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Trends
Sweden Begins Construction on World’s Second Deep Geological Repository for Spent Nuclear Fuel
Sweden has broken ground on its final repository for spent nuclear fuel (SNF)—a milestone reached after 40 years of research and development—making it the world’s second deep geological repository (DGR) now under construction. Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB (SKB), a nuclear fuel and waste management company owned by Sweden’s nuclear operators, officially announced the start of construction […]
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Legal & Regulatory
As Last Measure, Biden Administration Unveils $23B in Utility Loan Commitments to Modernize Grid, Boost Clean Energy
As a significant final move before the incoming Trump administration takes office, the Biden administration has announced conditional loan commitments totaling $22.92 billion to support projects by eight utility companies across the U.S. The investments will seek to modernize infrastructure, expand clean energy generation, and improve grid reliability, impacting millions of customers, the Department of […]
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Trends
Constellation Moves to Acquire Calpine in $16.4B Deal, Forming Competitive Generation Goliath
Competitive generation giant Constellation has agreed to acquire Calpine Corp. in a $16.4 billion deal that is set to create the largest producer of clean and reliable energy in the U.S. with an asset portfolio of more than 60 GW. The definitive agreement, announced on Jan. 10, includes a cash and stock transaction valued at […]
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POWERnews—Jan. 9, 2025
POWER Magazine Jobs White Papers Webinars Events Store January 9, 2025 Generational Shift—Data Centers Bring Change to Energy Landscape Deals involving the data center sector are occurring regularly, as tech companies make moves to ensure they have a reliable supply of power for their energy-intensive operations. Several generation types,… […]
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Trends
2025’s Energy Crossroads: 6 Trends Redefining the Global Power Sector
Compared to recent years, which have been characterized by chronic energy shortages and price volatility, the world appears to be trundling toward a new energy market context, defined by an unprecedented
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Full Coverage
The Solid-State Shift: Reinventing the Transformer for Modern Grids
Transformers have been the backbone of power grids for over a century, but today’s demands for renewable energy, electric vehicles, and smarter grids are exposing their limits. Enter solid-state transformers—compact, efficient, and intelligent power solutions poised to revolutionize how electricity is distributed and managed. The push to modernize the grid is exposing critical shortcomings of […]
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News and Notes
POWER Digest [January 2025]
First Hualong One at Zhangzhou No. 1 Mega-Nuclear Plant Powers Up in China. China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC), on Nov. 28, successfully connected Zhangzhou Nuclear Power Plant No. 1, a 1.1-GW Hualong One
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POWERnews—Dec. 19, 2024
POWER Magazine Jobs White Papers Webinars Events Store December 19, 2024 Another Big Data Center Win for Nuclear: Oklo and Switch Sign Historic 12 GW Deal Advanced nuclear firm Oklo has partnered with Switch, a Las Vegas-based data center designer, builder, and operator, to deploy 12 GW of Aurora powerhouses […]
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Legal & Regulatory
Five Critical Insights from NERC’s 2024 Long-Term Reliability Assessment
Well over half of North America faces a potential shortage of electricity supplies in the coming years, compounded by surging demand growth, accelerating generator retirements, and delays in resource development, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) has warned in its latest 2024 Long-Term Reliability Assessment (LTRA). The designated electric reliability organization’s (ERO’s) annual 10-year […]
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Nuclear
Another Big Data Center Win for Nuclear: Oklo and Switch Sign Historic 12 GW Deal
Advanced nuclear firm Oklo has partnered with Switch, a Las Vegas-based data center designer, builder, and operator, to deploy 12 GW of Aurora powerhouses through 2044 in a historic deal hailed as “one of the largest corporate clean power agreements ever signed.” The two companies announced a groundbreaking Master Power Agreement on Dec. 18 to […]
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Legal & Regulatory
DOE Advances Three Potential NIETCs—High-Priority National Electric Transmission Corridors
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has advanced three potential National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors (NIETCs) into Phase 3 of its designation process, focusing on areas with critical transmission constraints to enhance grid reliability and reduce consumer costs. The measure is historic—given no NIETCs currently exist despite a decades-long effort to establish them—and it marks […]
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O&M
Explosion at Coal Power Plant in South Africa Injures Nine
A transformer explosion at Eskom’s coal-fired 3.6-GW Matla Power Station in Mpumalanga, South Africa, on Dec. 12 injured nine employees, including one critically. The incident, caused by a ruptured high-pressure steam pipe, has underscored challenges faced by Eskom’s generating fleet, even as the state-owned maintains its suspension of load-shedding. The incident, reported at 5 p.m. […]
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Hydrogen
Siemens Energy Joins Forces for Bold 100% Hydrogen HL Gas Turbine Leap
Siemens Energy is teaming with UK power giant SSE to develop a combustion system that will allow its flagship SGT5-9000HL gas turbine to run 100% on hydrogen while maintaining the flexibility to operate with natural gas and blends of the two. The two companies on Dec. 9 launched “Mission H2 Power,” a project that will […]
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POWERnews—Dec. 12, 2024
POWER Magazine Jobs White Papers Webinars Events Store December 12, 2024 Siemens Energy Joins Forces for Bold 100% Hydrogen HL Gas Turbine Leap Siemens Energy is teaming with UK power giant SSE to develop a combustion system that will allow its flagship SGT5-9000HL gas turbine to run 100% on hydrogen […]
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Gas
NET Power and CRC Team to Deploy 1 GW of Carbon-Free Gas Power Plants in California
NET Power, developer of a novel gas-fired power plant that captures all atmospheric emissions, will explore deploying up to 1 GW of power capacity in Northern California with partner California Resources Corp. (CRC), California’s largest oil and gas producer. CRC’s carbon management subsidiary, Carbon TerraVault (CTV), and NET Power signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) […]
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Nuclear
Six Companies Tapped for $2.7 Billion LEU Push to Boost Domestic Nuclear Fuel Supply
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has named six companies that will compete for 10-year contracts totaling $2.7 billion for the supply of low-enriched uranium (LEU) to support the nation’s nuclear power fleet. The initiative seeks to reduce reliance on Russian imports and foster strong commercial sector investment to build out a resilient fuel supply […]
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POWERnews—Dec. 5, 2024
POWER Magazine Jobs White Papers Webinars Events Store December 5, 2024 North Dakota Carbon Capture Project in Limbo After Canada Group's Exit A Canada-based energy group reportedly has withdrawn from a $2 billion carbon capture project in North Dakota. Project Tundra, which aimed to capture carbon dioxide from flue gas […]
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Nuclear
Russia Advances REMIX Fuel Trials in Boost for Closed Nuclear Fuel Cycle
Russia has launched its third cycle of testing innovative uranium-plutonium REMIX fuel at the Balakovo Nuclear Power Plant in Saratov Oblast, a key step that advances the closed nuclear fuel cycle technology. Designed to recycle spent nuclear fuel (SNF), the REMIX assemblies could significantly expand the raw material base for nuclear energy while reducing radioactive […]
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Sustainability
Quaise Partners with Nevada Gold Mine to Explore Geothermal Retrofit for Coal Power Plant
Houston-based geothermal technology firm Quaise Energy is exploring how geothermal heat could hybridize and decarbonize a remote, privately owned power coal-fired plant that supports mining operations at Nevada Gold Mines (NGM), the single largest gold-producing complex in the world. A Dec. 3-announced partnership between Quaise and NGM— a joint venture company owned by Barrick Gold […]
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Trends
THE BIG PICTURE: How Much Power Will Data Centers Consume? (Infographic)
Driven by artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and the digital transformation, U.S. data centers consumed an estimated 150 TWh of electricity in 2023—equivalent to around 3% of the nation’s power demand. Globally, data center demand hovered at 340 TWh in 2023—about 1.3% of worldwide electricity use. Multiple sources project this demand will surge dramatically through […]
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Trends
Trial Run at Finland’s Onkalo Repository Sets Stage for World’s First Spent Nuclear Fuel Disposal
Finland is making significant strides in a trial run that will demonstrate the entire process for the safe disposal of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) at Onkalo on Olkiluoto Island—the world’s first permanent
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Renewables
HydroWing and PLN Partner to Launch Indonesia’s First Tidal Power Plant
HydroWing, a division of UK-based Inyanga Marine Energy Group, has signed a binding agreement with Indonesia’s state-owned power company Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) to develop Indonesia’s first tidal
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Legal & Regulatory
EPA Proposes Tighter NOx Limits for Combustion Turbines
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed tougher nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions limits for new, modified, and reconstructed stationary combustion turbines. The proposed rule identifies a combination of combustion controls and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) as the Best System of Emission Reduction (BSER) for most turbines though it proposes combustion controls alone for certain smaller […]
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Nuclear
DeepGEO, Copenhagen Atomics Sign Pact to Align Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing with Spent Fuel Management
DeepGEO, a multinational spent nuclear fuel (SNF) repository developer, and Copenhagen Atomics, a Danish advanced thorium reactor innovator, have signed a first-of-its-kind collaboration agreement that seeks to revolutionize the nuclear fuel cycle by aligning emerging waste management solutions with next-generation reactor technologies. The landmark collaboration marks an industry-first effort to unite a reactor designer and […]
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Trends
Texas Mandates Cryptomining Registration, Power Demand Reporting, to Bolster Grid Reliability
The Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) has adopted a rule for reliability purposes requiring cryptocurrency mining facilities in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) region to register with the state and annually report details about their location, ownership, form of business, and demand for electricity. The PUCT’s new rule, adopted on Nov. […]
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POWERnews—Nov. 21, 2024
POWER Magazine Jobs White Papers Webinars Events Store November 21, 2024 NRC Approves Construction of First Electricity-Producing Gen IV Reactor in the U.S. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has taken a historic step by voting to issue construction permits for Kairos Power's 70-MWth Hermes 2, a “low power” advanced test […]
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Nuclear
NRC Approves Construction of First Electricity-Producing Gen IV Reactor in the U.S.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has taken a historic step by voting to issue construction permits for Kairos Power’s 70-MWth Hermes 2, a “low power” advanced test facility comprising two 35-MWth molten salt reactors. “Following the Commission’s vote, Hermes 2 is now the first electricity-producing Gen IV plant to be approved for construction in the […]
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Hydrogen
GE Vernova Unveils 100% Hydrogen-Fueled Aeroderivative Gas Turbine Solution, Secures First Customer
GE Vernova has unveiled a 100% hydrogen-ready aeroderivative gas turbine solution based on its LM6000VELOX package. The first-of-a-kind technology will be showcased at the 200-MW Whyalla hydrogen power plant in South Australia, with commissioning slated for early 2026. “It is projected to mark the first time a GE Vernova power plant project, at a commercial […]
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Trends
Can Nuclear’s Big Recent Wins Propel a True Global Revival?
While the past year has marked stunning triumphs for nuclear energy, experts caution that high costs, regulatory bottlenecks, and the need for market alignment remain major hurdles on the path to a true
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Trends
Nuclear Fuel: The Unseen Barrier Ahead
As global nuclear ambitions surge, the industry’s fuel supply chain faces critical gaps. Can advanced fuels like HALEU (high-assay low-enriched uranium) and TRISO (TRi-structural ISOtropic particle fuel)