many people believe coal is incompatible with meeting the challenge of climate change, the World Coal Association (WCA) disagrees. Together with the Polish Ministry of Economy, the WCA has developed “The Warsaw Communiqué” to address steps that can be taken to tackle climate change and allow coal to continue to play its role as […]

In the past two years, roughly half of U.S. coal production was attributable to the top four coal producers, the result, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), of changes in regional production as well as decades-long trends that have seen the several mergers and acquisitions. Peabody Energy Corp., Arch Coal Inc., Alpha Natural […]

With the recent push for the regulation of carbon dioxide emissions from new and existing power plants (see “Turning the Heat Up on Carbon Emissions” in the October 2013 issue of POWER), the science behind this action needs to be revisited. The regulation of carbon dioxide emissions will apply to all fossil fuel energy sources; […]

Southeast Asia, with an increasingly affluent population of 600 million, must kick investment in the power sector into the next gear to meet expected demand for electricity. Download the report.

Although there have been previous attempts at the federal level to regulate carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted from U.S. coal-fired power plants (remember the Waxman-Markey Bill, the American Clean Energy and

Gas Power Reciprocating gas engines find work in multiple power generation applications, from providing fast-start backup generating capacity for intermittent renewable resources to offering scalable and

2. Reactor module. The light water reactor NuScale Power Module is cooled by natural circulation and is entirely self-contained. Courtesy: NuScale The global nuclear industry has endured a rough patch since

In a noteworthy measure this August, Chinese authorities scrapped proposals for a 2-GW coal-fired power plant, citing—for the first time—concerns about air pollution. And as the authorities in Baguang

Jordan’s First Nuclear Reactor Gets Construction Green Light. Jordanian regulators on Aug. 20 granted permission for construction to begin at the Jordan Research and Training Reactor (JRTR) at the Jordan

A new 2-MW power-to-gas (P2G) plant inaugurated by Germany’s E.ON in late August will convert excess wind energy into synthetic natural gas that can then be fed into the regional gas grid, where it can be

Termoyopal, a utility based in Bogota, Colombia, recently repowered its power plant at Yopal, Colombia, by replacing three gas turbines with refurbished units and upgrading the remaining two turbines. The

Have you ever been surprised to have a nice gift rejected? Well, that’s what happened to the POWER team this summer. This spring, we chose an interesting and diverse set of plants from around the world to

Energy-hungry India’s power sector is financially hemorrhaging due to a number of critical issues relating to the availability of coal and gas, its loss-making state power distribution companies, and costly

An abundance of North American natural gas, coupled with high foreign demand, has sparked interest in exportation of natural gas. However, liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities are controversial. Some

A prototype 100-kW floating wind turbine that has been tested off Nagasaki near Japan’s Kabashima Island since May 2012 is slated to be replaced by a full-scale, grid-connected 2-MW wind turbine this fall

After 30-plus years of false starts, delays, and political interference, the U.S. finally has an opportunity to make good on its obligations to store the spent fuel from our nation’s nuclear reactors. A

Joining the growing list of major small modular reactor (SMR) technology developers is California-based General Atomics, which says its patented Energy Multiplier Module, EM2, is one of the “most advanced

Owner/operator: Duke Energy Duke Power’s deep roots in North Carolina go especially deep in the Appalachian Mountain range in the western part of the state, where Duke—then Catawba Power Co.—got its

The Kansas City Power & Light (KCP&L) La Cygne Generating Station provides 1,532 MW of peak power from its site south of Kansas City. La Cygne Unit 1 is an 815-MW Babcock & Wilcox cyclone boiler

TOP PLANTSOwner/operator: Duke Energy Indiana There will surely be readers who will disagree with our selection of the Edwardsport Generating Station integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) as a POWER

Crystal Engineering introduced a 15,000 psi version of its popular XP2i test gauge. The ultra-rugged, intrinsically safe, easy-to-use test gauge joins the recently released GaugeCalHP Pressure Comparator and

Owner/operator: Tata Power India’s emergence as an economic powerhouse has been tempered by acute power shortages that stem from severe supply side constraints. In August 2012, although the country’s

Owner/operator: Prairie State Generating Co., LLC The Prairie State Energy Campus (PSEC) is likely the last of the multi-unit coal-fired power plants that will be built in the U.S. in the foreseeable future

Owner/operator: Shenhua Guoneng Energy Group Corp. Ltd. The 4 x 500-MW Shentou Second Power Plant is located in Shuozhou City in the northern Shanxi Province, a region notable for its mining of coal and other

Many utilities have taken advantage of relatively low-cost natural gas to address environmental pressures and upgrade their power generation portfolio in one of three distinct ways—replace, repower, or

Courtesy: Business Wire The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System (ISEGS) reached a notable milestone on Tuesday, Sep. 24, 2013, when its Unit 1 turbine generator was synchronized to the California power grid for the first time. The project has been under construction since Bechtel Corp. began site preparation on Oct. 8, 2010. Jointly owned by […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) $3.6 million to research and develop virtual, cloud-based cybersecurity management tools for small, resource-constrained utilities. NRECA and Honeywell Corp. will provide matching funds for a total of $4.7 million. NRECA will collaborate with Pacific Northwest National Laboratories, Carnegie Mellon University, Honeywell […]