Climate change

The head of Europe’s largest utility said countries need to put a price on carbon in order to cut emissions of greenhouse gases and meet climate targets. Francesco Starace, CEO of Italy-based Enel, speaking Oct. 5 at the Reuters Impact virtual summit, said the world’s larger economies need to lead on developing strategies and taking […]

The UK will host the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, next month. The roughly two-week-long event will bring together delegates from around the world with a goal

Thermal power plants need a continuous supply of cooling water to operate, but as the natural environment changes, more and more screen blockages are occurring at cooling water intakes. Maintaining intake

In March 2021, we reached an important milestone in the push for carbon neutrality across industries. A report by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), a UK-based non-profit, found more than 21% of

Educational institutions increasingly are upgrading their physical utility infrastructure to become more efficient in their use of energy while addressing the reliability of the energy supply on their campus

Pennsylvania, a major power producer that relied on fossil fuels for 66% of its net power generation in June, plans to maintain its nuclear generation at current levels until it can ramp up other carbon-free supplies to 100% by 2050, the state’s Sept. 22–released 2021 Climate Action Plan suggests.  The measures are part of a […]

Most people recognize that carbon dioxide (CO2) is a greenhouse gas (GHG), and while not everyone agrees, a majority of climate scientists believe increasing concentrations of GHGs in the atmosphere are causing climate change on Earth. Carbon pricing is a market-based strategy for reducing CO2 emissions. The goal of carbon pricing schemes is to place […]

Moving quickly after devastating winds from Hurricane Ida on Aug. 29 took out eight critical high-voltage lines and blacked out New Orleans, Jefferson, and two other Louisiana parishes, Entergy hashed out two options. One—the “preferred solution”—was to restore some of the critical transmission lines that tie Greater New Orleans to the larger MISO grid, and […]

The iconic 2-GW Hoover Dam and 1.3-GW Glen Canyon Dam hydropower plants are operating at substantially reduced capacity, paralyzed by enduring drought conditions across the West, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) has revealed. Weeks after USBR on Aug. 16 declared the first-ever federal water shortage at Lake Mead, the agency told POWER this week […]

After more than a decade of development, Minesto’s novel underwater “kite” technology kicked off commercial operation with a 100-kW project in the Faroe Islands. Despite some hiccups, the pioneering

With record high temperatures and wildfires gripping the West, utilities have asked residents to cut down on power usage to reduce the strain on overburdened systems. As we’ve seen following countless crises, the U.S. energy grid is being pushed to its limits. Fortunately, a $1 trillion infrastructure bill is on the horizon, and with it, a significant opportunity […]

It’s not unusual for species to go extinct; it happens all the time. In fact, scientists estimate that at least 99.9% of all species of plants and animals that have ever lived on Earth are now extinct. That’s pretty amazing, considering how many species still exist—up to 8.7 million, according to some experts. Mass extinction […]

Intensifying drought conditions in California and historically low water levels at the Oroville Dam on Aug. 5 forced the state’s Department of Water Resources (CDWR) to shut down the 644-MW Edward Hyatt Power Plant—the fourth largest energy producer of all California’s hydroelectric facilities. Similar conditions across the West are prompting a careful watch over hydropower facilities.

Korea Western Power’s Taean Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) Power Plant this year marked 4,000 hours of consecutive accident-free operations, setting a new world record for IGCC power plants

The American Clean Power Association (ACP)—a 2021-launched pan-renewables trade group—may be poised to merge with the U.S. Energy Storage Association (ESA) starting on Jan. 1, 2022. The groups’ intent to pursue a merger, announced on July 22, still requires ESA’s member approval. If successful, it would combine the two trade association’s staff programs and members, […]

Numerous energy facilities were afflicted by the major flooding event that inundated parts of Europe last week, and at least one major power generator has said the damage will likely mount into a “mid-double-digit million euro sum.” The flooding, which was caused by a cold, low-pressure area dubbed “Bernd,” crawled slowly across the continent over two […]

The rapidly spreading Bootleg Fire tripped off transmission lines that transport power from the Pacific Northwest to California and other states over the weekend, prompting the California Independent System Operator (ISO) to issue another Flex Alert—the sixth such conservation notification this summer. According to the state’s Incident Information System, the intense fire in Southern-Central Oregon […]

Stricken by repeated extreme heat events, the prospect of a worsening drought, incremental resource delays, and the “unforeseen” loss of 300 MW in thermal resources, California has set out to secure additional energy resources to ensure reliability this summer. Responding to a June 29 letter from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the California […]

AES Corp. will retire four coal-fired power plants—a total 1,097 MW—in Chile “as soon as” January 2025 if supported by grid requirements under an agreement the Virginia-headquartered company signed with the Chilean government on July 6. The coal closures, which are outlined in what AES described as a “voluntary” retirement plan, represent the “single largest […]

Shell Energy has started up a 10-MW polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolyzer facility—one of the largest of its kind in the world—to produce green hydrogen at its Energy and Chemicals Park Rheinland refinery in Wesseling, Germany, and it says plans are underway to expand the plant’s capacity to 100 MW.  The startup of the electrolyzer […]

Utilities across the Pacific Northwest are bracing for exceptional stress on the grid as record-breaking temperatures continue to fester across the region, and at least one utility—Avista Corp.—this week began rolling outages as a measure to alleviate strain on the electric system. Despite pleas to customers to reduce their power consumption, Avista, which supplies power […]

Nuclear energy’s future as a critical pillar in a decarbonized world will depend on its adaptability to rapid change, but the sector must focus on costs, certainty of outcome, reliability, and experience to cement its role beyond the transition, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) President and CEO Jay Wileman told POWER in an exclusive interview. […]

Proven Technology Captures CO2 While Producing Hydrogen Application for Wide Range of Industries (AKRON, Ohio – May 25, 2021) – Babcock & Wilcox (“B&W”) (NYSE: BW), a leading innovator in clean energy technologies, announces its ClimateBright™ suite of revolutionary decarbonization technologies designed to help utilities and industry aggressively combat greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. […]

As leaders around the world take steps to decarbonize energy supplies, many people have focused their attention specifically on wind and solar power. What they may fail to recognize is that nuclear power provides more electricity in the U.S. than all other carbon-free sources combined. This is true in some other countries, such as France, […]

Germany has moved its climate neutrality target up from 2050 to 2045 and adopted new interim binding targets that will require greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions of 65% by 2030 and 88% by 2040, compared to 1990 levels. After 2050, notably, the country—which is Europe’s biggest economy—envisions it will achieve negative GHG emissions.  Germany’s federal […]

Last December, two giant Virginia-headquartered firms—energy company Dominion Energy and food manufacturer Smithfield Foods—announced completion of a novel renewable natural gas (RNG) facility in Milford

The new U.S. administration’s policies could prove to be pivotal in the global fight to tackle climate breakdown. President Joe Biden signed a host of executive orders on “Climate Day” at the end of

Bolstering the Biden administration’s recently announced initiatives to modernize the nation’s grid and improve its resilience, the Department of Energy (DOE) on April 27 made up to $8.25 billion in loans available to expand transmission capacity nationwide, while the Department of Transportation (DOT) offered new guidance to help speed the siting and permitting of transmission […]

President Biden has set a new nationally determined contribution (NDC) for the U.S. to achieve a 50% to 52% reduction in economy-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2030 compared to 2005 levels.  The White House said on Thursday the NDC, which was determined after a “a whole-of-government process”  organized through the Biden administration’s National Climate […]

If we plan on making real progress on beating back climate change, we’re going to have to work together. That means working across not just international borders, but party lines, aggressively pursuing realistic solutions that will make a difference. Democrats like me have always worked hard to not only be leaders on responsible environmental stewardship, […]