The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in February issued a final rule imposing tighter restrictions on fine particulate matter (PM2.5) or soot.  The final rule, issued on Feb. 7, strengthens the nation’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) by lowering the level of the primary (health-based) annual PM2.5 standard from 12.0 micrograms per cubic meter […]

American Electric Power (AEP) and Calpine Corp. separately announced significant leadership reshuffles on Feb. 27, marking new chapters for the power giants. Investor-owned utility AEP, with immediate effectiveness, removed AEP Chair, President, and CEO Julie Sloat, appointing Benjamin G.S. Fowke III, an AEP Board of Directors member and the former chairman and CEO of Xcel Energy, […]

The Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) is warning reliability challenges have grown urgent as the nation’s power system grapples with a “hyper-complex risk environment.”  The grid operator that serves 15 U.S. states and the Canadian province of Manitoba, in its updated Reliability Imperative report released on Feb. 22, flagged several critical challenges that the region […]

Kairos Power will secure $303 million from the Department of Energy (DOE) under a novel performance-based, fixed-price milestone approach to support the design, construction, and commissioning of its 35-MWth Hermes molten salt “non-power” demonstration reactor, which the firm has proposed to build at the East Tennessee Technology Park Heritage Center (ETTP) site in Oak Ridge. […]

POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   February 22, 2024 MISO Warns ‘Immediate and Serious’ Challenges Are Threatening Reliability   The Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) is warning reliability challenges have grown urgent as the nation’s power system grapples with a “hyper-complex risk environment.”  The grid operator that serves […]

Ansaldo Energia has successfully demonstrated its constant pressure sequential combustion (CPSC) technology—designed for a novel, hydrogen-optimized combustor based on its flagship GT36 H-class gas turbine model—can flexibly operate with up to 100% hydrogen fuel. The breakthrough announced on Feb. 13 marks a major triumph for the FLEX4H2 (or Flexibility for Hydrogen) program, a four-year European […]

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming the power sector, offering unprecedented opportunities for efficiency and innovation. But as AI applications proliferate, new challenges are emerging. How will industry navigate the potential and challenges that accompany this digital revolution? Recent efforts to overhaul the long-established energy system in alignment with decarbonization and decentralization have introduced new […]

The power sector’s relentless pursuit of an increasingly connected power paradigm amid an escalating cyber threat landscape demands an urgent, multifaceted strategy for cybersecurity. Recently, the sector has embarked on innovative methods to tackle inherent challenges in its evolving quest for a robust cybersecurity posture. In 2022, a third party alerted industrial control systems (ICS) […]

EnergyAustralia has begun operations at the 320-MW Tallawarra B gas-fired power station in New South Wales (NSW)—Australia’s first peaking power plant capable of operating on a natural gas and hydrogen fuel blend. The project’s start on Feb. 19 also marks GE Vernova’s first deployment of a hydrogen-capable dual-fuel 9F gas turbine. The $300 million ($196 […]

POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   February 15, 2024 New 1.2-GW Natural Gas-Fired Plant Announced for Texas A Texas-based energy company has announced plans to build a 1.2-GW natural gas-fired power plant in Lee County, Texas, with construction expected to begin in 2025. Sandow Lakes Energy Co.… In […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has granted Global Nuclear Fuel—Americas (GNF) the regulatory body’s first-ever authorization to produce nuclear fuel with uranium-235 (U-235) enrichments up to 8% for commercial power generation. GNF, GE Vernova’s nuclear fuel arm, on Feb. 15 said the NRC approved a license amendment that will allow its nuclear fuel fabrication facility […]

POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   February 8, 2024 UK's First SMR Nuclear Project to Showcase Four Westinghouse AP300 Reactors Community Nuclear Power (CNP), the UK’s only independent small modular reactor (SMR) development company, will spearhead a project to build four Westinghouse AP300 small modular reactors (SMRs) in […]

Community Nuclear Power (CNP), the UK’s only independent small modular reactor (SMR) development company, will spearhead a project to build four Westinghouse AP300 small modular reactors (SMRs) in North Teeside, Northeast England, anticipating commercial operation by the early 2030s. Nuclear technology powerhouse Westinghouse on Feb. 8 said it signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with […]

POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   February 1, 2024 Hydrogen Production Project Moves Forward at Wyoming Coal Plant Wyoming officials will help fund a hydrogen generation project that will have coal as its energy source, using carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) along with a chemical looping technology. Babcock… […]

Ontario Power Generation (OPG) will refurbish four units at the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station, Canada’s first major commercial generation plant— marking a major turnaround for the 3.1-GW plant slated to close by 2025. Officials from Ontario’s government and OPG on Jan. 30 announced plans to refurbish Units 5–8 at the massive power plant east of […]

Over the past week, the UK government stepped up its nuclear agenda, doling out a £33.6 million grant under its Future Nuclear Enabling Fund to support GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH)’s BWRX-300 while also announcing a substantial £1.3 billion investment in the proposed 3.2-GW Sizewell C nuclear project. The developments, aimed at potentially tripling the […]

POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   January 25, 2024 GE Vernova, IHI Developing Novel Ammonia-Capable Gas Turbine Combustor GE Vernova will collaborate with Japanese integrated heavy industry group IHI Corp. to develop a retrofittable 100% ammonia-capable gas turbine combustion system that would be compatible with GE’s 6F.03, 7F,… […]

GE Vernova will collaborate with Japanese integrated heavy industry group IHI Corp. to develop a retrofittable 100% ammonia-capable gas turbine combustion system that would be compatible with GE’s 6F.03, 7F, and 9F models, targeting a potential commercially available product by 2030. The companies on Jan. 24 signed a joint development agreement (JDA) that formally launched […]

Westinghouse has revealed it is designing a transportable nuclear power plant (TNPP) featuring an eVinci microreactor with Canadian firm Prodigy Clean Energy, aiming to deliver a first project in Canada by 2030. The project will potentially integrate a single or multiple 5-MWe eVinci microreactors within a Prodigy Microreactor Power Station—a purpose-designed floating facility that will […]

A bipartisan group of 12 U.S. senators on Jan. 18 introduced a bill that could freeze the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) implementation of updated energy efficiency standards for distribution transformers. The Distribution Transformer Efficiency and Supply Chain Reliability Act of 2024 (S.3627) would establish new limitations on federal efficiency rules for specific distribution transformers. Several […]

POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   January 18, 2024 OPG, Capital Power to Explore Small Modular Nuclear Reactors in Alberta Ontario Power Generation (OPG) and North American power producer Capital Power Corp. will jointly examine the feasibility of developing small modular reactors (SMRs) in Alberta, including possible ownership […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) has selected a consortium that will work to foster demand for commercial clean hydrogen at seven regional hydrogen hubs (H2Hubs), which the agency in October 2023 selected to receive $7 billion in federal funding. The Hydrogen Demand Initiative (H2DI) consortium will be tasked with designing and implementing demand-side support mechanisms, […]

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has urged conservation as it grapples with record-high power demand amid extremely cold temperatures and near-zero wind chill over its seven-state region in the Southeast. The federal corporation, a major generator that serves as a regional reliability coordinator, on Jan. 16 said “heavy snow and bitterly cold temperatures” were expected […]

Ontario Power Generation (OPG) and North American power producer Capital Power Corp. will jointly examine the feasibility of developing small modular reactors (SMRs) in Alberta, including possible ownership and operating structures. The companies on Jan. 15 announced they signed a two-year commitment agreement to assess the feasibility of jointly owning and operating SMRs in Alberta […]

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has issued a conservation appeal as it braces for continued freezing temperatures, “very high” demand, and “unseasonably low wind” early in the morning on Jan. 15, just before the solar ramp-up. The grid operator on Sunday afternoon said it expects “tight grid conditions” as temperatures plunge, driven by […]

POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   January 11, 2024 PJM Urges Delayed Retirement of 840-MW Fossil Fuel Power Plant, Citing Reliability Impacts PJM has urged Talen Energy to delay its deactivation of two of four units at the 840-MW coal, oil, and gas–fired Herbert A. Wagner Generating Station […]

A roadmap released by the UK government on Jan. 11 aimed at quadrupling the country’s nuclear power capacity by 2050 sets out a series of goals and actions that could enable the delivery of 3 GW to 7 GW every five years from 2030 to 2044. In its 78-page Civil Nuclear Roadmap, the UK lays […]

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for uranium enrichment and storage services as part of a measure aimed at stimulating a domestic supply chain for high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU). The action follows an RFP released in November 2023 for services to deconvert enriched uranium into metal, oxide, and […]

PJM has urged Talen Energy to delay its deactivation of two of four units at the 840-MW coal, oil, and gas–fired Herbert A. Wagner Generating Station in Maryland until transmission upgrades are put into service around 2028. The nation’s largest regional transmission organization (RTO) on Jan. 10 said it informed Talen that the deactivation of […]

The UK may be poised to become the first European country to launch domestic production of high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU). New funding announced by the country’s government this week signifies global momentum to establish a reliable supply of the specialist fuel that will be required for advanced nuclear reactors. The UK’s Department for Energy Security […]