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.
January 9, 2020 Deal Announced to Close Louisiana Coal Unit The Arkansas Public Service Commission on Jan. 8 approved a plan to retire the Dolet Hills power plant, a coal-fired unit in Mansfield, Louisiana that serves part of the state.… Read More PJM Stakeholders at Odds on Timing for Next Capacity Auction PJM Interconnection will […]
PJM Interconnection will not run a base residual auction (BRA) until the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approves recalculated Minimum Offer Price Rule (MOPR) floor prices for new and existing resources as directed by the federal entity’s ground-shaking Dec. 19 capacity market order. But when that will occur is still highly uncertain. In a presentation […]
Dominion Energy’s proposed 2.64-GW Virginia Offshore Wind project—the world’s largest single offshore wind project proposed to date—will likely feature turbines supplied by Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE). A Jan. 7-announced preferred supplier agreement signed by the two companies could give the wind turbine maker a stronghold in the burgeoning offshore wind U.S. market. While the […]
January 2, 2020 Why the 2010s Were a Definitive Decade for Power Every one of the 13 decades that POWER magazine has been in print has been definitive for electric generation technology, policy, and business in some significant way, but few have… Read More A Decade of Turmoil: How Nuclear and Coal Have Struggled to […]
Dec 19, 2019, 07:01 ET IRVING, Texas, Dec. 19, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Vistra Energy (NYSE: VST) today announced it has joined the Climate Leadership Council (“CLC”) as a founding member. The CLC is an international policy institute created in collaboration with prominent business, opinion, and environmental leaders to promote a carbon dividends framework as the […]
December 27, 2019 (BARBERTON, Ohio – December 27, 2019) – Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE: BW) announced today that its subsidiary, Babcock & Wilcox Construction Co., LLC (BWCC), has received a contract renewal valued at more than $4 million to provide maintenance services for Public Service Company of New Mexico’s (PNM) San Juan Generating […]
December 31, 2019 04:30 PM Eastern Standard Time TULSA, Okla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Williams (NYSE: WMB) announced today that it has successfully placed into full service its Gateway Expansion Project – approximately 11 months ahead of schedule – to meet growing natural gas demand for New Jersey tri-state area consumers in time for the 2019-2020 winter heating season. […]
Improving reliability and efficiency of renewable biogas applications since first commercial shipment in 2003 Unique chemistry of carbonate fuel cell avoids de-rating power plant when using on-site biogas Proprietary advanced systems developed by FuelCell Energy for cleanup and monitoring of on-site biogas Proprietary cleanup skid increases the volume of biogas usable for power generation /EIN […]
The projects include the first 252 MW phase of the Roadrunner solar project in Texas and the 66 MW Whitney Hill wind project in Illinois. With this announcement, Enel has started operations at three new renewable energy plants in the US totalling nearly 800 MW with another 1 GW of renewable energy under construction. BOSTON, […]
According to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA’s) World Energy Outlook 2019, solar photovoltaic (PV) is set to become the largest source of installed electrical capacity in about 2035, if countries pursue policies as planned. By 2040, solar could make up 24% of global installed capacity—up from 7% in 2018—but its share of generation could hover […]
Every one of the 13 decades that POWER magazine has been in print has been definitive for electric generation technology, policy, and business in some significant way, but few have been as transformative as the 2010s. The decade opened just as the global economy began to crawl toward recovery from a historically unprecedented downturn that […]
To ensure delivery to your inbox, add us to your address book. After December 31, 2019, you may not receive this newsletter from us unless you add us to your safe sender's list. December 26, 2019 Top 6 Nuclear Power Achievements of the Year The past year has been filled with firsts for the nuclear […]
On Dec. 19, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) directed PJM Interconnection to dramatically expand its Minimum Offer Price Rule (MOPR) to nearly all state-subsidized capacity resources, including renewables backed by state portfolio standards. It’s the latest of a series of dramatic revisions to the grid operator’s rule, which essentially functions to provide a minimum […]
A divided Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a long-awaited order on Dec. 19 in which it directed PJM Interconnection to dramatically expand its Minimum Offer Price Rule (MOPR) to nearly all state-subsidized capacity resources. The order will have a significant impact on PJM’s capacity market. While it was no surprise that the decision immediately […]
Only “high hazard” CCR units will be subject to immediate compliance deadlines under a newly proposed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule that revises federal permit requirements for the management of coal combustion residuals (CCRs) at power plants. If finalized, the rule will apply to all coal facilities in Indian country and the 48 U.S. states […]
December 19, 2019 NERC: Long-Term Reliability Uncertain Amid Rapid Changes to Bulk Power System Significant and rapid changes that are reshaping North America’s power sector will likely leave Texas and Ontario, Canada, with supply shortfalls over the next decade, and energy deficiencies could also… Read More EU Finalizes 'Green Deal' for Clean Energy Investment The […]
Significant and rapid changes that are reshaping North America’s power sector will likely leave Texas and Ontario, Canada, with supply shortfalls over the next decade, and energy deficiencies could also occur during off-peak conditions in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) area and the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) region, the North American Electric Reliability […]
Three first-of-their-kind Siemens Gamesa 5-MW wind turbines will be installed on the island of Thyholm in Denmark at a project that will be operated without subsidies. The company announced on Dec. 19 it has entered into a contract with Torp Vind I/S for the delivery of three SG 5.0-132 models for the 15-MW Torp Vindmoellepark […]
Japanese technology conglomerate Hitachi will withdraw from Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS), a joint venture it established in 2014 with another power equipment giant, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), over a dispute stemming from construction of two massive defect-ridden coal plants in South Africa. Under a Dec. 18-announced settlement reached by MHI and Hitachi, Hitachi will […]
December 12, 2019 Ownership Shakeup at Colstrip Coal Power Plant NorthWestern Energy said it will file an application with the Montana Public Service Commission for pre-approval to acquire Puget Sound Energy’s (PSE’s) 25% interest in Colstrip Unit 4, which is… Read More NRC Issues First Subsequent License Renewals, Extends Nuclear Reactor Life to 80 Years […]
Terrestrial Energy’s Integral Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR), a 195-MWe Generation IV nuclear technology, and NuScale’s small modular reactor (SMR) may be the focus of the first joint technical review by U.S. and Canadian nuclear regulators in a bid to boost their regulatory effectiveness as more advanced reactors and SMRs trundle toward commercialization. Rumina Velshi, president […]
In a recent conversation with POWER, GE Digital CEO Pat Byrne discussed why GE made key changes to the lucrative business, streamlining it to focus on four key markets, including electric utilities and power generation. GE has been at the forefront of the innovation in the energy sector since Thomas Edison formulated the essential requirements […]
Marking a major milestone for the U.S. nuclear power sector, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has for the first time issued license renewals that authorize nuclear reactor operation beyond 60 years and up to 80 years. The regulatory body on Dec. 5 issued subsequent license renewals (SLRs) for Units 3 and 4 at Florida Power […]
In a new attempt to secure a concrete role for the international hydropower industry within the decarbonization movement, several utilities, equipment manufacturers, universities, research centers, and consultancies have scaffolded to demonstrate how modern hydropower plants can provide flexibility to markets that are increasingly inundated by variable generation like wind and solar. On Dec. 10, the […]
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized a change to a long-standing policy interpreting “ambient air”—a foundational concept under the Clean Air Act that applies to all types of air pollution, from ground-level ozone, particulate matter, and greenhouse gases. While the agency framed the change as part of a suite of actions to reform New Source […]
China has started up its first commercial nuclear cogeneration system, using two newly operational AP1000 reactors at the Haiyang Nuclear Power Plant to heat 700,000 square meters of housing. Shandong Nuclear Power Co. (SDNPC), a subsidiary of State Power Investment Corp. (SPIC), and owner of the Haiyang plant, on Nov. 15 said the first phase […]
According to experts from Technical University of Applied Sciences (OTH) in Regensburg, Germany, who recently reviewed the world’s existing power-to-gas (P2G) hydrogen and methane projects, about 143 P2G projects have operated since 1988 in 22 countries. Only 56 hydrogen and 38 methanation projects were active in 2019. While the existing fleet mostly comprises pilot or […]
In its November 2019–issued World Energy Outlook, the International Energy Agency (IEA) suggests that if countries pursue currently stated policies, the combined generation share of wind and solar photovoltaic could surge from 7% today to 24% in 2040. This very steep ramp-up of variable renewables will undoubtedly require an emphatic focus on flexibility—the ability of […]
While still in its infancy, power-to-gas provides a promising approach to convert renewable power into “green” hydrogen and methane, furnishing the renewables sector with a potentially lucrative array of
Falling natural gas prices tamped down annual U.S. wholesale power prices over the last decade by $7/MWh to $53/MWh—to a much higher degree compared to the impact of wind and solar growth—a new report from Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL) suggests. The Nov. 20–published report, The Impact of Wind, Solar, and Other Factors on Wholesale Power […]