In a widely expected move, the Japanese government finally killed the ill-fated Monju breeder reactor project on September 21, but reasserted its faith in breeder reactor technology as a component of the nation’s future power mix. The Monju plant was an ambitious project that never came close to meeting its backers’ expectations. Launched in 1980, […]

Global resources of variable renewable energy—primarily wind and solar—despite breakneck growth over the past two decades, are beginning to run up against technological and policy limitations on further deployment, and future growth will depend on significant changes in policy and grid design, according to a new report. Released on September 20, Variable Renewable Energy Sources […]

After years of incremental advances, a variety of innovations both simple and exotic are promising to boost the output of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems as much as 30% over current technologies—if the market can be convinced to adopt them. The Dawn of SiC For a generation, silicon has been the go-to material for semiconductor substrates. […]

The global solar market has moved beyond its early, uncertain, freewheeling days. The luxury of behaving like start-ups has passed, and major firms in solar need to “grow up.” That at least was the message from top executives at Solar Power International (SPI), the industry’s largest trade show, in Las Vegas. David Crane of Pegasus […]

Gas Power Direct   Current Issue | Find a Job | Post a Job Transformer Fire Forces Martin's Creek Plant Offline Talen Energy’s two-unit Martin's Creek Power Plant in Mount Bethel Township, Penn., was forced offline as a result of a transformer fire Sept. 11, the company said. The incident occurred Sunday evening at a […]

Talen Energy’s two-unit Martin’s Creek Power Plant in Mount Bethel Township, Penn., was forced offline as a result of a transformer fire Sept. 11, the company said. The incident occurred Sunday evening at a transformer yard adjacent to the plant. The fire was extinguished by local firefighters after about three hours. The plant was not […]

The Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in Massachusetts, limping toward retirement in 2019, suffered yet another unplanned shutdown on September 6 after operators were forced to power down the reactor because of high water levels in the core. According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) event report, “operators initiated a manual reactor scram due to high […]

Westinghouse, the lead supplier for the V.C. Summer nuclear plant expansion project in South Carolina, said on August 30 that it had successfully placed the reactor vessel for the new Unit 2. The 278-metric-ton vessel was rigged into place by one of the largest construction cranes in the world, a heavy lift derrick with a […]

With costs for a restart escalating, Japan is considering scrapping its troubled Monju fast breeder nuclear reactor, just as a never-started nuclear plant in the Philippines may get a new lease on life. Monju May Be Finished Japan Times reported that readying the Monju plant for restart “would cost several hundred billion yen.” Sources said that […]

MidAmerican Energy’s Wind XI project in Iowa, which will comprise up to 2 GW of total generation, has received approval from state regulators to proceed with construction, the company said. The $3.6 billion project will place 1,000 turbines at several sites still to be finalized. Plans were announced in April 2016, and the Iowa Utilities […]