Engineering

  • Siemens-Led Group Completes Test of 100% Renewable Hydrogen in Gas Turbine

    A consortium that includes power industry giants Siemens Energy and ENGIE said it completed what the group called the world’s first operational test of a gas turbine fueled with 100% renewable hydrogen. Siemens Energy on Oct. 13 said the HYFLEXPOWER consortium conducted the test using a gas turbine at Smurfit Kappa, a paper packaging company […]

  • Constellation Planning Significant Nuclear-Powered Hydrogen Facility at LaSalle

    Constellation Energy will use a portion of newly announced federal funding for the Midwest Hydrogen Hub (MachH2) to build “the world’s largest nuclear-powered clean hydrogen facility” at its 2.3-GW LaSalle Clean Energy Center in Illinois. The company on Oct. 16 said it plans to leverage a $1 billion award announced by the Department of Energy (DOE) last […]

  • U.S. Deploys $3.5B Boost for Grid Resilience: Major Projects Revealed

    Fifty-eight projects spearheaded by major U.S. power stakeholders will receive up to $3.5 billion in federal funding to improve grid flexibility and boost power system resiliency against extreme weather and climate change, the Biden administration announced on Oct. 18. The projects mark the  Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) first competitive selections under the Grid Resilience and […]

  • AI Revolution Could Drive Clean Energy Future

    Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming a ubiquitous part of our lives, impacting much of what we do at work and home. AI’s growth trajectory is expected to skyrocket, with new potentials identified to help address and solve today’s challenges and tomorrow’s opportunities. AI advances have been remarkable, but so far relatively little attention has been […]

  • ‘Incredible Milestone’ Reached on MARVEL Microreactor Enables Project to Proceed

    The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) MARVEL microreactor achieved 90% final design, a key step that will allow the project to move forward with preparation for fabrication and construction. “This is an incredible milestone for the Department of Energy,” John Jackson, national technical director for DOE’s Microreactor Program headquartered at Idaho National Laboratory (INL), told […]

  • Corrosion Research Leads to Material Improvements and More Reliable Systems

    Fossil-fueled power plants are billion-pound investments that businesses (as well as whole nations themselves) around the world can’t afford to simply discard. Yet, the combinations of old plant, new fuels, and new operating conditions lead to corrosion, faults, downtime, and inefficiencies for plant operators and manufacturers. But these kinds of bridging technologies—between the “black” and […]

  • Melaka: Malaysia’s 2.2-GW Cutting-Edge Combined Cycle Gas Power Plant

    The Edra Melaka Power Plant (EMPP), the world’s second GE 9HA.02 gas turbine power plant, is the largest combined cycle gas-fired power plant currently in operation in Malaysia. A POWER Top Plant winner, the

  • Successful Green Hydrogen Demonstration Project Is a Step Toward a Carbon-Free Future

    The New York Power Authority (NYPA) is leading the way in New York by piloting new technologies that can help accelerate the state’s clean energy transition. Among its accomplishments is a hydrogen

  • Marnie Surfaceblow: Haunted Hydroelectric Horrors (Fiction)

    Providing employees with a safe and healthy workplace is paramount. Never dismiss persistent workplace environmental complaints, no matter how “crazy” they may seem. A lone SUV motored through wooded hills

  • The Benefits of Fiber-Reinforced Polymer in Power Transmission

    Wood, steel, and concrete are commonly used materials for power poles. However, fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) offers a relatively lightweight, safe, and resilient alternative, which also offers a long service

  • Realize the Opportunity from Advanced Air Inlet Filtration

    For maximum efficiency and operational flexibility, advanced gas turbines have rightly been optimized to the nth degree. However, there are big opportunities in important related components like the air inlet filtration systems too. The latest developments from Parker Hannifin show what can be achieved when a new approach is taken. Today’s advanced gas turbines are […]

  • Engineering the Largest Post-Combustion Carbon Capture Plant

    As part of the UK’s Humber Zero initiative, VPI Immingham’s gas-fired combined heat and power (CHP) plant will be home to the world’s largest post-combustion carbon capture facility. The Humber region is

  • Nucor and Helion Target 2030 for Utility-Scale Fusion Power Plant

    Nucor Corp., a manufacturer of steel and steel products, and Helion, a fusion energy company, are collaborating to develop a 500-MW fusion power plant to supply baseload electricity to a steelmaking facility. The companies are working together to set a firm timeline, saying they are “committed to beginning operations as soon as possible with a […]

  • Major Engineering Services Contract Launches Poland’s First Nuclear Power Project

    Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ), Poland’s designated entity tasked with developing the country’s first nuclear plant in Pomerania, has signed an engineering services contract with a Westinghouse-Bechtel consortium, allowing site-specific work to begin on the AP1000 power plant. The companies announced the “historic” contract on Sept. 27, one week after nuclear technology giant Westinghouse and global […]

  • TVA Exploring Carbon Capture Feasibility for Two Gas-Fired Power Plants

    The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is poised to study the feasibility of retrofitting two gas-fired power plants—a combined capacity of 1.8 GW—in Mississippi and Kentucky with post-combustion carbon capture technology to remove more than 90% of their carbon emissions.  The non-profit U.S. corporate agency and Canadian energy infrastructure firm TC Energy on Sept. 14 said they will […]

  • DOD Advances X-Energy Mobile Nuclear Microreactor as Second Project Pele Design

    The Department of Defense (DOD) has moved to develop a second transportable microreactor under Project Pele, granting X-energy a contract option to advance the design of its mobile advanced nuclear microreactor prototype. The one-year contract option will continue to provide funding for X-energy’s nuclear technology development, allowing the firm to develop its design to meet […]

  • Wyoming Energy Authority Makes Investment Toward Microreactor Deployment

    BWX Technologies (BWXT) said it was awarded a “two-phase, two-year contract” with the Wyoming Energy Authority (WEA) to assess the viability of deploying small-scale nuclear reactors in the state to augment existing power generation resources. The WEA says it combines the existing scopes of the Wyoming Infrastructure Authority, Wyoming Pipeline Authority, and the State Energy […]

  • Hydropower Horizons: Pioneering a Pelton Turbine Breakthrough

    Voith Hydro in 2022 replaced four vertical Pelton turbines at Verbund’s 75-year-old 326-GWh Gerlos 1 pumped storage facility in Austria with a first-of-its-kind horizontal six-nozzle Pelton turbine

  • South Korea’s First ‘K-Gas Turbine’ Begins Commercial Operation

    Marking a significant inroad to establish a South Korean foothold in the world’s gas turbine technology market, heavy industrial company Doosan Enerbility this summer began commercial operation of its first

  • Marnie Surfaceblow: Bowing Under Pressure

    Just because something hasn’t failed doesn’t mean it won’t—especially when an “old dog” of a plant is taught new tricks. Two women wearing personal protective equipment waited impatiently in the

  • Lessening the Impacts of Extreme Weather—How Utilities Should Be Preparing

    Climate change is a threat multiplier. Clean-up costs are ballooning and natural disasters are growing more expensive. In 2022 alone there were 18 natural disasters that caused more than $1 billion in damage, up from only three events in 1980. These are taking a bigger bite out of the energy sector’s operating costs and profits, […]

  • Arizona Site Will Host Long-Duration Energy Storage Project

    An innovative battery energy storage project, using a non-lithium technology, will be deployed at a research center in Arizona. Salt River Project (SRP), the state’s community-based, not-for-profit public power utility, and Germany’s CMBlu Energy, which designs and manufactures energy storage systems, on August 31 announced a pilot project for a 5-MW, 10-hour, long duration energy […]

  • How Wind Turbine Pitch-Control and Sealing Systems Work

    With over 350,000 wind turbines currently in use globally, wind continues to be one of the fastest growing forms of renewable energy. In 2021, 93.6 GW of new installations brought global cumulative wind power capacity to 837 GW, showing year-over-year growth of 12%. The Global Wind Report 2022 notes that 557 GW of new capacity […]

  • How the ‘Great Resignation’ and Disengagement Are Affecting the Power Industry

    The “Great Resignation” is a term used to describe a widespread trend that took shape over the past few years of employees voluntarily changing jobs in large numbers. The phenomenon gained traction during

  • A Model for ZLD Treatment of Blowdown from Cooling Towers—Even the Big Ones

    Pilot testing under the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s Pitch-to-Pilot desalination research funding proved an electro-coagulation, clarification, micro-filtration, reverse osmosis with vacuum-assisted

  • Integrating Flammable Gas Pressurization System with Online Ash Cleaning Device Improves Energy Efficiency

    A stationary shockwave ash cleaning device combined with a pneumatic booster system is a solution to the hourly cleaning of accumulated ash in boiler tube bundles. The automated ash cleaning process stably

  • Inspiring a New Generation of Engineers: Miss America Grace Stanke to Speak at Experience POWER Week – Clean Energy, Cleaner Future

    Grace Stanke is the current Miss America and graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she studied nuclear engineering. She is an advocate for clean energy and inspiring the next generation of engineers. During her year as Miss America, she is traveling the country using her national platform to advocate for “Clean Energy – Cleaner […]

  • Magnashear™ Motor Brakes Eliminate Pitch Drive Maintenance

    Fairfield, OH – Maintaining yaw and pitch drives is a challenge because of the inherent time that it takes for maintenance personnel to ascend to the nacelle.  But foregoing maintenance can lead to costly failures and even more downtime.  The Magnashear™ motor brake from Force Control Industries eliminate pitch drive maintenance by eliminating the root […]

  • Curtiss-Wright’s Brea CA Facility Receives ISO 9001:2015 Certification

    BREA, CA ­– July 14, 2023 – Curtiss-Wright’s Nuclear division announced today that its Brea, CA facility has received ISO 9001:2015 certification for its quality management system (QMS). This globally-recognized certification allows the company to provide valves, vessels, actuators, control systems, and engineering services for use in construction of next generation Advanced Reactor (AR) and […]

  • The Future of the Utilities Workforce: Building Capabilities in the Digital Era

    The utility industry is facing a major challenge as it navigates the constantly evolving landscape of the electric grid. Managing the transformation brought about by the increasing popularity of electric vehicles, the rise of remote and hybrid work, and the growing reliance on renewable energy sources has become central to the industry. Operators must adapt […]