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—Nov. 5, 2020

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   November 5, 2020 Black & Veatch: No More Coal Construction Black & Veatch is ending the company’s participation in coal-based power market design and construction, saying it will allow the company to focus on clean energy technologies. The engineering and…   2020 […]

  • 2020 Voters Cement Nevada’s 50% RPS, Shakeup of Energy Oversight in New Mexico

    Though vote-counting continued in the tight presidential race on Nov. 5, voters in Nevada and New Mexico appear to have made headway on crucial energy initiatives on the ballot.  Nevada Approves a 50% by 2030 RPS  In Nevada, the presidential race remained closely contested on Thursday morning with pundits predicting that a victory there for […]

  • Renewables Group Lambasts Labor Department’s ‘Anti-ESG’ Rule

    A pan-renewables organization has chastised the Department of Labor (DOL) for fast-tracking a new rule it has said is a “transparent attempt to slow the growth” of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing.  According to the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE)—a group that represents a wide range of renewables stakeholders including some of the […]

  • Darlington’s First Refurbishment: A Model for Nuclear Construction

    The successful refurbishment of Unit 2 at the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station marked a pivotal milestone for Ontario Power Generation’s 10-year, C$12.8 billion overhaul of the plant’s four CANDU

  • How the Clean Energy Transition Is Intensifying the Energy-Water Nexus

    Decarbonization is posing a fundamental dilemma that could have widespread serious implications for the power sector: the clean energy transition, if not properly managed, could increase water stress, or be

  • Australia Launches Gas Strategy to Revitalize Power Sector

    In a bid to spur economic activity and thwart a COVID-19–related downturn, Australia’s government in September set out a strategy to reset domestic power and gas priorities to tamp down power prices and

  • JERA Planning to Shift Coal Power Fleet to 100% Ammonia

    Japanese firm JERA, a joint venture between TEPCO and Chubu Electric, on Oct. 13 issued a roadmap to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2050. The move is notable for the company whose business includes a sizable

  • POWERnews—Oct. 29, 2020

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   October 29, 2020 Shakeup for 720-MW Nuclear SMR Project as More Cities Withdraw Participation At least eight cities have now dropped shares in the Carbon Free Power Project (CFPP), a 720-MWe NuScale Power small modular reactor (SMR) project proposed by Utah Associated […]

  • Shakeup for 720-MW Nuclear SMR Project as More Cities Withdraw Participation

    At least eight cities have now dropped shares in the Carbon Free Power Project (CFPP), a 720-MWe NuScale Power small modular reactor (SMR) project proposed by Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS). Despite the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Oct.16–announced $1.4 billion, 10-year award to fund one-time costs for the first-of-a-kind project, four Utah cities withdrew […]

  • Japan’s Carbon-Neutrality Pledge a Fundamental Shift on Coal Power

    Japan, an island nation that is currently heavily reliant on coal and gas power, will be carbon neutral in 2050, the country’s newly appointed prime minister Yoshihide Suga pledged in an Oct. 26 speech.   The announcement by Suga in his first major policy speech to the national Diet was not unexpected for the nation […]

  • POWERnews—Oct. 22, 2020

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   October 22, 2020 AECOM Sells Power Business as Part of Restructuring AECOM has announced the closing of the sale of its Power construction business to affiliates of CriticalPoint Capital LLC. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The Los Angeles, California-based… Commercial […]

  • New York Reforms Clean Energy Standard

    An expansion of New York’s Clean Energy Standard (CES) approved by the state’s Public Service Commission (PSC) adopts several measures that will help the state meet its new, more ambitious 70%-by-2030 renewable power target. In an Oct. 15 order, the PSC adopted several changes proposed by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority […]

  • Commercial NuScale SMR in Sight as UAMPS Secures $1.4B for Plant

    Buoyed by two major developments last week for prospective customers, NuScale Power is maintaining “strong program momentum” toward commercialization of its small modular reactor (SMR) technology, the company told POWER.  On Oct. 16, the Department of Energy (DOE) approved a $1.355 billion award to fund the Carbon Free Power Project (CFPP), a potential 720-MWe NuScale […]

  • POWERnews—Oct. 15, 2020

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   October 15, 2020 Natrium, Xe-100 Are DOE's Picks for Advanced Nuclear Reactor Demonstrations TerraPower and X-energy will each receive $80 million in initial federal funding under the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP) to build their two distinct advanced […]

  • Duke Energy Pursuing Sweeping Changes to Generation Mix

    Doubling down on its net-zero efforts, Duke Energy will retire all coal-only units in the Carolinas, multiply its renewable portfolio, and cease emitting methane in its natural gas business by 2030.  The company made the announcements on Oct. 12 at its first environmental, social and governance (ESG) day, a virtual event geared toward its investors. […]

  • Natrium, Xe-100 Are DOE’s Picks for Advanced Nuclear Reactor Demonstrations

    TerraPower and X-energy will each receive $80 million in initial federal funding under the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP) to build their two distinct advanced nuclear reactors and begin operating them within seven years.  Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette made the much-awaited announcement about the first ARDP awards in a brief Twitter […]

  • GE Secures First HA-Class Hydrogen Gas Power Deal: Long Ridge Energy Terminal

    Long Ridge Energy Terminal will transition a 485-MW combined cycle power plant that is under construction within its sprawling multimodal facility on the Ohio and West Virginia border with the capacity to run on a hydrogen blend when it begins operation in 2021, and eventually transition to 100% green hydrogen within a decade. Long Ridge, […]

  • West Virginia Natural Gas Power Project Shelved

    A developer has shelved a 920-MW natural gas-fired power plant planned for Brooke County, West Virginia, citing “changing conditions in the energy and financial markets” and alleged coal industry interference.  Energy Solutions Consortium (ESC), a single purpose entity engaged in developing natural gas-fired power plants in West Virginia and Pennsylvania that has been active since […]

  • POWERnews—Oct. 8, 2020

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   October 8, 2020 DOE Supports CCUS Retrofit for San Juan Coal Plant The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has released a report that says retrofitting the coal-fired San Juan Generating Station (SJGS) in New Mexico with carbon capture technology would bring more… […]

  • DOE Has Chosen Advanced Nuclear Reactor Demonstration Winners

    The Department of Energy (DOE) on Oct. 7 notified Congress that it has chosen recipients for its Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP) and will make its selections public “next week.” The ARDP program, which the DOE officially launched on May 14, will essentially focus DOE and non-federal resources (through cost-shared agreements with industry) to enable […]

  • In Boost to Canada’s Nuclear Roadmap, OPG Advances Work with Three SMR Developers

    Ontario Power Generation (OPG) took another step to bolster plans to deploy small modular reactors (SMRs) in Ontario, announcing it is advancing engineering and design work with three major advanced nuclear reactor developers: GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH), Terrestrial Energy, and X-energy. The announcement on Oct. 6 stems from a “due diligence” process OPG held […]

  • Mixed Reactions on Looming DOE NOPR for Bulk Power System Security

    The Department of Energy (DOE) will issue a notice of proposed rule-making (NOPR) to implement President Trump’s broad bulk power system (BPS) security executive order (EO) “later this fall,” a DOE official confirmed to POWER on Oct. 5. Though the NOPR is delayed beyond the 150-day timeframe set by the EO, various BPS stakeholders are […]

  • POWERnews—Oct. 1, 2020

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   October 1, 2020 Vistra Shuttering More Coal, Adding Solar and Storage Vistra has announced seven new renewable energy projects that will add about 1,000 MW of solar and energy storage to the company’s generation fleet. The company also said it would… Despite […]

  • Global Offshore Wind Capacity Slated to Multiply Eight-Fold by 2030

    Offshore wind capacity is slated to surge to more than 234 GW by 2030—a remarkable boost when compared to the current 29.1 GW that was installed worldwide at the end of 2019, the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) said in an August-released analysis of the sector. In the second edition of its Global Offshore Wind […]

  • THE BIG PICTURE [Infographic]: The LNG Trade Shakeup

    In 2019, global liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports reached 482 billion cubic meters, up 13% from 2018, according to BloombergNEF figures cited in the International Gas Union’s August–released Global Gas Report 2020. Last year, the world also saw a definitive shakeup in rankings of importers and exporters. Compared to 2018, LNG imports by Japan and […]

  • A Holistic Model for Industrial Gas Power: Dearborn Central Energy Plant

    DTE’s new Central Energy Plant will energize a flexible and high-tech revamp of Ford Motor Co.’s Research and Engineering campus in Dearborn, Michigan. Because it goes beyond the envelope of modern

  • The 470-MW Floating Powership That Buoyed Ghana

    Karpowership’s 470-MW floating power plant deployed at two locations in Ghana demonstrated how robust an impact the innovative “plug-and-play” electricity delivery model can have on a power-hungry country’s economy and society.

  • A High Energy Potential: Power-to-Heat

    Though a lesser discussed power-to-x solution, power-to-heat technologies are already mature, commercially available, and market competitive. And they are already making an impact on the power sector. Much

  • Swedish Companies Jointly Explore Hydrogen-Based Production of Steel

    Swedish energy company Vattenfall, mining company LKAB, and steel manufacturer SSAB in September started the world’s first pilot plant to produce “fossil-free” steel in Lulea, Sweden (Figure 3). As part

  • Cultivating a Safety Culture Amid Constant Change

    Developing a power plant safety culture takes time and constant effort, but the payoff is priceless, safety leaders at three major power companies said during a morning session at the Experience POWER virtual event on Sept. 30.  Jeffrey Mullins, safety and health consultant for the 2.6-GW coal-fired Gavin Power Plant owned by Lightstone Generation, kicked […]