Darrell Proctor
Articles By

Darrell Proctor

  • MAN Energy Gas Engines Will Power New Texas Peaker Plant

    The Kerrville (Texas) Public Utility Board has selected MAN Energy Solutions to supply six 18V51/60G gas engines for a new 124-MW power plant. The facility, which will be built adjacent to the existing 51-MW Sky Global Power One in Colorado County, Texas, will leverage the site’s existing power transmission infrastructure. It will be designed as a peaker plant that will support the power grid during periods of high demand for electricity.

  • Wärtsilä Supporting New Nigerian Gas-Fired Power Plant

    Technology group Wärtsilä will supply power generation equipment for a new 30-MW power plant being set up on Victoria Island in Lagos by Victoria Island Power Ltd. (VIPL), a Nigerian independent power producer. Wärtsilä, acting as the engineering, procurement, and construction lead for the project, also will operate and maintain the power plant for a period of five years.

  • AES, Meta Sign PPAs for 650 MW of Solar Power in Kansas and Texas

    AES Corp. announced the company has entered into two long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) to support tech company Meta’s data centers. The deal announced May 21 is for 650 MW of generation from solar projects that AES is bringing online in Texas and Kansas, serving the Southwest Power Pool market.

  • Empire Wind Construction Resumes After ‘Stop Work’ Order Lifted

    Construction of the Empire Wind offshore wind power project is restarting after the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) said an order to stop work on the installation has been lifted. The Trump administration, which has been vocal in its disdain for the U.S. offshore wind industry, last month had called for the project to be stopped.

  • Rio Tinto Investing $1.2 Billion to Modernize Quebec Hydropower Plant

    Global mining giant Rio Tinto said it will invest $1.2 billion to modernize a hydroelectric power plant in Quebec, Canada. The company on May 15 said the project is part of its bid to secure future aluminum production in the Canadian province. The money will pay for upgrades to the Isle-Maligne hydropower plant, which was commissioned in 1926 in Alma, Quebec.

  • Major Indiana Solar Project Advances to Next Phase

    Project manager Bechtel said construction of the 1.3-GW Mammoth Solar facility in Indiana is moving forward, with the company on May 16 saying the project “kicked its construction activities into a higher gear this month.”

  • The POWER Interview: Microgrids Include a Long List of Technologies—and Benefits

    Microgrids have proven their role in enhancing the reliability, resilience, and sustainability of the modern power system. Kirk Edelman, CEO of SolMicroGrid, provided POWER with several lists detailing the technologies behind microgrids, the companies that can benefit from deployment, and the services the systems can provide for their end-users.

  • GAS POWER Direct—May 14, 2025

    POWER Magazine   Why POWER? Gas Power   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   May 14, 2025 NRG Buying LS Power Gas-Fired Plants in $12-Billion Deal NRG Energy announced it would acquire 18 natural gas-fired power plants with 13 GW of generation capacity as part of a $12-billion cash-and-stock deal with […]

  • NRG Buying LS Power Gas-Fired Plants in $12-Billion Deal

    NRG Energy announced it would acquire 18 natural gas-fired power plants with 13 GW of generation capacity as part of a $12-billion cash-and-stock deal with LS Power.

    Houston, Texas-based NRG on May 12 said the deal, expected to close in the first quarter of 2026, would double the group’s overall generation capacity portfolio to 25 GW. The gas-fired plants are located in the U.S. Northeast and Texas, the company said Monday.

  • India Coal Giant Will Invest $3 Billion for Renewables, and Build 1.6-GW Coal-Fired Plant

    State-owned Coal India Limited (CIL) has announced plans to invest about $3 billion to build as much as 4.5 GW of renewable energy generation capacity. The memorandum of understanding, signed May 7 with major ammonia producer AM Green, is expected to significantly increase India’s green hydrogen and ammonia production capabilities.

  • Google Will Fund Three Nuclear Projects with Elementl Power

    A nuclear power project developer said it has a deal with Google, with the technology company agreeing to commit funding for at least three projects that each would have 600 MW of generation capacity. Elementl Power, founded in 2022 and based in Greer, South Carolina, on May 7 said Google would help the company move toward its goal of bringing more than 10 GW of nuclear power capacity online by 2035.

  • 17 States Sue Trump Over Halt to Wind Energy Projects

    A group of attorneys general from 17 states, along with the District of Columbia, is suing the Trump administration over the president’s move to suspend leasing and permitting of new U.S. wind energy projects.

  • EDP Renewables Brings Second Phase of California Solar Farm Online

    EDP Renewables North America (EDPR NA) has inaugurated the company’s 200-MW Scarlet II Solar Energy Park, in Fresno County, California. Scarlet II follows EDPR NA’s Scarlet I Solar Energy Park—a 200-MW solar farm with and 40 MW/160 MWh of battery energy storage system (BESS)—which achieved commercial operation in 2024.

  • Sonnen, Energy Groups Join for Major Texas VPP Project

    Abundance Energy, sonnen, and Energywell Technology Licensing on May 6 said they will work together on development of behind-the-meter, battery-enabled VPPs. The program is designed to support retail energy customers of Texas-based Abundance Energy, while also providing support for the state’s power grid.

  • Innovation Continues to Drive Growth in Solar Power Sector

    Energy experts think solar power still has a bright future, even as challenges impact the industry. Power generation from solar photovoltaic (PV) technology has increased dramatically over the past few years thanks to the need for less-costly power, and for cleaner forms of energy.

  • Groups Collaborate on Projects for Fusion Energy in Germany

    Government officials in Germany are supporting development of a nuclear fusion pilot plant. Officials have said they want nuclear fusion to be a priority of the country’s energy agenda, barely two years after the country decommissioned its last three operating nuclear power plants in April 2023 at the direction of then-chancellor Angela Merkel.

  • POWER Digest [May 2025]

    Major German BESS Project Closes Financing. Energy transition bank NORD/LB announced it has closed an €87 million ($94 million) financing package with Nofar Energy for construction of a 104.5-MW/209-MWh

  • The POWER Interview: Innovation, Market Incentives Can Drive Electrification

    Electrification is about offsetting energy coming directly from fossil fuels with electrons. And it’s a key strategy to support decarbonization across sectors. Depending on the generation mix providing the electrons, the amount of decarbonization may vary. But wherever a customer has electrified their energy usage, they stand to benefit from future deployments of clean generation resources.

  • Alliant Energy Brings Iowa’s Largest Solar Farm Online

    Alliant Energy said a 200-MW solar facility in Linn County, Iowa, was recently brought online.  The Pleasant Creek Solar installation—renamed after being known as Duane Arnold Solar during development and construction—is the largest solar power installation built to date in the state. Pleasant Creek Solar joins two other solar projects—Creston and Wever, which began operating […]

  • GE Vernova Boosting Gas Turbine Capacity with Technology Upgrade

    GE Vernova will install new equipment at a power plant in Iraq, its first use of the company’s upgraded AGP XPAND technology. The latest version is an evolution of GE Vernova’s Advanced Gas Path (AGP) system introduced more than a decade ago on the company’s 9E.03 fleet to boost gas turbine capacity.

  • Geothermal Energy Growing as Renewable Energy Resource

    Want to learn more about geothermal energy? POWER has published a series of articles related to geothermal power, ranging from the importance of geothermal as a power generation resource, to technologies supporting the development of geothermal.

  • U.S. Coal Production Continues Steady Decline as Generation Capacity Falls

    U.S. production of coal has continued to decline since peaking in 2008, according to a report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The EIA–on the same day earlier this month when President Trump signed an executive order designed to increase U.S. coal production and coal-fired power generation—released data showing the U.S. produced 578 million short tons (MMst) of coal in 2023, or less than half of the amount produced in 2008.

  • DOE Releases More Funding to Reopen Palisades Nuclear Plant

    Energy Secretary Chris Wright on April 22 announced the release of the third loan disbursement to Holtec for the reopening of the Palisades Nuclear Plant in Michigan.

  • Group Projects 100-GW Rise in Global Nuclear Power Capacity Across Next Decade

    A new report from GlobalData, a data and analytics group, projects global nuclear power capacity will hit 494 GW by 2035. The group said capacity gains will be tied to advancements in deployments of small modular reactors (SMRs), along with the continuing worldwide shift to cleaner forms of energy.

  • HYDROGEN POWER Direct—April 21, 2025

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   April 21, 2025 Plug Power Group Commissions Hydrogen Liquefaction Plant in Louisiana Hidrogenii, a joint venture between Plug Power and Olin Corp., said it has commissioned a 15 metric-ton-per-day (TPD) hydrogen liquefaction plant in St. Gabriel, Louisiana. Plug Power on April 17 […]

  • Plug Power Group Commissions Hydrogen Liquefaction Plant in Louisiana

    Hidrogenii, a joint venture between Plug Power and Olin Corp., said it has commissioned a 15 metric-ton-per-day (TPD) hydrogen liquefaction plant in St. Gabriel, Louisiana. Plug Power on April 17 said the facility is among the largest electrolytic hydrogen liquefaction plants in North America.

  • Trump’s EPA Grants Dozens of Coal Plants Exemption from Emissions Rules

    The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has granted nearly 70 coal-fired U.S. power plants a two-year exemption from federal requirements to reduce emissions of toxic chemicals such as mercury, arsenic and benzene. It’s another move by the Trump administration to boost the U.S. coal industry, measures that include encouraging electric utilities to continue operating coal-fired power plants that might otherwise be closed.

  • Kentucky Energy Group Breaks Ground for New RICE Power Plant

    A Kentucky energy provider has broken ground for a new 75-MW power plant that will use reciprocating internal combustion engine (RICE) technology  from Wärtsilä.

  • The POWER Interview: Electrification Key to Total Decarbonization

    The transition toward electrification has challenges, such as the need for more infrastructure to support charging of electric cars and trucks, and other transport vehicles. The residential and commercial and industrial sectors must consider the cost of new technologies for heating and cooling.

  • RENEWABLE POWER Direct—April 16, 2025

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   April 16, 2025 Innergex Brings Hawaii Solar Project Online, Supports France Agrivoltaic Installations A Canada-based renewable energy developer recently announced commercial operation of a solar power paired with energy storage project in Hawaii, along with providing updates on two agrivoltaic installations in […]