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News
COVID-19 Weighs on Siemens Gamesa Earnings
Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) on May 6 said delays to its renewable energy projects, in part due to supply chain disruptions from the coronavirus pandemic, will continue to negatively impact the company’s earnings this year. The company reported its fiscal second-quarter earnings on Wednesday and said the COVID-19 outbreak “had a direct negative impact […]
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News
GE Will Cut Another 13,000 Jobs
General Electric (GE) on May 4 said it plans to cut as many as 13,000 jobs from its Aviation unit this year, or about 25% of the division’s total workforce, as the company continues to feel the impacts of the global coronavirus pandemic. The cuts include a 10% reduction to its U.S. workforce previously announced […]
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News
Offshore Wind Finding Direction in U.S.
Europe has a big head start globally when it comes to generating power from offshore wind installations. The U.S. has lagged due to a variety of factors, including the need to work through regulatory issues
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News
Innovative Distributed Generation Projects Provide Power to Remote Areas
Remote communities have become testing grounds for innovative power projects. These areas traditionally have been powered by fossil fuel generation, usually diesel fuel or oil and sometimes natural gas, and
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News
Ørsted Offshore Wind Farms Delayed by Pandemic
Ørsted, the Denmark-based energy company and the world’s top offshore wind developer, said at least five of its projects off the U.S. East Coast could be delayed due to impacts from the coronavirus pandemic. The company in an announcement April 29 said the projects, with total generation capacity of about 3 GW, could fall victim […]
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News
GE Reports $1 Billion Hit to Cash Flow
General Electric (GE) on April 29 reported a steep drop in first-quarter revenue, with the industrial giant—like many companies—taking a major hit from the coronavirus pandemic. The company reported a year-over-year revenue decline of 8%, with posted revenue of $20.524 billion, and noted a $1 billion negative impact to cash flow during the quarter. The […]
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News
GE, Siemens, Utilities Take Hits From Coronavirus
U.S. power plant operators continue to change procedures at their facilities, including pushing back scheduled maintenance, due to lockdowns and quarantines associated with the coronavirus pandemic. The changes are impacting companies such as General Electric (GE) and Siemens, which are major service providers to power plants, at a time when these global companies already are […]
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News
Indian Point Unit 2 Will Shut Down April 30
One of the two remaining operating reactors at the Indian Point Energy Center in Buchanan, New York, will close for good on April 30, shutting down early as part of an agreement between Entergy, the plant’s operator, the state of New York, and environmental groups who had pressured officials to close the plant. The 1,020-MW […]
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News
Canada SMR Initiative Adds New Brunswick Project
Moltex Energy, a privately held nuclear power development company headquartered in the UK with an office in New Brunswick, Canada, has entered into a collaboration agreement with Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) to support Moltex’s nuclear fuel development program for its Stable Salt Reactor (SSR), among the latest technology advancements for small modular reactors (SMRs). The […]
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News
Johnson Stepping Down as PG&E CEO
Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) announced April 22 that Bill Johnson, the president and CEO who took over those roles in the midst of the company’s bankruptcy proceedings, will step down June 30 after just more than one year on the job. The company said Bill Smith, a PG&E board member, will serve as interim […]
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RENEWABLE POWER Direct—April 22, 2020
April 22, 2020 Need for Resilience Supports Energy Storage Independent power producer Neoen Australia said an expansion of the world’s largest lithium-ion battery system has completed its network connection, bringing the Tesla-supported Hornsdale Power Reserve, adjacent to a wind… Read More Sponsored by Aggreko Complimentary Webinar: Market Insights – Spring Report May 12 at 11:00 […]
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News
Need for Resilience Supports Energy Storage
Independent power producer Neoen Australia said an expansion of the world’s largest lithium-ion battery system has completed its network connection, bringing the Tesla-supported Hornsdale Power Reserve, adjacent to a wind farm in South Australia, to a rated size of 150 MW/193.5 MWh. It’s the latest in a series of projects being developed worldwide to add […]
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News
Groups File Legal Challenges to ACE Rule
Legal challenges to the Trump administration’s Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule began in earnest April 17, as more than two dozen states and cities, along with several environmental activist groups, filed briefs with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., seeking a rollback of power plant regulations that also have been decried by coal […]
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News
EPA Nixes Legal Justification for MATS Rule
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on April 16 withdrew the legal justification for an Obama-era rule that required coal-fired power plants to reduce their emissions of mercury. The Mercury and Air Toxic Standards (MATS) remains in place, but Thursday’s action by the Trump administration could prevent similar regulations from being implemented in the future. EPA […]
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News
Wind Energy Leads U.S. Power Generation Growth
The trade group representing the U.S. wind energy industry says the sector emerged as the top provider of new utility-scale power generation in the nation in 2019, with 9.1 GW of large wind power projects coming online. The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), in its Wind Powers America Annual Report 2019 released April 16, said […]
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News
NYISO: Power Consumption Down as Much as 18%
The New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) on April 16 said weekday morning reductions in power consumption have averaged as much as 18% below typical levels, with the most dramatic drops noted in New York City as businesses remain closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. NYISO, in an updated analysis of estimated coronavirus demand impacts released […]
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News
Clean Energy Sector Sheds 106,000 Jobs in March
The renewable energy sector has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, with more than 106,000 U.S. workers losing their jobs last month, according to an analysis of unemployment data released April 15 from several clean energy groups. Wednesday’s report said hundreds of thousands more job losses in the sector are expected in the next […]
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GAS POWER Direct—April 15, 2020
April 15, 2020 World’s First HL-Class Gas Turbine Starts Successfully Siemens Energy completed “first fire” at Duke Energy’s Lincoln Combustion Turbine Station near Denver, North Carolina, on April 6. The accomplishment is a major milestone for the world’s first SGT6-9000HL… Read More NERC Moves to Defer Reliability Standards, Provide COVID-19 Flexibility The North American Electric […]
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Interview
The POWER Interview: Powering Through a Pandemic
It’s an unprecedented time for power generators worldwide. Utilities, grid operators, equipment manufacturers, and others working to keep the lights on know that a reliable supply of electricity is more important than ever as the world battles through the coronavirus pandemic. Dino Barajas, who recently joined the finance arm of DLA Piper in Los Angeles, […]
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News
Siemens Group Reopens Plants; GE Closing U.S. Factory
Global wind turbine manufacturers Siemens Gamesa and Vestas have restarted work in their facilities in Spain, after that country eased some of the restrictions in place as part of the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The move comes at the same time that General Electric announced it would close a subsidiary’s wind turbine manufacturing […]
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News
The POWER Interview: Keeping the Flame for Natural Gas
The crash in global oil prices, though a challenge for cash-strapped drillers and U.S. exploration and production (E&P) companies, may provide an opportunity to move natural gas prices higher. Analysts in recent days have said higher gas prices could come as soon as next winter—some predict prices could more than double from recent lows of […]
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News
Virginia Commits to End Coal-Fired Generation
Virginia on April 12 became the latest state to commit to a phase-out of fossil fuel-powered electricity generation, as Gov. Ralph Northam signed the Virginia Economy Act into law. The legislation sets new requirements for energy efficiency among the state’s leading utility companies, and also requires most of the state’s six remaining coal-fired power plants […]
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News
Siemens CEO: No Job Cuts Due to Coronavirus
Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser told a German newspaper the company will not reduce its workforce despite the economic downturn due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. Kaeser, in an interview published April 11, said the company would likely continue having some employees work fewer hours at some of its facilities in Germany, and could extend that […]
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News
At Least Two Dead in Coal Ash Breach in India
A dike at a coal ash pond at a power plant in India gave way on April 10, killing at least two people while four others are missing, according to a local official. The spill covered several acres of cropland in the area. K.V.S. Choudary, the district collector and the top public official in the […]
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News
Xcel Selling Gas Plant; Proceeds Will Support Pandemic Relief
Xcel Energy on April 6 announced the sale of the 760-MW Mankato Energy Center (MEC) gas-fired power plant in Minnesota, less than three months after purchasing the plant for $650 million from Southern Co. Xcel had said the MEC was an important piece of the utility’s goal to be carbon-free by 2050. Xcel reached a […]
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News
Rosatom Groups Help Medical Workers Battle Coronavirus
Scientists at SSC RF TRINITI JSC, a subsidiary of Rosatom’s science division, this week announced they have developed a method of disinfecting and sterilizing medical instruments, clothing, equipment, and facilities using mobile devices for the production of concentrated ozone. The action is one of several initiatives undertaken by Rosatom, the Moscow-based Russian state nuclear corporation, […]
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News
Palo Verde’s Refueling: Ensure Safety, Reliability
It’s a rite of spring for the U.S. nuclear power industry. Plant operators schedule refueling outages, taking a reactor offline not only to refuel but also to perform repairs or other maintenance, and facility upgrades. It’s a task made more problematic this year, as social distancing and travel restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic […]
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News
EIA Notes Power Demand Destruction From Coronavirus
The coronavirus pandemic is altering the power landscape, with utilities and other power generators forced to adjust for load disruptions. Power consumption is changing as commercial and industrial electricity users close their businesses, and load is shifting to the residential sector with workers now settled in home offices, and students practicing remote and distance learning. […]
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News
New Report Analyzes Power Demand Destruction Due to Coronavirus
The coronavirus pandemic is altering the power landscape, with utilities and other power generators forced to adjust for load disruptions. Power consumption is changing as commercial and industrial electricity users close their businesses, and load is shifting to the residential sector with workers now settled in home offices, and students practicing remote and distance learning. […]
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News
Nuclear Option for COVID-19: Medical Isotope Production
Operators of the world’s nuclear reactors are doing more than keeping the lights during the coronavirus pandemic. Along with taking steps to protect their workforce, and having plans in place to keep their facilities running at a time of critical need for power, they also are using nuclear technologies to detect and fight COVID-19. From […]