Business

  • Egypt Warns Ethiopian Mega-Dam May Provoke Conflict, Crises

    Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan may be poised to end a decade-long dispute over waters from the River Nile, agreeing on June 27 to conclude trilateral negotiations and reach final agreement about the first filling and annual operation of the massive 6.4-GW Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) within the next two weeks. The agreement announced on […]

  • Hitachi Absorbs ABB Power Grids in New $10B Joint Venture

    Hitachi on July 1 commandeered a majority share of ABB’s lucrative Power Grids business and officially launched a joint venture company—Hitachi ABB Power Grids. The new company, which already has a volume of about $10 billion, is expected to provide financial muscle to support ambitious projects and new business opportunities as the sector embraces decentralization […]

  • RWE, E.ON Deal Will Reshape Energy Markets

    Two German energy heavyweights have completed an asset swap that will have a major impact on the global market for renewable energy. RWE and E.ON on July 1 closed a deal that had been months in the making, with RWE taking on the assets of Innogy, an E.ON subsidiary (and former RWE company), to make […]

  • The Evolution of Power Business Models

    Traditional models have been upended by recent disruptions, including decarbonization, decentralization, and even the COVID pandemic, but new ones are replacing them that focus on customer preference

  • Islands: An Ocean of Potential for Marine Energy

    While island governments are exploring marine power technologies as serious options for future resources to replace diesel, technology developers are looking at improved value through new revenue streams, such

  • Cuba’s First Biomass-Fired Power Plant Inaugurated

    The first biomass-fired power plant in Cuba—located adjacent to Ciro Redondo sugar mill in the central province of Ciego de Ávila—recently synchronized its two boilers to the grid. The 60-MW plant is

  • Using Data Analytics to Support Asset Management and Optimization

    In the competitive power market that exists today, utilities must utilize data to optimize their assets. With proper analysis, individual units, as well as fleets of plants, can balance operating costs

  • Digital Strategies for Power Plant Optimization

    The power generation sector has been challenged by trends in digitalization, growth of intermittent renewables, equipment performance improvements, new generation, and storage technologies. Digitalization is a

  • Customer Demands Drive Change in Business Models

    Power customers are demanding personalized energy solutions, forcing the industry to alter business models. The leading providers of the future will be digital, agile, efficient, and highly customer-centric

  • Technology in Construction: Choosing and Implementing Solutions

    In Part I of this three-part series, which was published in the May 2020 issue of POWER and titled “Technology in Construction: Predicting and Adapting to Change,” recent trends in technology adoption

  • Powering Iraq During COVID-19: GE Executes Operations & Maintenance Works at Besmaya Power Plant, Securing 3 GW for Peak Summer Demand

    Baghdad, Iraq; 30th June, 2020: GE Gas Power successfully completed services on four 9F.03 gas turbines, two steam turbines and six generators at Iraq’s Besmaya Power Plant safely and on time, while continuing to execute wider operations and maintenance (O&M) works at the site despite the many challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. These service […]

  • The Rookery South Energy Recovery Facility, an Energy-from-Waste plant in the UK, chose a turbine with equipment from Pilsen-based Doosan Škoda Power

    Pilsen (30/6/2020) – Pilsen-based steam turbine manufacturer Doosan Škoda Power is producing and installing a turbine set for the Rookery South Energy Recovery Facility in the British county of Bedfordshire. The turbine, which has an output of 67 MW including auxiliary equipment, will be operated by the Covanta and Veolia consortium. The turbine is scheduled […]

  • Waste-to-Hydrogen Project Set for California

    A California company that produces renewable hydrogen has joined with a Louisiana construction group on a project to build a modular waste-to-hydrogen production facility. Ways2H, based in Long Beach, California, and Ford, Bacon & Davis, a Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based engineering, procurement, and construction firm, on June 30 announced a joint effort to design and build […]

  • Potomac Testing Acquires Electrical Maintenance & Testing, Inc.

    POTOMAC TESTING, a TechPro Power Group company, today announced the recent acquisition of Electrical Maintenance & Testing, Inc. (“EMT”), a NETA Accredited independent third party electrical testing firm based in Carmel, Indiana. CROFTON, Md., June 29, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — POTOMAC TESTING, a TechPro Power Group company, today announced the recent acquisition of Electrical Maintenance & […]

  • Coal Community Leaders Release Historic Platform for National Economic Transition

    Built on Community-Driven Solutions by Local, Tribal, and Labor Leaders, NET Platform Pushes For Bold Investments in National Transition Program For Those Hit Hardest by Changing Coal Economy READ THE PLATFORM HERE   NATIONWIDE – Today, 80 local, regional, and national organizations and leaders unveiled their National Economic Transition (NET) platform to give federal and national leaders […]

  • Three Big Players Work Together on Bulgarian Nuclear Plant

    Russian state atomic energy corporation Rosatom is working with Paris-based Framatome and GE Steam Power, which is headquartered in the U.S., to secure contracts to construct the Belene nuclear power plant in northern Bulgaria near the Danube River, which forms the country’s border with Romania. An On-Again Off-Again History The Belene project has a long […]

  • Big Lift for Newly Launched Siemens Gamesa 14-MW Offshore Wind Turbine

    Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) has conditionally received an order for 100 units of its newly launched SG 14-222 DD offshore wind turbine model—one of the largest wind turbine models ever introduced to date. The 14-MW units are to be installed at innogy’s proposed 1.4-GW Sofia Offshore Wind Farm in the UK starting in 2024. […]

  • Lessons From New Jersey on Power Grid Protection

    After Superstorm Sandy pummeled the great State of New Jersey in 2012, more than two million households were without power, many for close to two weeks. A silver lining is that this disaster occurred in the fall, after the heat of summer and before the onset of freezing conditions. With Sandy, New Jersey and the […]

  • GE’s 7F Gas Turbine Turns 30 with New Plant Commissioned in Mexico

    The first GE 7F gas turbine began commercial operation 30 years ago this month. Since coming on the market, more than 950 7F machines have been commissioned, including four 7F.04 units that entered service recently at Techint’s Norte III combined cycle power plant in Mexico. The 907-MW Norte III facility is located in the municipality […]

  • UK Energy Giant Will Cut 5,000 Jobs

    Centrica, the major UK utility and the biggest supplier of energy to British homes, on June 11 said it would cut 5,000 jobs as part of a cost-cutting effort. CEO Chris O’Shea, who took over the company three months ago, said he also wants to simplify the utility’s business model. The company Thursday said the […]

  • Adani Green Energy wins the world’s largest solar award

    DALLAS, Texas (June 9, 2020) — Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL, NSE: ADANIGREEN) has won the first of its kind manufacturing linked solar agreement from the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI). As a part of the award, AGEL will build 8 GW of solar projects along with a commitment that will see Adani Solar […]

  • LG, OpenSolar Team to Improve Customer Experience in U.S. Solar Market

    LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill., June 11, 2020 — LG Business Solutions USA is working with leading solar software provider OpenSolar to provide a new level of support to LG solar installers migrating to digital processes and remote sales. OpenSolar provides system design, sales quotes and installation information at no charge to solar professionals around the world. Through […]

  • Hydrogen May Be a Lifeline for Nuclear—But It Won’t Be Easy

    Four U.S. nuclear generators—Energy Harbor, Xcel Energy, Exelon, and Arizona Public Service (APS)—are making headway on projects to demonstrate hydrogen production at nuclear plants, but scaling those efforts up to net new end-users and sources of revenue is still ridden with hurdles, company officials said in a panel discussion at the American Nuclear Society’s (ANS’s) […]

  • IEA: COVID-19 Crushed Global Natural Gas Demand

    Hit hard by response to the COVID-19 pandemic, global gas demand in 2020 is set to to tumble by twice the amount lost after the 2008 global financial crisis—its largest annual decline in history—the International Energy Agency (IEA) says in its latest annual market report Gas 2020.  As of June 2020, the fall has been […]

  • The Importance of a Resilient Power System

    It’s hurricane season in the U.S., which runs from June 1 through the end of November, and there have already been three named storms. The most recent was Tropical Storm Christobal, which was the earliest third-named Atlantic storm on record when it formed on June 2. It made landfall in the U.S. along the northern […]

  • PPL Group LLC (“PPL”) to Sell New, Nuclear Grade Equipment from Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC’s Cancelled MOX Project

    NORTHBROOK, Ill., June 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — PPL Group, a premier buyer and seller of industrial machinery and equipment, is selling surplus assets from the Savannah River Site that are currently located at a property storage location in Barnwell, South Carolina. In partnership with AW Properties Global and Liquidity Services, Inc., PPL will sell approximately 450,000 […]

  • PowerCell signs MoU with ABB Power Grids regarding stationary fuel cell power solutions

    PowerCell Sweden AB has signed a memorandum of understanding with ABB Power Grids regarding a collaboration around fuel cell-based zero emissions stationary power solutions. The aim of the cooperation is to leverage the companies’ existing technologies to jointly develop a complete solution for the market. A final agreement is expected to be reached within approximately […]

  • World’s First Integrated Hydrogen Power-to-Power Demonstration Launched

    A consortium of European companies, research institutes, and universities have launched the world’s first demonstration of a fully integrated power-to-hydrogen-to-power project, at industrial scale and in a real-world power plant application. The four-year project to demonstrate HYFLEXPOWER, which has achieved a technology readiness level of 7, will convert a 12-MWe combined heat and power (CHP) […]

  • NERC: Summer 2020 Reliability Rife With Unknowns

    Despite COVID-19’s impact on power demand, disrupted pre-season generation preparation, and an expected highly active hurricane and wildfire season, industry appears well-positioned to meet peak demand this summer under anticipated weather in nearly all parts of the North American bulk power system (BPS).  Other than in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), anticipated reserve […]

  • Tips for Check Valve Selection and Installation

    Check valves are installed in many piping systems. Their purpose is to allow flow in only one direction, which can be critical for plant safety and to protect equipment from damage. There are a few different check valve designs, including swing check valves and spring-loaded poppet-style check valves. Understanding which type is best for a […]