Business

Solar, wind, and nuclear power, as well as battery storage systems, are the obvious winners as the world aims to decarbonize energy systems. It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who has been following trends

The growing urgency to address climate change by policymakers, industry, and investors appears to have reinvigorated carbon capture and storage (CCS) deployment. More than 50 CCS facilities at power plants are

The U.S. power grid is in need of an upgrade and the federal government knows it. Much of the electric grid was built in the 1960s and 1970s, according to a paper published by the U.S. Department of Energy’s

Steam turbines are used in many applications on various scales to drive equipment such as pumps, compressors, and generators. Routine maintenance, as laid out by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is

It’s not uncommon for organizations to go through performance cycles from good to bad, and hopefully, back to good before repeating the process. However, a well-conceived and consistently applied

Alabama Power is a subsidiary of Southern Company and the largest electric utility within Alabama, delivering power through 85,586 miles of lines in the southern two-thirds of the state. We operate in one of the most storm-prone areas of the country, facing tornadoes, thunderstorms, and tropical storms year-round. The continual rush of disruptive weather events […]

Solar photovoltaic (PV) power generation demonstrated the largest absolute growth of all renewable technologies in 2022, surpassing wind for the first time in history, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The IEA has said continuous growth in the economic attractiveness of PV, massive development in the supply chain, and increasing policy support, especially in […]

Proper steam and water analysis system (SWAS) maintenance is critical to the operation of any coal, nuclear, or combined cycle power plant, many of which are being forced to ask more of aging equipment. For

To understand what the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is, it helps to understand how the North American electric power system is configured. The contiguous U.S. is comprised of three power grids or “interconnections.” The Eastern Interconnection reaches from central Canada eastward to the Atlantic coast (excluding Québec), south to Florida, and west to […]

The small modular reactor (SMR) concept has long been viewed by many within the nuclear sector and by policymakers as somewhat of an arriviste—an upstart with bold promises but lacking credibility and a track record. SMRs were touted to save the nuclear industry from its original sins of delays and cost overruns, typical for all […]

POWER magazine’s website gets millions of pageviews every year. Looking over the stats from 2023, the following five articles were the most-viewed by our audience, which includes many power industry professionals. Were you among the hundreds of thousands of readers of these stories? 5. Westinghouse Secures First Customer for eVinci Nuclear Microreactor (Nov. 27, 2023) […]

Boilers obviously play an important role in the power generation industry, providing the mechanism to convert heat produced by burning fuel into steam that can be used to drive a turbine to generate electricity. But many other industries also use boilers to produce steam for a variety of purposes. Boilers are commonly used for space […]

Germany-based RWE, among the world’s leading companies in development of offshore wind energy, said it will acquire three major projects off the East Anglia coast of the UK from Sweden’s Vattenfall in a $1.2 billion deal. RWE on Dec. 21 said the projects, each with planned generation capacity of 1.4 GW, are in the Norfolk […]

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has unanimously approved the California Independent System Operator’s (CAISO’s) Day-Ahead Market Enhancements (DAME) and Extended Day-Ahead Market (EDAM) proposal, effectively allowing new market options to address challenges caused by increasing system variability and uncertainty in the West. FERC’s decision issued on Dec. 20, for the most part, accepts CAISO’s […]

Siemens Energy may be poised to become a crucial equipment and consulting partner for Oklo’s Aurora powerhouse, a liquid metal-cooled fast nuclear reactor. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) Oklo unveiled on Dec. 19 designates Siemens Energy to become Oklo’s potentially preferred supplier for the rotating equipment in the conventional island of the Aurora powerhouse, including […]

India’s largest solar photovoltaic (PV) module maker is moving some of its manufacturing to the U.S. Mumbai-based Waaree Energies on Dec. 21 said it would build its first U.S.-based facility in Brookshire, Texas, near Houston. Waaree, a major equipment supplier for the U.S. solar power sector, on Thursday said the new plant would have an […]

Following a difficult period for the renewable energy industry, firms must begin prioritising foreign exchange (FX) risk management against the rising threat of currency movements. It has been a tough year for the renewable energy industry. The post-COVID inflationary pressures that have gripped the global economy over the last two years are weighing heavily on […]

Negotiators from nearly every country in the world closed COP28 with a decision that—for the first time—formally recognizes the necessity of moving away from fossil fuels to achieve Paris Agreement targets. The decision, adopted on the last day of the two-week 28th Conference of the Parties (COP 28) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate […]

According to a guidebook issued by Sandia National Laboratories, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) multi-mission laboratory, microgrids are defined as a group of interconnected loads and distributed energy resources (DERs) that act as a single controllable entity. A microgrid can operate in either grid-connected or island mode, which includes some entirely off-grid applications. A […]

China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC) announced on Dec. 6 that China’s independently developed high-temperature gas-cooled modular pebble bed (HTR-PM) reactor demonstrator had commenced commercial operation. The HTR-PM project was constructed at a site in Rongcheng, Shandong Province (Figure 1), roughly midway between Beijing and Shanghai in eastern China. Touted as “the world’s first commercially operational […]

A new report from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and the Wood Mackenzie research group said the U.S. solar sector is expected to add a record 33 GW of new generation capacity in 2023, a 55% increase from 2022. The groups said that even with growth expected to slow over the next year due […]

Utilities are just beginning their journeys to speed up deployment of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure in reaction to increasing EV penetration. In the U.S., EV sales have risen nearly 50% between 2022 and 2023, now accounting for 8% of total industry sales (the Biden administration has a goal of 50% new vehicle sales comprising zero-emission vehicles by […]

This year, many of us watched with audible gasps as high temperatures shattered records and extreme weather destroyed homes and displaced people across the globe. These uncontrolled events have undoubtedly strained our old, antiquated electric grids, causing outages and downtime. The Biden administration has stepped up with $167 Million in energy grid resilience funding to assist in modernizing these […]

Have you noticed more electric vehicles (EVs) driving around your neighborhood? According to Kelley Blue Book’s “Electric Vehicle Sales Report Q3 2023,” EV sales volume in the U.S. set a new record in

Power companies need precise weather forecasts for a variety of reasons. Several companies specialize in providing the type of weather information utilities need to accurately predict resource availability and

Obtaining real-time operating data on power plant and substation equipment has never been easier. The sensors, transmitters, and systems needed to monitor important parameters are readily available and highly

University and college campuses are places where young minds are shaped, and groundbreaking research is conducted. Cities are often the places where recent graduates gather to put those ideas learned in the

People know a storm can disrupt the electrical grid and cause a wave of complications across the region or country very quickly. But now, for those charged with grid reliability and keeping the lights on

In July 2014, the Department of Homeland Security mandated that utilities meet requirements and measures outlined in the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s (NERC’s) critical infrastructure protection (CIP) standards. These standards regulate the physical safety and security of all aspects of the power grid, including energy substations and generators. They outline steps toward prioritizing which […]

A pioneering 3.5-MW enhanced geothermal system (EGS) in northern Nevada that demonstrated the ability to drill, complete, and operate horizontal wells is now operational. Project Red, co-developed by Fervo Energy and Google under a partnership forged in 2021 under the “world’s first corporate agreement to develop an enhanced geothermal power project,” is supplying power to […]