Sonal Patel
Articles By

Sonal Patel

Sonal Patel is a national award-winning multimedia journalist and senior editor at POWER magazine with nearly two decades of experience delivering technically rigorous reporting across power generation, transmission, distribution, policy, and infrastructure worldwide.

  • POWERnews—June 16, 2022

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   June 16, 2022 Australian Energy Crisis Prompts Suspension of National Electricity Market The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) on June 15 indefinitely suspended spot markets in all regions of its National Electricity Market (NEM), citing critical power generation supply shortfalls that it… […]

  • Southern Co. Gas-Fired Demonstration Validates 20% Hydrogen Fuel Blend

    A demonstration project at Georgia Power’s 2.5-GW natural gas–fired Plant McDonough-Atkinson facility has validated a natural gas fuel blend with 20% hydrogen by volume on one of its six Mitsubishi Power advanced-class gas turbines. The test, one of the largest of its kind to date, provided an approximately 7% reduction in carbon emissions compared to […]

  • Australian Energy Crisis Prompts Suspension of National Electricity Market

    The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) on June 15 indefinitely suspended spot markets in all regions of its National Electricity Market (NEM), citing critical power generation supply shortfalls that it said made it “impossible to continue” operations under national electricity rules. AEMO—the independent system operator (ISO) that operates the competitive market serving New South Wales, […]

  • POWERnews—June 9, 2022

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   June 9, 2022 GE Debuts First 7HA.03 Gas Turbines at 1.3-GW Plant in Florida The first two GE 7HA.03 machines—the largest 60-Hz heavy-duty gas turbines in the world and the most efficient in GE’s fleet—are now operational at Florida Power & Light’s […]

  • DOD Picks BWXT Design for ‘Project Pele’ Prototype Nuclear Microreactor 

    The Department of Defense (DOD) has picked BWX Technologies’ (BWXT’s) microreactor design for its “Project Pele” full-scale transportable prototype. The selection closes out a much-watched contest with X-energy for the contract from the DOD’s Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO) to build and operate what could be the nation’s first advanced microreactor.  Lynchburg, Virginia-based BWXT will now […]

  • Massive Utah Hydrogen Storage Project Garners Finalized $504M DOE Loan Guarantee

    The Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) first official loan guarantee for a new clean energy technology project since 2014 will go to the Advanced Clean Energy Storage 1 project in Utah—one of the world’s largest renewable hydrogen energy projects.  The DOE on June 8 announced it closed on the $504.4 million loan guarantee for the first […]

  • GE Debuts First 7HA.03 Gas Turbines at 1.3-GW Plant in Florida

    The first two GE 7HA.03 machines—the largest 60-Hz heavy-duty gas turbines in the world and the most efficient in GE’s fleet—are now operational at Florida Power & Light’s (FPL’s) newly inaugurated 1,260-MW Dania Beach Clean Energy Center (DBEC) in Broward County.  FPL officially declared the Dania Beach Clean Energy Center near Fort Lauderdale, Florida, commercially […]

  • POWERnews—June 2, 2022

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   June 2, 2022 Researchers Say SMRs Will Produce More Waste Than Large Nuclear Reactors, NuScale Disputes Claim Findings from research led by a team that included a former U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) chairperson and experts from Stanford University suggests small modular […]

  • France’s NUWARD SMR Will Be Test Case for European Early Joint Nuclear Regulatory Review

    The French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN), the Czech State Office for Nuclear Safety (SUJB), and Finland’s Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) have picked France’s NUWARD small modular reactor (SMR) design as a test case for an early joint regulatory review for SMRs. The development marks a notable step by European regulators to align practices in a […]

  • California Drought Could Severely Limit Hydropower This Summer

    Drought in California could nearly halve the state’s hydroelectric generation this summer, pushing up wholesale power prices in the West, and forcing the state to rely on natural gas generation and out-of-state imports, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) projects in a new analysis. The EIA suggests in a supplement to its May 2022–released Short-Term Energy Outlook […]

  • Much-Watched Reciprocating Engine Hydrogen Pilot Kicks Off at Michigan Power Plant

    A landmark project to test fuel blends of up to 25% volume of hydrogen mixed with natural gas in reciprocating internal combustion engines (RICEs) has launched at WEC Energy Group’s 56-MW A.J. Mihm power plant in Michigan. If successful, the pilot—one of the first of its kind in the U.S.—could provide key insight into how […]

  • The Vital Link: How HVDC Is Modernizing the Grid

    Significant advances in high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission are in step with rapid changes to energy systems worldwide. Shortly after POWER magazine began publication in 1882, the competitive

  • Nuclear, Hydrogen, CCUS Part of at Least 42 Country Ambitions

    At least 42 nationally determined contributions (NDCs) submitted under the Paris Agreement as of December 2021 indicate governments plan to utilize carbon capture and storage (CCS), hydrogen and ammonia, and

  • POWERnews—May 26, 2022

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   May 26, 2022 Hydrogen, Ammonia–Fired Gas Turbine Development Gets U.S. Government Fast-Track Boost The U.S. government has set out to fast-track technology development enabling hydrogen and ammonia combustion in power-generating gas turbines, furnishing six novel industry-led projects with a combined $24.9 million […]

  • Headway for Potential Deployment of BWRX-300 Nuclear Reactor in Saskatchewan

    The potential deployment of a BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR) in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan gained a boost with a cooperation agreement between GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s (GEH’s) Canadian subsidiary GEH SMR Technologies Canada and the Saskatchewan Industrial and Mining Supplier’s Association (SIMSA). GEH SMR Canada on May 26 said a memorandum of understanding […]

  • Hydrogen, Ammonia–Fired Gas Turbine Development Gets U.S. Government Fast-Track Boost

    The U.S. government has set out to fast-track technology development enabling hydrogen and ammonia combustion in power-generating gas turbines, furnishing six novel industry-led projects with a combined $24.9 million on May 19. Projects include development of hydrogen-ready combustion technologies for F-class retrofits, more efficient hydrogen and ammonia burners, and a potential demonstration of a rotating […]

  • POWERnews-May 19, 2022

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   May 19, 2022 NERC Warns of Mounting Reliability Risks, Urges Preparation for Challenging Summer An unprecedented array of risks—ranging from capacity shortfalls, extreme weather, extended drought, supply chain issues, cybersecurity, solar PV tripping, fuel constraints, to wildfires—could imperil the reliability of nearly […]

  • NERC Warns of Mounting Reliability Risks, Urges Preparation for Challenging Summer

    An unprecedented array of risks—ranging from capacity shortfalls, extreme weather, extended drought, supply chain issues, cybersecurity, solar PV tripping, fuel constraints, to wildfires—could imperil the reliability of nearly every North American bulk power system (BPS) region west of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) this summer, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) warned in […]

  • SRP Warns Arizona Regulator Reliability at Risk by 2024 Without Gas Plant Expansion

    Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District (SRP) is seeking a rehearing and reconsideration of the Arizona Corporation Commission’s (ACC’s) denial of a major gas power plant expansion, which the public power utility has stressed will be crucial for near-term system reliability and long-term renewable integration.  In a filing on May 16, SRP urged […]

  • DOE’s Decision to Build Versatile Test Reactor Coming Soon

    (Updated—May 19, 2022): The Department of Energy (DOE) is poised to decide whether it will build the 300-MWth Versatile Test Reactor (VTR), a fast neutron national user facility that could provide the nuclear industry with a much-needed high-performance testing capability for advanced reactors and existing commercial reactors. The DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) on […]

  • POWERnews—May 12, 2022

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   May 12, 2022 Vogtle Nuclear Expansion Price Tag Tops $30 Billion An updated financial report from one of the owners of the Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion in Georgia shows the cost to build two new reactors has now topped $30 billion,… Sponsored […]

  • California, Again Facing Summer Supply Vulnerabilities, Eyes 20-GW Offshore Wind Goal

    The California Energy Commission (CEC) is mulling a preliminary planning goal for 3 GW of offshore wind by 2030 and potentially expanding it to 10 GW to 15 GW by 2045. If finalized, California’s offshore wind goals would be the most ambitious in the U.S., surpassing even New York’s, which calls for 9 GW by […]

  • DOE Launches $2.5B Fund to Upgrade and Build New Transmission Lines

    The Biden administration has launched efforts to shape the $2.5 billion Transmission Facilitation Program (TFP), a key Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) initiative dedicated to building out critical new transmission lines and related facilities across the country. The Department of Energy’s Grid Deployment Office on May 10 issued a joint notice of information (NOI) […]

  • POWERnews—May 5, 2022

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   May 5, 2022 Siemens Energy Sells 100th H-Class Gas Turbine—Fleet Exceeds 2.5 Million Operating Hours In late March, Siemens Energy announced separate agreements with Guangdong Energy Group Co. Ltd. and Shenzhen Energy Group Co. Ltd., in which the gas turbine giant will […]

  • ERCOT, MISO Warn of Potential Power Supply Shortfalls

    (Updated—May 6, 2022) The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) over the past week separately expressed concerns about power supply uncertainties in the face of upcoming warmer-than-normal temperatures. MISO raised an alarm on April 28 when it said that it projects “insufficient firm resources” to cover the summer […]

  • Telenor, Aker, and Cognite establish software security company

    FORNEBU, Norway – May 2, 2022 – Aker, via Aker Capital (“Aker”), Cognite, and Telenor are establishing a software security company to serve industry and operational technology. The company, called Omny, will fill a gap in the cybersecurity market where there is a great unmet need for software that prevents cyber attacks and secures businesses’ […]

  • History of Power: Duke Energy’s Century-Old Legacy

    Duke Energy, one of the largest energy companies in the world, grew out of a system of lakes and dams along the Catawba River to generate power for the Piedmont Carolinas. While the company has sustained a

  • Dramatic Innovation-Driven Ramp Up of Floating Offshore Wind Anticipated by 2030

    A drumbeat of floating offshore wind–related developments this year suggests the pipeline for the long-nascent wind technology sub-sector may be finally beginning to grow. While floating wind’s current

  • UK Leans Heavily on Nuclear in Bold New Energy Strategy

    A long-awaited energy strategy published by the UK government on April 6 lays out bold commitments that tackle Great Britain’s multi-pronged challenges, including achieving net-zero carbon emissions while

  • INL Mulling Building New Nuclear Reactor to Energize Net-Zero Campus Microgrid

    Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is exploring designing, building, and operating an onsite nuclear reactor resource as part of a broader effort to achieve net-zero emissions at its sprawling campus in Idaho Falls by 2031. Battelle Energy Alliance (BEA), an entity that manages and operates the Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratory, on April 29 launched […]