Darrell Proctor
Articles By

Darrell Proctor

Darrell Proctor is a data analyst and communications professional with years of writing, editing, and analytical experience in the energy sector. He has been part of Pulitzer Prize-winning teams and has more than three decades of management expertise, leading teams in both newsrooms and boardrooms. He's a sought-after speaker and analyst on topics across the spectrum of power generation, energy infrastructure, financial aspects of the industry, and more.

  • Repowering Project Renews Company’s Commitment to Sustainability

    Shell Energy upgraded a Texas wind farm to produce more power with fewer turbines, a project that showcased repurposing of old materials with new technology to enhance efficiency, reliability, and safety

  • Solar-Plus-Storage Project Brings New Energy to California

    Clearway Energy’s Daggett Solar + Storage power plant in San Bernardino County is a model for producing renewable energy, and taking advantage of existing infrastructure, at the site of a closed thermal

  • Market for Energy Storage Growing Across Europe

    The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union (EU), in 2023 issued recommendations on how member states should proceed with deployments of energy storage. The group said EU countries should

  • POWER Digest [September 2024]

    Investment Fund Buys Spanish Solar Projects. NextEnergy Capital, an investment fund focused on renewable energy, in August said it had an agreement to buy 12 solar power projects in Spain. The installations in

  • BLM Considering 31 Million Acres of U.S. Public Lands for Solar Power Development

    The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has published details of a plan to make millions of acres of public lands across the western U.S. available for development of solar power. The Western Solar Plan, which revises guidelines from more than a decade ago, was published in the Federal Register on August 30. The BLM said […]

  • Mingyang Says 20-MW Offshore Wind Turbine Installed in South China Sea

    China’s Mingyang Smart Energy said it has completed installation of the company’s MySE18.X-20MW offshore wind turbine at a project in Hainan, according to a statement posted on the group’s LinkedIn page. The company said the turbine, which it calls “the world’s largest single-capacity offshore wind turbine,” was installed at the Hainan site on August 28. […]

  • Arevon Energy Investing Millions to Build Indiana Solar Projects

    An Arizona-headquartered company is investing millions of dollars in Indiana with construction of a series of solar power projects in the Hoosier state. Arevon Energy, a Scottsdale-based renewable energy developer, owner, and operator, on August 21 celebrated the groundbreaking for the 192-MW Ratts 1 Solar Project near Petersburg in Pike County. Arevon also recently began […]

  • RENEWABLE POWER Direct—August 21, 2024

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   August 21, 2024 Chinese Group Deploying Largest Floating Wind Turbine Platform A floating wind turbine platform developed by Mingyang Group is now sited at a Chinese offshore wind farm. OceanX, at present the world's largest single capacity technology of its type,… Sage’s […]

  • China Approves 11 New Nuclear Reactors, Including Fourth-Generation Design

    State-run China Energy News reported that officials on August 19 approved construction of 11 nuclear reactors across the country, part of a wave of new reactors that could see China surpass both the U.S. and France in terms of operating reactors by the end of the decade. CGN Power Co., a subsidiary of China’s state-owned […]

  • Chinese Group Deploying Largest Floating Wind Turbine Platform

    A floating wind turbine platform developed by Mingyang Group is now sited at a Chinese offshore wind farm. OceanX, at present the world’s largest single capacity technology of its type, is supporting the 505-MW Yangjiang Mingyang Quingzhou IV project near Guangdong, China. Mingyang on August 19 announced the platform had completed its 191-nautical-mile trip from […]

  • HYDROGEN POWER Direct—August 19, 2024

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   August 19, 2024 Fuel Cells: What They Are, How They Work, and Why They’re Important Fuel cells are not some novel new technology. In fact, most history books credit the invention of the fuel cell to Welsh chemist and physicist William Grove, […]

  • Canadian Groups Invest Millions to Support Commercial Fusion Energy

    A leading nuclear science and technology group in Canada, along with the investment arm of one of the country’s top banks, said they together would invest about CA$20 million ($14.6 million) to support development of commercial fusion energy. Canadian Nuclear Laboratories and BDC Capital, part of the Business Development Bank of Canada, on August 8 […]

  • China’s Mingyang Will Install Wind Turbines in Brazil

    A major China-based wind turbine manufacturer confirmed it has an agreement with a Brazilian energy company to install its equipment for the first time in Latin America. Mingyang, the largest private wind turbine maker in China, on August 16 said it has “joined forces” with Brazil’s Companhia Paranaense de Energia, a utility better known as […]

  • GAS POWER Direct—August 14, 2024

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   August 14, 2024 AES Indiana Switching Last Coal Units to Gas, Adding Solar and Storage An Indiana electric utility has announced a $1.1 billion investment in that state that includes switching coal-fired units to run on natural gas, along with new solar […]

  • The POWER Interview: Using Home Batteries to Support the Grid

    The Dell name is synonymous with technology and innovation, so perhaps it’s not surprising that a member of that famous computing family is working to solve the challenge of making electricity more reliable and resilient. The technology is distributed batteries, in this case a battery for the home that supports the power grid during periods […]

  • Myanmar Gas-Fired Plant Shut Down Amid Civil Unrest

    Civil unrest in Myanmar has led Singapore-based Sembcorp Industries to at least temporarily shut down operation of the 225-MW Sembcorp Myingyan natural gas-fired power plant in Mandalay. Sembcorp, part of Singapore-based and government-owned Temasek, a global investment company, on August 12 said operations at the Sembcorp Myingyan Independent Power Plant would be suspended until further […]

  • LS Power Acquiring Renewable Energy Assets in $2.5 Billion Deal

    A New York-based power and energy infrastructure group will acquire more than 3 GW of operating renewable energy assets, along with another 8 GW of projects under development, from a Canadian company in a deal valued at up to $2.5 billion. LS Power, headquartered in New York City with offices in New Jersey, Missouri, Texas, […]

  • AES Indiana Switching Last Coal Units to Gas, Adding Solar and Storage

    An Indiana electric utility has announced a $1.1 billion investment in that state that includes switching coal-fired units to run on natural gas, along with new solar power and battery energy storage projects. AES Indiana, a subsidiary of AES Corp., and formerly known as Indianapolis Power & Light, on August 8 said it will convert […]

  • EIA: U.S. Coal Plant Stockpiles at Highest Level in Four Years

    Stockpiles of fuel at U.S. coal-fired electric plants are at their highest levels since the start of the pandemic. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on August 5 said coal stockpiles totaled 138 million short tons at the end of May, the most since the early months of 2020 when the start of the COVID-19 […]

  • A Refined Approach to Onsite Power Generation

    The Pine Bend refinery in Minnesota added a 45-MW solar power array to support the facility’s supply of electricity, reaping the benefits of reduced costs, lower emissions, and more. Owners of commercial and

  • China Starts Construction of More Reactors as Part of Rapid Nuclear Buildout

    Updated data from the China Nuclear Energy Association (CNEA) shows the country has 55 nuclear reactors in operation, ranking third globally behind the U.S. and France. The CNEA said China at present has a world-leading 26 nuclear power units under construction, including Unit 5 of the Ningde Nuclear Power Plant in Fujian Province, where the […]

  • Japan Utility Will Bring 2.34-GW Gas-Fired Plant Online Ahead of Schedule

    Japan’s largest utility said it will start the first of three units at a new natural gas-fired power plant near Tokyo in an effort to provide more electricity during the peak summer demand season. JERA on July 26 said the 780-MW Unit 1 at the Goi site in Chiba will enter service August 1. The […]

  • Nuclear Power Startup Plans 6-GW Fleet of U.S. Plants

    A Kentucky-based group has announced plans to build a 6-GW fleet of nuclear power stations in the U.S., looking to take advantage of bipartisan support for nuclear technology and the need to build more baseload, zero-carbon sources of energy. The Nuclear Company, headquartered in Lexington, said its business model would lean on “proven, licensed technology […]

  • India Pledges Support for Nuclear, Coal, and Pumped Storage Projects

    Officials in India said that country’s energy transition plan will focus on developing small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs), pumped energy storage projects, and more efficient coal-fired power plants. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, presenting the government’s 2024-2025 budget, noted the latest financial allocations outline a shift in priorities for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Sitharaman on July […]

  • Shanghai Group Calls for 29 GW of Offshore Wind to Support Grid

    China’s central government has approved Shanghai’s plan to build 29 GW of offshore wind generation capacity, part of the city’s strategy to build more energy infrastructure and diversify the electricity mix. Reports said the plan was devised by the Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission, with a goal to have offshore wind generate as much […]

  • HYDROGEN POWER Direct—July 22, 2024

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   July 22, 2024 Auditors Call EU Hydrogen Production Goals ‘Overly Ambitious’ A group that assesses the effectiveness of actions by the European Union (EU), including how energy initiatives impact the economies of EU member states, said the current goals for EU… Aussie […]

  • Aussie Hydrogen Leader Cutting Jobs, Moving Production Target

    An Australian company at the forefront of the global push to utilize hydrogen has reduced its workforce and cut its production targets, citing high costs for power needed to produce the fuel. Fortescue, a technology, energy and metal company headquartered in Perth, on July 17 said it would cut 700 jobs as part of a […]

  • Historic Gemini Solar-Plus-Storage Project Now Fully Operational

    One of the largest solar-plus-storage installations in the U.S. has entered commercial operation. Primergy Solar and Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners on July 18 announced that the Gemini Solar + Energy Storage project, which will provide power to Las Vegas, Nevada, and other communities, is now fully online. Gemini has 690 MW of power generation capacity and […]

  • Auditors Call EU Hydrogen Production Goals ‘Overly Ambitious’

    A group that assesses the effectiveness of actions by the European Union (EU), including how energy initiatives impact the economies of EU member states, said the current goals for EU hydrogen production are “overly ambitious” and not realistic. The European Court of Auditors (ECA) in a report published July 16 said targets to produce as […]

  • RENEWABLE POWER Direct—July 17, 2024

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   July 17, 2024 Offshore Wind Group Looks to Challenge China’s Dominance of Sector Countries active in the offshore wind industry continue to consider steps to counter China’s dominance of the sector. The latest to announce a move is South Korea, where officials […]