Distributed Energy

Implementation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) proposed Clean Power Plan (CPP) could change the use of the U.S. coal-fired generating fleet from baseload to seasonal peaking—and pose grave implications for plant economics and operating feasibility, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) suggests in new special assessment.   The new report is the second […]

Here are selected thought-provoking (and even unexpected) comments made by presenters at the 10th annual MIT Energy Conference on Feb. 27 and 28 in Cambridge, Mass. Comments are summarized and paraphrased unless presented in quotes. For more on the event, see “Exelon: The Utility of the Future Views Change as Enabling, Not Disruptive” and the […]

Integrating more variable generation and storage, but no new nuclear units, are among the characteristics Exelon sees in the utility of the future, as outlined by Chief Strategy Officer William A. Von Hoene Jr. at the MIT Energy Conference, held Feb. 27–28. He began his Saturday address by saying that innovation is “absolutely indispensible.” Old, […]

After decades of potential but limited deployment, fuel cells are beginning to carve out a role in grid-scale generation (see “59-MW Fuel Cell Park Opening Heralds Robust Global Technology Future” in the

Sometimes, circumstances have a way of developing in such an unexpectedly serendipitous way that they practically force one to take notice. So it is with Cuba and its power sector. Coincidence It all started

Methane emissions are garnering increasing attention because of their potential impact on the climate. Though far less methane is released to the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, methane has 20 to 25 times the

Speaking to a sparsely filled room as the last of four presenters during the keynote plenary session at the Energy, Utility & Environment Conference in San Diego, Calif., Feb. 16, Len Hering, executive director of the California Center for Sustainable Energy (CSE), made it clear that he doesn’t think natural gas is the answer to […]

The sixth annual ARPA-E Summit wrapped up on Wednesday, and though there were too many sessions to cover in depth, here is a mini-summary by way of selected interesting comments. Speaker photos (where available) follow the comment. “Any disruptive technology will not fit an existing market.” —Brian Janous, Director of Energy Strategy, Microsoft “[The energy […]

As it struggles to grow its economy while improving air quality in urban areas, China is updating its energy delivery infrastructure. A key part of that plan is switching from coal-fired to gas-fired combined heat and power plants. To push efficiency even further, some plants are turning to synchronous clutches. The developed world has done […]

On Nov. 14 at Los Angeles Air Force Base, California (L.A. AFB), U.S. Air Force officials unveiled the Department of Defense’s (DOD’s) first nontactical vehicle fleet composed entirely of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs). Actual rollout of the 42-vehicle fleet happened prior to the official ceremony, Christina Greer of the base’s Public Affairs office told POWER, […]

Combining electric power production with use of steam for heating, cooling, and industrial processes is an old idea that had a brief boom in the U.S., kicking off the rise of non-utility generation. Since then, combined heat and power, or cogeneration, has become a niche market player. What happened? In the late 1990s, the University […]

As the global electric power industry continues to develop clean, high-quality energy capacity for sustainable development, the position of small hydropower has changed. In the past few decades, small hydropower development in China has experienced positive momentum, but there are still problems to be solved. To solve these problems, various relationships within the small hydropower […]

“When pigs fly” is a figure of speech used to express disbelief that a particular situation will ever come to pass. For the power industry, several recent and emerging developments are the equivalent of

In mid-November, members of the POWER Generating Company Advisory Team responded via email to the following set of questions. Their comments have been edited for style. POWER: What changes in your fleet’s

A pilot plant in Andalucía, Spain, built by a consortium of multinational European partners, is converting toxic waste from olive oil production into electricity using an innovative three-part process

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) proposed carbon rules for existing power plants amassed more than 1.6 million remarks before the public comment period ended on Monday. Here’s a snapshot of what states, regulators, industry groups, and environmental alliances told the agency about its Clean Power Plan.  States Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, […]

Southern California Edison (SCE) signed contracts for more than 260 MW of energy storage resources on Nov. 5, among them what will be the largest grid-connected battery system in the world, a 100-MW facility supplied by AES Energy Storage. Under its mandate from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), SCE was required to sign contracts […]

Before the polar vortex earlier this year, several severe cold weather events had presented comparable power generation operational challenges. POWER ranks those events here in terms of loss of generation capacity. Common themes observed in both severe and lesser cold weather incidents involve constraints on natural gas fuel supplies to generating plants, and generating unit […]

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) in August revealed that it had developed a 2-MW 16-cylinder high-speed gas engine that potentially offers a power generation efficiency (lower heating value) of more than

The Department of Energy (DOE) will designate $8 million for seven microgrid projects to help cities and towns better prepare for extreme weather events and other power disruptions. The funding will help develop advanced microgrid controllers and system designs for microgrids of less than 10 MW. Each projects includes a company cost-share, ranging from 20% […]

The Aug. 4–6 U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit shed light on the power plights faced by sub-Saharan African countries, but it also highlighted their massive power potential and the array of solutions under consideration to resolve Africa’s energy crisis. Here are a number of key insights gleaned from discussions at the summit—the first a U.S. president has […]

Geographically and politically, Texas and Germany are on opposite sides of the world, but both believe strongly in competitive energy markets, and both have largely deregulated their power industries. Now both are reconsidering their market designs. Its easy to think that Germany and Texas could not be more different. One is northern, cold, and Old […]

Regulators in California last week initiated rulemaking to push the state’s three investor-owned utilities to incorporate distributed energy resources (DERs) into the planning and operation of their electric distribution systems. The California Public Utilities Commission’s (CPUC’s) Aug. 14 Order Instituting Rulemaking establishes rules, policies, and procedures to guide Pacific Gas and Electric, Southern California Edison, […]

California has set an ambitious target of connecting 1.3 GW of energy storage to the grid by 2020. In October 2013, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) mandated that 200 MW of this goal come in

El Hierro, the smallest island on Spain’s Canary archipelago, in June became what developers say is the first energy-isolated territory to power itself solely with renewables. The project, which was

Zeng Ming, Duan Jinhui, Wang Liang, Gu Shanshan In 2013, urbanization in China reached 53.73%. Urbanization has become an important field for national reform. On the one hand, urbanization is effective for

Over the past week, the Department of Energy (DOE) made available $4 billion in additional loan guarantees for U.S. renewable energy and energy efficiency projects as it slashed application fees by more than a third for its $8 billion Advanced Fossil Energy Projects Loan Guarantee Solicitation.  The agency on July 3 issued a loan solicitation to […]

RWE AG is Europe’s third-largest electricity and fifth-largest gas marketer, with holdings in upstream oil and gas production, power grids, and energy trading. Its German power subsidiary has been the utility poster child for the effects of the Energiewende, the transformation of the Germany power system away from nuclear and coal toward renewable energy and […]

At the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) annual meeting this week in Las Vegas, the tone was one of collaboration with partners from Washington to distributed generation companies. Those partnerships will be needed as the investor-owned utility (IOU) industry fights not so much a war on coal as a war for mindshare and wallet share in […]

Temporary power may be the most widely distributed “distributed” generation worldwide, and its distribution is spreading, thanks to its ability to quickly meet urgent needs not only for event, construction, and post-disaster emergency power but also for fast-growing economies and stressed grids. That’s making it a serious competitor for “permanent” power in some situations. When […]