Coal
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News
New Jersey Backs 45 Community Solar Projects
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) on Dec. 20 announced it has approved 45 applications in the first year of its Community Solar Energy Pilot Program. The NJBPU in a statement Friday said the projects, with total generation capacity of 77.61 MW, will be designed by local governments, community groups, and private developers. […]
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Interview
The POWER Interview: NCC Group on Cybersecurity
Reliability and resiliency are buzzwords in today’s world of power generation. The focus is often on valuing those attributes, be it through subsidizing baseload power to make it more economically viable, or through other means. Reliable delivery of electricity, of course, also depends on cyber-resilient systems, at power plants and across the grid. Cyberattacks against […]
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Fuel
NERC: Long-Term Reliability Uncertain Amid Rapid Changes to Bulk Power System
Significant and rapid changes that are reshaping North America’s power sector will likely leave Texas and Ontario, Canada, with supply shortfalls over the next decade, and energy deficiencies could also occur during off-peak conditions in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) area and the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) region, the North American Electric Reliability […]
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Workforce
Recruiting the New Power Workforce [PODCAST]
It’s a time of great transition in the power industry. Not only are generation resources changing, but so are the work skills needed to operate and maintain those resources. Meanwhile, a large number of workers are reaching retirement age, leaving open positions that had long been filled by highly experienced staff. And the talent pool […]
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Business
Hitachi Exiting MHPS; MHI Will be Venture’s Sole Owner
Japanese technology conglomerate Hitachi will withdraw from Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS), a joint venture it established in 2014 with another power equipment giant, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), over a dispute stemming from construction of two massive defect-ridden coal plants in South Africa. Under a Dec. 18-announced settlement reached by MHI and Hitachi, Hitachi will […]
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News
EU Finalizes ‘Green Deal’ for Clean Energy Investment
The European Union (EU) on Dec. 16 announced an agreement among its member states on rules involving the financing of green energy projects. Lawmakers approved a list of technologies and activities that can be classified as green, after disagreement about whether nuclear energy and natural gas should be included. The so-called “Green Deal” is a […]
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IIOT
Positive Technologies assists Siemens with eliminating dangerous vulnerabilities in utility control system
Framingham, MA — Positive Technologies experts have discovered a total of 17 vulnerabilities in the SPPA-T3000. Vladimir Nazarov, Head of ICS Security at Positive Technologies, said: “By exploiting some of these vulnerabilities, an attacker could run arbitrary code on an application server, which is one of the key components of the SPPA-T3000 distributed control system. […]
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Coal
Ownership Shakeup at Colstrip Coal Power Plant
NorthWestern Energy said it will file an application with the Montana Public Service Commission for pre-approval to acquire Puget Sound Energy’s (PSE’s) 25% interest in Colstrip Unit 4, which is a 740-MW coal-fired boiler. The price? $1. “Securing more capacity for only a $1 investment is a unique opportunity that helps give us the time […]
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Connected Plant
The POWER Interview: New Directions for GE Digital
In a recent conversation with POWER, GE Digital CEO Pat Byrne discussed why GE made key changes to the lucrative business, streamlining it to focus on four key markets, including electric utilities and power generation. GE has been at the forefront of the innovation in the energy sector since Thomas Edison formulated the essential requirements […]
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News
Indiana Utility Will Close Coal-Fired Units Early
Indianapolis Power & Light (IPL) on Dec. 9 announced it will close two of the four coal-fired units at its Petersburg Generating Station in southern Indiana, as the utility continues to move away from coal generation. IPL has been pressured by state political leaders and environmentalists to close the 1,700-MW Petersburg facility, the largest power […]
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Coal
Veteran Material Handling Specialists Expand Benetech, Inc.’s Capabilities
Benetech, Inc. has announced the addition of two highly seasoned material handling experts who will further enhance the company’s service and solutions for bulk material handlers. AURORA, Ill., Dec. 10, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Benetech, Inc. has announced the addition of two highly seasoned material handling experts who will further enhance the company’s service and solutions […]
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News
EPA Reinterprets ‘Ambient Air,’ Further Tweaks New Source Review
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized a change to a long-standing policy interpreting “ambient air”—a foundational concept under the Clean Air Act that applies to all types of air pollution, from ground-level ozone, particulate matter, and greenhouse gases. While the agency framed the change as part of a suite of actions to reform New Source […]
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News
Report Says Global CO2 Emissions From Coal Down This Year
Global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from coal-fired power plants and industrial facilities fell in 2019, according to research published Dec. 3, though overall emissions of CO2 rose due to the increased use of natural gas and oil for power generation and other industrial processes. The new emissions figures were reported by the Global Carbon Project […]
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Markets
Is Carbon Pricing the Key to a Clean Energy Future? [PODCAST]
The New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) has proposed incorporating the social cost of carbon into the wholesale price of electricity. According to an October-released study conducted by the consulting firm Analysis Group, “A carbon price in NYISO’s competitive wholesale power markets can help deliver New York’s clean-energy transition in faster, cheaper, more reliable, more […]
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News
KraftPowercon Acquires Marsulex Environmental Technologies
GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN – December 3, 2019 – KraftPowercon Sweden AB (https://kraftpowercon.com/) announces the acquisition of 100 percent ownership of Marsulex Environmental Technologies Corporation (MET). U.S.-based MET is a technology leader in Air Quality Control Systems (AQCS), specifically in the control of particulate (dust) and gaseous emissions from power plants and industrial boilers. For more than […]
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News
Brouillette Takes Over as Energy Secretary
The U.S. Senate on Dec. 2 confirmed Dan Brouillette as the new Secretary of Energy, tapping the former lobbyist for Ford Motor Company to replace Rick Perry, the former Texas governor who stepped down as Department of Energy (DOE) chief after becoming part of the impeachment inquiry into President Trump. Perry’s tenure was marked by […]
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Connected Plant
Siemens to equip Bajaj Energy plant in India with digitalization solutions
Siemens will equip Lalitpur Power Generation Company Limited (LPGCL), a Bajaj Group company, with advanced digital solutions for its power plant located in Lalitpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. Siemens will provide a complete thermal twin for the LPGCL coal-fired power plant, enabling improvements in the plant’s performance. Siemens experts, in close collaboration with plant operations team, […]
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Coal
Smarter Monitoring for Coal Ash Remediation
Total suspended solids probe can help coal-fired power plants reduce compliance risks and avoid additional sampling. Water plays an essential role in coal ash remediation, but managing that process often comes
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News
Using Technology to Tackle Power Plant Emissions
Power plant owners and operators have a range of systems available to help reduce pollutants at their facilities, depending on a number of factors. And industry experts agree—there is no “one size fits
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Renewables
Redevelopment Project Converts Site from Coal to Renewables
The former Brayton Point coal plant’s transformation into an East Coast logistics and manufacturing center, renewable energy hub, and international seaport is a symbolic milestone representing the first of
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Coal
Is Chasing Grid Demand Killing Your Large Coal Boiler? Here Are Four Concerns to Address
Operating pulverized coal-fired boilers under low-load conditions presents several challenges. This article offers tips to keep units in the best possible operating condition. In today’s energy market with
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IIOT
New Monitoring and Analytics Tools Improve Plant Performance
Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technologies can help make electric generating plants more efficient while increasing availability. The electric power industry is going through a transformational change
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News
Culture Is Key to Optimizing Plant Efficiency
The power industry faces many challenges, which require a dedicated workforce to overcome. How can a company get everyone pulling in the same direction? It starts with a strong culture. The electric utility
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News
Renewable Power Generation on Rise in Turkey
The market for renewable energy in Turkey has been growing since the country enacted a “Renewable Energy Law” in 2005. Progress has been steady and has ramped up in recent years after renewable energy
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IIOT
Report: Blockchain Not Well-Suited to Transactive Energy
Blockchain—a distributed database technology that allows a network of parties to securely transact with each other—has been hailed as a game-changing innovation in the power sector for its potential to
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News
POWER Digest [December 2019]
Israeli Group Supports Construction of 1.3-GW Gas-Fired Plant. The Israeli National Infrastructure Committee on Nov. 4 approved a plan to build Israel’s largest privately run power plant, saying the facility
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Renewables
Decarbonization: Utilities Leading the Way
Decarbonization is a word that seems to be used quite regularly these days. For the power industry, it refers to the shift in electric generating resources from carbon-heavy coal to carbon-free nuclear or
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Connected Plant
Unlocking Value at the Grid-Edge: Extending the Reach of the Utility Control Room
Just 10 years ago, the magnitude of behind-the-meter distributed energy resources (DERs) at the edge of the grid was not materially significant. All that has changed, and we’re now at an inflection point: by
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Commentary
International Business: Before You Enter a New Market, Do Your Due Diligence
As an attorney who has spent the majority of his career litigating and settling international commercial disputes, I have experienced several instances where U.S. companies jump at the opportunity to expand
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News
China Ramping Renewables, and Building More Coal Plants
Officials in China in 2017 said the country—the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases—would move away from coal-fired power generation. They promptly canceled more than 100 coal power plant construction projects. But coal remains king in China, which in the past two years has added 43 GW of coal-fired generation capacity, according to a report […]