Coal

  • TECO Announces $800-Million Investment in New Solar

    Tampa Electric Co. (TECO) on Feb. 19 said it plans to invest about $800 million to add another 600 MW of solar power generation capacity by year-end 2023. TECO on Wednesday said the expansion will increase its solar portfolio to more than 1.25 GW of solar generation, or about 14% of its total generation mix. […]

  • ITC Probing Economic Impact of Renewable Goals, Imports to New England

    Responding to a request from a Democrat-led U.S. House committee, the federal International Trade Commission (ITC) is investigating how New England’s increasing renewable targets are economically affecting the region, and what role renewable imports play in meeting those commitments. The ITC, an independent, nonpartisan and quasi-judicial federal agency that also provides fact-finding as it relates […]

  • CORMETECH Announces the Success of Its Breakthrough DustBuster™ Coal SCR Catalyst

    DustBuster™ SCR catalyst has proven performance in over 11,000 MW of coal-fired power units since 2016 CHARLOTTE, N.C.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–In making the announcement, Mike Mattes, President & CEO of CORMETECH said, “Demand continues to be strong as utilities worldwide recognize the benefits of DustBuster™ and are looking to improve their coal-fired generation SCR performance and meet […]

  • Dominion Latest to Set Net-Zero Carbon Goal

    Richmond, Virginia-based Dominion Energy has joined a growing list of power companies establishing net-zero emissions targets. The company, which has more than 7 million electricity and natural gas customers in 18 states, said it intends to reach its carbon dioxide and methane reduction goals by 2050. Under the net-zero framework, the company is committing to […]

  • Nuclear a Major Focus in Trump’s Latest Budget Request—and 8 Other Takeaways

    Yucca Mountain, the 1987 Congressionally appointed deep geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel (SNF), may be officially dead; transmission assets held by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and three Power Marketing Administrations (PMAs) will be put up for sale; and hundreds of millions of dollars in unobligated balances for flagship programs like the Advanced Research […]

  • DOE Announces Additional $64 Million for Clean Coal Projects

    The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has earmarked $64 million in additional funding for research and development of smaller, more efficient, and cleaner coal plants. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette on Feb. 7 announced the money would be part of the DOE’s “Coal FIRST Initiative,” telling the audience at an Atlantic Council meeting Friday in Washington, […]

  • After Long History, Paradise Coal Plant Ceases Operation

    The generator breaker for Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA’s) Paradise Unit 3 was opened on Feb. 1, removing the coal-fired power plant from service for the final time after 50 years of operation. Notably, TVA retiree Jim Chappell performed the task. Chappell was the electrical control wing operator who originally placed Unit 3 in service. The […]

  • CIRCOR | RTK Introduces All-In-One REflex Quick Change Seat Control Valve

    RTK®, a CIRCOR International brand, and an international leader in the design and manufacture of control valves and actuators, introduces the REflex Quick Change Seat Control Valve with REact 30 DC-PoP smart actuator, a flexible all-in-one solution for noise reduction and high pressure drop applications. The REflex QCS Control Valve assembles and disassembles in four […]

  • Energy Northwest Study Makes a Case for SMRs in Future Power Mix

    Deep decarbonization of the U.S. Northwest can be achieved at “manageable” costs by 2045, but only if utility agency Energy Northwest secures zero-emitting firm capacity, such as by relicensing Columbia Generating Station—the sole nuclear plant in the region—and building small modular reactors (SMRs), a new study suggests. The study by San Francisco-based consulting group Energy […]

  • Increasing Automation for Fossil Energy Plants

    An Electric Power Research Institute study has developed a systematic process for introducing sequence automation to fossil power plants. Researchers are now exploring its implementation in case studies. As

  • Backup Power for Critical Loads Can Save Lives and Money

    In a modern economy increasingly dependent on electric power, blackouts can wreak havoc when the loads are critical to life, business, and even a comfortable lifestyle. The problem may be growing, but there

  • Hype and Hope: Artificial Intelligence’s Role in the Power Sector

    Artificial intelligence (AI) is a term power professionals are seeing increasingly to describe sophisticated digital technologies. Could it be the breakthrough that is so highly hyped? There is no argument

  • A Closer Look at Coal Power Plant Impacts

    When I see estimates of premature deaths attributable to coal-fired power plants, I usually take the data with a grain of salt. It’s not that I don’t trust researchers to do their best to calculate the

  • POWER Digest [February 2020]

    Indonesia Readying to Build 145-MW Floating Solar Plant. Pembangkitan Jawa Bali (PJB), a subsidiary of Indonesian state electricity company PT PLN, is planning to begin construction of the $129 million Cirata

  • Endesa to Close Two Giant Spanish Coal Plants

    Endesa on Dec. 27 formally moved to shutter two massive coal-fired power plants—the 1.4-GW As Pontes plant in A Coruña, Galicia, which is the biggest coal-fired power plant in Spain, and the 1.16-GW

  • South Korea Continues Nuclear Phase-out

    South Korea has announced the permanent closure of another nuclear reactor, as the country continues to phase out thermal power generation and increase the use of renewable resources for electricity. The

  • Australia, Long a Uranium Champion, Mulls Nuclear Power

    An Australian federal inquiry last December recommended partially lifting a nationwide ban on nuclear energy, urging that the government pursue a “goal-oriented” and community-focused strategy as it

  • India’s Energy Market Overhaul—Infrastructure, Renewables, and Keeping Coal in the Mix

    India wants to reform its power generation sector, including upgrades to energy infrastructure, and plans to introduce new technology to make its electricity supply more reliable and resilient. It’s part of

  • Policy Support for Carbon Capture Critical to Clean Energy Future

    Analysis by both the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and International Energy Agency shows that achieving a zero-carbon energy system by 2050 will require large-scale deployment of carbon capture

  • The POWER Interview: Benefits of a Smarter Grid

    The smart grid is transforming the way utilities communicate with their customers. Smart grid technology, including control systems and automation that help new technologies work together, supports a power grid that can respond digitally to quickly changing electricity demand. The smart grid enables electricity producers to enhance reliability, availability, and efficiency. It can provide cost […]

  • Cementing Coal Power Phaseout, Germany Sets Out to Shutter 40% of Current Generation Mix

    Germany’s federal cabinet on Jan. 29 approved a nationwide phaseout of coal power generation by 2038, paving the way for the country, which has already initiated a nuclear phaseout, to rely even more heavily on renewables. The federal cabinet’s approval of the “Reduction and Termination of Coal Power Generation” (Gesetz zur Reduzierung und zur Beendigung der […]

  • Verizon and Honeywell enable utilities to more quickly deploy LTE Smart Meters

    BASKING RIDGE, N.J., AND MORRIS PLAINS, N.J., Jan. 29, 2020 — Verizon (NYSE: VZ) has teamed up with Honeywell (NYSE: HON) to help utilities speed up and simplify the deployment of new communication-enabled, intelligent sensors and controls for the smart electric grid. By integrating Verizon’s Managed Connectivity LTE solutions into Honeywell’s next-generation smart meters and […]

  • Bradley Pulverizer Acquired by Lancaster Products Owner

    Allentown, Pennsylvania – Bradley Pulverizer is pleased to announce new ownership.  Lancaster Products & Kercher Enterprises’ owner Curt Snyder acquired the assets of Bradley Pulverizer through an affiliate effective on January 14th, 2020. Bradley Pulverizer specializes in the design, manufacture, and supply of pulverizing systems for fine and semi-fine grinding of hard, friable, abrasive materials for […]

  • Wisconsin Co-op Will Close Coal-Fired Plant

    Wisconsin-based Dairyland Power Cooperative on Jan. 23 said it would close its 345-MW coal-fired Genoa Station No. 3 by year-end 2021. The move comes as the La Crosse-based utility continues to phase out coal-fired power generation while it develops a new, $700-million natural gas-fired plant, and ramps up its use of renewable power sources. The […]

  • EPA to Withdraw Federal Regional Haze Plan for Utah Based on New Analysis

    Citing new technical information gleaned from a more modern modeling analysis, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed to withdraw a federal implementation plan (FIP) to control regional haze from four PacifiCorp coal-fired units in Utah and allow the state to revert to conditions set out in a 2015-submitted state implementation plan (SIP). The agency’s […]

  • Coal Is Out as APS Sets Carbon-Free Goal

    Arizona Public Service (APS) announced Jan. 22 that it plans for all its power generation to be carbon-free by 2050, and also said it plans to produce nearly half its power from renewable sources by 2030. APS joins other U.S. utilities who have put forth similar goals in recent years. APS, which has been criticized […]

  • Wisconsin PSC Backs Construction of Gas-Fired Plant

    Construction of a $700 million natural gas-fired power plant near the Wisconsin-Minnesota border was authorized by Wisconsin regulators on Jan. 16, over the objections of environmental groups who have said the plant is not needed. Dairyland Power Cooperative and Minnesota Power would jointly own the 625-MW Nemadji Trail Energy Center, which on its current timeline […]

  • Sunflower Finally Scraps Plans for 895-MW Kansas Coal Plant

    Sunflower Electric Power Corp. has abandoned plans to build the $2.8 billion Holcomb Expansion after its partner on the 895-MW coal-fired power plant project in Kansas, Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, announced it would no longer pursue the project. Sunflower said on Jan. 15 it will allow the project’s air permit, for which it once […]

  • The world’s most powerful boiler feed pump dispatched

    A boiler feed pump with the largest drive rating worldwide was dispatched by the KSB Group based in Frankenthal in late December 2019. It will be used in the coal-fired power plant Pingshan II that is currently being built in Huaibei, China. The supercritical power station employs a new technology that is said to reach […]

  • EIA: Renewables Will Surge Past Coal, Nuclear to 22% of U.S. Power Mix in 2021

    The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) in its first forecast for 2021 suggests the share of renewables in the utility-scale U.S. power generation mix will surge to 22%, up from 17% last year, while coal and nuclear’s shares will be further diminished. According to the agency’s latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), released Jan. 14, coal’s […]