Business
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Commentary
A Tipping Point for America’s Grid
COMMENTARY The American grid is reaching a tipping point. With electric vehicles (EVs) making up 5% of all new vehicle sales last year, there is an urgent need to prepare for the unprecedented strain that will be placed on the U.S. power grid as adoption continues to ramp up—and this is to say nothing of […]
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Energy Security
How an EMP or GMD Could Destroy the Power Grid and Create Chaos
Perhaps the most devastating thing that could happen in any developed country would be widespread catastrophic damage to its electric power grid. Nearly everything in an industrialized nation relies on electricity to function. Without it, normal water supplies, sewer systems, and communication services are cut off. Furthermore, things like food and transportation are quickly affected […]
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Gas
GE H-Class Turbines Powering Two New Gas Plants in Brazil
General Electric (GE) said it will supply its H-Class turbine technology for the expansion of a natural gas-fired power plant in Brazil, part of that country’s strategy to add baseload generation to the nation’s power grid to support the integration of renewable energy. It is GE’s second order for turbine technology at the site in […]
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Commentary
Financing the Energy Transition: Forging Ahead in the Wake of Silicon Valley Bank
Considering the unfathomable costs of unabated climate change, it stands to reason that even the most elementary investment thesis for the energy transition merits sincere consideration. And with the enormous sums of public and private capital committed these last few years toward the companies, technologies, and projects that promise to drive climate change mitigation and adaptation, it would appear […]
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Legal & Regulatory
EPA Moves to Significantly Tighten Mercury and Air Toxics Standards
A proposed rule unveiled by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on April 5 could considerably tighten the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) for power plants, with specific repercussions for coal- and oil-fired generation. The proposed rule seeks to significantly update the 2012–finalized National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Coal- and Oil-Fired […]
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Energy Security
Western Energy Imbalance Market Gains Three Participants, Including First Generation-Only Entity
The Western Energy Imbalance Market (WEIM), a real-time energy market operated by the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), has gained three new participants, including its first generation-only entity. CAISO on April 5 announced the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) Desert Southwest region, El Paso Electric (EPE), and AVANGRID have formally begun participation in the WEIM. […]
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Press Releases
Aetheros Introduces Essential IoT Service Layer for Utilities to Supercharge $100B Edge Intelligence Market
SAN FRANCISCO, April 5, 2023: Aetheros, with its leading IoT operating system for massive machine type computing and communications, today entered the U.S. market to power the next wave of smart meter deployments with distributed intelligence. Commercially deployed and proven across Australia and New Zealand, and processing over one billion meter reads daily, the Aether […]
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Geothermal
EGS, AGS, and Supercritical Geothermal Systems: What’s the Difference?
The spectrum of geothermal technologies is quickly evolving. This supplement to POWER’s April 2023 feature, “Startups Are Shaking Up Geothermal Power’s Potential,” briefly explains the differences between some engineered geothermal systems. Conventional geothermal energy is largely produced by hydrothermal systems, which consist of hot water circulated in deep-seated permeable rocks. Resource temperature ranges from high (greater […]
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Nuclear
India Eyes Major Expansion of Nuclear Power
India’s government is pushing for construction of more nuclear power plants as the country looks to increase its supply of cleaner energy. Officials have made some ambitious pronouncements, calling for as
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Hydrogen
Successful Test of Hydrogen in Gas Turbine Driving a Natural Gas Compressor in Germany
A project led by two major European gas transmission system operators (TSOs) has successfully tested blending rates of up to 25% hydrogen on a Titan 130 SoLoNOx Solar Turbines gas turbine, which serves as a
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Nuclear
The Future Looks Bright for Nuclear Power—Dare We Use the ‘R’ Word Again?
The term “nuclear renaissance” was very popular in the early 2000s. Nuclear power plant operators had substantially improved existing plant performance, and many new plants were being considered around the
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Distributed Energy
Driving on Electric Avenue—Innovation Pushes Energy Transformation
A seismic shift is ongoing in the energy space, as transportation, industry, and other sectors turn toward electricity and away from fossil fuels to supply their power. The push for decarbonization of the
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Geothermal
Startups Are Shaking Up Geothermal Power’s Prospects
Driven by ripe market conditions, technology startups are injecting investment and innovation into geothermal power to unlock novel applications that could substantially scale up the niche renewable power
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Gas
Gas Power Outlook: Gas Turbines Will Play a Vital Role in Decarbonization
Natural gas–fired power generation has seen its ups and downs over the past couple of decades. In some cases, highly efficient combined cycle units were taken offline because they just weren’t needed. But
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Coal
India Commissions First Supercritical Coal Plant Equipped with Air-Cooled Condenser
NTPC, India’s largest energy conglomerate and its largest coal generator, in March commissioned the country’s first supercritical coal-fired plant equipped with an air-cooled condenser (ACC). The effort
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Gas
Optimizing Combined Cycle Power Plant Operations
Cogentrix Energy and Siemens Energy have partnered to optimize 8000H-class gas turbine reliability and outage planning. Under Cogentrix’s management, the Patriot site successfully upgraded one of its
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Renewables
Working with EPC Contractors: Guidance for Utilities Embarking on Solar Development
Engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractors deliver many benefits to power projects. Besides the experience they bring that can help keep schedules on track, they often have longstanding
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Commentary
Celebrating Diversity Drives Results
The energy sector is facing unprecedented times as we see oil and gas companies expanding into renewables, as well as enhanced carbon capture for traditional fossil fuels. If there was ever a time we needed
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Safety
Cameras Are an Important Security Tool for Power Plants and Substations
Physical security of plants and substations has become a real concern for power companies. In an interview with NPR, Puesh Kumar, director of the U.S. Energy Department’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy
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Instrumentation & Controls
Instrumentation and Control for Reliability, Efficiency, and Pollution Control
High-tech instrumentation and state-of-the-art modeling tools are helping power plant operators achieve best-in-class performance, meet pollution targets, and better predict failures. Calibration management
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Offshore Wind
Entergy, RWE Partner to Assess Offshore Wind Prospects in Gulf of Mexico
U.S. utility Entergy and global power giant RWE are partnering to jointly assess the best means to develop an offshore wind market in the Gulf of Mexico. The two companies on March 30 unveiled a memorandum of understanding (MoU) under which they will analyze the Gulf of Mexico offshore wind market and define an optimal […]
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Wind
Offshore Wind and Green Hydrogen Offer Great Opportunities for Gulf Coast States
The U.S. Gulf Coast offers some of the greatest potential for renewable energy development in the country. According to a National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) study, Florida, Texas, and Louisiana rank second, third, and fourth, respectively, in net technical energy resource potential for offshore wind. The large energy resource in these three southern states is […]
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T&D
PG&E Investing $18 Billion Toward Wildfire Mitigation
California utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) said it plans to invest $18 billion toward its wildfire prevention program through 2025 after sustaining major financial losses from fire-related claims over the past few years. PG&E filed for bankruptcy in 2019, and has paid billions of dollars in settlement awards tied to criminal and civil liabilities […]
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Press Releases
Wärtsilä and Eolian complete 200 MW standalone energy storage facility in Texas, the largest merchant battery system in the world
The facility is also first-of-its-kind financed with the Investment Tax Credit to provide critically needed dispatchable resource to meet urgent and growing demand for flexibility in Texas power market The technology group Wärtsilä has reached commercial operation date (COD) for two major interconnected energy storage systems in South Texas totaling 200 MW and owned by […]
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Press Releases
Wood has worked on more than half of the world’s carbon capture & storage projects
HOUSTON, March 27, 2023 — Wood, the global consulting and engineering company, has completed carbon capture and transportation studies for more than half of the 300 carbon-capture facilities being planned worldwide1. From the U.S. Gulf Coast of Louisiana and the oil sands of Canada to the Persian Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia, Wood’s experts are […]
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Press Releases
GE Wins New Order for TM2500 Technology Aiming to Deliver Much Needed Power and Accelerate Diesel-to-Gas Transition in Yemen
GE’s TM2500* aeroderivative gas turbine will help PetroMasila transition from diesel to natural gas-based power generation TM2500 – GE’s “power plant on wheels” with an ISO rating of 34 MW will be used to provide fast, flexible power to support oil exploration and extraction operations Ending gas flaring is central to the broader effort of […]
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Press Releases
Commercially operated Wärtsilä engine runs on 25 vol% hydrogen blend, a world first
The technology group Wärtsilä and WEC Energy Group have successfully tested the capabilities of a Wärtsilä engine running on 25 vol% hydrogen-blended fuel. The tests, which were completed in October 2022, were conducted at WEC Energy Group’s 55 MW A.J. Mihm power plant in Michigan, USA using an unmodified Wärtsilä 50SG engine. Throughout the testing […]
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Nuclear
Last Energy Secures PPAs for 34 SMR Nuclear Power Plants in Poland and the UK
Last Energy, a U.S.-based micro modular nuclear technology firm and project developer, has secured power purchase agreements (PPAs) for 34 PWR-20 small modular reactor (SMR) units with four industrial partners in the UK and Poland. The deals, which represent a combined $18.9 in power sales, mark “the largest pipeline of new nuclear power plants under […]
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Power
Henry Ford, J.P. Morgan, and FDR: Big Players in U.S. Hydropower History
When you study the history of hydropower, you expect to learn about people like British-American engineer James Francis, who developed the first modern hydro turbine in 1849. A testament to his genius is that the Francis turbine continues to be the most widely used water turbine in the world today. Or you assume American inventor […]
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Press Releases
S&C Electric Company Expanding U.S. Manufacturing Operations to Meet North American Demand for Its Grid Resiliency Technologies
CHICAGO, Illinois (March 21, 2023) – S&C Electric Company, a leader in smart and resilient electrical grid solutions, today announced the expansion of its U.S. manufacturing footprint with a 275,000-square-foot facility in Palatine, Illinois, approximately 25 miles from S&C’s 47-acre Chicago headquarters and manufacturing campus in Rogers Park. The company employs 3,500 team members globally […]