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News
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 […]
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News
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. […]
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News
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 […]
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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… […]
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Interview
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 […]
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News
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 […]
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Hydrogen
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 […]
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News
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 […]
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News
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 […]
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News
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 […]
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News
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 […]
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News
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 […]
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News
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 […]
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News
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 […]
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News
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 […]
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Energy Storage
‘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
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Hydrogen
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 […]
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Hydrogen
‘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 […]
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Distributed Energy
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
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News
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
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News
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
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News
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 […]
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News
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 […]
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News
ERCOT Board Members Resign in Wake of Blackouts
Five board members of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the state’s power grid operator, on Feb. 23 announced they would resign their posts, just days after extreme winter weather left more than 4 million Texas electricity customers without power for several days. Sally Talberg, chairwoman of ERCOT, is among those resigning. All those […]
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News
Texas Launches Probe of Power Companies After Blackouts
The fallout from the severe weather that crippled the power grid in Texas and other states over the past week continues, as officials grapple with what went wrong and who should be held accountable for an energy emergency that left millions without electricity. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Feb. 19 said his office would […]
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RENEWABLE POWER Direct—February 17, 2021
POWER Magazine Jobs White Papers Webinars Events Store February 17, 2021 GE Turbines Will Supply Europe's Largest Onshore Wind Farm GE Renewable Energy and independent asset manager Luxcara announced an agreement to develop Europe's largest onshore wind farm, an installation that includes a 25-year full-turbine service and maintenance contract. Luxcara… […]
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News
Texas Gov. Declares ERCOT Reform ‘Emergency’; Millions Still Without Power
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has said reforming the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is an emergency item for state legislators in the current session, as power outages continue across the state for another day due to record cold temperatures as part of a massive winter storm. The governor on Feb. 16 said he wants […]
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News
GE Turbines Will Supply Europe’s Largest Onshore Wind Farm
GE Renewable Energy and independent asset manager Luxcara announced an agreement to develop Europe’s largest onshore wind farm, an installation that includes a 25-year full-turbine service and maintenance contract. Luxcara has begun infrastructure work on the project in Sweden. GE Renewable Energy on Feb. 15 said it expects to begin installing the first of 137 […]
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Interview
The POWER Interview: Attracting the New Utility Workforce
The global energy sector, including utilities, is looking at a talent drain. As older workers retire, the competition to recruit younger workers to replace them has heated up. The power generation industry today is more digitized, reliant on expertise in analyzing data and developing software. That means many workers who could move into positions at […]
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GAS POWER Direct—February 10, 2021
POWER Magazine Jobs White Papers Webinars Events Store February 10, 2021 GE Gas Turbines Will Replace Coal at Colorado Plant The plan to retire the last coal-fired units at a power plant in Colorado has moved a step closer to completion, with the announcement that Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) has… […]