A proposed rule unveiled by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on April 5 could considerably tighten the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) for power plants, with specific repercussions for coal- and oil-fired generation. The proposed rule seeks to significantly update the 2012–finalized National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Coal- and Oil-Fired […]

The Western Energy Imbalance Market (WEIM), a real-time energy market operated by the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), has gained three new participants, including its first generation-only entity. CAISO on April 5 announced the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) Desert Southwest region, El Paso Electric (EPE), and AVANGRID have formally begun participation in the WEIM. […]

The spectrum of geothermal technologies is quickly evolving. This supplement to POWER’s April 2023 feature, “Startups Are Shaking Up Geothermal Power’s Potential,” briefly explains the differences between some engineered geothermal systems. Conventional geothermal energy is largely produced by hydrothermal systems, which consist of hot water circulated in deep-seated permeable rocks. Resource temperature ranges from high (greater […]

A project led by two major European gas transmission system operators (TSOs) has successfully tested blending rates of up to 25% hydrogen on a Titan 130 SoLoNOx Solar Turbines gas turbine, which serves as a

Driven by ripe market conditions, technology startups are injecting investment and innovation into geothermal power to unlock novel applications that could substantially scale up the niche renewable power

NTPC, India’s largest energy conglomerate and its largest coal generator, in March commissioned the country’s first supercritical coal-fired plant equipped with an air-cooled condenser (ACC). The effort

POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   March 30, 2023 PG&E Investing $18 Billion Toward Wildfire Mitigation California utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) said it plans to invest $18 billion toward its wildfire prevention program through 2025 after sustaining major financial losses from fire-related claims over… The POWER […]

U.S. utility Entergy and global power giant RWE are partnering to jointly assess the best means to develop an offshore wind market in the Gulf of Mexico. The two companies on March 30 unveiled a memorandum of understanding (MoU) under which they will analyze the Gulf of Mexico offshore wind market and define an optimal […]

The first Hualong One unit, a 1,180-MWe nuclear reactor designed by China General Nuclear (CGN), is now operational at the company’s Guangxi Fangchenggang Nuclear Power Station in western China’s Guangxi Autonomous Region. Fangchenggang Nuclear Power Plant is 39% owned by Guangxi Investment Group and 61% by CGN. The plant plans to house six 1,000-MWe reactors, […]

POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   March 23, 2023 Last Energy Secures PPAs for 34 SMR Nuclear Power Plants in Poland and the UK Last Energy, a U.S.-based micro modular nuclear technology firm and project developer, has secured power purchase agreements (PPAs) for 34 PWR-20 small modular reactor […]

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Ontario Power Generation (OPG), and Synthos Green Energy (SGE) will collaborate to shape a standard design for GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s (GEH’s) BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR) to speed up the technology’s regulatory acceptance and spur future deployments. The three companies, which have separately begun a regulatory process for potential BWRX-300 […]

Last Energy, a U.S.-based micro modular nuclear technology firm and project developer, has secured power purchase agreements (PPAs) for 34 PWR-20 small modular reactor (SMR) units with four industrial partners in the UK and Poland. The deals, which represent a combined $18.9 in power sales, mark “the largest pipeline of new nuclear power plants under […]

POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   March 16, 2023 EPA Projects Final ‘Good Neighbor Plan’ Will Result in 14 GW of Coal Retirements The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on March 15 issued the final “Good Neighbor Plan,” its latest iteration of the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) that […]

GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s (GEH’s) BWRX-300 design has cleared the first two phases of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission’s (CNSC) Vendor Design Review (VDR) process, marking a first for a small modular reactor (SMR). The Canadian nuclear regulator’s VDR process is an optional pre-licensing mechanism that allows CNSC staff to give applicants feedback early in the […]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on March 15 issued the final “Good Neighbor Plan,” its latest iteration of the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) that could require coal, oil, or gas steam power plants in 22 states to reduce their nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions levels by 50% by 2027 compared to the 2021 ozone season. […]

POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   March 9, 2023 Vistra Expands Nuclear Portfolio in $3.4 Billion Deal for Energy Harbor Texas-based energy company Vistra Corp. is adding to its nuclear power generation capacity. The group on March 6 announced it would buy Ohio-based Energy Harbor Corp. in a […]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing more stringent discharge standards for three types of coal power plant wastewater as part of an update to its Effluent Limitations Guidelines (ELGs). However, the agency also proposed compliance flexibilities, and in a separate direct final rule, moved to extend a deadline to allow more coal plants to […]

Vogtle 3, one of two 1,117-MW Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear reactors Southern Nuclear Operating Co. is building in Georgia, has reached initial criticality. The event marks a pivotal milestone for the Generation III+ pressurized water reactor (PWR)—the first of its kind built in the U.S. “Initial criticality is a key step during the startup testing sequence […]

A 1.2-GW hydrogen-capable combined cycle power project that Entergy Texas has proposed to build in Orange County, Texas, will be spearheaded by an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) consortium led by Mitsubishi Power, Sargent & Lundy, and TIC. Construction of the $1.19 billion Orange County Advanced Power Station (OCAPS), which received the Public Utility Commission […]

POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   March 2, 2023 Novel UAMPS-NuScale SMR Nuclear Project Gains Participant Approval to Proceed to Next Phase Despite a recent steep hike in the project cost estimate for the proposed 462-MWe Carbon-Free Power Project (CFPP), 26 of 27 public power entities have voted […]

Despite a steep hike in the project cost estimate for the proposed 462-MWe Carbon-Free Power Project (CFPP), 26 of 27 public power entities have voted to continue development of the first-of-its-kind six-module NuScale Power VOYGR-6 small modular nuclear (SMR) plant. The 26 project participants—subscribers who could eventually offtake portions of the project’s power—lodged financial commitments […]

X-energy will demonstrate its four-unit 320-MWe Xe-100 advanced nuclear reactor facility under the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP) at a Dow site in the U.S. Gulf Coast region by the end of the decade—not in Washington State as originally planned. The shakeup stems from a joint development agreement (JDA) the nuclear […]

Few power-generating resources present the combination of workhouse abilities that combined heat and power (CHP) does. But, powered predominantly by fossil fuels, will CHP find its unique footing within the

A pioneering horizontal, six-nozzle Pelton turbine developed by Voith Hydro at the 326-GWh Gerlos 1 pumped storage facility in the Ziller Valley, Austria, is setting new benchmarks for the 140-year-old

Pakistan Begins Commercial Operation of 1.3-GW Coal Plant. Pakistan on Feb. 7 began commercial operation of a 1.3-GW coal-fired power plant in the Thar Desert in Sindh province, southern Pakistan. The project

As of December 2022, the Department of Energy (DOE) CHP Installation Database recorded 4,674 combined heat and power (CHP) installations in the U.S., with a combined capacity of 80.4 GW. Installations were all sizes, from large industrial systems that are hundreds of megawatts to small commercial microturbine and fuel cell systems that are tens of […]

POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   February 23, 2023 Biden Administration Announces First Offshore Wind Lease Sales for Gulf of Mexico The Biden administration on Feb. 22 announced the first-ever lease sale for offshore wind power development in the Gulf of Mexico. The Dept. of the Interior, through […]

Ammonia could be a potentially lower-cost alternative fuel for gas turbines in Japan than liquid hydrogen if the full import value stream is considered, suggests a joint study between GE Gas Power and Japanese heavy industry manufacturer IHI Corp. As part of the year-long study, the companies mapped a value stream for hydrogen and ammonia […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) has broken ground on the Generation 3 Particle Pilot Plant (G3P3), a novel concentrating solar power (CSP) facility at Sandia National Laboratory that will use sand-like ceramic particles instead of molten salt to produce and store high-temperature energy. When completed in 2024, the “multi-megawatt” solar thermal pilot project will utilize an existing […]

POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   February 16, 2023 Vogtle Unit 3 In-Service Date Slides to May or June Southern Company said in its annual report filing issued on Feb. 16 that remediating certain equipment and component issues will force the projected in-service date for Plant Vogtle Unit […]