Gas
-
Gas
Natural Gas and Renewable Energy to Continue Leading the Market
Cheap natural gas and social pressure to reduce carbon emissions give gas-fired power plants and renewable energy resources a competitive advantage over traditional coal and nuclear generation. Energy storage
-
Connected Plant
Blockchain Technology Will Transform the Power Industry
What began in the world of finance has moved into the power sector. Blockchain, a nascent technology most often associated with cryptocurrency, is a new frontier in the energy space, changing the way power is
-
Water
Understanding Amine Chemistry in Combined Cycle Power Plants
Many combined cycle power plants have established a pH guideline between 9.6 and 10.0 to minimize corrosion in heat recovery steam generators and condensers. Neutralizing amines are used to achieve these pH
-
O&M
How Air Bearings Moved Tons of Nuclear Waste
Heavy loads must often be moved at power plants of all types. Air bearing-based vehicles can make the process safer, faster, and cheaper. Cask relocation at a nuclear waste facility offers one successful
-
News
Establishing a Culture of Continuous Learning and Improvement
With many challenges facing both fossil fuel and nuclear power generation facilities, training and workforce development has never been more important. Establishing a culture of continuous improvement is
-
News
Why a Single Source Is Best for Chemical-Feed Systems
What is the best way to construct a complete chemical-feed system for use in a power plant—piecing together equipment acquired from a hodgepodge of suppliers or creating a system with components sourced from
-
News
Tenaska Gas-Fired Plant Comes Online in Pennsylvania
The Tenaska Westmoreland Generating Station began commercial operation on Dec. 21, the latest natural gas-fired facility to enter the PJM market. The 940-MW Tenaska plant, located near Smithton in South Huntingdon Township in Westmoreland County in southwest Pennsylvania, was built in just more than two years, though its planning and permitting process took several years […]
-
Commentary
Bailing Out Coal and Nuclear Plants Is Misguided
For decades the U.S. has relied on coal for much of its energy supply. States with abundant coal—Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, and others—have towns and cities whose economies are driven by the coal industry. Now, as the coal industry declines and those areas struggle, the Trump administration wants to use taxpayer money to save coal […]
-
Fuel
NERC: Accelerated Coal and Nuclear Retirements Pose Limited Reliability Risks
The accelerated retirement of coal-fired and nuclear generation by 2022 could adversely affect reliability in four regions, including in the East and over parts of the central U.S., the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) warned as it released findings from a “stress-test” scenario. But the entity tasked with ensuring reliability and security of the […]
-
News
POWER’s Top 10 Most-Read Stories from 2018
There’s never a dull moment in the power industry, and like most years, 2018 was filled with many interesting developments. As it has been for more than 135 years, POWER was there to break the news. The following 10 articles were the most-read online stories of the year. #10: New York Denies Air Permit for […]
-
News
Regulators Back Dominion Takeover of SCANA
Dominion Energy’s bid to purchase SCANA Corp. and its South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) utility, approved by South Carolina regulators on Dec. 14, could bring some stability to SCANA. Shareholders hope that’s the case; they’re excited about swapping their devalued SCANA shares for more valuable Dominion stock. Workers, though, remain uncertain about their futures, […]
-
News
Hitachi Acquires ABB Power Grids Business in $11 Billion Deal
Hitachi Ltd. and ABB on December 17 announced that Hitachi will acquire 80.1% of ABB’s Power Grids unit in an $11 billion deal. Reports of the possible acquisition surfaced December 16, with several media outlets including POWER discussing the agreement, citing sources familiar with the deal who asked not to be identified. Hitachi plans to […]
-
Press Releases
Competitive Power Ventures Sells Partial Stake in Towantic Energy Center
CPV and Osaka Gas USA solidify shared commitment to helping meet energy demands in the U.S. Silver Spring, MD, Dec. 17, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) has finalized the sale of 25 percent of its ownership interests in the CPV Towantic Energy Center (CPV Towantic) to Osaka Gas USA (OGUSA). CPV and […]
-
News
ABB Nears Sale of Power Grids Division to Hitachi in $11 Billion Deal
Hitachi Ltd. and ABB could announce an $11 billion deal as soon as December 17 in which Hitachi will acquire 80% of ABB’s power grids unit. Reports of the possible deal surfaced December 16, with Bloomberg and others citing sources familiar with the agreement who asked not to be identified. Neither ABB nor Hitachi commented […]
-
News
Amid Broad Legal Challenges, EPA Proposes Narrower Definition of WOTUS
In a move widely applauded by the power industry, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of the Army proposed a new definition of “waters of the U.S.” (WOTUS) that could exempt groundwater and ditches from regulation under the Clean Water Act (CWA). The measures follow other recent significant regulatory actions by the agency. On […]
-
News
Siemens Cutting 200 Jobs at Texas Service Center
Siemens on December 11 said it would lay off about 200 workers at a gas turbines parts and components service center in Houston, Texas, sometime in late 2019 or early 2020. A company spokesperson made the announcement Tuesday, saying the cuts are due to weak global demand for the company’s turbines. Siemens in a statement […]
-
News
FERC Follows Up on Tax Reform Response
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC, the Commission) took several actions in November to address impacts from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the Tax Act). FERC had previously issued a Notice of Inquiry seeking comments on how to address the impact of the Tax Act’s reduction in the corporate federal income tax (FIT) rate […]
-
News
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 […]
-
Press Releases
Gas Turbine Applications Inc
Turbine Efficiency Group is delighted to announce the acquisition of Gas Turbine Applications Inc (“GTA”). GTA is a highly-respected after-market services provider specialising in the Saturn and Centaur industrial gas turbines. The business serves a longstanding customer base operating from facilities strategically located in Calera, OK. The acquisition creates a leading independent service provider delivering […]
-
Press Releases
Siemens and ST Engineering secure major order for floating power plant in Dominican Republic
Hybrid power plant solution with integrated battery energy storage Power supply with a capacity of 145 megawatts Scheduled to start operation in Santo Domingo in spring 2021 Siemens and the marine arm of ST Engineering in Singapore have jointly received an order for a SCC-800 2x1C SeaFloat barge-mounted power plant from Seaboard Corporation subsidiary Transcontinental […]
-
Press Releases
Midwest Utility Orders Game-Changing SmartER GAC Gas Turbine
Advanced-class Peaking Power Seamlessly Integrates with Renewables using Artificial Intelligence Lake Mary, Florida – Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) announced on December 4, 2018, that a leading Midwest US utility has ordered the new super-intelligent M501GAC Enhanced Response gas turbine. The SmartER GAC is an integration of MHPS’s proven and reliable G-Series turbine technology and MHPS-TOMONI […]
-
News
Senate Confirms McNamee as FERC Commissioner
The U.S. Senate on a 50-49 party-line vote December 6 confirmed Bernard McNamee to a seat on the five-member Federal Energy and Regulatory Commission (FERC), despite questions about his independence from the Trump administration and his previous comments in support of a bailout of coal and nuclear U.S. power plants at the expense of renewable […]
-
Press Releases
GE Announces Two HA Orders and Continued Gas Power Fleet Momentum
Orders for leading HA gas turbine booked in the third quarter in Florida and Taiwan HA has achieved more than 220,000 operating hours in the field Customers Invenergy and Bahrain Aluminum’s HA-power plants successfully first fired Gas will play a vital role in a cleaner energy future according to newly announced GE Gas Power CEO […]
-
Press Releases
Siemens connects electricity grids of UK and Belgium with HVDC link
Nemo Link interconnector is a joint venture between the Transmission System Operators Elia (Belgium) and National Grid (UK), to exchange electricity up to 1,000 MW between the UK and Belgium, using high voltage direct current (HVDC) technology. Nemo Link connects the Belgian and the British power grid with a combination of subsea and underground cables. […]
-
News
The Power Industry Is Transforming, One Municipal Utility Offers a Case in Point
POWER-GEN International kicked off on December 4 with a keynote presentation focused on evolving power generation schemes and changing business models. Gregory Lee, commission president with Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC), the municipally owned public utility that provides water and electric service to Orlando, Florida, and portions of other nearby areas, opened the conference by providing […]
-
News
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
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
-
News
POWER Digest [December 2018]
Veolia Hungary Creates VPP Portfolio. Veolia Hungary in October acquired a 51% ownership share in CHP Eromu Kft., the first step in a process for Veolia to create a virtual power plant (VPP) portfolio. The
-
News
Novel Floating Power Plants on the Horizon
For decades, floating power plants have been used widely as a source of flexible, decentralized power generation for several reasons. Among them are that they can be built cost-effectively and rapidly; they
-
News
Eliminate Transient Vacuums by Air Injection
Most operators know that air should be kept out of a heat exchanger’s cooling water supply line. Air can collect in pockets and block flow, increasing velocities, increasing system resistance, decreasing