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Offshore Wind
Rapid Progress for Japan’s Offshore Wind Ambitions
Japan’s ambitions to install up to 10 GW of offshore wind power by 2030 have made rapid progress over the past month, driven partly by accelerated action to address a supply and demand mismatch. Weeks after
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Infographics
THE BIG PICTURE: Hydropower’s Climate Risks
While hydropower provides about 16% of global electricity generation today, climate change is predicted to drive various changes in hydrology that could translate into a spectrum of risks for hydropower production. A recent study published in the journal Water estimates 61% of all global hydropower dams will be in basins with very high or extreme […]
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Nuclear
IAEA Embarks on Unprecedented Mission to Inspect Nuclear Power Plant in Ukrainian ‘War Zone’
An expert team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has arrived in Kyiv and is readying to inspect Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) for damage from weeks of shelling. The development marks a significant breakthrough for the agency, which has for the past month pleaded with Russia and Ukraine to allow it to […]
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POWERnews—Aug. 25, 2022
POWER Magazine Jobs White Papers Webinars Events Store August 25, 2022 U.S.’s Natural Gas-Fired Power Plants Set Daily Production Records in July Despite High Fuel Prices The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that electricity generated by natural gas–fired power plants in the lower 48 states reached 6.37 TWh on […]
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Geothermal
CAISO’s First Geothermal Plant in 30 Years Comes Online
The first geothermal power plant built in more than three decades within the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) balancing authority has come online. Mammoth Pacific Geothermal, an Ormat Co. subsidiary, declared the 30-MW Casa Diablo IV (CD4) commercially operational on July 20. CD4 is located on public land two miles east of the Town of […]
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Nuclear
Pilot Advanced Nuclear Fuel Manufacturing Facility Opens
Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp. has opened a pilot fuel manufacturing facility that will produce TRi-structural ISOtropic (TRISO) coated fuel particles and the company’s proprietary fuel for use in its high-temperature gas reactor (HTGR). The Pilot Fuel Manufacturing (PFM) facility, located at the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, is one of the […]
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Nuclear
Germany Mulls Postponing Nuclear Exit
Germany’s government is weighing how the closure of the country’s last three nuclear power plants in December 2022 will affect its grid this upcoming winter as the country scrambles to secure sufficient energy supplies amid a decline in Russian gas deliveries. A formal decision on whether or not to keep Isar 2, Emsland, and Neckarwestheim […]
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Trends
Another Power Giant’s CEO Is Retiring: Entergy’s Leo Denault
Entergy Corp.’s chairman and CEO Leo P. Denault will retire in 2023, ending a decade-long role as the head of the New Orleans–headquartered power generating giant. Denault will be succeeded by Andrew “Drew” Marsh, Entergy’s current executive vice president and chief financial officer. Denault, 62, was appointed Entergy’s chairman and CEO in 2013, taking over […]
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Trends
AEP CEO Nick Akins to Step Down, Julie Sloat Tapped as Next Company Head
American Electric Power’s (AEP’s) long-serving chairman, president, and CEO, Nick Akins, will step down as CEO on Jan. 1, 2023, and has already passed the company’s presidency to Julie A. Sloat, AEP executive vice president, and chief financial officer (CFO). Sloat, 53, will become the power generating company’s CEO in January, making her the first […]
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POWERnews—Aug. 11, 2022
POWER Magazine Jobs White Papers Webinars Events Store August 11, 2022 Illinois EPA Issues Permit for New 1.1-GW Gas-Fired Facility Environmental officials in Illinois have signed off on construction of a 1,100-MW natural gas-fired power plant sited near Springfield, the state capital. EmberClear, an energy company with offices in Houston,… […]
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Nuclear
U.S. Utility Survey Suggests Industry Mulling Additions of 90 GW of New Nuclear
A Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) survey suggests U.S. utility members expect to add up to 90 GW of new nuclear generation by the 2050s, including more than 300 new small modular reactors (SMRs) in the U.S. over the next 25 years. The nuclear industry group’s survey, unveiled on July 29, sought to gather input from […]
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Nuclear
IAEA: Shelling at Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Plant Raises ‘Real Risk’ of Nuclear Disaster
(Updated): The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is growing increasingly alarmed by military action at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant, warning that artillery shelling at the plant site on Aug. 5 underlines a “very real risk of a nuclear disaster.” IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi in a statement on Aug. 6 said new information about […]
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POWERnews—Aug. 4, 2022
POWER Magazine Jobs White Papers Webinars Events Store August 4, 2022 Vogtle 3 Gets NRC’s Approval to Begin Operation in Significant Regulatory Milestone for U.S. Nuclear Industry The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has given Southern Nuclear Operating Company (SNC) the green light to load fuel and begin the operation of […]
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Coal
Group: EPA’s Coordinated Regulatory Assault on Coal Power Could Push Retirements Beyond 86 GW by 2030
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is readying a regulatory sweep targeting more stringent limits on traditional pollutants that could accelerate coal power plant closures. A coal trade group estimates that even without new rules, 86 GW of coal generation is slated to retire by 2030. While the U.S. Supreme Court in June curtailed the EPA’s […]
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Nuclear
Vogtle 3 Gets NRC’s Approval to Begin Operation in Significant Regulatory Milestone for U.S. Nuclear Industry
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has given Southern Nuclear Operating Company (SNC) the green light to load fuel and begin the operation of an AP1000 nuclear reactor at Vogtle Unit 3. The authorization moves Vogtle 3 out of the NRC’s construction reactor oversight program and into the operating reactor oversight process—effectively making Vogtle 3 the first […]
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Infographics
THE BIG PICTURE: Momentum for CCS
While only one commercial power plant equipped with carbon capture and storage (CCS) remains in operation today, the momentum for CCS appears to have picked up dramatically over the past year. According to a database curated by the Global CCS Institute, more than 30 power generation CCS projects are under construction or in various stages […]
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Coal
A Japanese Project Demonstrates a Carbon Neutrality Pathway for Coal Power
Osaki CoolGen Corp.’s complex three-phase demonstration project in Hiroshima Prefecture seeks to achieve highly efficient coal-fired power generation with near-zero emissions by integrating carbon
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History
Southern Company: A History of a Prolific Power Technology Pioneer
Atlanta-based energy giant Southern Co. has rapidly evolved to keep in step with the evolution of power. As part of its corporate growth, the company has notably pioneered technologies that have reshaped
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Coal
Holtec Unveils Green Boiler Designed to Repurpose Coal Plants
Holtec International, an equipment provider that specializes in the design and manufacture of parts for nuclear reactors, in May unveiled a “green boiler” technology that is designed to repurpose existing
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Nuclear
NRC Moves to Issue Final Design Certification for NuScale Nuclear Module
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has indicated it will certify NuScale’s 50-MWe (160 MWth) small modular reactor (SMR) design, marking another definitive milestone for the reactor vendor and its technology prospects. The NRC on July 29 said it directed staff to issue a final rule that certifies the standard SMR design, for which NuScale submitted […]
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POWERnews—July 28, 2022
POWER Magazine Jobs White Papers Webinars Events Store July 28, 2022 Nuclear Power Plants Report Stellar Performance, but Retirements Could Limit Climate Benefits The world’s nuclear power plants generated a total of 2,653 TWh of energy in 2021, up 100 TWh from 2020. It was the third-highest total ever for […]
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Legal & Regulatory
Energy Security, Climate Change Initiatives Endure with Surprise U.S. Senate Deal
The inclusion of an estimated $369 billion in energy security and climate change investments in a July 27–unveiled U.S. Senate budget reconciliation proposal has prompted optimism from a range of energy sectors. Less than two weeks after negotiations on clean energy and climate provisions within the reconciliation package hit an impasse and suggested their demise, […]
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Nuclear
Canada’s National Nuclear Lab Backs Fuel Development for ARC Fast Reactor
Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) and ARC Clean Energy Canada have agreed to collaborate on a two-year joint project to “deliver a technology demonstration for the fuel fabrication process” customized for ARC Canada’s ARC-100, a 100-MWe/286-MWth, sodium-cooled “advanced small modular reactor” (aSMR), the parties announced on July 26. The development marks a pivotal boost for ARC […]
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Nuclear
Kairos Commissions Molten Salt Coolant Production Plant for High-Temperature Nuclear Reactors
Kairos Power, an advanced nuclear reactor developer, has commissioned a molten salt purification plant (MSPP) that will produce “large quantities” of a high-purity coolant for reactors based on its fluoride salt-cooled, high-temperature reactor (KP-FHR) technology. The MSPP, one of the largest of its kind, is located at materials supplier Materion Corp.’s campus in Elmore, Ohio. […]
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Offshore Wind
BOEM’s First Two Offshore Wind Areas in the Gulf of Mexico Could Feed Texas, Louisiana
The Biden administration’s push to accelerate offshore wind deployment formally expanded into the Gulf of Mexico as the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on July 20 unveiled two draft wind energy areas (WEAs) off the coast of Galveston, Texas, and Lake Charles, Louisiana. The sites represent a “small subset” of its original 30-million Gulf […]
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POWERnews—July 21, 2022
POWER Magazine Jobs White Papers Webinars Events Store July 21, 2022 GE's Energy Business Will Have a New Name—Vernova General Electric (GE) is again announcing changes to its corporate structure, with the company on July 18 saying its energy and other businesses will operate under new brand names. H.… Sponsored […]
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Trends
Europe May Need Temporary Coal, Oil Power Increase to Ready for ’Hard’ Winter, IEA Warns
European leaders should minimize gas use in the power sector and temporarily ramp up coal- and oil-fired generation while accelerating low-carbon sources to guard against energy market turmoil that has grown “especially perilous,” the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on July 18. “I’m particularly concerned about the months ahead,” wrote IEA Executive […]
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POWERnews—July 14, 2022
POWER Magazine Jobs White Papers Webinars Events Store July 14, 2022 New 1.1-GW GE-Powered Gas-Fired Plant Enters Service in Michigan A new $1.1-billion natural gas-fired power plant, built by Kiewit and featuring equipment from General Electric (GE), has entered service in southwest Michigan. The Indeck Niles Energy Center in Niles,… […]
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Gas
JERA Readying to Start 1-GW Coal Plant as Japan Scrambles to Secure Power Supplies
Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has called for up to nine nuclear plants to be put into operation to mitigate tight supplies expected this winter. The country could meanwhile resume operation of more than 10 thermal power plants to ensure electricity security this summer, he said. Kishida’s comments at a press conference on July 14 […]
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POWERnews—July 7, 2022
POWER Magazine Jobs White Papers Webinars Events Store July 7, 2022 Nuclear Power on the Upswing, Numerous Projects Take Shape Around the World The International Energy Agency (IEA) says momentum is building for nuclear power in many countries amid soaring fuel prices and growing energy security concerns. “In today’s context […]