Another nuclear power project has been delayed, as the Fennovoima consortium and Russia’s state-run nuclear company Rosatom said the Hanhikivi 1 power plant’s projected start-up date has been pushed to 2028, four years behind the original schedule and eight years later than the proposed start when Finland’s government supported the project in 2010. The announcement […]

Unit 4 of the Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant in China entered commercial operation this past weekend after completing commissioning. It began supplying power to the country’s national grid on Dec. 22. Tianwan NPP is the largest facility built with a Russian-Chinese framework of economic cooperation, with Units 1 through 4 based on the VVER-1000 reactor […]

Dominion Energy’s bid to purchase SCANA Corp. and its South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) utility, approved by South Carolina regulators on Dec. 14, could bring some stability to SCANA. Shareholders hope that’s the case; they’re excited about swapping their devalued SCANA shares for more valuable Dominion stock. Workers, though, remain uncertain about their futures, […]

Hitachi Ltd. and ABB on December 17 announced that Hitachi will acquire 80.1% of ABB’s Power Grids unit in an $11 billion deal. Reports of the possible acquisition surfaced December 16, with several media outlets including POWER  discussing the agreement, citing sources familiar with the deal who asked not to be identified. Hitachi plans to […]

Hitachi Ltd. and ABB could announce an $11 billion deal as soon as December 17 in which Hitachi will acquire 80% of ABB’s power grids unit. Reports of the possible deal surfaced December 16, with Bloomberg and others citing sources familiar with the agreement who asked not to be identified. Neither ABB nor Hitachi commented […]

Siemens on December 11 said it would lay off about 200 workers at a gas turbines parts and components service center in Houston, Texas, sometime in late 2019 or early 2020. A company spokesperson made the announcement Tuesday, saying the cuts are due to weak global demand for the company’s turbines. Siemens in a statement […]

The South Korean government has pledged 4 billion Korean won (about $3.5 million) to support a blockchain-enabled virtual power plant (VPP) in Busan, the country’s second-most-populous city after Seoul. Busan officials said they have selected a project to build a VPP on a “citizens-shared” blockchain. Technology Aggregates Resources, Standardizes Transactions A VPP is a cloud-based […]

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC, the Commission) took several actions in November to address impacts from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the Tax Act). FERC had previously issued a Notice of Inquiry seeking comments on how to address the impact of the Tax Act’s reduction in the corporate federal income tax (FIT) rate […]

The U.S. Senate on a 50-49 party-line vote December 6 confirmed Bernard McNamee to a seat on the five-member Federal Energy and Regulatory Commission (FERC), despite questions about his independence from the Trump administration and his previous comments in support of a bailout of coal and nuclear U.S. power plants at the expense of renewable […]

Xcel Energy has announced its plan to move to 100% carbon-free power generation by 2050, with the utility also saying it will reduce carbon emissions by 80% by 2030, from 2005 levels. Xcel, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, serves customers in eight states and over the past two years has announced a significant number of renewable […]

The real estate developer who has tried for more than two years to buy the assets of the canceled Bellefonte nuclear power plant project in Alabama has sued the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) after TVA last week pulled out of the deal to sell the plant. Attorneys for Franklin Haney, whose Nuclear Development LLC (NDLLC) […]

Victoria state in Australia continues to see dramatic growth in solar and wind power, as well as battery storage systems, as the region rapidly expands its power generation capacity, in large part to serve the

Veolia Hungary Creates VPP Portfolio. Veolia Hungary in October acquired a 51% ownership share in CHP Eromu Kft., the first step in a process for Veolia to create a virtual power plant (VPP) portfolio. The

Coal from domestic mines provides just more than 2% of Spain’s electricity generation, as the country has increasingly moved away from coal-fired power toward renewable sources. The administration of new

Thousands of workers are involved, and billions of dollars are being spent, as U.S. utilities convert and close dozens of coal ash impoundments in an effort to meet government regulations and prevent future

Analysis based on testing mostly conducted by energy companies shows that water near all but two coal plants in Illinois is contaminated with toxic waste. The Chicago Tribune on November 28 reported that a compilation of industry-supplied data from 24 Illinois coal plants shows harmful levels of arsenic, chromium, lead, and other heavy metals in […]

A research group that provides information to institutional investors said cost estimates to decommission U.S. nuclear plants fell in 2017 for the first time in a decade. The Callan Institute, headquartered in San Francisco, California, in its report said decommissioning cost estimates dropped by 2.5% last year, to $88.8 billion. Callan’s data shows costs estimates […]

A new study from BloombergNEF (BNEF) says developing countries lead the way on new investments in clean energy, with those nations taking advantage of lower project costs for solar and wind power as they move away from fossil fuel-powered generation. Today’s report, from a survey by BNEF’s annual Climatescope project, says “emerging market nations … […]

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) wants public input as it considers closing two of the utility’s historic coal-fired power plants: its Bull Run plant in Tennessee, and the last coal-fired unit at its Paradise plant in Kentucky. The Bull Run Fossil Plant, near Oak Ridge, has been the only single-generator coal plant in the TVA […]

Entergy Arkansas said it will close the state’s two largest coal-fired power plants, along with one gas-fired plant, by 2030 as part of a settlement with environmental groups that sued the utility in federal court for alleged violations of the Clean Air Act (CAA). The Sierra Club and the Washington, D.C.-based National Parks Conservation Association […]

The Office of Fossil Energy (FE) in the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) this week said it will fund research and development (R&D) efforts “that will advance first-of-a-kind coal generation technologies.” The FE on November 13 said its Coal FIRST (Flexible, Innovative, Resilient, Small, Transformative) program “will develop the coal plant of the future needed […]

A Tennessee businessman now has until the end of November to finalize a two-year-old purchase agreement for the unfinished Bellefonte nuclear power plant in Alabama. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), which began building the plant in 1974 but ended construction in 1988 amid a downturn in the nuclear power industry, on November 9 said it […]

Xcel Energy said it will buy a natural gas-fired power plant in Minnesota from Southern Power, a subsidiary of Southern Co. The $650 million deal for the Mankato Energy Center puts Xcel in charge of a facility from which it has purchased power since the plant’s first unit came online in 2006. A second unit […]

Northern Indiana Public Service Co. (NIPSCO) last week told state regulators it plans to retire four coal-fired units at its Wheatfield plant by 2023, a coal-fired unit in Michigan City by 2028, and increase its generation from renewables as part of its “Your Energy, Your Future” initiative. The company’s latest Integrated Resource Plan filed on October […]

South Korean legislators in September passed a law allowing the use of bio-heavy oil to generate electricity. The law, expected to be implemented at the start of 2019, is designed to use the oil, made from

New Zealand’s largest geothermal plant was synchronized to the country’s national grid in October. The project took just more than three years to complete. Eastland Group, a Gisborne, New Zealand-based

The challenges for Japan’s nuclear power industry have been many in the wake of the Fukushima disaster. Returning units to commercial operation requires meeting new government safety standards, along with

Ørsted Snaps Up Deepwater Wind in Major U.S. Offshore Wind Deal. Danish offshore wind farm developer Ørsted in October entered into an agreement with U.S.-based D.E. Shaw Group to buy a 100% equity interest

Duke Energy has brought the first power block of its new $1.5 billion combined cycle gas plant in Citrus County, Florida, online. Duke said the facility located north of Crystal River—an area long known as home to the now-closed Crystal River Nuclear Plant—is among the largest combined cycle projects in the country, and it is […]

A study from a London-based group focused on financial aspects of the energy industry said up to $60 billion of coal-fired power generation assets may be stranded in Southeast Asia in the next 10 years. The study released this week by Carbon Tracker said renewable energy resources and more-stringent environmental policies make investments in new […]