Business
-
Connected Plant
Schneider Electric Provides Grid Flexibility With Release of Ecostruxure DERMS
Paris, France, November 12, 2019 – Schneider Electric, global specialist in energy management and automation, announces the release of EcoStruxure™ DERMS – Distributed Energy Resource Management System. The new energy landscape is becoming more decarbonized, more decentralized and more digitalized. Electricity consumers are seeking more control over their energy future and are driving the growing […]
-
Gas
Siemens to upgrade steam power plant in Vietnam to combined cycle power plant
• Electrical capacity increased to approximately 1,200 megawatts • Fired with regasified liquefied natural gas instead of oil • Fifty percent lower CO2 emissions per kilowatt hour produced Siemens will provide the equipment to upgrade the Hiep Phuoc 1 steam power plant in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, to a combined cycle power plant. This […]
-
Nuclear
EDF and Bilfinger close in on Project Agreement for Hinkley Point C
EDF previously selected Bilfinger as preferred bidder to deliver NSSS and fabrication of BOP Bilfinger continues with preparation work based on existing framework contract French energy company EDF (Électricité de France) has re-affirmed to Bilfinger its aspiration to award NSSS (Nuclear Steam Supply System) and the fabrication elements of BOP (Balance of Plant) contracts to […]
-
News
ExxonMobil Extends Deal for Fuel Cell Carbon Capture Project
ExxonMobil and FuelCell Energy announced a new joint-development agreement to enhance carbon capture fuel cell technology, as the groups work on a process to capture combustion exhaust from power plants and other industrial facilities. The two-year deal, announced Nov. 6 and an extension of an earlier agreement, is aimed at optimizing core technology, process integration, […]
-
News
AES Commits to Build 2.2-GW CCGT Plant in Vietnam
AES Corp. on Nov. 8 signed a memorandum of understanding with the Vietnamese government to build a $1.7 billion gas-fired power plant in Vietnam. The U.S. Embassy in Hanoi made the announcement along with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, who was attending a ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the American […]
-
Technology
SAP and Accenture Co-Develop New Cloud-Based Solution to Help Utilities Companies Supercharge Business Processes and Customer Experiences
WALLDORF, Germany, and NEW YORK — Nov. 11, 2019 — SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) and Accenture (NYSE: ACN) announced they are co-innovating and co-developing the new SAP® Cloud for Utilities solution to help companies more effectively manage business processes and customer experiences. The initiative aims to elevate energy transition and customer experiences, helping companies quickly […]
-
Cybersecurity
Air-Gapped Industrial Control Networks: What You Need to Know
Many networks across a variety of verticals including government, military, financial services, power plants, and industrial manufacturing have been so-called “air-gapped.” This means they are physically and logically isolated from other networks where communication between these networks is not physically or logically possible. This can be a good thing or bad thing depending on your […]
-
Coal
Mississippi Lime Attains ISO Certification
ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Nov. 8, 2019 – Mississippi Lime Company’s (MLC) specialty operations in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri has received the ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management Systems Certification from NSF International Strategic Registrations (NSF-ISR). The certification recognizes quality management systems and looks at factors such as customer satisfaction, support of top management, product processes, and continual […]
-
Instrumentation & Controls
Leading Technology for Measuring Steam
World’s Only Clamp-on Steam Meter Edgewood, NY, November 8th, 2019 – FLEXIM is pleased to announce its development of the one and only, ultrasonic clamp-on steam meter. This has been years in the making as it was FLEXIM’s ultimate challenge, until today. The worldwide official release date of the FLUXUS ST is November 1, 2019. […]
-
Fuel
New Boosts for Commercial Production of HALEU Advanced Nuclear Reactor Fuel
Efforts to commercialize production of high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel, which is needed for an array of advanced reactors, ramped up this week with two major announcements. As the Department of Energy (DOE) contracted Centrus Energy to demonstrate production of HALEU fuel for advanced reactors at the DOE’s American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio, private […]
-
Connected Plant
The POWER Notebook: Power Sector Digitalization Accelerates
The pace at which new digitalization technologies are being adopted in the power sector is dizzying, but news from major players in the sector—among them, AES, Invenergy, Google, and IBM—this week suggests it will only accelerate. For more insight into power plant digitalization, including the latest in digital monitoring, diagnostic, analytics, Industrial Internet of Things […]
-
News
EPA Proposes Revisions to Two Obama-Era Rules: Effluent Limitations Guidelines and Coal Ash
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued long-awaited proposed revisions of two 2015 Obama-era rules that apply to effluent limitations guidelines (ELGs) for steam electric power plants and coal combustion residuals (CCR) management by electric utilities. The agency coordinated the release of the two related revisions, which apply overwhelmingly to coal-fired steam power plants, after […]
-
News
The POWER Interview: Eaton Targets Skilled Labor Shortage With Hands-on Training
POWER in 2018 reported on the lasting impact that a dip in training programs has had on the utility workforce. In the 1980s, there were fewer training programs and the impact is still being felt today. There are fewer utility workers able to move into middle- and upper-management positions, contributing to a workforce gap as […]
-
News
Dominion Plans 500-MW Gas Plant, Also Adding Solar and Wind
Dominion Energy announced plans for a new 500-MW natural gas-fired power plant and also has taken over a solar farm project in Pittsylvania County in Virginia, with the company saying it would invest about $330 million in the two projects. The Nov. 1 announcement came one day after Dominion said it would it would add […]
-
Connected Plant
GE Shelves Plans to Spin-Off Digital Business
GE will retain its lucrative digital business—not spin it off, as had been planned—but it will sharpen the division’s focus on four key markets, including electric utilities and power generation, GE Digital CEO Pat Byrne told customers in an Oct. 31 letter. “I want to affirm that GE Digital is staying in GE,” Byrne wrote. […]
-
IIOT
CleanSpark Awarded $627,000 Software Controls and Energy Storage Contract
SALT LAKE CITY, Oct. 30, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — CleanSpark, Inc. (OTCQB: CLSK), a microgrid company with advanced engineering, software and controls for innovative distributed energy resource management systems, today announced an award of a contract totaling $627,000 to provide software controls and energy storage to Energias Limpias De CentroAmerica (ELCA) as part of their Energy as […]
-
News
Protecting Critical Infrastructure from Drone Intrusions
Drones represent a classic good news/bad news scenario. The good news is great. The bad news is terrifying. On the good news front, drones can keep utility-sector workers safely on the ground, with the
-
IIOT
EAM Solutions Stretch Capabilities of Lean Plant Maintenance Teams
Of the many challenges power and industrial plant maintenance teams face, stretching the capabilities of their ultra-lean staff is one of the most critical. Assets can range from industrial generators, to
-
Commentary
Hydrocarbon Molecules Know No Borders: The U.S.-Mexico Natural Gas Dilemma
Natural gas traders once spoke of the North American continent as a potential seamless natural gas trading market, where market synergies could be perfected and hydrocarbon molecules could flow freely to the
-
News
Evolution of Nuclear Power Continues with Operation of First EPR
Unit 1 at the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant in China is the site of a milestone for nuclear technology. It also illustrates cooperation between France and China, using the lessons learned from earlier projects
-
News
Solar Projects Show Rapid Growth in Middle East
Solar power continues to make inroads in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and other parts of the Persian Gulf region. The Middle East Solar Industry Association (MESIA) in late September said it
-
News
Poland Pushing Back Against EU Goal to End Coal-Fired Generation
Polish officials have said it is “not possible” for the country to meet the European Union’s (EU’s) goal of cutting net carbon emissions to zero by 2050, and as such the government will continue to
-
Business
Public vs. Private: The Debate Continues
In the September issue of POWER , I wrote about a public utility (JEA) that is exploring privatization, and in October, I looked at a city (Boulder, Colorado) that is exploring municipalization. While I think
-
Infographics
THE BIG PICTURE: The Diffusion of Nuclear Technology
A historical analysis of nuclear power technology by researchers from the German Institute for Economic Research suggests that none of the 674 reactors developed globally since 1945 were developed based on “economic grounds”—as private investments in the context of a market-based competitive system. Until the 1950s, only four major countries dominated nuclear technology by establishing independent […]
-
Connected Plant
Evolutionary Triumph: China’s First ACPR1000
Completion of the first ACPR1000 reactor at Yangjiang 5 within a mere 58 months marks a major achievement for China’s lengthy efforts to commercialize the first-of-its-kind 1,000-MW evolutionary
-
News
Is Small Beautiful? Maybe Not When It Comes to Wind Power
Wind power has become a major electric generating source in the U.S. and elsewhere, based on the reality that this renewable energy technology, beloved of the environmental community that has long embraced the
-
Fuel
Dependable Renewable Energy for the Power Grid
Although wind and solar facilities receive most of the renewable power publicity, biomass offers a reliable baseload solution for power generators. State-of-the-art circulating fluidized bed boilers are a
-
News
When the Storm Strikes, Will You Be Ready?
Is your plant’s natural disaster preparedness plan leaving your site vulnerable? This article provides some best practices to help you prepare for the worst. At some point in a plant’s life, there will
-
Connected Plant
Innovative Technology Captures Energy from Waste Heat
Fuel- and emission-free generators convert low-grade waste heat from diesel generators into power. In 2014, three organic Rankine cycle (ORC) generators were installed to turn the waste heat from three diesel
-
Coal
History of Power Plant Renovation and Modernization in India
Good infrastructure is an essential component for the economic growth of a country, and power plays a crucial role in infrastructure development. India is home to 18% of the world’s total population, and it uses about 6% of the world’s primary energy. The total power generating capacity from all sources of power in India has […]