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.

  • Industry’s First Complete Accident-Tolerant Nuclear Assembly in Operation at Calvert Cliffs

    The first complete accident-tolerant fuel (ATF) assembly is now operational at Exelon’s Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant Unit 2 in Maryland, bringing an industry-led quest to accelerate commercialization of the new nuclear technology closer to fruition. Inserted during the plant’s recent spring refueling outage, the lead fuel assembly (LFA) features a Framatome PROtect fuel design […]

  • Dominion Estimates $10B Installation Cost for 2.6-GW Virginia Offshore Wind Farm

    Dominion Energy is revving up its efforts to build the 2.6-GW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) commercial project before 2027 to meet state requirements, it said in a detailed filing for the $9.8 billion project submitted to the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) on Nov. 5.  CVOW, which will be sited on a federal lease […]

  • POWERnews—Nov. 4. 2021

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   November 4, 2021 Indonesia, Vietnam, Poland, S. Korea, Ukraine Commit to Phasing Out Coal Power At least 23 nations, including five notable coal-dependent countries—Indonesia, Vietnam, Poland, South Korea, and Ukraine—made new commitments to phase out unbated coal power at the COP26 conference […]

  • Indonesia, Vietnam, Poland, S. Korea, Ukraine Commit to Phasing Out Coal Power

    At least 23 nations, including five notable coal-dependent countries—Indonesia, Vietnam, Poland, South Korea, and Ukraine—made new commitments during the COP26 conference in Scotland on Nov. 4 to phase out unabated coal power. In total, 47 countries supported the “Global Coal to Clean Power Transition Statement” at the international climate talks underway in Glasgow. In the […]

  • India Sets Net-Zero Goal for 2070, Calls for $1T in Firm Climate Finance Commitments

    India, a nation heavily reliant on coal power, will set out to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2070, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged in a surprise declaration at the ongoing COP 26 climate summit on Nov. 1. While India’s central government has yet to issue a detailed plan to achieve the necessary carbon […]

  • How an AP1000 Plant Is Changing the Nuclear Power Paradigm Through District Heating, Desalination

    Already remarkable for being the world’s second Westinghouse AP1000 reactor to be brought online, Shandong Nuclear Power Co.’s Haiyang nuclear power plant is pioneering two significant aspects of nuclear

  • A New Frontier: Quantum Computing in the Power Sector

    Digitalization, driven by big data, the industrial internet of things (IIOT), and even artificial intelligence (AI), has made its mark on the power industry, allowing for greater transparency into operations

  • POWERnews—Oct. 28, 2021

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   October 28, 2021 AEP Will Shed Kentucky Operations in $2.9B Sale  American Electric Power (AEP) is shedding its Kentucky-based assets—including its longstanding regulated utility Kentucky Power and transmission business AEP Kentucky Transco—to better position itself to invest in projects that will… Carbon […]

  • Siemens Energy Pulls Out of Global Hydropower Joint Venture

    In another effort to streamline its business, Siemens Energy has moved to relinquish a 35% stake in Voith Hydro, a hydropower-focused joint venture it had long held with German technology company Voith Group. Munich-headquartered Siemens Energy and Heidenheim-headquartered Voith Group announced in separate releases on Oct. 22 that they had reached a mutual agreement to […]

  • AEP Will Shed Kentucky Operations in $2.9B Sale 

    American Electric Power (AEP) is shedding its Kentucky-based assets—including its longstanding regulated utility Kentucky Power and transmission business AEP Kentucky Transco—to better position itself to invest in projects that will support a resilient, cleaner energy system. The Columbus, Ohio, headquartered company on Oct. 26 announced it has entered into an agreement for the sale of […]

  • The POWER Interview: Pioneering STEP Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Demonstration Readying for 2022 Commissioning

    Construction of the 10-MWe Supercritical Transformational Electric Power (STEP) pilot plant, a public-private collaboration to demonstrate and test supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) power generating technology, is making marked progress toward a mid-2022 startup date.  Attendees from Experience POWER, HydrogeNext, and the Distributed Energy Conference, three of POWER’s annual in-person events, which took place last week in […]

  • POWERnews—Oct. 22, 2021

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   October 22, 2021 Texas-Based Utility Teams Up with Mitsubishi Power to Explore Carbon Reduction Opportunities El Paso Electric (EPE) and Mitsubishi Power have signed a joint development agreement (JDA) “creating a collaboration framework to jointly develop projects that will enable EPE to […]

  • DOE Envisions Future Grid’s Transformation into a ‘Network’

    The grid must accommodate more inverter-based generation and adequately handle the bi-directional flow of electricity, but it must also apply alternative grid configurations and coordinate planning and operations across multiple participants and jurisdictions. That’s the vision Michael Pesin, deputy assistant secretary for the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Advanced Grid Research and Development division, outlined in […]

  • From POWER’s New Editors’ Studio: Business Trends Driving Opportunities, Challenges

    At the Experience POWER conference, held in San Antonio, Texas, this week, POWER’s editorial team conducted several live interviews with industry leaders at its new Editors’ Studio. Here’s a recap of what you might have missed.  Executive Editor Aaron Larson talked to Paul Browning, president and CEO of Mitsubishi Power Americas (a company that sponsored the new video offering), […]

  • POWERnews—Oct. 14, 2021

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   October 14, 2021 West Virginia PSC Approves Continued Operation of Three AEP Coal Power Plants Through 2040 The Public Service Commission of West Virginia (PSC) approved Appalachian Power Co. (APCo) and Wheeling Power Co.’s (WPCo’s) request to keep the 2,930-MW Amos, 1,320-MW […]

  • Power-to-Power Hydrogen Demonstration Involving Largest U.S. Nuclear Plant Gets Federal Funding

    Palo Verde Generating Station, a 4-GW nuclear power plant in Arizona, is gearing up to produce hydrogen from a low-temperature electrolysis (LTE) system, and that hydrogen will then be used to fuel a natural gas–fired power plant owned by Arizona Public Service (APS). The innovative power-to-power demonstration led by PNW Hydrogen is set to receive […]

  • POWERnews—Oct. 7, 2021

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   October 7, 2021 GE Gas Turbines Installed to Support California Power Supply Four General Electric (GE) gas turbines have been deployed in California as part of the follow-up to Gov. Gavin Newsom's emergency order to safeguard the state's power grid. GE recently… […]

  • Pioneering 10-MW Baseload Hydrogen Power Plant Breaks Ground in French Guiana

    Hydrogene de France (HDF) Energy, an independent power producer and fuel cell manufacturer, has kicked off construction of one of the world’s first multi-megawatt baseload hydrogen power plants. The company says the project in French Guiana, which is being “duplicated” in about 20 countries, will provide 128 MWh of green hydrogen storage. HDF Energy’s $200 […]

  • India’s ‘Unprecedented’ Coal Shortages Paralyzing Power Generation

    Stricken by a surge in global coal prices and freight costs, several Indian coal power plants are fielding a critical coal supply shortage that has forced some to curtail power. Fearing a power crisis, the Ministry of Power recently directed hydropower generators to defer scheduled maintenance through October. The Ministry of Coal, meanwhile, this week […]

  • Ingenuity Boosts Efficiency at Colombian Gas Power Plant

    The 1993-built 610-MW Prime Termoflores gas plant in Barranquilla, Colombia, set out to boost its efficiency and ramp up performance to provide reliable backup to the region’s volatile, hydro-reliant power

  • Gas Turbine Technology Advances That Could Boost Their Future Relevance

    Gas turbines have grown into a hallmark of the modern power system for their high efficiency, reliability, operational flexibility, fuel flexibility, and low-emission power options. But if gas turbines are to

  • The BIG PICTURE: Battery Storage Expansion

    The Energy Information Administration’s (EIA’s) June 2021 electric generator inventory suggests 260 battery energy storage systems (BESSs) are now operational in the U.S., representing a total nameplate capacity of 2,673 MW. Another 12,914 MW from 212 BESS projects are in various stages of planning or construction, with more than 10 GW readying to begin operations […]

  • POWERnews—Sept. 30, 2021

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   September 30, 2021 Three Coal-Heavy Utilities Team Up on New Gas-Fired Power Plant Bismarck, North Dakota-based Basin Electric Power Cooperative will join Dairyland Power Cooperative and ALLETE Inc. as co-owners of the planned Nemadji Trail Energy Center (NTEC), a combined cycle natural […]

  • China Grappling with Another Crippling Power Crunch 

    China’s tightening coal supplies, more stringent energy intensity and environmental restrictions, and soaring industrial power demand have triggered another widespread power crisis. Blackouts and brownouts have reportedly afflicted numerous provincial jurisdictions across the economic powerhouse this week, most prominently in Guangdong in the south, and Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning in the northeast, according to state-run […]

  • Terrestrial Energy Launches 390-MW Molten Salt Nuclear Reactor Design

    Terrestrial Energy has unveiled an upgraded 390-MWe design of its Integral Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR) power plant to meet utility requirements and boost its cost-competitiveness as part of an effort to ramp up its candidacy for deployment at Ontario Power Generation’s (OPG’s) Darlington Nuclear Generating Station. This week, the Canadian firm also announced a series […]

  • POWERnews—Sept. 23, 2021

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   September 23, 2021 Nuclear Is the Bastion of Pennsylvania’s Newest Climate Action Plan Pennsylvania, a major power producer that relied on fossil fuels for 66% of its net power generation in June, plans to maintain its nuclear generation at current levels until […]

  • Nuclear Is the Bastion of Pennsylvania’s Newest Climate Action Plan

    Pennsylvania, a major power producer that relied on fossil fuels for 66% of its net power generation in June, plans to maintain its nuclear generation at current levels until it can ramp up other carbon-free supplies to 100% by 2050, the state’s Sept. 22–released 2021 Climate Action Plan suggests.  The measures are part of a […]

  • On Heels of $2.3B Financial Close, Vineyard Wind Joint Venture Partners Announce Restructuring

    Partners developing the 800-MW Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind farm have announced they will swap assets jointly owned by their 50/50 Vineyard Wind joint venture to allow each party to focus on its separate expansion within the burgeoning U.S. offshore wind industry once the 800-MW Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind farm is operational. The Vineyard […]

  • POWERnews—Sept. 16, 2021

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   September 16, 2021 ‘What’s Next’ for Siemens Energy? Everyone in the power industry is familiar with Siemens Energy. Its technology is behind about one-sixth of the world’s power generation, and even a larger portion than that in the… Sponsored Content Combined Cycle […]

  • Nuclear Advisory Council Deems Commissioning of Holtec SMR-160 by 2030 a ‘Credible Target’

    Holtec International’s ambitions to install its first set of SMR-160 small modular reactor nuclear plants in the U.S. by 2030 may be a “credible target,” the company’s advisory council comprising 20 utility and nuclear industry leaders has reportedly determined.  The Holtec Advisory Council, a body that provides Holtec with “input on the technical and commercial merits […]