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The U.S. nuclear power fleet last year achieved its lowest recorded average total generating costs in two decades—$30.42/MWh—though it ran at a record-high 93.4% average capacity factor. Total generating costs were 7.6% lower last year compared to the prior year, and have fallen nearly 32% since 2012. The numbers, highlighted in the Nuclear Energy Institute’s […]

The COVID-19 outbreak and efforts to halt the spread of the virus are having a real impact at the Vogtle nuclear expansion construction site, but project starts elsewhere were robust in March. Cutting Workforce Due to COVID-19 On April 15, Georgia Power announced in an 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that […]

The renewable energy sector has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, with more than 106,000 U.S. workers losing their jobs last month, according to an analysis of unemployment data released April 15 from several clean energy groups. Wednesday’s report said hundreds of thousands more job losses in the sector are expected in the next […]

It’s an unprecedented time for power generators worldwide. Utilities, grid operators, equipment manufacturers, and others working to keep the lights on know that a reliable supply of electricity is more important than ever as the world battles through the coronavirus pandemic. Dino Barajas, who recently joined the finance arm of DLA Piper in Los Angeles, […]

Global wind turbine manufacturers Siemens Gamesa and Vestas have restarted work in their facilities in Spain, after that country eased some of the restrictions in place as part of the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The move comes at the same time that General Electric announced it would close a subsidiary’s wind turbine manufacturing […]

April 14, 2020 — Framatome signed a long-term service contract with the Taishan Nuclear Power Joint Venture Company Limited (TNPJVC) to support operations of two EPRs at the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant in China. This contract covers nuclear plant outage and maintenance work, including spare parts supply and engineering services for eight years. “This contract […]

The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) has asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to delay the implementation of seven reliability standards that relate to cybersecurity, training, disturbance monitoring and reporting, generator relay loadability, and coordination of protection systems for performance during faults. In an April 6 filing to FERC, NERC noted the rules […]

The crash in global oil prices, though a challenge for cash-strapped drillers and U.S. exploration and production (E&P) companies, may provide an opportunity to move natural gas prices higher. Analysts in recent days have said higher gas prices could come as soon as next winter—some predict prices could more than double from recent lows of […]

Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser told a German newspaper the company will not reduce its workforce despite the economic downturn due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. Kaeser, in an interview published April 11, said the company would likely continue having some employees work fewer hours at some of its facilities in Germany, and could extend that […]

Xcel Energy on April 6 announced the sale of the 760-MW Mankato Energy Center (MEC) gas-fired power plant in Minnesota, less than three months after purchasing the plant for $650 million from Southern Co. Xcel had said the MEC was an important piece of the utility’s goal to be carbon-free by 2050. Xcel reached a […]

Support Directed to First Responders, Community Relief Funds, and Teachers NRG Energy CEO, Mauricio Gutierrez, shares details of the company’s $2 million donation supporting COVID-19 relief efforts PRINCETON, N.J. – As the battle to contain the COVID-19 pandemic continues, NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NRG) announces broad efforts to aid those on the front lines of […]

Westminster, Colorado (April 9, 2020) – Tri-State has achieved a significant milestone in its transition to be a more flexible and even cleaner power supplier through its transformative Responsible Energy Plan. The cooperative’s board of directors, representing each utility member, approved a new partial requirements contract option that will deliver its utility members the flexibility […]

The need to reduce carbon emissions is real. In 2018, the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported that global emissions would need to reach net-zero (or carbon-neutral) by 2050 to prevent severe climate change impacts. Electricity is a major contributor—electricity generation was responsible for approximately 33% of total CO2 emissions in the U.S. in […]

Scientists at SSC RF TRINITI JSC, a subsidiary of Rosatom’s science division, this week announced they have developed a method of disinfecting and sterilizing medical instruments, clothing, equipment, and facilities using mobile devices for the production of concentrated ozone. The action is one of several initiatives undertaken by Rosatom, the Moscow-based Russian state nuclear corporation, […]

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL’s) latest annual energy flow chart suggests that in 2019, for the second year in a row, wind and solar made up the largest increases in U.S. energy supply, but American consumption of energy fell after a record year in 2018. The national lab’s annual U.S. energy flow chart, or Sankey […]

esVolta, a developer and owner of utility-scale energy storage projects across North America, has been selected to deliver a new Lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery energy storage system for California Choice Energy Authority (CalChoice), a hybrid joint powers authority made up of five operational community choice aggregations (CCAs) in the cities of Lancaster, Pico Rivera, Rancho Mirage, […]

April 8, 2020 – Framatome was awarded a contract to deliver the reactor protection system for units 1 and 2 at the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant II in Russia. The contract includes planning, designing, manufacturing and implementing the system. This contract builds on the 2018 memorandum of understanding Framatome signed with Rusatom Automated Control Systems (RASU), a […]

PJM Interconnection, the nation’s largest regional transmission organization (RTO), is intensifying its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, preparing campuses for worker sequestration and closely coordinating with generators and transmission owners across its system as they grapple with workforce and supply impacts. Although most of PJM’s employees—with the exception of system operators and other essential personnel—are […]

It’s a rite of spring for the U.S. nuclear power industry. Plant operators schedule refueling outages, taking a reactor offline not only to refuel but also to perform repairs or other maintenance, and facility upgrades. It’s a task made more problematic this year, as social distancing and travel restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic […]

The start of a new decade marks a critical moment for utilities. As the pace of change accelerates, industry leaders are facing choices that will determine which companies prosper in the new competitive landscape and which languish as slow-growth commodity businesses. West Monroe’s 2020 Energy and Utilities Outlook provides a guide to planning for a […]

The coronavirus pandemic is altering the power landscape, with utilities and other power generators forced to adjust for load disruptions. Power consumption is changing as commercial and industrial electricity users close their businesses, and load is shifting to the residential sector with workers now settled in home offices, and students practicing remote and distance learning. […]

As part of POWER magazine’s in-depth coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, its editors are curating a list of resources that may provide actionable information helpful to anyone involved in the world’s vast bulk power systems. Please write to editor@powermag.com if you know of additional resources that should be added to this page.  POWER Magazine’s Live […]

Siemens Energy completed “first fire” at Duke Energy’s Lincoln Combustion Turbine Station near Denver, North Carolina, on April 6. The accomplishment is a major milestone for the world’s first SGT6-9000HL gas turbine, confirming the engine and auxiliary systems, including the gas supply, lube oil system, control system, and startup systems, all work as designed. During […]

The U.S. power sector is rallying together to implore state and local governments to treat sector-wide “mission-essential employees” with higher priority and ensure they have top-level access to testing and personal protective equipment (PPE) amid the intensifying COVID-19 pandemic. In a four-page April 2 white paper presumably addressing federal leadership, the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council […]

Federal regulators with oversight over U.S. power matters have issued a series of actions over recent weeks to respond to the potentially devastating impact that COVID-19, the new coronavirus, could have on North American power workforce operations and reliability. POWER will update this post regularly with COVID-19 response news and documents from federal and state […]

Operators of the world’s nuclear reactors are doing more than keeping the lights during the coronavirus pandemic. Along with taking steps to protect their workforce, and having plans in place to keep their facilities running at a time of critical need for power, they also are using nuclear technologies to detect and fight COVID-19. From […]

This moment is like nothing we’ve seen before in our lifetimes—impacting all our communities and disrupting lives everywhere. We are all concerned for our loved ones and our future. In our business, given the nature of what we do and, in turn, the basic but essential actions we help enable others to do—turn on the lights, refrigerate […]

UK-based bolt tensioning experts TensionPro has launched HYCOBOLT, an advanced hydraulic coupling bolt designed to deliver high performance torque transmission for critical load rotating shafts and couplings.HYCOBOLT is direct retrofit replacement to conventional fitted bolts on rotating machinery, providing significant benefits through both operational improvements in coupling performance and time saving during plant maintenance periods. Unlike conventional […]

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management said it continues to work on issuing a permit for a $1 billion solar power project in Nevada, after already missing two deadlines to move the project forward. The proposed 690-MW Gemini solar farm in Nevada is one of the country’s largest proposed solar projects. It would be operated […]

Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Ltd. (MHPS) has begun commissioning T-Point 2, its newest combined cycle power plant validation facility that will eventually host the company’s much-watched autonomous combined cycle power project. The 566-MW facility at Takasago Works in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, will replace the iconic  T-Point facility, which MHPS’s parent company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) completed […]