Darrell Proctor
Articles By

Darrell Proctor

  • Exelon Subsidiary Files Bankruptcy; Lenders Would Take Over Four Plants

    ExGen Texas Power (EGTP) Holdings LLC and ExGen Texas Power LLC, a subsidiary of Exelon Corp., on November 7 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware is aimed at reducing the company’s debt, and four of EGTP’s five natural gas-fired power plants in Texas would be owned by lenders […]

  • India Launches Probe of Power Plant Blast; Death Toll at 36

    India’s Power Ministry has established a committee to investigate the November 1 explosion at NTPC’s thermal power plant in Unchahar. The death toll from the blast is at 36, and dozens more workers at the plant were injured when flue gases and steam were released from a 500-MW coal-fired unit at the plant. Several remain […]

  • Death Toll at 35 in India Plant Explosion; Officials Point to High Pressure in Boiler

    Officials in India on November 6 said the death toll has risen to 35 after an explosion and fire November 1 at NTPC’s Feroze Gandhi Unchahar Thermal Power Station in Uttar Pradesh state. NTPC, the nation’s largest power utility, said flue gases and steam were released in the blast, which occurred in a 500-MW coal-fired unit […]

  • House Proposed Tax Bill Ends Wind PTC, Extends Nuclear Credit

    The U.S. House of Representatives on November 2 proposed a tax bill that would phase out the wind energy production tax credit (PTC), extend a tax credit for the nuclear power industry, add credits for geothermal and fuel cell programs, and end a tax credit for the purchase of electric vehicles. Wind energy proponents decried […]

  • Missouri Utility Closing Coal Plant, Adding Wind Generation

    A Missouri utility has filed an application with the state’s Public Service Commission (PSC) to build a $1.5 billion wind power project and accelerate the closure of a coal-fired power plant. Empire District Electric Co. on October 31 asked the PSC to approve its plan, citing cost savings for customers of more than $300 million […]

  • Death Toll at 29 After Explosion at India Thermal Plant

    An explosion at a coal-fired power plant in India has killed as many as 29 people and injured more than 100, according to officials in Lucknow, India. The blast, which occurred November 1 at the Feroze Gandhi Unchahar Thermal Power Station, was apparently caused when a boiler pipe burst in a 500-MW generating unit that […]

  • Uganda Ready to Double Generation with More Hydro Projects

    Ugandan officials said they want to double the country’s installed power generation capacity over the next two years, primarily with the construction of hydropower projects. However, those same officials

  • POWER Digest [November 2017]

    Giant UK Tidal Lagoon Project Secures Grid Connection Deal. Tidal Lagoon Power’s project to build a full-scale 3.2-GW tidal lagoon power plant in the Severn Estuary in Swansea Bay to harness strong tides on

  • Poland Will End Coal Investments, Move Toward Nuclear

    Poland’s energy minister in September said the country was ready to shift away from coal-fired power, which provides about 90% of its electricity. Krzysztof Tchorzewski, speaking at the Krynica-Zdroj

  • Ringhals Delivers Record Output Despite Tough Economics

    Challenges abound for nuclear power plants in today’s world, with increased competition from other fuels, stricter safety regulations, divided public opinion, and low electricity prices providing an

  • Asset Performance Management: Strategies to Mitigate Risk

    If funds were unlimited, digital technology could be utilized in countless ways to improve plant performance and reduce downtime. But costs do matter, so taking a graded approach to managing risks and costs

  • IEA Says Southeast Asia Will Keep Coal Demand High

    The International Energy Agency (IEA) says the need for cheap electricity in Southeast Asia will drive global demand for coal for power generation through 2040, even as many countries continue to retire coal-fired plants and cancel projects for new coal facilities. IEA, which is set to release its World Energy Outlook 2017 on November 14, […]

  • Michigan Backs Gas Plants for Upper Peninsula

    Michigan regulators on October 25 gave their support to Upper Michigan Energy Resources Corp.’s (UMERC) plan for two new natural gas-fired plants in the state’s Upper Peninsula (U.P.). The plants approved by the Michigan Public Service Commission (PSC) would be built in Baraga and Negaunee townships. The plants are designed to produce a combined 183 […]

  • FPL Halfway Through 600-MW Solar Power Expansion

    Florida Power & Light (FPL), which recently sustained a blow to its nuclear expansion plans, on October 19 said it’s about halfway through an ambitious plan to add eight new solar plants in the state by early 2018, as it continues to increase its photovoltaic (PV) generation capacity as part of a larger strategy to […]

  • NRG Stops Plan for California Gas Plant

    NRG Energy has stopped development of a proposed natural gas plant in Oxnard, California, after two state regulators earlier this month recommended the California Energy Commission (CEC) reject the project. NRG on October 16 asked the CEC to suspend its review of the plans for the Puente Power Project, or P3, a proposed $300 million, […]

  • Wind Generation Capacity Outpacing Coal in Texas

    An analysis by the University of Texas at Austin’s Energy Institute shows wind power generation capacity in Texas may already have surpassed coal-fired capacity in the state, and wind almost certainly will have leapfrogged coal by early next year, as wind farms continue to dot the landscape while more coal plants in the state are […]

  • Eversource Will Sell 14 New Hampshire Power Plants, Completing Deregulation

    Fourteen power plants in New Hampshire, including nine hydroelectric facilities, will soon have new owners as Eversource Energy divests its holdings in the state to satisfy an agreement with state regulators. Eversource outlined the sale of the hydro assets, along with three fossil fuel-fired plants and two combustion peaker units, in an October 12 filing […]

  • Startup of Olkiluoto 3 Nuclear Plant Delayed Again

    Continued problems with construction of the Olkiluoto 3 nuclear power plant in Finland have pushed the facility’s expected start date into 2019, meaning operations will not begin until at least 10 years after the original proposed start of commercial service. Project owner Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) on October 9 announced further delays. TVO project director […]

  • California Agency Opposes New Gas-fired Plant

    Two members of the California Energy Commission (CEC) on October 6 said they would recommend the full five-member group oppose construction of a new natural gas-fired power plant in Oxnard. The two commissioners said environmental impacts of the plant could not be mitigated, and the plant would not be able to conform to local ordinances […]

  • EPA Head Pruitt Ready to Repeal Clean Power Plan

    Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chief Scott Pruitt on October 9 said he will sign a proposed rule Tuesday to repeal the Clean Power Plan (CPP), a signature initiative of former President Barack Obama’s administration that mandated cuts in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from power plants. Pruitt, speaking to a group of coal miners Monday at […]

  • EPA Ready to Attack Clean Power Plan

    The Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering its options to repeal or replace the Clean Power Plan (CPP), the signature climate regulation of former President Barack Obama. POWER magazine on October 6 obtained a 43-page draft of the EPA’s proposed action on the CPP. The formal document is expected to be released soon. The […]

  • ENGIE, HG&E Team on Solar Energy Storage Project

    Electricity from a 5.76-MW solar farm in Massachusetts will be stored in an adjacent energy storage system as part of a plan announced October 4 by ENGIE North America (ENGIE NA) and Holyoke Gas & Electric (HG&E). The project is part of Massachusetts’ Peak Demand Management Program. HG&E, which received a $475,000 grant from the […]

  • Groups Interested in Keeping Navajo Coal Plant in Operation

    Peabody Energy on October 2 said several investors are interested in taking over the Navajo Generating Station in Arizona, a coal-fired power plant on tribal land whose current owners, including Salt River Project (SRP), voted earlier this year to close the facility. Peabody’s Kayenta Mine supplies fuel for the plant. Lazard Freres & Co., a […]

  • GE’s Global Electricity Monitoring & Diagnostics Center to Further Reduce Power Outages Worldwide with Large-Scale Industrial IoT Implementation

    San Ramon, California (October 3, 2017) — GE Digital (NYSE: GE) announced today that GE Power’s Monitoring & Diagnostics Center in Atlanta will utilize the company’s Predix-based Asset Performance Management (APM) software, bringing the strength of the Industrial IoT to power producers and utilities around the world. Running GE Digital’s APM solution will help further […]

  • POWER Digest (October 2017)

    Construction Scheduled for Hydrogen Fuel Cell Plant in South Korea. Hanwha Energy  on August 25 approved formation of a subsidiary,  Daesan Green Energy , to build a 50-MW hydrogen fuel cell plant in the

  • OPG, First Nations Group Partner on Ontario Hydro Project

    A partnership between Ontario Power Generation (OPG) and Coral Rapids Power, a wholly owned subsidiary of Taykwa Tagamou Nation (TTN), a Cree nation in northeastern Ontario, in late August announced the

  • Heterojunction Solar Technology Being Deployed at Siberian Site

    A joint venture of two Russian companies is building a solar power project in southern Siberia based on heterojunction technology (HJT), which is touted as a high-efficiency solar cell concept. Researchers

  • Rihand: A Model for India’s Coal Transformation

    The country’s ever-increasing need for electricity means coal will continue to be a large part of its power generation, and this NTPC facility is at the forefront of expanding capacity while improving its

  • Microturbine Market Ready to Expand

    Deployment of microturbine energy technology has been slow to develop, but analysts predict growth on the horizon as more businesses use the small units to power their facilities and reduce their carbon

  • 135th Anniversary—Engineering a Legacy: Marmaduke Surfaceblow

    Marmaduke Surfaceblow was a crusty character, providing POWER magazine readers with imaginative tales of engineering feats, and lending his name to one of our most-coveted awards. He might be fictional, but Marmaduke Surfaceblow became synonymous with POWER magazine, a colorful character with a distinctive way of finding solutions to engineering problems. Author Stephen Elonka introduced […]