Connected Plant

Every one of the 13 decades that POWER magazine has been in print has been definitive for electric generation technology, policy, and business in some significant way, but few have been as transformative as the 2010s. The decade opened just as the global economy began to crawl toward recovery from a historically unprecedented downturn that […]

The term “Big Data” is used frequently by tech-savvy power industry professionals, but what does it really mean. To get an insider’s perspective, POWER posed the question to Akshay Patwal, strategic business manager with Siemens Energy. Patwal leads the development and commercialization of digital business transformation projects, using big data platforms and analytics to create […]

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 […]

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, […]

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

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

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

POWER was at the POWERGEN International exhibition and summit, which was held in New Orleans, Louisiana, Nov. 19–21, 2019. Among the experts we met with at the show were Paul Browning, CEO of Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Americas; Chris Mieckowski, director of global solutions marketing and strategy with Siemens; Robert Yeager, president of Emerson’s Power […]

The POWERGEN International exhibition and summit—one of the world’s largest power-industry events with more than 750 exhibitors—was held at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, Nov. 19–21, 2019. POWER was there (Figure 1) to connect with leaders from the industry and report on the latest news from the show. Hot topics […]

ABB’s digital solutions and engineering services will improve availability and reliability of power in the State of Paraná, with ABB winning a $US2.5 million contract to upgrade Copel’s Governador José Richa hydro power plant. ABB will provide excitation systems and speed regulation for four generator units at the 20-year-old Governador José Richa[i]  hydro power plant […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy has selected Electrical Distribution Design (EDD) to lead a project focused on increasing solar situational awareness and grid resilience through threat detection. EDD, working with project partners PEPCO Holdings (PHI), Clean Power Research (CPR), Florida State University (FSU), Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA), University of Delaware (UD), […]

Watertown, Mass. U.S.A — November 19, 2019 — United Electric Controls, a leading producer of safety, alarm and emergency shutdown technology, is demonstrating wireless gas detection solutions for the power industry, including new ammonia and hydrocarbons sensor head options for its Vanguard WirelessHART gas detector. Wireless gas detection reduces compliance costs and improves safety by eliminating […]

Watertown, Mass. U.S.A — November 19, 2019 — United Electric Controls (UE), a leading producer of safety, alarm and emergency shutdown technology, is demonstrating its line of smart switches for power industry applications. This includes its One Series electronic pressure and temperature switches with optional 4-20 mA output that replace electromechanical switches, and its One […]

As the world continues to face climate uncertainties, industrial companies are looking for ways to ensure they are as sustainable as possible while maintaining profitability. POWER’s recent Distributed Energy Conference included a session on sustainability from the viewpoint of utilities and others in the power generation industry. Many companies are working toward the goal of […]

Twenty-three projects chosen by the Department of Energy (DOE) in response to its 2019 Grid Modernization Lab Call provide a broad look at the critical issues that are roiling the nation’s power sector, as well as the tools and technologies that it has determined will best bolster the grid of the future in the near […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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. […]

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

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

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

Malware detected at the Kundankulam nuclear power plant in India’s state of Tamil Nadu has not affected plant systems, an investigation by Nuclear Power Corp. of India (NPCIL), the nation’s nuclear plant operator, confirms.  The entity said in a press release on Oct. 30 that it discovered the malware on Sept. 4 on the personal […]

What does it mean to have “extreme visibility” in an operational technology (OT) environment? According to Claroty, a New York-based company that offers cybersecurity products for industrial control systems, it’s having the ability to see all assets on a network, knowing what they are, and understanding what functions they perform. The company says the more […]

Oct. 28, 2019 – Framatome opened the new SPEC 200 manufacturing facility at its Operational Center of Excellence in Lynchburg, Virginia, completing the move of the factory from China to the U.S. The ribbon-cutting took place in September, marking the full integration of the SPEC 200 product line into Framatome’s solutions portfolio. Framatome acquired the […]

In order to fulfill the need for economical displacement transmitters with simplified installation, Brüel & Kjær Vibro (B&K Vibro) announces the release of the DT-12x series of transmitters. These fully integrated, loop-powered displacement transmitters offer a unique streamlined solution for shaft displacement and vibration monitoring capability for a wide range of industrial machines. The DT-12x […]

Spain’s largest electric utility Endesa has successfully tested a new remotely operated vehicle (ROV) that it says will make inspection and maintenance in fully or partially submerged environments at its thermal power plants less costly and more efficient. The underwater robot, which was custom manufactured by Spanish startup NIDO Robotics for Endesa’s applications, is about […]

CONCERN TITAN-2 JSC, contractor for building and supply of equipment for Hanhikivi-1 NPP construction, has signed today a contract with Framatome-Siemens, the French-German consortium, to supply Main Instrumentation and Control (I&C). The signature followed a competitive procedure with the participation of international companies that are market leaders in the field of integrated I&C solutions at […]

Delivering energy has centered on the fundamental tenant of being reliably available. As energy providers strive to maintain that availability, they all too often push security to the backburner. Many unsafe practices have fallen into place for the sake of speed and efficiency, including the use of default and shared passwords, open access, and little […]