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.
In its latest effort to ram down carbon emissions and address air pollution, China will strictly limit public financing to coal and other high-carbon projects and begin a national program in 2017 to cap and trade greenhouse gas emissions. The country’s emission trading system will cover power generation, steel, cement, and other key sectors. China […]
In presentations to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the nation’s regional transmission organizations (RTOs) and independent system operators (ISOs) on Sept. 17 outlined measures they are taking to prevent issues if faced with extreme weather this winter. The measures are to prevent widespread generation outages as occurred during the Jan. 6–7, 2014, polar vortex. […]
NRG Energy has embarked on a “reset” that will see a separation of its core distributed generation and fossil fuel businesses. The company, headquartered in Princeton, N.J., wants to “simplify” NRG Group to cut down expenses and debt. In a transition that will begin now and be fully effective on Jan. 1, 2016, it will separate […]
Parts of Calpine Corp.’s The Geysers geothermal power complex have been severely damaged by a wildfire that has incinerated swathes of California. One of the world’s largest geothermal facilities, the 725-MW Geysers complex sits on 45 square miles of land along the border of Sonoma and Lake Counties in Northern California. Calpine said at least […]
Entergy’s 850-MW James A. FitzPatrick nuclear plant located near Oswego, N.Y., may be the next reactor doomed to close on profitability woes. Entergy’s CEO Leo Denault told attendees at the Barclays CEO EnergyPower Conference on Sept. 10 that the company will need to decide by the end of this year whether to go forward with […]
Duke Energy has settled a 15-year-old lawsuit for allegedly violating the Clean Air Act when it made modifications at 13 coal-fired power units in North Carolina. The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) and the Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) original case filed in 2000 focused on 25 Duke Energy coal units. As it has in more than […]
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Wednesday rejected a request by 15 U.S. states to stay the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Clean Power Plan. In a one-page order, the three-judge panel dismissed the request filed on Aug. 13 by a coal company and the coalition of states led by West Virginia’s […]
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has dropped a study begun in 2010 to determine cancer risks in populations near U.S. nuclear power facilities. Continuing the work was “impractical, given the significant amount of time and resources needed and the agency’s current budget constraints,” the regulatory body said. The study that was being conducted by the […]
A new policy approved by India’s cabinet will simplify its foray into offshore wind power, says a key stakeholder. The National Offshore Wind Energy Policy approved by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Union Cabinet on Sept. 9 designates the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) as the nodal ministry for use of offshore areas […]
European Union (EU) officials have approved General Electric’s (GE’s) $9.5 billion acquisition of Alstom’s power business, but conditions to which the two companies agreed to cement the deal will drastically reshape the world’s heavy-duty gas turbine market. The European Commission, the 28-country union’s executive body, granted its approval to the much-watched proposed merger, but only […]
Nuclear costs aren’t on the rise globally as has been widely thought, says a new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) and Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) surveying the levelized cost of generating electricity (LCOE). The eighth edition of the report, “Projected Costs of Generating Electricity” compiles data for 181 plants in 19 OECD and […]
A federal judge on Thursday halted implementation of the Clean Water Rule that is controversial for its broad definition of “Waters of the U.S.” one day before it was to go into effect, saying it was likely that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) overstepped its authority when it promulgated the “exceptionally expansive” rule. Judge Ralph […]
An official four-year-long investigation into the Solyndra debacle confirms that the bankrupt maker of cylindrical solar photovoltaic panels misled the Department of Energy (DOE) to get a $535 million federal loan guarantee, but it also reveals that the DOE didn’t properly vet those facts, missing opportunities to catch inaccuracies, possibly due to political pressure. The […]
The Department of Interior (DOI) has approved the 485-MW Blythe Mesa Solar project, a photovoltaic (PV) project that will be built in Riverside County, Calif. RRG Renewables’ project will be built on 3,587 acres of private land—”primarily lands that have already been disturbed by agricultural use,” the agency pointed out—under the jurisdiction of Riverside County […]
The U.S. and China on Tuesday finalized a memorandum of understanding that will allow them to jointly advance carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) and other clean coal technologies for commercial use. The agreement between the Department of Energy (DOE) and China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) was set up on Aug. 26 during the U.S.–China […]
Kyushu Electric Power Co.’s restart of Sendai 1—the first Japanese reactor to begin operation under new safety standards after the Fukushima disaster—hit a technical hiccup last week, prompting the company to halt ramp up of power output. The utility said on Aug. 21 that it had suspended increasing output at the unit after an alarm […]
The U.S. Court of International Trade has upheld a determination by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) that imports of crystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules from China materially injured domestic solar companies. The decision dated Aug. 7 (but made public on Aug. 21) rejects claims by Chinese firms Trina Solar, Wuxi Suntech Power, […]
The bulk of newly announced federal funding for research and development of carbon capture technologies will be committed to post-combustion capture, pre-combustion capture, and biological carbon dioxide (CO2) use. The Energy Department on Aug. 13 outlined 16 projects that it chose to receive funding through the National Energy Technology Laboratory’s (NETL’s) Carbon Capture Program. The […]
U.S. wind power is becoming more widespread and costs are generally on the decline, but the sector is troubled by policy uncertainties, a new report from the Energy Department says. After a lackluster year in 2013, wind power capacity additions in the U.S. rebounded nearly 8% in 2014, driven by recent improvements in the […]
The attorneys general of 17 states are suing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for invalidating agency-approved state implementation plans (SIPs) governing emissions from power plant startup, shutdown, and malfunction (SSM) operations. The states have asked a federal court to review the EPA’s June-issued final rule, which deems SIP provisions concerning SSM operations in 36 states […]
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will issue revised Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) and legally required cost-benefit analyses by April 15, 2016, court documents show. In an Aug. 10 motion filed with the D.C. Circuit for White Stallion Energy Center v. EPA (12-1100), the EPA said it intends to seek remand without vacatur (which […]
Nearly two years after Japan’s last nuclear power plant was shut down for safety checks, Kyushu Electric Power Co. has started up the 890-MW Sendai-1. The event marks a significant milestone for the country’s nuclear sector, which was crippled by the Fukushima disaster in 2011. Kyushu started up Sendai-1 at 10:30 a.m. local time and […]
Ameren Missouri has dropped plans to build a second nuclear unit at its Callaway Energy Center, citing shaky economics in the context of cheaper renewables, low demand, and other factors for its decision. “While we continue to believe nuclear power must be an important clean energy source for our company and country, as evidenced by […]