Business

  • Nation’s Oldest Independent Coal Producer Files Bankruptcy

    Colorado-based Westmoreland Coal Co. on October 9 said it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, with the company reporting more than $1.4 billion in debt. The company in its annual financial report in April of this year said it was considering bankruptcy in an effort to protect it from creditors. Westmoreland, which has operated for […]

  • GE Power Will Supply Four Nuclear Turbine Islands for Egypt’s First Nuclear Plant

    BADEN, Switzerland (October 9, 2018) — GE Power announced it won the contract to deliver the turbine island equipment for El Dabaa nuclear power plant project in Egypt through AAEM its joint venture with Atomenergomash. GE Power will supply the basic design of four conventional island, supply four nuclear turbine generator sets, including the Arabelle half-speed steam […]

  • DOE Sank Billions of Fossil Energy R&D Dollars in CCS Projects. Most Failed.

    Nearly half of the $2.66 billion spent by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) since 2010 to develop advanced fossil energy technologies was dedicated to nine carbon capture and storage (CCS) demonstration projects—but only three were active at the end of 2017, and only one was at a power plant. In a report prepared for […]

  • Babcock Power Environmental Inc. Secures Major Agreement with BHEL

    Babcock Power Environmental Inc., a Babcock Power Inc. company, signs Technology Collaboration Agreement with India’s major power generator, BHEL. Chennai, Tamilnadu, India – Babcock Power Environmental Inc. (BPE) announced today that they have entered into a Technology Collaboration Agreement with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), India’s leading power producer whose equipment account for over 60% […]

  • Enviros Dispute State Findings on Coal Ash Spill

    Environmental officials in North Carolina say their tests show that coal ash released from Duke Energy’s Sutton power plant in Wilmington during flooding from Hurricane Florence has not had a negative impact on the Cape Fear River. The state’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) on October 4 said its test results on water samples collected […]

  • NRC Grants Key Approvals for S. Korea’s APR1400 Nuclear Reactor, Despite Widespread Construction Delays

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued key safety and design approvals for the Advanced Power Reactor 1400 (APR1400), a South Korean third-generation nuclear reactor design.  The U.S. regulatory body on September 28 issued a final safety evaluation report and a standard design approval (SDA) for the APR1400, which is designed by South Korean state-owned […]

  • Siemens Gamesa enters Russia with its first order for 90-MW Enel wind farm

    Siemens Gamesa has secured its first order in Russia from Enel Russia, one of the country’s independent power producers (IPP), for the supply of 90 MW of wind turbines. This is the first order for Siemens Gamesa in the country and belongs to the preliminary agreement signed with Enel in 2017 for the supply of […]

  • Siemens to Acquire Massachusetts-based Electric Infrastructure Manufacturer Russelectric

    ATLANTA, Georgia (October 3, 2018) — Siemens, a global innovator in low and medium voltage technologies, has announced plans to acquire Massachusetts-based Russelectric, a leading U.S. manufacturer of power control systems including paralleling switchgear and automatic transfer switches. The acquisition will bring together the companies’ complementary advanced electrical power portfolios and service organizations to help […]

  • Siemens strengthens digital twin efforts with U.S. grid protection software acquisition

    ATLANTA, Georgia (Oct. 3, 2018) — Siemens is acquiring the specialized software company Electrocon International Inc. (EII) to uniquely enhance simulations of power grids and strengthen the company’s electrical digital twin efforts. EII, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, develops and markets CAPE (Computer-Aided Protection Engineering) software which focuses on the protection of electricity systems and […]

  • Natural Gas and Wind Dominate U.S. LCOE Landscape, Interactive Map Shows

    Natural gas combined cycle, wind, and residential solar photovoltaic technologies may be the least-expensive way to generate power across a wide swathe of the U.S., an interactive map published and recently updated by the University of Texas (UT) at Austin’s Energy Institute shows.  The interactive chart (Version 1.4.0, retrieved on October 4, 2018), first published […]

  • How Did MATS Affect U.S. Coal Generation?

    Industry aggressively fought the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) when the Obama administration proposed it in 2011 and finalized it in February 2012, warning it would precipitate the closure of a swathe of coal capacity nationwide. Six years later, the rule appears to have had a sizable impact on the power sector, but not […]

  • EPA Advances Proposed Changes to Mercury Rule

    The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confirmed it has submitted proposed changes to the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) to the White House for review, despite urging by the industry to let the rule stand. EPA spokesperson John Konkus told POWERon October 2 that the agency does not intend to withdraw the existing MATS. It […]

  • BrandSafway introduces BrandTech™ Precision Welding

    New drawn arc welding technology increases productivity and quality Kennesaw, Georgia, USA, Oct. 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Industrial Specialists, a BrandSafway company and a member of the American Welding Society, is introducing BrandTech™ Precision Welding, a modular-welding system with built-in technology, which allows for one or two welding guns to be used at the […]

  • Mixed reality remote worker platform launches with potential to transform industry

    FREDERICTON (N.B.) – Starting today, users can experience Kognitiv Spark’s powerful industrial worker support tool for free by downloading the trial in the Microsoft app store. Their platform, called RemoteSpark, leverages mixed reality technology and interactive 3D intelligence to deliver significant productivity gains for industrial clients. The platform is currently designed for the Microsoft HoloLens […]

  • Siemens and Southern Idaho Solid Waste announce commissioning of landfill gas-to-energy project

    Siemens and Southern Idaho Solid Waste (SISW) recently announced the successful commissioning of two SGE-56HM gas engines that are providing environmentally friendly electrical power for a landfill gas-to-energy project at the Milner Butte Landfill in Burley, Idaho. Siemens’ gas capture engines are helping to convert 1,000 tons of landfill waste daily into energy but SISW […]

  • GE Power Wins Order to Develop HA-Powered Plant in Bangladesh

    DHAKA, Bangladesh (October 1, 2018) — In its continued efforts to provide the most advanced energy solutions to Bangladesh, GE Power (NYSE: GE) today announced that it has been selected by Unique Group, to develop the 600 megawatt (MW) natural gas based combined cycle power plant at Meghnaghat, near Dhaka, Bangladesh. Unique Meghnaghat Power Limited […]

  • Small-Scale LNG Paper Wins Award at Power-Gen Asia

    MAN Energy Solutions has won the prestigious ‘Best Paper Award’ at the Power-Gen Asia trade show that took place from September 18th to 20th, 2018 in Jakarta, Indonesia. The ‘Small-Scale LNG – Powering the Future of Asia’s Island Communities’ paper was presented by Carsten Dommermuth, Senior Manager, International Business Development, MAN Energy Solutions. Dommermuth said: […]

  • Flannery Takes Fall for GE Power Struggles

    GE announced that H. Lawrence Culp Jr. has been named chairman and CEO of the company replacing John Flannery effective immediately. GE’s board of directors voted unanimously on the decision, and it also appointed Thomas W. Horton as lead director. In a press release, GE specifically cited weak performance in the GE Power business for […]

  • The Rise of Natural Gas Generation in Europe

    Spurred by the shale gas revolution, natural gas’s stunning rise to dominate the U.S. power profile has been echoed by a number of countries, particularly in the Middle East. In Europe, where domestic natural gas production is actually in decline—and consensus is that shale gas won’t likely play a major role on the continent—natural gas […]

  • A Modern Gas Power Plant Thrives on Ancient Wisdom

    Built and developed in accordance with the principles of vaastu shastra, this 1.5-GW “mega” gas power plant in India imbues positivity and proactivity into all aspects of plant operation. It has resulted

  • Advanced Digital Technology Offers Utilities Profound Changes

    Advanced digital technologies, including robotics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, are transforming the way electric power companies do business, in ways that benefit the companies and their

  • India’s Coal Glut Leaves Producers Teetering on Bankruptcy

    At the end of July, India’s Central Electricity Authority (CEA) noted in its annual load generation balance report (LGBR) for the year 2018–2019 that the country will likely have a peak surplus of 2.5% and

  • Coal-to-Gas Power Shift Driven by Economics

    The Tennessee Valley Authority’s third coal plant conversion to gas combined cycle generation, at the venerable Allen plant near Memphis, Tennessee, created the most-efficient combined cycle plant in its

  • Combined Cycle Plant Showcases ‘Cool’ Innovation to Help Meet Turkey’s Power Demand

    Advanced cooling system technology is among the features of a gas-fired plant representing Saudi Arabia’s first foray into the Turkish power market. Turkey is a country in the midst of political and social

  • Intense Summer Heatwaves Rattle World’s Power Plants

    Scorching temperatures during the summer of 2018 forced a swathe of power plants across the world to reduce power or shut down temporarily, owing to warmer-than-usual temperatures of cooling water and other

  • Another World Record for Combined Cycle Efficiency

    The Nishi Nagoya power plant in Japan is more than just the showcase of a successful fuel-conversion project. It’s the holder of a world record, thanks to a GE Power gas turbine that again has set the global

  • U.S. Biomass Power, Dampened by Market Forces, Fights to Stay Ablaze

    Though experts say biomass should continue to play a key role in the U.S. renewable power portfolio for its baseload properties, contributions to forest management, and other reasons, a swathe of uneconomic

  • How Does the Western Energy Imbalance Market Work?

    The California Independent System Operator’s Energy Imbalance Market (EIM) is a real-time energy market, the first of its kind in the western U.S. EIM’s advanced market systems automatically find low-cost

  • Can Coal and Nuclear Power Plants Be Saved?

    It’s no secret that U.S. nuclear and coal-fired power plants are struggling to remain viable in competitive markets. Many plants have been retired for economic reasons long before the facilities reached the

  • The Gamble to Produce Power from a ‘Killer’ Lake

    KivuWatt, a 26.2-MW power plant in Kibuye, Rwanda, was conceived to help reduce risk of an overpressure gas outburst at Lake Kivu. The first-of-its-kind integrated methane gas extraction and production