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.
Contract covers inspections from manufacturing, transport, installation and commissioning of wind farm Project follows successful partnership of initial design assessment phase of wind farm Arkona marks 14th German offshore wind farm to be supported by DNV GL certification services Hamburg, Germany –13th June 2016, E.ON has awarded the project certification contract for the new Arkona […]
A Minnesota law that bans power imports from new out-of-state coal-fired power plants is unconstitutional, a federal appeals court has deemed. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit on June 15 upheld a decision by the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota that found that the statute’s prohibitions had the effect […]
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) listed costs and time among several reasons for its preferred method to close its coal ash impoundments in place, rather than by removal, but the move has come under fire by environmental groups. The federally owned corporation earlier this month released a final environmental impact statement (EIS) to support its […]
Georgia Power will shut down and stop receiving coal ash at all 29 of its coal ash ponds within the next three years. The announcement on June 13 is the latest in a string of similar moves from coal plant–owning utilities across the nation in response to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) coal ash disposal […]
Even though it may dominate forecasts, natural gas–fired generation faces a troubled expansion in the U.S., according to experts from a variety of stake-holding entities—including an industry group, a utility, a generator, and a pipeline company. Challenges that have few solutions—from price volatility, to gas transport concerns, to rule uncertainty—may upend the nation’s dependence […]
Power News Don't miss these POWER magazine resources: Post Jobs | View Jobs | Buyers' Guide Experts: Gas Power's Expansion Riddled with Roadblocks Even though it may dominate forecasts, natural gas–fired generation faces a troubled expansion in the U.S., according to experts from a variety of stake-holding entities—including an industry group, a utility, a […]
June 06, 2016 09:59 AM Eastern Daylight Time LENEXA, Kan.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Kiewit is promoting four key leaders within its power business, which has provided engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services to more than 600 power-related projects, totaling nearly $18 billion in contract revenue, over the past 10 years. To meet the evolving needs of the energy […]
June 07, 2016 07:45 AM Eastern Daylight Time PASADENA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (NYSE:JEC) announced today it received a contract to provide analysis and consulting services regarding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) finalized regulations on coal combustion residuals (CCR) to City Utilities of Springfield, Missouri. “In addition to evaluating, designing and constructing CCR facilities, […]
Energy storage is helping grid operators maintain system stability and ensure efficient integration of renewable energy, report finds June 08, 2016 05:15 AM Eastern Daylight Time BOULDER, Colo.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–A new report from Navigant Research examines the growing opportunities for energy storage systems (ESSs) to provide numerous services to the grid, with global market forecasts for power capacity, […]
June 08, 2016 08:49 AM Eastern Daylight Time WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), Material Science and Technology Division, has been granted the first U.S. patent for a method to simultaneously extract carbon dioxide and hydrogen from seawater. This single process provides all the raw materials necessary for the production of synthetic liquid hydrocarbon […]
June 08, 2016 02:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–A magnitude 6.9 earthquake hits the Bay Area. The devastation stretches along the Hayward Fault in the East Bay with impacts in Marin County, San Francisco and the Peninsula. Bridges, roads, mass transit, hospitals and gas and electric service are severely impacted, the cell network […]
The last of six gigantic modules in the nuclear island for Unit 3 at the Vogtle AP1000 reactors under construction near Augusta, Ga., have been placed. The CA02 and CA03 modules, weighing 52 tons and 237 tons respectively, are critical components and part of the In-Containment Refueling Water Storage Tank (IRWST), Georgia Power said on […]
North Carolina’s governor has vetoed a coal ash bill backed by Duke Energy that would have reinstated the recently dissolved Coal Ash Management Commission. Senate Bill 71 (SB71), introduced in February 2015, has passed both houses. Some media sources suggest that lawmakers have enough votes to override the veto. The bill seeks to re-establish the […]
“An Introduction to Large Thermal Power Generation Plants,” a 3-day course designed to provide useful knowledge to those interested in energy, electric power generation, and the basics of fossil power production, is being presented by Williamson College of the Trades, in Media, Pa., from July 12-14. The course will include tours of three local power […]
Power News Don't miss these POWER magazine resources: Post Jobs | View Jobs | Buyers' Guide Great Plains Energy to Acquire Westar Energy in Deal Worth $12.2 Billion Kansas City–based Great Plains Energy has agreed to purchase Westar Energy—Kansas’ largest electric utility—in a combined cash and stock transaction with an enterprise value of about $12.2 […]
Siemens has signed a long-term contract extension for service and maintenance at the 152-megawatt (MW) Keenan II wind farm in Oklahoma that will add Balance of Plant (BoP) to the scope and extend it for another 15 years. This marks the first long-term BoP wind service agreement in the U.S. for Siemens. The customer […]
Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) Signs Six-Year Pact with GE’s Power Services Business, Covering Fleet of Gas Turbines at Two Power Plants in Bangkok Agreement Builds on GE’s Work with EGAT to Increase Availability, Reliability and Economics of the Power Plants BANGKOK—May 26, 2016—GE’s Power Services business (NYSE: GE) today announced it has signed a multiyear […]
General Atomics is Building ITER’s Central Solenoid, the Heart of the Fusion Reactor SAN DIEGO, May 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — Dr. Jeff Quintenz, Senior Vice President of General Atomics’ Energy Group, issued the following statement on Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz’s report released today recommending continued U.S. support for ITER, the world’s largest magnetic fusion device […]
The Department of Energy (DOE) has pulled back funding for two proposed offshore wind demonstration projects spearheaded separately by Dominion Virginia Power and Principle Power, bolstering its support instead for projects it says demonstrate more progress or potential. The funding decision stems from the agency’s 2012 selection of seven offshore demonstration projects, which initially received […]
A new rule proposed by the Obama administration requires vendors and contractors selling goods and services to the federal government to disclose their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate-related risk data. The rule proposed by the Federal Acquisition Regulation Council on May 25 seeks to drive greater disclosure of the federal government’s supply chain, which […]
Power News Don't miss these POWER magazine resources: Post Jobs | View Jobs | Buyers' Guide Watts Bar Unit 2 Reactor Goes Critical (and That’s a Good Thing) The Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA’s) newest nuclear plant, Watts Bar Unit 2, achieved initial criticality on May 23 at 2:16 a.m. Although that may sound ominous to […]
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must halt its drive to help states supportive of the Clean Power Plan to comply with the rule because it defies the Supreme Court stay, the attorneys general for West Virginia and Texas have urged the agency. An April 28 request to the agency by 14 states seeking technical assistance […]
May 23, 2016 04:17 PM Eastern Daylight Time IRVING, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR) announced today that it has achieved substantial completion for Dominion Virginia Power’s (NYSE: D) Brunswick County (Va.) Power Station. .@FluorCorp completes Dominion’s Brunswick County Power Station Tweet this Fluor provided engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning services for the 1,358-megawatt natural gas-fueled power […]
Five software applications built to enhance annual energy production and improve wind farm profitability Industrial wind apps include Energy Forecasting for business strategy optimization, Wind PowerUp* Services and Digital Plan of the Day to streamline site operations, and Diagnostics & Prognostics for turbine-level asset performance management All apps are built on GE’s Predix* software platform and include […]
Company sees drop in emissions, ramps up renewable energy May 24, 2016 10:59 AM Eastern Daylight Time MINNEAPOLIS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Xcel Energy’s commitment to clean energy is benefiting the customers and the environment in the communities it serves. By adding wind and solar power, retiring aging coal plants and expanding energy efficiency programs, the company has significantly […]
May 24, 2016 01:16 PM Eastern Daylight Time MIAMI–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Today, the Arizona Public Service Company’s Palo Verde Generating Station in Wintersburg, Ariz., was honored with a Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) Top Innovative Practice (TIP) award for enhancing plant performance. The Westinghouse Combustion Engineering Vendor Award went to Palo Verde for successfully piloting commercial application of […]
Exelon’s Quad Cities and Three Mile Island nuclear plants have failed to clear the PJM capacity auction for the 2019–2020 planning year, and the future looks grim for at least one of those plants. The Chicago-headquartered company on May 25 confirmed that the two plants would not receive capacity revenue for the period. It also […]
Power News Don't miss these POWER magazine resources: Post Jobs | View Jobs | Buyers' Guide D.C. Circuit Delays Clean Power Plan Case Hearing by Months, Opts for En Banc Review Oral arguments to assess the merits of the Clean Power Plan will now take place before a nine-judge panel at the U.S. Court of […]
Even if the final Clean Power Plan is not implemented, U.S. electricity-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions will remain well below 2005 levels, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a comparison of two cases looking forward through 2040. The cases are part of the agency’s May 17–released Annual Energy Outlook 2016 Early Release (AEO2016 Early […]