Sonal Patel
Articles By

Sonal Patel

  • Major Wind Power Producer Sentenced in Wind Farm Eagle Deaths

    A Wyoming court on April 5 sentenced NextEra Energy Resources affiliate ESI Energy to five years of probation and fined the wind power developer more than $8 million for three counts of violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA). The violations include alleged failures to apply for “eagle take permits” (ETPs) at facilities in Wyoming […]

  • SCOTUS Reinstates Trump-Era Environmental Certification Rule

    The U.S. Supreme Court on April 6 reinstated a Trump-era environmental rule that limited state and tribal roles in enforcing a section of the Clean Water Act (CWA) related to project certification. The order is a temporary triumph for eight states and three energy trade associations, including the National Hydropower Association (NHA). The high court’s […]

  • Gas Power Outlook: Volatility and Viability

    Natural gas generation’s future hinges on a precarious and exceptionally volatile set of issues that the conflict in Ukraine intensified. Experts from the full natural gas chain shed light on how that

  • POWERnews—March 31, 2022

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   March 31, 2022 Largest CCGT Plant in Southeast Asia Now Fully Operational The third unit of what is now the largest combined cycle gas turbine power plant in Southeast Asia has entered commercial operation, according to officials with Edra Energy Sdn Bhd,… […]

  • GTI Advancing Next-Generation Hydrogen Energy Storage Technology

    Funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will allow research organization GTI and its partners to proceed to the next phase of a project exploring how stored hydrogen can be used for load-following to improve the capacity factor of a natural gas combined cycle power plant. The project is exploring a system that could […]

  • U.S. Agrees to Ramp Up LNG Exports to Europe, Actively Reduce Natural Gas Demand

    The Biden administration and the European Commission launched a multi-pronged effort that will dramatically ramp up U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to the European Union (EU) but also reduce overall natural gas demand in the U.S. and EU through “accelerated market deployment” of clean energy measures. The measures are part of strategic energy cooperation […]

  • SEC’s Landmark Climate Disclosure Rule Weighing on Power Sector

    Investor-owned electric companies are thoroughly reviewing the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) broad new proposed rule that requires registrants to disclose climate-related risks and governance, and plan to remain engaged with the regulatory agency as the rulemaking continues. The proposed rule, which the SEC approved 3–1 on March 21, has drawn intense interest from the […]

  • POWERnews—March 24, 2022

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   March 24, 2022 New Jersey’s Last Two Coal Power Plants to Close within Months The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) approved a petition filed by Atlantic City Electric Co. (ACE) that modifies power purchase agreements (PPAs) and power sales agreements […]

  • POWERnews—March 10, 2022

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   March 10, 2022 Pressure on U.S. Nuclear Power Could Mount if Sanctions Imposed on Russian Uranium Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and ensuing sanctions may have a limited immediate impact on the U.S. nuclear industry, despite its reliance on uranium imports. Potential implications […]

  • Pressure on U.S. Nuclear Power Could Mount if Sanctions Imposed on Russian Uranium

    Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and ensuing sanctions may have a limited immediate impact on the U.S. nuclear industry, despite its reliance on uranium imports. Potential implications over the longer term, however, require urgent action, officials from the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) said. NEI CEO and President Maria Korsnick told reporters at the ongoing CERAWeek by […]

  • CPS Energy Exploring Novel Geomechanical Pumped Storage Technology

    Texas-based CPS Energy, the largest municipally owned electric and natural gas company in the U.S., has entered into a 15-year commercial agreement to explore installing up to 15 MW of geomechanical pumped storage (GPS). The agreement will kick off with a pioneering 1-MW project that will pump water into drilled wells and store it under […]

  • Ban on Russian Energy Imports Gains Bipartisan, Bicameral Steam in Congress

    Eighteen bipartisan U.S. Senators are backing a bill that would direct the president to declare a national emergency and prohibit imports of Russian energy commodities, including crude oil, petroleum products, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and coal. While the measure does not include Russian uranium, a senior Department of Energy official said addressing U.S. reliance on […]

  • POWERnews—March 3, 2022

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   March 3, 2022 Conflict in Ukraine Threatens Nuclear Power Plants and Radioactive Waste Disposal Facilities; Operations Continue In its most recent update on the status of Ukrainian nuclear power plants (NPPs), issued to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on March 2, […]

  • NRC Dramatically Reconsiders SLR Approvals, Sets New Conditions for Nuclear Life Extensions

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission  (NRC) in a dramatic reversal on Feb. 24 threw out a key environmental review that staff applied to subsequent license renewal (SLR) approvals for units at Turkey Point and Peach Bottom nuclear plants in 2019 and 2020, deeming their applications “incomplete.” In a series of orders, the federal regulatory agency’s three […]

  • Xcel Energy Considering Nuclear Operator Role at Idaho NuScale SMR Plant

    Xcel Energy is exploring a role as operator of the 462-MWe Carbon-Free Power Project (CFPP), potentially becoming a key member of the first-of-its-kind small modular reactor (SMR) power plant that is under development at an Idaho National Laboratory (INL) site in Idaho Falls. The development is another sizable step for the six-module NuScale Power VOYGR project. […]

  • New Realms for Gas Power Technology

    Gas power technology developers are exploring new roles and applications to ensure gas power will remain relevant as power markets embrace decarbonization. At the end of 2020, about 1,600 GW of gas turbines

  • Sweden’s Government Approves Construction of Spent Nuclear Fuel Repository 

    Sweden’s government in late January gave radioactive waste management company Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB (SKB) the green light to proceed with a deep geological repository (DGR) for spent nuclear fuel (SNF) at a site near Vattenfall’s 3.2-GW Forsmark nuclear power plant. The milestone, which wraps up a planning process that has taken more than 40 years, makes Sweden only the second country, after Finland, to take active steps on building a permanent SNF repository.

  • SCOTUS Hears Arguments on EPA’s Purview Over Power Plant GHG Emissions

    The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing arguments on a landmark case that could determine whether the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has the authority to broadly interpret the Clean Air Act (CAA) to establish carbon emission standards for coal, oil, and gas-fired power plants. Arguments in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency (No. 20-1530) presented to […]

  • POWERnews—Feb. 24, 2022

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   February 24, 2022 Ethiopia Produces First Power at GERD Mega-Dam Ethiopia began delivering power from a 375-MW turbine at its flagship 5.15-GW Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on Feb. 20, marking a significant milestone for the project that could become… Solar Developer […]

  • The ‘Weakest Link’ in Supply Chain Security

    The energy transition will bring with it a new generation of cybersecurity challenges for the power sector. While information-sharing has been valuable, strategies to address issues related to vendor security, cyber talent, and lagging investment will also be critical, a former utility supply chain executive who led the development of an industry-wide cybersecurity risk exchange […]

  • Ethiopia Produces First Power at GERD Mega-Dam

    Ethiopia began delivering power from a 375-MW turbine at its flagship 5.15-GW Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on Feb. 20, marking a significant milestone for the project that could become Africa’s largest hydropower producer. Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed inaugurated the project in a celebration broadcast widely in the East African nation on Sunday. Officials […]

  • POWERnews—Feb. 17, 2022

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   February 17, 2022 GE-Led Carbon Capture Project at Southern Company Site Gets DOE Funding A GE Gas Power front-end engineering design (FEED) study will receive $5,771,670 in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon […]

  • Large-Scale Green Hydrogen Infrastructure System Unveiled for California

    SoCalGas, North America’s largest gas distribution utility, has unveiled the Angeles Link, a proposed green hydrogen energy infrastructure system for Southern California that it says could be the largest of its kind in the nation. The Angeles Link proposes to utilize between 25 GW and 35 GW of curtailed or new solar, wind, or battery […]

  • Duke Energy Eyeing Coal Phaseout by 2035

    Duke Energy, the nation’s largest power producer, will dramatically slash coal generation’s share from the current 22% of total generation to 5% by 2030 and achieve a full phaseout of unabated coal by 2035. The company instead expects to deploy more than $130 billion over the next decade—$63 billion of which it will spend over […]

  • Poland Secures NuScale SMR as Urgency for Nuclear Energy Ramps Up Across Central, Eastern Europe

    NuScale Power has signed a definitive commercial agreement with mining and processing firm KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. to deploy a VOYGR power plant of up to 924 MWe as early as 2029 to support KGHM’s copper and silver production in Poland. Under an “early works agreement” signed in a ceremony on Feb. 14 in the […]

  • TVA Unveils Major New Nuclear Program, First SMR at Clinch River Site

    The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) will invest in a major program that will explore the construction of multiple advanced nuclear reactors—starting with a GE-Hitachi BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR) at its Clinch River site in Tennessee. TVA Board members during a meeting on Feb. 10 unanimously approved TVA’s “New Nuclear Program,” a broad new initiative […]

  • POWERnews—Feb. 10, 2022

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   February 10, 2022 TVA Unveils Major New Nuclear Program, First SMR at Clinch River Site The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) will invest in a major program that will explore the construction of multiple advanced nuclear reactors—starting with a GE-Hitachi BWRX-300 small modular […]

  • GE Confirms Sale of Lucrative Nuclear Steam Turbine Segment to EDF 

    GE has signed an exclusive agreement with EDF Group, an entity majority held by the French government, to sell the equipment segment and some services that make up Steam Power’s nuclear-serving steam turbine business—part of a portfolio that GE adopted during its 2015 merger with French equipment giant Alstom. The American technology conglomerate confirmed it signed […]

  • Winter Freeze Testing Texas Power Grid Reforms

    Parts of Texas have suffered localized, distribution-level power outages as an Arctic outbreak sent temperatures plummeting across the state, but its heavily scrutinized grid is largely prepared to weather the storm, state entities said. Frigid temperatures stemming from a large dome of Arctic high pressure are sending temperatures into the single digits and below zero […]

  • POWERnews—Feb. 3, 2022

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   February 3, 2022 Georgia Power Plans to Retire All Coal Units by 2035 Georgia Power plans to shutter most of its coal fleet by 2028 and completely exit coal-fired power by 2035, according to the utility’s latest integrated resource plan (IRP) filed […]