The North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) recently issued a regulation for all power producers to test their electrical systems for proper coordination between protective relays. This protective-relay coordination standard number 27 (PRC-27) presents a big challenge for all power plants, but particularly for combined cycle/cogeneration plants, whose lean staffs lack the electrical engineering personnel […]
In line with global emissions targets, energy markets are moving ever more quickly to take up renewables. Such a move is obviously important to ensure carbon reduction targets can be met. This does however create an issue—one that’s not been given the attention it deserves—of the impact this has on the conventional power plants that […]
The Implications of Two Technologies and How They Merge for Next-Generation Intelligence Undoubtedly, as the world becomes more complex and interconnected, digitization and technological innovations are vital components of the global power future. The power industry’s digital transformation is not merely developing alongside the industry, it is infiltrating it—transforming the very fabric of how the […]
Six of the 10 most-destructive wildfires in California’s history have occurred over the past two years, and the state’s aging electrical infrastructure is a big part of the problem. According to a report from Gov. Newsom’s Strike Force, equipment owned by California’s three largest investor-owned utilities has ignited more than 2,000 fires (about 1.5 fires […]
The digital revolution is transforming the way that many sectors work and the energy industry is on its way to becoming one of the biggest benefactors of this change. Although there’s no doubt it’s yet to be exploited to its full potential, new innovations and improved processes will see a far greater take-up as organizations […]
Legislative scrutiny of the energy industry have picked up of late. Here are practical steps from law firm K&L Gates that your company could take to prepare for congressional investigations.
COMMENTARY The 19th-century electrical grid has had a good run in the United States. For more than 100 years, it has reliably provided electricity to end-users based on the premise that a centralized generation and transmission model was the way to go. Large coal, hydro and (later) nuclear generating facilities would produce huge amounts of […]
Electricity demand spiked considerably in South Australia this past January as residents tried to stay cool in the middle of a record heat wave that brought temperatures up to 46.6°C (or about 115°F). To ensure a stable power supply would be available, the South Australian government fired up two power plants (276 MW) that the […]
Despite years of escalating natural disasters and dozens of reports examining the science and economic cost of climate change, the Green New Deal framework now languishes as a result of political backlash and its outsize ambition to remake the American economy. But dismissing the issue, and this opportunity, is unnecessary and dangerous.
Cyber-attacks on industrial control systems (ICSs) are no longer a hypothetical. As pieced together by the Wall Street Journal, in 2017, Russian hackers attacked a small construction company, exploiting the organization’s connections with utilities and government agencies. Through an integrator, the hackers accessed computer-network credentials, giving them the ability to get into computer systems that […]
