December 12, 2018 Could High-Efficiency, Low-Emissions (HELE) Technology Revive U.S. Coal Power? A newly introduced Senate bill aims to make federal loan guarantees available for new high-efficiency, low-emissions (HELE) coal power plants in the U.S. Although it spearheads considerable research and development… Read More Sponsored Content Free Webinar: Benchmark your performance and boost your bottom […]

POWER-GEN International kicked off on December 4 with a keynote presentation focused on evolving power generation schemes and changing business models. Gregory Lee, commission president with Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC), the municipally owned public utility that provides water and electric service to Orlando, Florida, and portions of other nearby areas, opened the conference by providing […]

Before industrial control systems (ICSs) were network-connected, operators had little to worry about in the way of cyber threats. But as industrial environments, such as energy utilities, become more connected, they’re exposed to vulnerabilities and attacks. ICSs are used in large amounts of critical infrastructure, including the electrical grid, transportation systems, and wastewater plants. How […]

November 29, 2018 Eight Power Sector Takeaways from the Climate Report Despite increased resilience actions, extreme weather events due to climate change are projected to increasingly threaten the nation’s energy infrastructure, and create fuel availability and demand imbalances, the Trump administration’s… Read More Sponsored Content GE's H-class turbines are spinning the industry forward The world […]

Optimizing power plant control systems can be challenging, but new tools are available to simplify and improve the process. On this episode of The POWER Podcast, Executive Editor Aaron Larson spoke with Jon Towslee, digital engagement leader for ABB Inc.’s Industrial Automation Power Generation & Water business. Towslee explained how ABB Ability is focused on […]

In a referendum held alongside local elections, the Taiwanese electorate voted overwhelmingly to abolish a stipulation in the country’s Electricity Act that called for all nuclear energy-based power-generating facilities to completely cease operations by 2025. Many experts considered it a surprising victory for pro-nuclear activists. In January 2016, Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party garnered widespread support […]

It’s been a tumultuous couple of years for GE. The company’s stock price has been decimated by the market, decreasing more than 75% from a high of nearly $32 a share as recently as December 2016. Dow Jones removed the company from its benchmark Industrial Average in June, and GE’s Board of Directors sacked CEO […]

Battelle Energy Alliance—the management and operating contractor for the Idaho National Laboratory (INL)—selected GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s (GEH’s) PRISM technology to support the U.S. Department of Energy’s Versatile Test Reactor (VTR) program. The VTR program is expected to accelerate the development of fuels and materials for U.S. advanced reactors, utilizing fast neutron spectrum technology. Rather […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved the use of Mitsubishi Electric Total Advanced Control (MELTAC) Nplus S digital safety system controllers in U.S. nuclear power plants. While new to the U.S. industry, Mitsubishi said the MELTAC system is already deployed in 38 nuclear power plants around the world, primarily in Japan and China. MELTAC […]

November 14, 2018 Reports: Trump Administration Supports GE Over Siemens in $15B Iraq Deal Iraq signed a memorandum of understanding to develop power plants in the country with General Electric (GE). The Financial Times said the $15 billion deal was brokered after senior officials in the Trump administration warned Iraq… Read More Sponsored Content GE's […]

Residents of Texas living downwind of coal-fired power plants would be far better off today if regulators had focused on cutting particle-forming SO2 emissions rather than concentrating so keenly on ozone-causing emissions, according to a recent study conducted by researchers at Rice University in Houston, Texas. The head of the study, environmental engineer Daniel Cohan, […]

November 7, 2018 Implementing an ASME Covered Piping Systems Program Power plant piping with a nominal pipe size of four inches or larger that carries steam or water operating at greater than 750F or 1,025 psi is considered a “covered piping system.” That means the Read More Sponsored Content Don't Let Your Efficiency Evaporate Corrosive […]

The Jackson Hole Center for Global Affairs—a bipartisan think tank—will host the “Jackson Hole Global Forum: Climate Solutions, Coal Communities, and Economic Diversification,” in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, November 8–9, 2018. Among the sessions on day one is a panel titled “What Is Coal’s Future?” Charles K. Ebinger, nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council, will […]

Unit 1 at the Haiyang nuclear power plant in Shandong, China, successfully completed a 168-hour full-power continuous operation test, meeting the requirement for commercial operation, State Power Investment Corp. Ltd. announced on October 23. Its AP1000 reactor is the first nuclear unit to be placed in operation in Shandong, an eastern province on the Yellow […]

Utilities are faced with many disruptive changes in the power market. Customers are demanding cleaner energy and turning to distributed generation as a solution. One expert suggested power companies must react and evolve their business models to change with the times. During a keynote presentation at the Distributed Energy Conference in Golden, Colorado, on October […]

October 17, 2018 Natural Gas and Wind Dominate U.S. LCOE Landscape, Interactive Map Shows Natural gas combined cycle, wind, and residential solar photovoltaic technologies may be the least-expensive way to generate power across a wide swathe of the U.S., an interactive map published and… Read More Sponsored Content GE's H-class turbines have ignited a new […]

Test Your Knowledge The quizzes provided here offer an easy way to test your knowledge of various power-related subjects. If you want to learn more about the quiz topics, follow links to articles from the POWER archive, which are provided on each individual quiz webpage. Competitive Maintenance Strategies Quiz https://www.powermag.com/test-your-knowledge-competitive-maintenance-strategies/ Scaffold Safety Quiz https://www.powermag.com/test-your-knowledge-scaffold-safety/ Monitoring and Treatment of Closed-Loop […]

In July 2016, a coal silo collapsed at an Indiana power plant. The root cause was identified as cracking of the cone-to-skirt weld. Warnings to inspect this vulnerable weld were published widely in conference proceedings and trade journal articles. Nevertheless, coal silos continue to fail at an alarming rate (Figure 1), which suggests that the […]

October 10, 2018 EPA Advances Proposed Changes to Mercury Rule The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confirmed it has submitted proposed changes to the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) to the White House for review, despite urging by the industry… Read More Sponsored Content Don't Let Your Efficiency Evaporate Corrosive environments. Costly blowdowns. Hidden costs. […]

A handful of nuclear power projects around the world completed notable achievements recently: Rostov 4 entered commercial operation, Tianwan 4 achieved first criticality, the Akademik Lomonosov floating nuclear power plant completed fuel loading, Leningrad II-1 received its commissioning permit, and the dome was installed on Karachi 3. Rostov 4 Rostov Unit 4 was placed into […]

GE announced that H. Lawrence Culp Jr. has been named chairman and CEO of the company replacing John Flannery effective immediately. GE’s board of directors voted unanimously on the decision, and it also appointed Thomas W. Horton as lead director. In a press release, GE specifically cited weak performance in the GE Power business for […]

More than 35,000 visitors from 100 nations were expected to attend the vast Global Wind Summit, which began Tuesday, September 25, in Hamburg, Germany’s Exposition Center. The expo is one of the world’s largest wind energy events. Held every two years and organized by WindEurope, the Global Wind Energy Association, and VDMA Power Systems, it […]

September 24, 2018 BREAKING: Owners Vote to Continue Vogtle Nuclear Project Owners of the beleaguered Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion project have voted to continue construction of two new AP1000 reactors at the site near Waynesboro, Georgia. Directors of the Municipal Electric… Read More How the Vogtle Nuclear Expansion’s Costs Escalated The project to expand the two-unit […]

Lead analyst Stephen Tusa lowered J.P. Morgan’s rating on GE stock after “checks on two initial U.S. installations revealed failures of the first stage blade of GE’s H-frame gas turbine,” thestreet.com reported on September 20. Tusa—who has long been critical of GE’s prospects—reportedly wrote, “The impact on ‘asset value’ from a failure at GE’s U.S. […]

September 19, 2018 Select Boiler Chemistry in the Design Phase of Project Life On many combined cycle projects, the major decisions about boiler chemistry are left until after the plant has been designed, equipment is procured, and construction is well underway. However, the… Read More Sponsored Content GE’s H-class turbines are fueling the world on […]

As a vote by owners on the fate of the Vogtle nuclear expansion project hangs in the balance, the City of Jacksonville, Florida, and JEA—the city’s municipal utility that serves about 458,000 electric customers—filed a complaint in the Fourth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida on September 11 asking for declaratory judgment on a power purchase […]

September 12, 2018 EPA Schedules One Hearing on Proposed ACE Rule The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on September 10 announced it will hold one hearing to get input from the public and stakeholders on its Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule,… Read More Sponsored Content See $500,000 in Savings With a 1% Reduction in Heat […]

It is safe to say that all electricity customers want reliable and resilient power service. One way that some end-users are ensuring they get it is by investing in distributed energy resources and building microgrids. But rather than simply using these systems as emergency backups, more and more owners are finding ways to capture economic […]

Advantech-DLoG, a leading industrial and rugged computer provider, is pleased to announce its AIM-68 10″ industrial-grade tablet with compact and lightweight design, as well as multiple I/O ports (PresseBox) (Germering, 05.09.18) Powered by an Intel® Atom™ x7-Z8750 processor with support for dual OS, AIM-68 is aimed at diverse applications in various vertical markets. AIM-68 also […]

New explosion isolation flap valves from IEP Technologies, part of the HOERBIGER Group, are a reliable and cost effective way to mitigate the risk of dust explosions propagating to upstream equipment. IEP Technologies announces the introduction of the IFV and IFV-M Isolation Flap Valves. These self-actuating devices are cost effective, easy to install, and reliable. […]