The world’s first AP1000 nuclear reactor—Sanmen 1 in China’s Zhejiang province—commenced 100%  power operation for the first time on August 11, China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC) said. Sanmen 1 was connected to the grid on June 30. Earlier this year, China also put online Unit 5 of the Yangjiang Nuclear Plant on May 23, and Taishan 1, an EPR, on […]

August 2, 2018 EPA Will Not Revisit Obama-Era NAAQS for Ozone The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not intend to revisit national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for ozone that the Obama administration issued in 2015, a court filing shows.  The… Read More Plan in Works to Finish Bellefonte Nuclear Plant in Alabama It’s been […]

The future of Georgia Power’s 865-MW coal-fired Plant Hammond in Floyd County, Georgia—which recently slashed more than half its workforce—is murky, company officials said August 3. The four-unit facility that began operations in 1954 employed 190 workers in September 2016. Today, according to company officials, the plant only has 41 full-time employees. Georgia Power Regional […]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not intend to revisit national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for ozone that the Obama administration issued in 2015, a court filing shows.  The agency said in its final status report submitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on August 1 that it has reviewed […]

Cybersecurity experts have identified a new activity group that they say is targeting access operations at electric utilities in the U.S., Europe, Middle East, and East Asia.  Cybersecurity firm Dragos Inc. told POWER on August 1 that though it has confirmed that the group—which it dubbed “RASPITE”—is actively targeting electric utilities, “there is no current indication […]

American Electric Power (AEP) has abandoned its mammoth $4.5 billion Wind Catcher project, one of its largest planned investments, and a key part of its strategy to tamp down carbon emissions by 2030. Under AEP subsidiary Southwestern Electric Power Co. (SWEPCO)’s proposed Wind Catcher project, AEP would have acquired a 2-GW wind farm—under construction in […]

July 26, 2018 Death Toll Likely to Rise After Dam Failure at Laos Hydro Project More than two dozen people have died in southeastern Laos after part of a newly built hydroelectric dam broke on July 23, flooding nearby villages. Government officials on July 25… Read More High Summer Temperatures Send CAISO and ERCOT Scrambling […]

July 23, 2018 09:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time PASADENA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Tetra Tech, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTEK) announced today that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) awarded the Company an $85 million single-award contract to support enhanced energy security in Ukraine. The five-year USAID/Ukraine Energy Security through Competitive Energy Markets Program aims to improve the legal […]

SAN DIEGO & DES MOINES, Iowa–(BUSINESS WIRE)–EDF Renewables North America today announced they have closed on an Asset Purchase Agreement (APA) whereby MidAmerican Energy Company has purchased the development assets associated with the Ivester Wind Project. The proposed 91-megawatt (MW) wind project encompasses nearly 7,000 acres of land in Grundy County, approximately 85 miles northeast […]

California and Texas—two regions where summer reliability concerns were forecast earlier this year—are suffering extreme temperatures and are scrambling to relieve stress on the grid. The California Independent System Operator (CAISO)—the grid operator that serves about 80% of California—on July 24 and 25 issued statewide Flex Alerts, calling for voluntary electricity conservation during peak afternoon […]

Poised to drive the future of coal power, many Southeast Asian countries are considering new coal plants with high-efficiency, low-emissions (HELE) technologies, a new report suggests. According to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA’s) December-released World Energy Outlook 2017, Southeast Asia, along with India and other developing economies in Asia, will drive global coal demand. The […]

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials in a July 24 webinar said that Russian hackers infiltrated a power plant industrial control system (ICS) in an incident that could have caused a blackout last year. However, as an industrial cybersecurity expert pointed out—and a DHS spokesperson confirmed—the impact of the incident may be overstated. The expert and DHS responded to a […]

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has ordered the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) to broaden, within six months, its Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) reliability standards to include mandatory reporting of cybersecurity incidents that could harm the bulk electric system (BES). FERC’s Order No. 848issued on July 19 directs NERC to develop and submit […]

July 19, 2018 EPA Finalizes First Set of Coal Ash Rule Revisions The Trump administration has finalized a significantly weakened rule governing the disposal of coal ash in landfills and surface impoundments by coal generators nationwide. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) revealed… Read More NRG Ends Effort to Repower Dunkirk Plant NRG Energy will not […]

The Trump administration has finalized a significantly weakened rule governing the disposal of coal ash in landfills and surface impoundments by coal generators nationwide. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) revealed on July 18 that it signed the first rule of its two-part rulemaking set that overhauls the Obama administration’s final 2015 rules for the disposal […]

Electric cooperatives in the U.S. have vastly accelerated solar power installments. Today, they own or purchase more than nine times as much solar photovoltaic (PV) power as they did in 2013, a new report says.   The report, “A Solar Revolution in Rural America,” was prepared by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), a […]

The transition to decentralised, renewable and digitalised forms of energy supply would not only have positive effects on the environment, it would also economically benefit the regions of the European Union. In its own-initiative opinion drafted by Lutz Ribbe, the EESC points out that there are at least four reasons why smart energy production would […]

MONTREAL: July 18, 2018 – SNC-Lavalin (TSX: SNC) and Holtec International group are pleased to announce a new US-based joint venture company named Comprehensive Decommissioning International, LLC (CDI). The company, headquartered in Camden, New Jersey, has been established to bring the expertise of both companies together to ensure safe, rapid, and economic decommissioning of shuttered […]

ESNA 2018 to recognize projects advancing the future of power and transportation PASADENA, Calif., July 18, 2018 — Energy Storage North America (ESNA) today issued a call for nominations for the 2018 ESNA Innovation Awards, which are presented annually for innovation, excellence and impact in energy storage. Key evaluation criteria include project innovation, impact on transforming the storage […]

China’s first reactor adopting its domestically developed evolutionary third-generation ACPR-1000 design has wrapped up trial operation and begun commercial operation. CGN Power, a subsidiary of China General Nuclear Power Corp., announced that the 1000-MW Unit 5 of the Yangjiang Nuclear Power Plant in Guangdong province completed a 168-hour period of trial operation on July 12. […]

An industrial-scale pilot plant that will use surplus hydrogen from refinery operations to produce power is taking shape in Australia. Industrial alkaline fuel cell power company AFC Energy on July 12 said it received its first commercial order for a hydrogen power generation unit in Australia from Southern Oil Refining, a subsidiary of Northern Oil. […]

July 5, 2018 First Commercial AP1000, EPR Reactors Connected to Grid Two nuclear energy milestones were reached in the past week, as the world’s first commercial AP1000 and EPR reactors were connected to China’s power grid. Westinghouse announced Sanmen 1, the… Read More Sponsored Content Explore Vaisala Power Instruments and Services Offering – free eBook […]

June 21, 2018 Analysts: Coal Generation Will Plummet More Than 70% About half the world’s power will be generated by wind and solar resources by 2050. Generation from coal will drop more than 70% from today’s levels. That’s according to research… Read More Sponsored Content MD&A Integrated with PW Power Systems' Division Mechanical Dynamics and […]

June 28, 2018 GE CEO: Company ‘Finished’ with Restructuring General Electric (GE) saw its stock price surge more than 7% on June 26 after the company said it would dissolve its stake in oil services company Baker Hughes and… Read More Trump Administration’s ‘All-of-the-Above’ Strategy Stresses Export Role for Natural Gas The Trump administration, which […]

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on July 2 denied ISO-New England’s (ISO-NE’s) request for a tariff waiver to keep two gas-fired units—a total capacity of 1,700 MW—at Exelon’s Mystic Generating Plant in Boston, Massachusetts, running to address “fuel security risks.” The commission instead gave the grid operator a year to submit permanent tariff revisions […]

In a 3–2 decision, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) rejected approaches filed by PJM Interconnection to reform its capacity market, whose integrity and effectiveness has been increasingly and “untenably threatened” by state subsidies for preferred generation resources, the federal regulatory body acknowledged. The June 29 order sharply divided the commission, prompting Democrat Commissioners Cheryl LaFleur […]

The Trump administration, which is considering subsidizing baseload coal and nuclear power for resiliency and “national security,” is pursuing an “all-of-the-above” energy strategy that emphasizes natural gas exports, said Energy Secretary Rick Perry at the World Gas Conference this week in Washington D.C. In a keynote speech on June 26, Perry described the shale gas […]

A bill codifying the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’s) role in addressing industrial control systems (ICS) cybersecurity has cleared the U.S. House of Representatives. While H.R. 5733, “DHS Industrial Control Systems Capabilities Enhancement Act,” contains no mandates for the private sector, it directs the DHS’s National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC) to develop and maintain […]

Puerto Rico’s energy infrastructure must be redesigned and rebuilt with an emphasis on resilience—and that will require wide-ranging, long-term efforts, the Department of Energy (DOE) says in a new report. In its June 20 report, “Energy Resilience Solutions for the Puerto Rico Grid,” the agency lists a number of recommendations for the government of the […]

American Electric Power’s (AEP’s) proposed $4.5 billion Wind Catcher Energy Connection project—the largest single-site wind project in the nation—has garnered approval from the Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC).  The LPSC on June 20 approved a settlement agreement related to the project, which is proposed by AEP subsidiary Southwestern Electric Power Co. (SWEPCO). Under the proposal, […]