POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   July 22, 2021 Years in the Making, GE’s Recent GT26 Gas Turbine Upgrade Exceeds Expectations GE recently announced the completion of the first implementation of its GT26 High-Efficiency (HE) upgrade for the GT26 gas turbine fleet. The work was done at Uniper’s […]

Facing a federal charge for honest services wire fraud in a corruption case related to the billion-dollar nuclear plant bailout in Ohio, FirstEnergy Corp. has agreed to abide by the terms of a three-year deferred prosecution settlement to get the charge dismissed. In court filings on July 22, the Akron, Ohio-based public utility holding company […]

The American Clean Power Association (ACP)—a 2021-launched pan-renewables trade group—may be poised to merge with the U.S. Energy Storage Association (ESA) starting on Jan. 1, 2022. The groups’ intent to pursue a merger, announced on July 22, still requires ESA’s member approval. If successful, it would combine the two trade association’s staff programs and members, […]

Numerous energy facilities were afflicted by the major flooding event that inundated parts of Europe last week, and at least one major power generator has said the damage will likely mount into a “mid-double-digit million euro sum.” The flooding, which was caused by a cold, low-pressure area dubbed “Bernd,” crawled slowly across the continent over two […]

POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   July 15, 2021 Bechtel, GE Will Lead 3.2-GW Gas Power Project Vietnam's first privately-owned power plant has moved a step closer to fruition, as Delta Offshore Energy chose Bechtel to provide front-end engineering design (FEED) services for a proposed 3,200-MW combined…   […]

The inventor of the Allam-Fetvedt Cycle, a novel power cycle that uses supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2), is collaborating with a subsidiary of Singapore-based Sembcorp Industries to potentially develop the UK’s first 300-MW natural gas–fired NET Power station at an existing site at Teesside, northeastern England.  Zero Degrees Whitetail Development Ltd. (ZDW), a subsidiary of North Carolina-based […]

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has unveiled a roadmap outlining crucial improvements designed to enhance grid reliability, taking into account recent legislation, regulatory mandates, and a recent push by the state’s governor for market incentives that will help the grid bulk up on “adequate and reliable” resources, like natural gas, coal, and nuclear […]

The rapidly spreading Bootleg Fire tripped off transmission lines that transport power from the Pacific Northwest to California and other states over the weekend, prompting the California Independent System Operator (ISO) to issue another Flex Alert—the sixth such conservation notification this summer. According to the state’s Incident Information System, the intense fire in Southern-Central Oregon […]

POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   July 8, 2021 Reliability-Wary California Will Procure More Energy Resources to Get It Through Summer Stricken by repeated extreme heat events, the prospect of a worsening drought, incremental resource delays, and the “unforeseen” loss of 300 MW in thermal resources, California has […]

Stricken by repeated extreme heat events, the prospect of a worsening drought, incremental resource delays, and the “unforeseen” loss of 300 MW in thermal resources, California has set out to secure additional energy resources to ensure reliability this summer. Responding to a June 29 letter from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the California […]

AES Corp. will retire four coal-fired power plants—a total 1,097 MW—in Chile “as soon as” January 2025 if supported by grid requirements under an agreement the Virginia-headquartered company signed with the Chilean government on July 6. The coal closures, which are outlined in what AES described as a “voluntary” retirement plan, represent the “single largest […]

Shell Energy has started up a 10-MW polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolyzer facility—one of the largest of its kind in the world—to produce green hydrogen at its Energy and Chemicals Park Rheinland refinery in Wesseling, Germany, and it says plans are underway to expand the plant’s capacity to 100 MW.  The startup of the electrolyzer […]

POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   July 1, 2021 New Jersey Awards 2.7 GW of Offshore Wind Projects New Jersey utility regulators have issued what officials are calling the largest combined award of offshore U.S. wind generation capacity to date. The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU)… […]

Winning POWER’s highest honor is Track 4A, Southern Power Generation’s 1.4-GW natural gas–fired power plant in southern Malaysia that is equipped with the first commercial GE 9HA.02 gas turbines—one of

Hitachi ABB Power Grids, the behemoth joint venture firm officially launched last year when Japanese technology conglomerate Hitachi acquired a majority share in Swiss conglomerate ABB’s Power Grids business, will be known as “Hitachi Energy” starting in October 2021. The name change reflects the firm’s business evolution amid a rapidly evolving energy landscape, the company […]

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) has formally kicked off a pioneering project to partly re-power its 85-MW Abbott cogeneration plant with an Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp. (USNC) Micro Modular Reactor (MMR) Energy System. UIUC on June 28 said it submitted a letter of intent to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to build […]

Utilities across the Pacific Northwest are bracing for exceptional stress on the grid as record-breaking temperatures continue to fester across the region, and at least one utility—Avista Corp.—this week began rolling outages as a measure to alleviate strain on the electric system. Despite pleas to customers to reduce their power consumption, Avista, which supplies power […]

POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   June 24, 2021 GE Hitachi: Nuclear Costs, Innovation Must Be a Pivotal Focus for Carbon-Free Future Nuclear energy’s future as a critical pillar in a decarbonized world will depend on its adaptability to rapid change, but the sector must focus on costs, […]

Michigan’s largest energy provider Consumers Energy will stop using coal as a fuel source for power generation within the next four years—15 years earlier than previously planned. In an updated integrated resource plan (IRP) filed with the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) on June 23, the CMS Energy subsidiary said the effort would lead Michigan’s […]

Nuclear energy’s future as a critical pillar in a decarbonized world will depend on its adaptability to rapid change, but the sector must focus on costs, certainty of outcome, reliability, and experience to cement its role beyond the transition, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) President and CEO Jay Wileman told POWER in an exclusive interview. […]

Duke Energy has kicked off an effort to renew the operating licenses of all its 11 nuclear reactors for 20 more years, starting with Oconee Nuclear Station, its largest nuclear plant. The utility on June 21 filed an application with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a subsequent license renewal (SLR) for the three-unit 2.5-GW […]

A pioneering pilot project in Lulea, Sweden, designed to produce “fossil-free” steel has successfully completed test production of sponge iron, demonstrating it is possible to use hydrogen made with fossil-free power to reduce iron ore, instead of coal and coke. Swedish energy company Vattenfall, mining company LKAB, and steel manufacturer SSAB—companies that are collaborating under […]

Under a newly enacted law, Connecticut will deploy 1 GW of energy storage by December 2030 and pursue interim targets to deploy 300 MW by 2024 and 650 MW by 2027. With the measure, Connecticut joins California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Oregon, and Virginia, states that have so far set targets to procure […]

POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   June 17, 2021 UK Eyes 2025 Operation Date for Fusion Demo Plant as Powerful Magnet Heads to ITER   This week marked two major milestones for fusion energy. On June 15, San Diego-based General Atomics (GA) said it was ready to ship […]

This week marked two major milestones for fusion energy. On June 15, San Diego-based General Atomics (GA) said it was ready to ship the first module of the Central Solenoid—the world’s most powerful magnet—which will become a central component of ITER, the world’s largest experimental fusion facility that is under construction in France. And a […]

Enapter, a German manufacturer of Anion Exchange Membrane (AEM) electrolyzers, is gearing up to deploy an automated production line to scale up electrolyzer manufacturing and ramp up green hydrogen production. The company on June 14 said that after “months of preparation,” it is readying to kick off construction of its “Enapter Campus” in Saerbeck, Germany, […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has given its green light to a license amendment filed by Centrus Energy Corp., approving the nuclear fuel and services firm’s efforts to demonstrate High-Assay, Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) production at its enrichment facility in Piketon, Ohio.  The approval marks a “major milestone” in Centrus’s $115 million, cost-shared contract with the […]

GE will supply a 50-Hz F-class gas turbine that is capable of combusting natural gas and hydrogen-blended fuels at EnergyAustralia’s 316-MW Tallawarra B Power Station in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, in a project that will demonstrate how the coal-rich nation could accelerate its energy transition using gas. GE on June 16 said CLP Group […]

POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   June 10, 2021 Texas Governor Enacts Grid Reliability Measures, Including Power Plant Weatherization, ERCOT Reforms Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has signed into law sweeping bills approved by Texas legislators that will require power generators in the state to weatherize against extreme events […]

In yet another dramatic turn for federal policy governing the “waters of the U.S.” (WOTUS), the Biden administration has announced its intent to revise the definition of WOTUS, citing “destructive impacts” to critical water bodies under a Trump-era rule. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of the Army on June 9 issued a declaration […]