Darrell Proctor
Articles By

Darrell Proctor

  • Microgrids Increase Reliability, Resiliency

    Increasing the reliability and resiliency of the electricity supply is a focus of today’s power generation industry. In concert with that, more and more utilities, companies, and institutions are establishing internal clean energy goals, wanting to reduce their carbon footprint while ensuring a consistent supply of power for their operations. An (date) session of Experience […]

  • Utilities Challenged by Shortfall From Unpaid Bills

    As many as 179 million Americans are at risk of losing utility services as the country heads toward winter, and electric and gas utility companies are looking at $24.3 billion in unpaid bills, according to an analysis released Oct. 1 by the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association (NEADA). Many utilities at the start of the […]

  • It’s Fair to Say – New Plant Brings Benefits to Pennsylvania

    Competitive Power Ventures is known for building efficient and technologically advanced gas-fired facilities. The company’s Fairview Energy Center is its latest achievement, transforming a brownfield site

  • Promising Power Plant Plots Province’s Future

    The once coal-heavy Canadian province of Saskatchewan wants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its power generation sector, and a new combined cycle natural gas-fired plant is a key part of that effort

  • Gearing Up for Grid Integration

    The growing adoption of distributed energy resources presents another challenge for utilities and grid operators as they design and plan for how electricity is produced and delivered. The past few years have

  • Philippines Taking New Look at Nuclear Power

    It’s been nearly 35 years since the Philippines mothballed the country’s only nuclear power plant, declaring the 621-MW Bataan facility would not be commissioned despite the country spending $2.3 billion

  • Renewables Could Drive Recovery in Latin America

    Countries in Latin America did not feel the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic until several weeks after Europe and the U.S., but the impacts of the coronavirus when it arrived were swift on the region’s

  • POWER Digest [October 2020]

    Enel Ready to Close Italian Coal Plants. Enel, Italy’s largest power generator, said it wants to close three coal-fired units in the coming months as part of the company’s complete exit from coal. Enel

  • Trump’s Drilling Ban Also Blocks Offshore Wind

    President Trump’s action to ban oil and gas drilling off the East Coast and through much of the Gulf of Mexico also eliminates leases for offshore wind farms, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior. Trump earlier this month issued two memos withdrawing the potential to lease land for oil and gas extraction on […]

  • The POWER Interview: Are DERs an Opportunity, or Threat?

    Distributed energy resources (DERs) are physical and virtual assets that are deployed across the power distribution grid. They are typically close to load, and though they initially began as behind-the-meter assets, today may be as likely to be deployed in front of the meter. DERs include renewable energy, and are the key component in microgrids, […]

  • Vistra Shuttering More Coal, Adding Solar and Storage

    Vistra has announced seven new renewable energy projects that will add about 1,000 MW of solar and energy storage to the company’s generation fleet. The company also said it would retire its coal-fired power plants in Illinois and Ohio as part of an effort to reduce carbon emissions as it established new long-term emissions reduction […]

  • Leveraging the Benefits of Microgrids and DERs

    The digitalization of power generation includes many new technologies, all designed to increase efficiency, along with reliability and resiliency. A group of energy industry experts came together Sept. 30 at Experience POWER, the virtual event supported by POWER magazine, to discuss “Microgrids and DERs—Leveraging the Benefits.” The session explored how data analytics and the Industrial […]

  • The POWER Interview: Adapting to the Use of DERs

    Distributed energy resources (DERs) have become a major part of today’s power generation landscape. DERs are physical and virtual assets that are deployed across the grid. They are typically close to load, and can be deployed both in front of and behind the meter. Bill Strohecker, Country Managing Director, Canada, for Hitachi ABB Power Grids, […]

  • China Promotes Climate Goal, and Builds New Coal Plants

    Chinese President Xi Jinping said he wants his country to “achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.” It will not be an easy task for the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases (GHG). China, though it has canceled some planned thermal power plants over the past several years, has as much as 200 GW of coal-fired facilities […]

  • RENEWABLE POWER Direct—September 23, 2020

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   September 23, 2020 Hitachi ABB Power Grids' Report Highlights Greening of the Grid The use of coal for North American power generation will continue to decline, natural gas will continue as the leading source of power, and the use of renewable resources […]

  • Former SpaceX Engineers Tout New Microreactor

    A California company is gathering funding for development of a portable nuclear microreactor, designed for use in areas where other forms of power generation are not practical. Radiant, founded by former SpaceX engineers, on Sept. 22 said it has raised $1.2 million from angel investors as it designs what the company calls a “clean energy […]

  • Hitachi ABB Power Grids’ Report Highlights Greening of the Grid

    The use of coal for North American power generation will continue to decline, natural gas will continue as the leading source of power, and the use of renewable resources to provide electricity will continue to grow, according to a report from Hitachi ABB Power Grids. The outlook, titled “North America Power Reference Case: Spring 2020” […]

  • FERC Order Backs Grid Market for DERs

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued an order that advocates for distributed energy resources (DERs) say will enable DERs, including renewable energy such as solar, wind, and battery storage, to compete on a more-level playing field in the organized capacity, energy, and ancillary services markets run by regional grid operators. FERC Order No. 2222, […]

  • GAS POWER Direct—September 16, 2020

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   September 16, 2020 GE, CTCI Score 6.5-GW Gas Power Contract Win in Taiwan General Electric International Inc. (GE) and consortium partner Taiwanese engineering services firm CTCI have bagged a multi-billion-dollar engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract for five combined cycle gas-fired power […]

  • DOE-Backed Hydrogen Project Underway in Texas

    A California energy company is collaborating with its parent and the University of Texas on a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) project to show that renewable hydrogen can be a cost-effective fuel with several applications, including for both the transportation and power generation sectors. Frontier Energy, headquartered in San Ramon, California, and a subsidiary of […]

  • BP Buying $1.1 Billion Stake in U.S. Offshore Wind

    The move by major oil and gas exploration companies into renewable energy has taken another significant step, as BP announced a $1.1 billion deal to buy the U.S. offshore wind power assets of Norway’s Equinor. BP in announcing the deal on Sept. 10 said it is taking a 50% stake in Equinor’s Empire Wind project […]

  • Vattenfall Ready to Close Largest German Coal Plant

    A German plan to provide coal-fired power plant operators with money to offset financial losses, part of the country’s plan to incentivize the closure of coal plants as part of Germany’s plan to exit the fuel, has led energy giant Vattenfall to say it could close its 1.6-GW Moorburg coal plant in Hamburg by the […]

  • South Korea Will Close Half Its Coal-Fired Fleet

    South Korea’s president said the country will shutter 30 more coal-fired power plants by 2034, and bring additional solar and wind power resources online in the next five years in order to meet emissions reductions targets. President Moon Jae-in made the announcement Sept. 8 in a speech he delivered virtually for the United Nations’ International […]

  • Georgia Power: New Vogtle Unit Still Set for 2021 Startup

    The target in-service dates for two new reactors at the Vogtle nuclear power plant site in Georgia remain November 2021 and November 2022, respectively, Georgia Power said in a filing this week with the state’s Public Utility Commission. The utility on Aug. 31, in its “Twenty-third Semi-annual Vogtle Construction Monitoring Report,” said work on the […]

  • World’s Largest—For Now—Battery Storage Project Online in California

    A battery energy storage project in California is set to be the world’s largest in terms of generation capacity when the facility is fully energized later in September. McCarthy Building Companies’ Renewable Energy & Storage group, based in Phoenix, Arizona, on Sept. 1 said the company had recently completed construction of LS Power’s 250-MW Gateway […]

  • [VIDEO] POWER Insights—Advanced Diagnostics to Monitor and Secure the Grid

    The power grid has never been more important. The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the world’s progress toward a remote and mobile workforce, meaning society in general and certainly businesses are more dependent than ever on reliable, safe, and secure electricity. Doble Engineering has worked to secure the power grid for 100 years. The company, founded […]

  • The POWER Interview: Technology Can Solve Problem of Nuclear Waste

    Debate continues about nuclear power’s role in electricity production, particularly as it revolves around climate change. As a zero-emissions source of power, nuclear is seen by many as a complement to renewable energy in the transition away from coal-fired generation. Nuclear power, though, has detractors, who point to nuclear accidents and say the risk is […]

  • Developing a Solution for Utility-Scale Storage

    A Canadian company is using its proprietary technology, known as A-CAES, to provide a long-duration, cost-effective way for energy storage to provide power for hours at a time. Long-duration energy storage is

  • Turning a Brownfield into a Brightfield

    A solar array in Indiana is a model project for renewable energy development, with the site providing clean energy at what was once a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Superfund site. Areas of the U.S

  • Age-Old Problem in Search of a Solution

    Industry experts agree that deep geological repositories are needed for long-term storage of spent reactor fuel. They’re also digging for alternative methods. The U.S. Department of Energy earlier this year