Business
-
Legal & Regulatory
FERC: There Is No Grid Emergency
President Trump wants to provide financial support to struggling coal and nuclear power plants. He’s told the Department of Energy (DOE) to make it happen. But a bipartisan group of lawmakers on Capitol Hill, along with commissioners from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), made it clear June 12 they don’t support federal government intervention […]
-
Press Releases
SPX Mobile Display Trailer Highlights Advantages of Marley® Cooling Tower Components
Showcasing innovative gearbox, driveshaft, fan, and heat transfer fill options Overland Park, Kan. – SPX Cooling Technologies, Inc., a full-line, full-service industry leader in the design and manufacture of evaporative cooling towers and air-cooled heat exchangers, has outfitted an 18-foot mobile trailer with displays of field-erected cooling tower components. Visitors to the trailer can see […]
-
Press Releases
Montana Public Service Commission votes to approve the Hydro One and Avista merger
TORONTO and SPOKANE, Wash., June 12, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Hydro One Limited (“Hydro One”) (TSX:H) and Avista Corporation (“Avista”) (NYSE:AVA) today announced that the Montana Public Service Commission (“the Commission”) has voted to approve the proposed merger, with conditions. “Hydro One is very pleased that the Montana Public Service Commission has voted favourably on […]
-
Renewables
GE Will Cut Jobs, End Manufacturing at Virginia Plant
General Electric’s (GE’s) power unit has said it will end manufacturing operations at its plant in Salem, Virginia, next year, with more than 260 workers losing their jobs, according to union officials. Officials noted that 42% of the affected workers are eligible for retirement. The plan announced June 8 said the Salem plant, which opened […]
-
Press Releases
U.S. Water Plans to Appeal Recent Ruling That pHytOUT® Patents Are Invalid
St. Michael, MN (June 2018) – U.S. Water announces that on May 25, 2018, the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin overturned a decision by a unanimous Federal Court jury that U.S. Patent Nos. 8,415,137 and 8,609,399 relating to U.S. Water’s pHytOUT® deposit control technology were valid. U.S. Water plans to […]
-
Press Releases
ABB to install multipurpose microgrid in Australia
ABB will supply a microgrid solution to the Energy Storage for Commercial Renewable Integration (ESCRI) project, which will provide a more secure power supply in an area that has high renewable penetration into the grid. The solution will connect an ABB Ability PowerStore™ 30 megawatt (MW) battery energy storage solution to the Electranet transmission system […]
-
Press Releases
PENNSYLVANIA COAL PLANT SAVES ON REQUIRED MAINTENANCE UPGRADES AND OPERATING COSTS BY IMPLEMENTING SUEZ’S MOBILE WATER SOLUTIONS WITH INSIGHT*
Seeking to reduce its operating costs and environmental footprint, the Conemaugh Generating Station in New Florence, Pennsylvania, utilizes SUEZ’s mobile water solutions to produce boiler feedwater. By using the mobile demineralizer with InSight*, the coal-fired power plant will gain $220,000 in annual operating cost savings, reduce chemicals associated with the make-up demineralized (DI) systems and […]
-
Coal
Chicago Company Preparing Offer for Navajo Generating Station
A suburban Chicago-based energy company executive on June 7 told Arizona officials his group is putting together a proposal to purchase the Navajo Generating Station (NGS), the largest coal-fired power plant in the western U.S. The plant’s current owners have said they will close the 2,250-MW facility by year-end 2019 unless a buyer is found. […]
-
Legal & Regulatory
Xcel Will Retire Coal, Add Renewables in Latest Plan
Xcel Energy, citing “historically low” costs for wind and solar power, said it wants to double its generation from renewable sources. Colorado’s largest utility also said it will retire two coal-fired units representing 660 MW at its Comanche Generating Station in Pueblo at least 10 years ahead of schedule. The changes were outlined in a […]
-
Renewables
Six Glaring Interventions in Competitive Markets — Beyond the Trump Plan
The Trump administration’s attempt to prop up uneconomic “fuel secure” generators in competitive markets is just the latest in a string of recent “extra-market” interventions that experts said imperil independent organized markets for electricity. In a recent white paper, Raymond Gifford and Matthew Larson, energy partners at Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP, said the restructured administrative […]
-
Renewables
Exelon CEO Clarifies Headline-Grabbing No-Grid-Emergency Comment
Chris Crane, CEO of Exelon Corp., seemed to take umbrage with the way comments he made on June 5 were reported by Utility Dive. The website published the headline “Exelon CEO: No grid emergency to justify DOE coal, nuke bailout,” but Crane went out of his way to clarify his position while on stage participating […]
-
Press Releases
Seeq Announces New Version, and adds Managing Director for European Operations
Seeq expands machine learning and publishing functionality in new R20 release, and adds new Managing Director for European Sales office. SEATTLE, June 5, 2018 – Seeq Corporation announces the release of its second update to their Seeq software application in 2018, staying on plan to provide four new releases each year. Seeq is an advanced […]
-
Commentary
Hurricane Season is Here; Is Your Grid Prepared?
When Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017, no one could predict the level of devastation those 155-mph sustained winds would deliver. In its wake, Maria plunged the entire island of Puerto Rico into darkness, and decimated its aging distribution, transmission and generation infrastructure. By all predictions, it was going to […]
-
Legal & Regulatory
Swift (and Angry) Reaction to Trump Move to Save Coal, Nuclear Plants
Reactions from U.S. energy and legal and regulatory groups began pouring in minutes after the White House confirmed on June 1 that President Trump has directed the Department of Energy (DOE) to act immediately to stop the loss of uneconomic coal and nuclear plants. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a June 1 […]
-
Legal & Regulatory
How General Atomics Developed Its Revolutionary Nuclear Fuel Solution
The U.S. is pouring funding into developing new fuel technology for advanced nuclear reactors in a bid to help the flagging industry. On April 27, it awarded General Atomics (GA) $3.2 million for two projects that the San Diego, California-based company is developing, including an accident tolerant fuel (ATF) solution that the company says is […]
-
Coal
India’s Power Industry Struggles to Solve Pollution Problems
In a bid to tamp down pollution, India’s government in December 2015 notified the country’s coal generators they would need to meet—for the first time—new emissions limits for nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and mercury, as well as tightened limits for particulate matter (PM) and water consumption. The gazetted notification gave new plants until […]
-
Workforce
THE BIG PICTURE: CEO-to-Employee Pay Ratio
As required for the first time by a new Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rule mandated by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act and Item 402(u) of Regulation S-K, public companies in early 2018 began disclosing ratios that compare total compensation paid to principal executive officers (PEOs), such as a CEO, to the median of the annual […]
-
IIOT Power
Rethinking the Service Delivery Model for Guaranteed Outcomes
Service delivery models are today undergoing unprecedented change to accommodate the needs of customers trying to navigate business and market uncertainties. Around the world, industrial manufacturers are facing new and familiar challenges ranging from economic and competitive pressures and the tightening availability of resources, to aging workforces, rising technology and operating costs, and heightened focus […]
-
O&M
Common Goals and Team Mentality a Winning Combination
A lot of things factor into success at a coal-fired power plant, but leadership and teamwork certainly rank high on the list. Comanche Generating Station has parlayed those two attributes, among others, into a
-
Legal & Regulatory
Power in Africa: Prospects for an Economic Foothold
To sustain unprecedented economic growth, lift hundreds of millions out of poverty, and attract investment, African countries are taking bold steps to expand electricity infrastructure. Are the continent’s
-
Renewables
Power Plant Efficiency: A Key to Profitable Performance
Building power plants is only the first step to generating success. Running plants efficiently, and consistently improving efficiency as they run, is the path to putting profits on the bottom line. Building
-
O&M
Disaster Response: How Power Generators Prepare to Weather the Storm
Natural disasters can strike anywhere, and the events of recent years—hurricanes, flooding rains, bomb cyclones—have ramped up the efforts of utilities to prepare for extreme weather. Power companies are
-
O&M
Building the Case for Power System Hardening
Purse-string holders are pretty easily swayed to approve funding to upgrade transmission and distribution systems following major events like Superstorm Sandy and Hurricane Irene. However, it is becoming
-
Renewables
Developments in Energy Storage Could Spell the End of the Duck Curve
The duck curve is named for its resemblance to a duck, with its peaks and valleys highlighting the effect solar production has on the power demanded from thermal generators and hydropower resources throughout
-
Commentary
The Power Grid’s Great Transition
POWER has been reporting for many years on changes taking place in the power generation mix around the globe. Renewable energy, such as wind and solar generation, has been growing steadily in most parts of the
-
Renewables
Novel Geothermal Power Technology Being Deployed in Canada
In a bid to tamp down pollution, India’s government in December 2015 notified the country’s coal generators they would need to meet—for the first time—new emissions limits for nitrogen oxides (NOx)
-
Renewables
POWER Digest [June 2018]
Marking an important milestone in energy storage’s steady charge to become a key element in balancing variability posed by renewables, ACCIONA Energia has received a prototype certificate from DNV GL for a
-
Press Releases
MHPS Advanced-Class Gas Turbine Arrives in Mexico Port of Altamira
ALTAMIRA, MEXICO (May 29, 2018) — Iberdrola SA and Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) today joined Mexican officials as they welcomed another Advanced-Class Gas Turbine arrival in the bustling Mexican Port of Altimira. The turbine is headed to Iberdrola’s 850-MW power project in El Carmen in northeastern Mexico. In the past two years, Iberdrola has ordered a […]
-
Press Releases
DHYBRID partners with QOS Energy to monitor PV hybrid and energy storage off-grid plants
Nantes, France (May 2018) — DHYBRID, the leading German solution provider for PV hybrid, energy storage and smart-grid projects, has announced its partnership with QOS Energy, the data intelligence cloud specialist, to monitor PV hybrid and energy storage plants. DHYBRID will benefit from the versatility of QOS Energy’s monitoring software, which is unique in its ability to aggregate […]
-
Gas
Pioneering Zero-Emission Natural Gas Power Cycle Achieves First-Fire
First-fire has been achieved at NET Power’s supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO₂) power plant—a test facility in La Porte, Texas, to demonstrate the potentially revolutionary natural gas–fueled Allam Cycle. The project is designed to produce low-cost electricity from natural gas while generating near-zero atmospheric emissions, including full CO₂ capture. NET Power, which is based in Durham, […]