Darrell Proctor
Articles By

Darrell Proctor

  • The Natural Gas Flame Continues to Burn Bright

    The natural gas sector is well aware of the challenges facing the fossil fuel industry, but analysts say gas has attributes that will keep it a big part of the U.S. and global energy mix. Natural gas has moved

  • Chalk River, GE Hitachi Part of Canada’s Nuclear Focus

    The nuclear power industry is brimming with technological innovation, particularly when it comes to small reactors that can provide power for several different applications. This is especially true in Canada

  • The POWER Interview: X-energy’s Plan for Sustained Nuclear Growth

    The global push for carbon neutral and zero-emissions power generation has brought renewed interest in nuclear power, particularly for smaller units that are scalable and in some cases mobile, able to provide power in remote areas. Analysts say smaller nuclear reactors are more cost-effective, as they’re considered a more manageable investment for power generators as […]

  • GE Turbines Will Power 1.2-GW Malaysian Plant

    General Electric (GE) will provide two of the company’s 9HA.01 gas turbines along with other equipment and services to a new power plant in Malaysia. The company on March 24 announced it secured an order from a consortium of three groups, including Mitsubishi Corp., that is serving as the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) lead […]

  • RENEWABLE POWER Direct—March 24, 2021

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   March 24, 2021 Solar Industry Adds Record Capacity in 2020 in Spite of Pandemic The U.S. solar industry installed a record 19.2 GWdc of photovoltaic (PV) capacity in 2020, a 43% increase from 2019, according to a report released by the Solar […]

  • BP Details Plan for UK’s Largest Hydrogen Project

    The global market for hydrogen development has taken another step forward, as oil and gas major BP announced it is studying development of what it said would be the UK’s largest blue hydrogen production facility.   BP on March 18 said the project, which would be sited on England’s northeast coast, is part of a […]

  • Southern Announces Delay in Testing at Vogtle

    Southern Co. has announced another delay in hot functional testing for the first unit of its two-unit expansion at the Vogtle nuclear plant in Georgia. The utility in a March 19 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said its subsidiary Georgia Power “now expects the start of hot functional testing for Unit 3 […]

  • Report Touts Huge Potential of Offshore Wind

    Researchers who study the U.S. offshore wind industry have issued a new report that says the sector could potentially meet 90% of the nation’s electricity demand by 2050. The key is for offshore wind to be fully developed along the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coasts, as well as in the Great Lakes, all areas the […]

  • More Blackout Fallout: New Texas PUC Chair Resigns

    Arthur D’Andrea, the chair of the Texas Public Utility Commission (PUC), who took the post just two weeks ago, has resigned. D’Andrea was the only remaining PUC commissioner and is the latest state official to decamp their position in the wake of a deadly winter storm in February that overwhelmed Texas’ energy infrastructure. Texas Gov. […]

  • EPA Finalizes Rule to Curb Cross-State Pollution

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued an update and finalized a pollution rule that will require reductions in ozone emissions from power plants in 12 states this year. The update to the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR), issued March 15, is designed to curb emissions of nitrogen oxide (NOx)—primarily from coal-fired power plants—ahead […]

  • GAS POWER Direct—March 17, 2021

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   March 17, 2021 Japan Plant Adding New Gas-Fired Units in Massive Project JERA, Japan's largest power generation company, has submitted a scoping document to begin assessing the environmental impact of its plan to add two gas-fired units at the Chita Thermal Power… […]

  • The POWER Interview: Zinc-Air Batteries Make Strides

    Energy storage already is transforming power generation, and most industry analysts say the potential for storage is limited only by its technology. As batteries improve—and certainly as they become more durable, safer, and cost-effective to install—energy storage will continue to be deployed in more places. Zinc-air batteries have long been used in a variety of […]

  • Japan Plant Adding New Gas-Fired Units in Massive Project

    JERA, Japan’s largest power generation company, has submitted a scoping document to begin assessing the environmental impact of its plan to add two gas-fired units at the Chita Thermal Power Station, while decommissioning five existing units at the facility. The company filed the report with government officials on March 16, with a 30-day public comment […]

  • DOE Backs Projects to Produce Hydrogen from Coal, Biomass

    The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the agency has awarded $2 million to four research and development (R&D) projects aimed at advancing clean-hydrogen production technologies. The DOE’s awards on March 15 are part of a push by the Biden administration in its fight against climate change. Jennifer Granholm, the new Secretary of Energy and […]

  • Texas PUC Outlines Review of Response to Power Disaster

    The regulatory group that oversees Texas’ deregulated power market has identified eight areas the agency will focus on as it continues to study the state’s response to a mid-February storm that left millions of electricity customers without power for several days. Texas power customers, along with electricity generators and retail power providers, continue to grapple […]

  • License Issued for Barakah Nuclear Unit 2

    The Arab world’s first nuclear power plant has received an operating license for its second unit, and the facility’s timeline still calls for commercial start-up of the first unit later this year. The Barakah nuclear power station, in the Al Dhafrah region of Abu Dhabi, will include four units with 5,600 MW of generating capacity […]

  • Floating Energy Storage Systems Take Shape

    Floating energy storage systems are being developed for use in areas wanting to increase their use of renewable energy, but with constraints on the land available that could be used for solar and wind farms or land-based energy storage. Southeast Asia is one area ready to utilize such installations. The technology group Wärtsilä on March […]

  • Vineyard Wind Step Closer to Construction

    The federal agency in charge of U.S. offshore energy management said it has completed the final environmental analysis for a proposed 800-MW offshore wind project, paving the way for the nation’s first commercial-scale development of its kind to move forward. The U.S. Dept. of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on March 8 […]

  • Rosatom Group Building Energy Storage Portfolio

    Russia’s state-owned nuclear power company Rosatom continues to diversify, as one of the group’s subsidiaries has acquired a major stake in a South Korean manufacturer of energy storage products. RENERA LLC, which is Rosatom’s integrator company for the energy storage business, and also a subsidiary of TVEL Fuel Company of Rosatom, on March 5 announced […]

  • Board Votes to Fire ERCOT CEO

    Board members of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the entity that operates and manages the electricity grid that covers much of Texas, voted late on March 3 to fire ERCOT CEO Bill Magness. The move comes as state and federal officials continue to investigate the actions of the grid operator that led to […]

  • Texas PUC Chair Resigns as Outage Probe Continues

    The chairwoman of the Public Utility Commission (PUC) of Texas has resigned, stepping down after the state’s lieutenant governor earlier on March 1 called for her resignation, along with that of the CEO of the state’s power grid operator. DeAnn Walker, the PUC chair, in her resignation letter Monday to Gov. Greg Abbott, defended her […]

  • Power Co-op Files Bankruptcy After $2.1 Billion ERCOT Bill

    The group considered Texas’ oldest and largest electricity cooperative has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, saying it can’t pay money wanted by the state’s grid operator in connection with power outages during a major winter storm that hit in February. Brazos Electric Power Cooperative filed its bankruptcy petition March 1 in the U.S. Bankruptcy […]

  • ‘Best Is Yet to Come’ for Energy Storage Technology

    Advancements in batteries, along with an improved regulatory environment and more investment, could make this decade the Roaring ’20s for energy storage. Many areas have been considered a focus for the

  • Siemens Studies Hydrogen Production, Storage at Utah Plant

    Siemens Energy said it is joining with a power generation cooperative on a plan to integrate hydrogen production and storage at a Utah power plant. Siemens on March 1 said it has been awarded a $200,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to support a conceptual design study, which is set to begin […]

  • ‘World’s Largest’ Green Hydrogen Plant on Tap

    Enegix Energy has confirmed it plans to build what the company said would be the world’s largest green hydrogen plant, a facility in northeast Brazil that could produce more than 600 million kilograms, or about 1.32 billion pounds, of the fuel per year. Enegix on March 1 said the hydrogen production would come as part […]

  • Distributed Generation Part of Puerto Rico Rebuild

    Upgrades to the power grid are needed worldwide, and energy companies are working on the best solutions for providing reliable and resilient power in a cost-efficient and timely fashion. Areas hit hard by

  • Wärtsilä Project Moves Forward, but Challenges Remain for Renewables in Mexico

    Mexico reformed its energy market in 2013, opening the country’s energy sector to private investment. It created opportunities for foreign companies to bring their expertise to Mexico, particularly in the

  • POWER Digest [March 2021]

    Hydropower Plant Comes Online in Turkey. GE Renewable Energy in February said the company has successfully completed the Lower Kaleköy Hydropower plant at the Lower Kaleköy Dam in Turkey, with the plant

  • SGRE Turbines Tabbed for French Offshore Wind Project

    Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) announced it was awarded the firm order from the EDF Renewables-Enbridge-wpd consortium for the 448-MW Courseulles-sur-Mer offshore wind power project. The installation will be located just more than 6 miles off the Bessin coast, in an area of Normandy, France. SGRE on Feb. 22 said the wind turbine nacelles and […]

  • DOE Awards $46 Million for Geothermal Projects

    A federal government geothermal program based at the University of Utah has chosen 17 projects that will receive up to $46 million from the U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE). The DOE on Feb. 24 said its Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy (FORGE) Initiative will support funding for what it called “cutting-edge, domestic, and […]