Energy Storage

  • NV Energy Accelerates Retirement of One of Nevada’s Last Coal Units

    NV Energy plans to retire a 254-MW coal-fired unit in a power-constrained region of Nevada at the end of 2021, four years ahead of schedule. The company will instead purchase 1,001 MW from new solar photovoltaic projects equipped with 100 MW of long-term battery storage, effectively doubling its total renewable generation from 14% in 2017 […]

  • Blockchain-Enabled VPP Planned for South Korea

    The South Korean government has pledged 4 billion Korean won (about $3.5 million) to support a blockchain-enabled virtual power plant (VPP) in Busan, the country’s second-most-populous city after Seoul. Busan officials said they have selected a project to build a VPP on a “citizens-shared” blockchain. Technology Aggregates Resources, Standardizes Transactions A VPP is a cloud-based […]

  • Dominican Republican to Get Floating Combined Cycle Gas Plant Outfitted with Battery Storage

    A novel floating power plant that combines a 145-MW gas-fired combined cycle power plant and a battery energy storage system could begin operating in the Dominican Republic by early 2021.  Siemens and the marine arm of Singapore-based ST Engineering on December 3 said they jointly received an order for a SeaFloat barge-mounted power plant from […]

  • Xcel’s Latest Plan: Carbon-Free by 2050

    Xcel Energy has announced its plan to move to 100% carbon-free power generation by 2050, with the utility also saying it will reduce carbon emissions by 80% by 2030, from 2005 levels. Xcel, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, serves customers in eight states and over the past two years has announced a significant number of renewable […]

  • Distributed Energy: A Burgeoning Market

    It’s not particularly easy to find reliable and detailed statistics on the deployment of distributed energy systems. One reason is that a lot of distributed energy is installed behind-the-meter. As a result

  • Australia’s Victoria State Ramps Up Renewables

    Victoria state in Australia continues to see dramatic growth in solar and wind power, as well as battery storage systems, as the region rapidly expands its power generation capacity, in large part to serve the

  • In Energy Policy Pivot, France Will Shutter 14 Nuclear Reactors

    France will shut down 14 of its 58 nuclear reactors by 2035 as well its remaining four coal power plants by 2022, French President Emmanuel Macron said November 27 in a lengthy speech that sought to clarify the country’s future energy direction. According to the World Nuclear Association, France’s nuclear power share has steadily expanded […]

  • Eight Power Sector Takeaways from the Climate Report

    Despite increased resilience actions, extreme weather events due to climate change are projected to increasingly threaten the nation’s energy infrastructure, and create fuel availability and demand imbalances, the Trump administration’s sprawling climate report released on November 23 suggests.  The Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4) released by the Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) is clear in […]

  • Utility Agrees to Close Arkansas’ Largest Coal Plants

    Entergy Arkansas said it will close the state’s two largest coal-fired power plants, along with one gas-fired plant, by 2030 as part of a settlement with environmental groups that sued the utility in federal court for alleged violations of the Clean Air Act (CAA). The Sierra Club and the Washington, D.C.-based National Parks Conservation Association […]

  • Researchers Demonstrate 120-kV Wireless Charging System for Electric Vehicles

    A wireless charging breakthrough demonstrated by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) marks a leap toward allowing electric vehicles (EVs) to conveniently recharge within the same period that it typically takes to fill-up at a gas station. Researchers at the national laboratory at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, in October said they […]

  • Indiana Utility Will Close Coal Units, Transition to Renewables

    Northern Indiana Public Service Co. (NIPSCO) last week told state regulators it plans to retire four coal-fired units at its Wheatfield plant by 2023, a coal-fired unit in Michigan City by 2028, and increase its generation from renewables as part of its “Your Energy, Your Future” initiative. The company’s latest Integrated Resource Plan filed on October […]

  • A Legal Guide to Power Generation Mergers and Acquisitions

    A myriad of issues come into play when parties execute power industry mergers and acquisitions. Part 1 of this two-part series examines what dealmakers need to know before making any transactions

  • Controlled Thermal Resources launch environmentally sustainable lithium-geothermal project in California

    Dallas, Texas (October 23, 2018) — Controlled Thermal Resources (CTR) announced the official launch of the company’s $1.8-billion Hell’s Kitchen lithium-geothermal project today.  Speaking at the CG/LA North American Infrastructure Leadership Forum in Dallas, Texas Rod Colwell, CEO of Controlled Thermal Resources outlined the project to key infrastructure leaders in the United States. “Controlled Thermal […]

  • Distributed Energy Is Disrupting the Power Industry: Is the Sky Falling?

    Utilities are faced with many disruptive changes in the power market. Customers are demanding cleaner energy and turning to distributed generation as a solution. One expert suggested power companies must react and evolve their business models to change with the times. During a keynote presentation at the Distributed Energy Conference in Golden, Colorado, on October […]

  • CPS Energy Launches Solar Energy And Battery Storage Project

    SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Oct. 8, 2018) — CPS Energy has taken a major step in using new technology to produce emission-free renewable energy during high energy use days. This focus on reliability, environmental stewardship and innovation was announced today as Greater San Antonio’s natural gas and electric provider broke ground on their first solar energy and battery […]

  • POWER Digest [October 2018]

    Gasification Plant Under Construction in Saudi Arabia. A Pennsylvania company has partnered with two Saudi Arabian energy firms on construction of a gasification-to-power plant project in Saudi Arabia. The

  • Wind and Solar Powering Greek Island

    The Greek island of Tilos may provide the model for a renaissance of renewable energy across the European Union (EU). Technicians this summer have tested a system that will allow the island to produce and run

  • How Does the Western Energy Imbalance Market Work?

    The California Independent System Operator’s Energy Imbalance Market (EIM) is a real-time energy market, the first of its kind in the western U.S. EIM’s advanced market systems automatically find low-cost

  • Greensmith Energy Unveils Standardized Energy Storage Solution

    The technology group Wärtsilä has released a new solution, GridSolv, the company’s first standardized energy storage solution. GridSolv is an advanced energy storage solution that is designed to offer maximum flexibility and speed of deployment. This innovative and standardized architecture supports both standalone energy storage deployments as well as integrated hybrids with thermal or renewable […]

  • Shell and NREL Launch Cleantech Incubator: Shell GameChanger Accelerator Powered by NREL

    DENVER (Sept. 20, 2018) — Shell today announced a new multimillion dollar, multiyear program to discover and advance emerging clean energy technologies with the potential to dramatically alter the future global energy landscape. Partnering with early-stage startup companies, the new Shell GameChanger™ Accelerator Powered by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) (GCxN) […]

  • InnoEnergy launches global electric storage call for start-ups with €100,000 cash prize

    Eindhoven, Netherlands– 20 September 2018 InnoEnergy, the European innovation engine for sustainable energy, today launches its global call for electric storage start-ups. Fifteen of the most innovative, sustainable energy start-ups will receive a tailored package of added-value services and a €100,000 cash prize will be awarded to the best one. To support its work with […]

  • Argonne’s Joint Center for Energy Storage Research Renewed for 5 Years

    MENLO PARK, CA (September 18, 2018) – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced plans to provide $120 million over five years to renew the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR), a DOE Energy Innovation Hub devoted to advancing battery science and technology, led by Argonne National Laboratory. “Improvements in battery performance are paramount to […]

  • California Mandates 100% Renewable Energy

    California Gov. Jerry Brown on September 10 signed into law a measure requiring the state to produce all its electricity from renewable sources by 2045. It’s a goal that also has been set by Hawaii and is being discussed by other states. Environmental groups and renewable energy advocates immediately praised Brown’s action. Utilities operating in […]

  • Power Industry Should Wholeheartedly Support Electric Vehicles

    Electric vehicles (EVs) have the potential to realign the transportation sector and present an opportunity for the power industry to transform and reinvent itself in fundamental ways. But whether this

  • Tesla Virtual Power Plant Takes Shape in Australia

    Tesla in July released more details of its virtual power plant (VPP) project in South Australia (SA), outlining the initiative as well as its resources and the benefits it will bring to the region. The company

  • Award-Winning Pumped-Storage Hydro Facility a Modern Marvel

    The Frades II pumped-storage hydro project in Portugal took advantage of existing dams to incorporate a scheme that includes the largest variable-speed reversible units installed in Europe. The facility

  • A Reimagined Power Future Enabled by Digital Technologies

    The power industry is changing and leading companies are turning to digital technologies to revolutionize their operations. Monitoring and diagnostics centers are leveraging vast amounts of data from around

  • Power Market Is Changing — Distributed Energy Gaining Ground [PODCAST]

    The power market is changing. It’s being driven more and more by the retail side of the business, according to Roy Palk, Esq., president of New Horizons Consulting. Palk will give a presentation titled “The Rise of Distributed Energy — New Challenges Bring New Opportunities” during the Distributed Energy Conference, which will be held at […]

  • EV Batteries Repurposed for Energy Storage

    Daimler, the German automotive company best-known for the Mercedes-Benz line of vehicles, obviously knows a bit about cars. So perhaps it’s no surprise its subsidiary, Mercedes-Benz Energy, is using vehicle

  • EVs Offer Significant Growth Opportunity for Power Utilities

    Do you drive an electric vehicle (EV)? If you answered yes and live in the U.S., you’re among the roughly 1% of drivers doing so in this country. If not, how soon do you think it will be before you become