Darrell Proctor
Articles By

Darrell Proctor

  • Chicago Announces Plan to Power City with 100% Renewable Energy

    Chicago’s public buildings could all be powered by renewable energy under a plan announced by Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Aug. 8. The mayor, along with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, on Monday said the city has an agreement with Chicago utility Constellation Energy, along with Massachusetts-based Swift Current Energy, a renewable energy developer. The two spoke […]

  • Illinois EPA Issues Permit for New 1.1-GW Gas-Fired Facility

    Environmental officials in Illinois have signed off on construction of a 1,100-MW natural gas-fired power plant sited near Springfield, the state capital. EmberClear, an energy company with offices in Houston, Texas, and Moosic, Pennsylvania, is behind the $1 billion project, which will be located near Pawnee in Sangamon County. The Lincoln Land Energy Center will […]

  • Equinor May Postpone Closure of Norwegian Gas-Fired Power Plant

    Norway-based energy major Equinor could continue to operate its natural gas-fired Mongstad power plant to support the country’s electricity supply. The company recently said it may reconsider its decision to close the plant by the end of August. Norway, which like many other countries has suffered drought conditions over the past several months, is experiencing […]

  • AVANGRID Will Operate, Manage Major U.S. Offshore Wind Project

    AVANGRID announced it has finalized a deal to operate and manage the Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind project, an 800-MW installation being built off the coast of Massachusetts. Vineyard Wind 1 is owned in a joint venture between AVANGRID, part of the Iberdrola Group, and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners. Construction of what would be the first […]

  • Rosatom Picks New EPC Lead for Turkey’s First Nuclear Power Plant

    A new contractor has been named to finish construction of Turkey’s first nuclear power plant. Russia’s state-owned energy giant Rosatom on July 30 said it had chosen TSM Enerji, a company owned by three Russian groups and incorporated in Turkey, as the project’s new engineering, procurement, and construction lead. The Turkish government has said it […]

  • Shanghaimiao Part of China’s Push for More Efficient Coal Plant Designs

    China’s rapid buildout of new power plants, needed to satisfy the country’s increasing demand for electricity, includes several gigawatts of coal-fired generation. The first 1-GW unit of an eventual 4-GW

  • Upgrades to Line Sensors Support Reliability of the Power Grid

    New technologies to monitor power lines are emerging worldwide, part of continuing efforts to harden the power grid and increase reliability and resiliency. Utilities and other operators of electricity

  • POWER Digest [August 2022]

    Emerson Involved in Coal-to-Biomass Switch. Albioma, a French independent energy provider, is working with Emerson, a global technology and software company, on the transition of the Bois Rouge 108-MW

  • Southern CEO Fanning Set to Step Down

    Longtime Southern Co. CEO Tom Fanning plans to announce his retirement, perhaps by the end of this year, stepping down after leading the company since 2010. A Bloomberg report on July 29, citing “people familiar with the matter,” said the U.S. utility giant already has launched a search to find Fanning’s replacement. Bloomberg reported that […]

  • Group Says U.S. Utility Will Build $13 Billion Offshore Wind Project in Vietnam

    Vietnamese officials said a U.S. utility company plans to develop a $13 billion, 4-GW offshore wind farm that would be sited off that country’s central province of Binh Thuan. Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade in a statement issued July 29 said AES Corp., a Virginia-based utility that operates in 15 countries, is behind the […]

  • Vogtle Expansion Cost Jumps Again; In-Service Dates Set for 2023

    Southern Co. on July 28 increased its cost estimate for Georgia Power’s share of the two-unit expansion of the Vogtle nuclear plant. Southern, during an investor presentation of the company’s second-quarter financial results, said Georgia Power’s share of capital costs for the project has risen by $52 million, to about $10.5 billion in total. Georgia […]

  • The POWER Interview: SMR Growth Tied to Plan for Nuclear Waste

    A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, based on research from Stanford University and the University of British Columbia, addressed the problem of nuclear waste from small modular reactors (SMRs). The study said that many designs for SMRs would increase the amount of nuclear waste in need of disposal, […]

  • UK Throws Support Behind Sizewell C Nuclear Plant Construction

    The UK government has given the go-ahead for construction of the Sizewell C nuclear power plant in southeast England, which officials have called an important project for the country to meet its net-zero climate goals. Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng on July 20 confirmed the government’s support, saying UK officials consider it a major infrastructure project […]

  • RENEWABLE POWER Direct—July 20, 2022

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   July 20, 2022 GE's Energy Business Will Have a New Name—Vernova General Electric (GE) is again announcing changes to its corporate structure, with the company on July 18 saying its energy and other businesses will operate under new brand names. H.… Sponsored […]

  • Explosion, Fire Reported at Hoover Dam

    A transformer exploded and caught fire at Hoover Dam in Nevada on July 19, according to local officials. Bureau of Reclamation official Jacklynn L. Gould said that at about 10 a.m. local (Pacific) time, the A5 transformer at the site caught fire. The blaze was extinguished at about 10:30 a.m., according to Gould. Gould said […]

  • GE’s Energy Business Will Have a New Name—Vernova

    General Electric (GE) is again announcing changes to its corporate structure, with the company on July 18 saying its energy and other businesses will operate under new brand names. H. Lawrence Culp Jr., the company’s chairman and CEO, and CEO of GE Aerospace, on Monday said the strategy involves a planned separation into three groups, […]

  • GAS POWER Direct—July 13, 2022

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   July 13, 2022 New 1.1-GW GE-Powered Gas-Fired Plant Enters Service in Michigan A new $1.1-billion natural gas-fired power plant, built by Kiewit and featuring equipment from General Electric (GE), has entered service in southwest Michigan. The Indeck Niles Energy Center in Niles,… […]

  • Regasification Project Will Provide New Power for Papua New Guinea

    The government of Papua New Guinea (PNG) has entered a joint venture with a nationally-owned power producer in a project to bring additional electricity generation capacity to the island nation. The system will utilize a process featuring liquefied natural gas (LNG) and could eventually be converted to work with hydrogen as the fuel. Singapore-based Twenty20 […]

  • New 1.1-GW GE-Powered Gas-Fired Plant Enters Service in Michigan

    A new $1.1-billion natural gas-fired power plant, built by Kiewit and featuring equipment from General Electric (GE), has entered service in southwest Michigan. The Indeck Niles Energy Center in Niles, a community just north of South Bend, Indiana, will provide 1,100 MW of generation capacity. Indeck Niles LLC, a joint venture among Indeck Energy Services […]

  • Clearway, Wartsila Partner on Five Large Solar-Plus-Storage Projects

    A series of large solar-plus-storage installations is set for deployment in California and Hawaii, with Clearway Energy Group and Wärtsilä announcing five sites where the companies will install solar photovoltaic (PV) resources along with battery systems. The projects announced July 11 include 500 MWac/2-GWh of power in total, installed at solar power sites operated by […]

  • France Set to Take Over Major Power Producer Amid Energy Crisis

    The French government is prepared to take full control of EDF, one of the world’s largest producers of electricity, as the energy group struggles with increasing debt due to problems with its current and future nuclear power fleet. Élisabeth Borne, who took over as France’s prime minister in May, in her first state-of-the-nation speech to […]

  • GE Touts Ramp Rate for Gas Turbine at New Polish Power Plant

    A new 745-MW natural gas-fired power plant in Poland will feature General Electric’s (GE’s) 9HA.02 gas turbine, a model the company said “has the quickest ramp rate in the industry” at 88 MW per minute, and with a DLN 2.6e combustion system “capable of burning up to 50% by volume of hydrogen when blended with […]

  • Wudongde Project Takes Hydro to New Heights

    A multi-year, multibillion-dollar undertaking on China’s Jinsha River has achieved several “firsts” for the hydropower sector, earning POWER’s highest honor thanks to its development, design, and

  • Repowering Project Aims for Pinnacle of Success

    Clearway Energy Group reaffirmed its commitment to renewable energy, and to its support of West Virginia’s push for cleaner energy, with a repowering of the Pinnacle Wind Farm. The project extends the wind

  • Floating Solar Project Supports Portugal’s Decarbonization Strategy

    The largest floating solar farm in Europe, located on the reservoir for a hydroelectric dam in Portugal, is expected to begin producing power this month. The July startup of the Alqueva installation (Figure

  • Reaction Swift After Supreme Court Strips EPA’s Authority Over Emissions

    Reaction on both sides of the issue was swift after the U.S. Supreme Court in a 6-3 vote said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should not have the authority to broadly regulate emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) from the nation’s power plants. The case, West Virginia vs. EPA, could have ramifications for federal government […]

  • Supreme Court Limits EPA Authority to Regulate Power Plant Emissions

    The U.S. Supreme Court has curbed the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) options for limiting emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) from power plants, an important environmental decision that could impact the federal government’s authority to enforce other regulations. The court in a 6-3 vote, with conservatives in the majority, on June 30 said the EPA does […]

  • Iceland National Power Company Details New Carbon Capture Project

    Landsvirkjun, the national power company of Iceland, on June 28 announced it intends to capture and reinject carbon dioxide (CO2) from Þeistareykir (Theistareykir) Geothermal Station, and at the same time reduce CO2 emissions from Krafla Power Station through enhanced well management efforts at that site. Construction of the project, called Koldís, is expected to begin […]

  • Swedish Group Moves Ahead With World’s Largest Single Offshore Wind Project

    Swedish-based renewable energy developer OX2 has taken another step toward construction of its Aurora offshore wind farm, a 5.5-GW project sited between the islands of Gotland and Oland in the Baltic Sea. OX2 on June 27 announced it had submitted a permit application to build the wind farm under the auspices of Sweden’s Exclusive Economic […]

  • The POWER Interview: Schneider Electric’s New Microgrids Leader Plans for the Future

    The use of microgrids to produce a reliable and resilient supply of power continues to grow, with several companies delivering new and innovative technologies to provide electricity for a growing number of industries. Microgrids have always been front and center at POWER’s Distributed Energy Conference (DEC), with the event featuring case studies over the past […]