Business

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has urged conservation as it grapples with record-high power demand amid extremely cold temperatures and near-zero wind chill over its seven-state region in the Southeast. The federal corporation, a major generator that serves as a regional reliability coordinator, on Jan. 16 said “heavy snow and bitterly cold temperatures” were expected […]

Ontario Power Generation (OPG) and North American power producer Capital Power Corp. will jointly examine the feasibility of developing small modular reactors (SMRs) in Alberta, including possible ownership and operating structures. The companies on Jan. 15 announced they signed a two-year commitment agreement to assess the feasibility of jointly owning and operating SMRs in Alberta […]

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has issued a conservation appeal as it braces for continued freezing temperatures, “very high” demand, and “unseasonably low wind” early in the morning on Jan. 15, just before the solar ramp-up. The grid operator on Sunday afternoon said it expects “tight grid conditions” as temperatures plunge, driven by […]

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for uranium enrichment and storage services as part of a measure aimed at stimulating a domestic supply chain for high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU). The action follows an RFP released in November 2023 for services to deconvert enriched uranium into metal, oxide, and […]

Energy Northwest, a Washington state public power joint operating agency, announced an agreement with Bellevue-based Puget Sound Energy (PSE), which it says will “accelerate the agency’s program examining the feasibility of developing and deploying a next-generation nuclear energy facility.” The agreement, a $10 million investment by PSE in Energy Northwest’s new nuclear project feasibility phase, […]

A report published by the Pueblo Innovative Energy Solutions Advisory Committee (PIESAC) says the closure of Comanche Unit 3, a coal-fired power plant capable of generating about 800 MW gross, will have “devastating impacts on the economy of Pueblo unless the community, Xcel Energy, and other stakeholders begin planning now for replacement of the highly […]

PJM has urged Talen Energy to delay its deactivation of two of four units at the 840-MW coal, oil, and gas–fired Herbert A. Wagner Generating Station in Maryland until transmission upgrades are put into service around 2028. The nation’s largest regional transmission organization (RTO) on Jan. 10 said it informed Talen that the deactivation of […]

The history of electric cooperatives is one of individuals striving to improve their local communities. Perhaps the most inspiring electric cooperative formation was initiated by Peggi Timm. Timm, whose accomplishments would fill a library, helped to create one of Oregon’s largest cooperatives, called Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative (OTEC). In 1987, OTEC’s service territory was controlled […]

Independent power company Globeleq and Kenya’s state-owned Geothermal Development Co. (GDC) are readying to launch construction of the 35-MW Menengai II geothermal project in Kenya’s Nakuru County. When completed in 2025, the power project will become the second to come online in the wider Menengai complex in Kenya’s geothermal-rich Rift Valley region. Globeleq and GDC […]

AES Corp. has ended operations at one of the group’s four remaining natural gas-fired power plants in California. AES on Dec. 31 shut down its 1,300-MW Redondo Beach Generating Station, a facility that operated at less than full capacity in recent years, providing electricity to support the grid during periods of peak demand for power. […]

Varnish is one of the most widespread issues in power plants. It’s the hard, oil-insoluble organic residue that cannot be easily removed from mechanical components. It typically occurs in turbines or compressors due to extreme temperatures, disrupting plant operations and causing downtime, which ultimately leads to revenue losses. When varnish forms on a critical piece […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) will award credits under its Civil Nuclear Credit (CNC) program to bolster the continued operation of Diablo Canyon Power Plant (DCPP) Units 1 and 2, Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s (PG&E’s) 2,240-MW nuclear plant in San Luis Obispo County, California. A record of decision published by the agency’s Grid Deployment Office on […]

Avangrid, the U.S.-based unit of Spanish energy giant Iberdrola, said it has terminated its planned acquisition of New Mexico utility PNM Resources after failing to receive final approval for the $8.3 billion deal from state regulators. Avangrid officials in a statement on Jan. 2 said the group needed to receive approval for the deal from […]

Fifty years after the first global oil shock in 1973, the world’s energy sector is again facing high geopolitical tensions and uncertainty—though this time around, “pressures are coming from multiple

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 […]