Darrell Proctor
Articles By

Darrell Proctor

  • 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 […]

  • Google, Baseload Capital Have Corporate PPA for Geothermal in Taiwan

    Global geothermal energy developer Baseload Capital has joined with technology giant Google on the first corporate power purchase agreement (CPPA) for geothermal in Taiwan.

  • 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 France.

  • Radiant Selected by DOE to Receive Fuel for First Kaleidos Reactor Test

    A company working to mass produce portable nuclear microreactors said its has accepted its selection by the U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) to receive high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel for the first test of Kaleidos, the group’s reactor design.

  • Vesper Energy Launches 600-MW Solar Project in Texas

    A Texas-based solar energy developer has inaugurated a utility-scale project in that state. Vesper Energy said the 600-MW Hornet Solar installation, which features some 1.36 million modules and covers more than six square miles in Swisher County, is now fully operational.

  • The POWER Interview: Proper Planning Key to Support Electrification

    Several members of the energy community recently provided POWER magazine with their insights on electrification, looking at the challenges for continuing adoption of technologies driving the transition.

  • Siemens Gamesa Installs World’s Most Powerful Wind Turbine at Denmark Test Site

    Siemens Gamesa has completed work on what to date is the world’s most powerful installed wind turbine. The final blades for the 21.5-MW prototype offshore turbine were installed April 2 at the Østerild test center in northern Denmark. Development of the turbine, the latest entrant in a global race to build ever-larger offshore wind turbines, […]

  • Nation’s Largest Gas-Fired Plant Planned at Former Pennsylvania Coal Plant Site

    Officials in Pennsylvania have announced the redevelopment of a former coal-fired power plant site into a $10-billion-plus data center campus that will be powered by natural gas, in what they call the largest capital investment project in that state’s history. Homer City Redevelopment (HCR) and Kiewit Power Constructors on April 2 said the former Homer […]

  • Finland Ending Use of Coal as Last Utility-Scale Plant Shuts Down

    The last operating large coal-fired power plant in Finland has shut down, with the facility’s operator saying it now will use electricity, waste heat, and heat pumps—along with burning biomass—to provide power and heat to its customers. The Salmisaari plant, with a generation capacity of 175 MW of electricity along with its production of heat, […]

  • China Coal-Fired Generation Additions Tied to Economics, Energy Security

    China’s construction of coal-fired power plants reached nearly a 10-year high in the past year, even as the country also continues a massive expansion of renewable energy installations. A February report

  • India Continues to Expand Renewable Energy Resources

    India Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently reiterated his pledge to more than double his country’s current renewable energy capacity, telling delegates to the India Energy Week 2025 conference in New Delhi

  • Industry Experts: Market Forces Still Support Electrification

    A changing policy landscape presents challenges for moving away from fossil fuels. Executives say that may slow, but won’t halt, the momentum to electrify. Remember the slogan “electrify everything”? It

  • South Africa Grants Emissions Exemptions to Coal-Fired Plants in Effort to Avoid Blackouts

    South African officials will allow some of the country’s coal-fired power plants to operate without the need to adhere to regulations on carbon and other emissions. The move comes as South Africa continues to struggle with producing enough electricity to power the country’s growing economy. South Africa, which relies on coal for more than 80% […]

  • More Natural Gas-Fired Plants Planned to Support Ohio Data Centers

    An Ohio town known as a hub for the burgeoning data center industry may soon have one or more new natural gas-fired power plants to support the area’s need for energy.

  • Egypt’s Orascom Joins Spanish Group to Build 3-GW Gas-Fired Plant in Saudi Arabia

    An Egypt-based construction group is partnering with a Spanish energy infrastructure company to build a 3-GW combined-cycle natural gas-fired power plant in Saudi Arabia.