Gas
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Commentary
Hurricane Season is Here; Is Your Grid Prepared?
When Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017, no one could predict the level of devastation those 155-mph sustained winds would deliver. In its wake, Maria plunged the entire island of Puerto Rico into darkness, and decimated its aging distribution, transmission and generation infrastructure. By all predictions, it was going to […]
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Renewables
More Groups Weigh-in on Trump Move to Save Coal, Nuclear—Including Supporters
Few entities have expressed approval of the Trump administration’s plan that includes a directive for system operators to buy or arrange purchase of energy or capacity from designated “fuel secure” power plants for two years until the Department of Energy (DOE) can address “grid security” challenges. The 41-page draft memo dated May 29—which was presumably authored […]
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Press Releases
ABB to strengthen power infrastructure in Iraq
ABB has won orders from the Ministry of Electricity in Iraq to deliver five fixed and 15 mobile 132 kilovolt substations that will help strengthen the power grid and provide electricity in central Iraq. The government of Iraq is rebuilding the country and investing in its grid as part of its ambitious plan to develop […]
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Press Releases
Duke Energy celebrates opening of new state-of-the-art natural gas plant at the W.S. Lee Station in South Carolina
GREENVILLE, S.C., June 1, 2018 — Duke Energy today celebrated the opening of the new 750-megawatt combined-cycle natural gas plant at the W.S. Lee Station in Anderson County, S.C., with community leaders, elected officials and top company leaders on hand. “Highly efficient natural gas plants – like W.S. Lee – are helping us deliver a cleaner, smarter energy future for […]
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Legal & Regulatory
Swift (and Angry) Reaction to Trump Move to Save Coal, Nuclear Plants
Reactions from U.S. energy and legal and regulatory groups began pouring in minutes after the White House confirmed on June 1 that President Trump has directed the Department of Energy (DOE) to act immediately to stop the loss of uneconomic coal and nuclear plants. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a June 1 […]
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Coal
India’s Power Industry Struggles to Solve Pollution Problems
In a bid to tamp down pollution, India’s government in December 2015 notified the country’s coal generators they would need to meet—for the first time—new emissions limits for nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and mercury, as well as tightened limits for particulate matter (PM) and water consumption. The gazetted notification gave new plants until […]
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Commentary
The Power Grid’s Great Transition
POWER has been reporting for many years on changes taking place in the power generation mix around the globe. Renewable energy, such as wind and solar generation, has been growing steadily in most parts of the
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Renewables
POWER Digest [June 2018]
Marking an important milestone in energy storage’s steady charge to become a key element in balancing variability posed by renewables, ACCIONA Energia has received a prototype certificate from DNV GL for a
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O&M
Using Artificial Intelligence to Develop Electricity Load Forecasts
Electricity is produced by a variety of generating units, each with different lead times and costs to be readied for service, and production costs once brought online. Because electricity is a commodity that
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Legal & Regulatory
Power in Africa: Prospects for an Economic Foothold
To sustain unprecedented economic growth, lift hundreds of millions out of poverty, and attract investment, African countries are taking bold steps to expand electricity infrastructure. Are the continent’s
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Renewables
Power Plant Efficiency: A Key to Profitable Performance
Building power plants is only the first step to generating success. Running plants efficiently, and consistently improving efficiency as they run, is the path to putting profits on the bottom line. Building
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O&M
Disaster Response: How Power Generators Prepare to Weather the Storm
Natural disasters can strike anywhere, and the events of recent years—hurricanes, flooding rains, bomb cyclones—have ramped up the efforts of utilities to prepare for extreme weather. Power companies are
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Renewables
The Shift from Coal to Biomass Is on in Europe
Various schemes are underway in Europe as nations use existing coal-fired power plants to generate electricity without coal as the feedstock. With rising carbon prices, some big utilities are repowering with
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O&M
Improving Plant Efficiency with Pump Performance and Condition Monitoring
All the elements necessary to implement a complete and economical pump monitoring system are now available. It’s simply a matter of assembling the pieces. Within the walls of a thermal generating plant using
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Press Releases
Equipment Showcase: Boilers, Burners, Combustion
Boiler and burner manufacturers, along with those who supply combustion control systems, work with a variety of industries, providing power generation to commercial, industrial, and residential sites. A 2017
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Press Releases
MHPS Advanced-Class Gas Turbine Arrives in Mexico Port of Altamira
ALTAMIRA, MEXICO (May 29, 2018) — Iberdrola SA and Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) today joined Mexican officials as they welcomed another Advanced-Class Gas Turbine arrival in the bustling Mexican Port of Altimira. The turbine is headed to Iberdrola’s 850-MW power project in El Carmen in northeastern Mexico. In the past two years, Iberdrola has ordered a […]
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Gas
Pioneering Zero-Emission Natural Gas Power Cycle Achieves First-Fire
First-fire has been achieved at NET Power’s supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO₂) power plant—a test facility in La Porte, Texas, to demonstrate the potentially revolutionary natural gas–fueled Allam Cycle. The project is designed to produce low-cost electricity from natural gas while generating near-zero atmospheric emissions, including full CO₂ capture. NET Power, which is based in Durham, […]
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Gas
GE Stock Falls as CEO Backs ‘Deliberate’ Pace of Change
Shares of General Electric (GE) have fallen about 50% over the past year, and on May 23 GE saw its stock drop more than 7%, its biggest one-day loss since April 20, 2009. Much of Wednesday’s decline came as CEO John Flannery was speaking to attendees at the Electrical Products Group (EPG) conference in Longboat […]
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Press Releases
Caterpillar Expands G3500-H Series Generator Sets
PEORIA, IL – Caterpillar Inc. is pleased to announce the latest addition to its series of Cat® generator sets designed to deliver the lowest owning and operating costs in the market. The G3512H is the third of the H-Series product line now available for operation on natural gas fuel. This generator set is currently offered […]
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Renewables
Exelon: Record Amount of Nuclear Capacity Failed to Clear PJM Auction
Exelon Corp.’s Three Mile Island, Dresden, and all but a small portion of its Byron nuclear plants failed to clear PJM Interconnection’s latest annual capacity auction—despite an average 83% surge in capacity prices compared to last year. While coal and gas made moderate gains, demand response, energy efficiency, wind, and solar emerged as the auction’s […]
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Coal
Concerns About Summer Reliability in Texas and California Persist
Higher-than-average temperatures forecast for much of the U.S. this summer won’t affect reliability in most regions, though concerns remain for Texas and Southern California, according to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Presenting the “Summer 2018 Energy Market and Reliability Assessment,” on May 17, FERC staff said that most entities that are part of the […]
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Press Releases
MST named finalist in 2018 AMM Awards for Steel Excellence
Midwestern seamless steel tube & pipe manufacturer among just three finalists for Tube & Pipe Producer of the Year South Lyon, Mich., [May 21, 2018] – MST Seamless Tube & Pipe, a leading manufacturer of high-quality carbon and alloy seamless cold-drawn tube and pipe, is one of a select few companies being recognized by American […]
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Press Releases
AMETEK LAND STANDARDISES CERTIFICATES OF CONFORMITY AND ADDS CALIBRATION DATA AS STANDARD FOR FIXED THERMAL IMAGERS AND LINE SCANNERS
SHEFFIELD, UK, 21 MAY 2018 – AMETEK Land*, a major innovator in non-contact temperature measurement, and combustion and environmental monitoring equipment, has standardised all its Certificates of Conformity for its fixed thermal imagers and line scanners. This includes the ARC, NIR, NIR-B Borescope, LSP-HD Line Scanner, FTI-Eb Borescope and FTI-E instruments. This means customers now […]
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Gas
NTE Opens Gas-Fired Middletown Plant in Ohio
NTE Energy on May 21 inaugurated the new Middletown Energy Center in Middletown, Ohio, the latest in a series of natural gas-fired power plants the Florida-based company is developing in Ohio, Texas, and North and South Carolina. NTE touts the 525-MW Middletown combined cycle facility as among the most efficient gas-fired power plants in the […]
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Gas
Cash-Starved Southern Sells Florida Assets to NextEra
NextEra Energy on May 21 said it would acquire several assets from Southern Co., including Southern’s ownership interest in two natural gas-fired power plants in Florida, in a deal valued at about $6.5 billion. Southern in a statement Monday said the sale would help the company reduce debt, which has dogged Southern as its subsidiary […]
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O&M
How the Middle East Is Transforming Its Power and Water Industry
Global demand for power and water is accelerating—and the Middle East is no exception. A burgeoning population combined with multiple industrial diversification programs is fueling a boom in power and water projects. During the first three quarters of 2017, about $30 billion of major power contracts and $20 billion of water projects were awarded across […]
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Press Releases
Regulators Approve Entergy Louisiana’s Plan to Buy Proposed Power Plant
BATON ROUGE, La. (May 16, 2018) – State regulators endorsed another element of Entergy Louisiana’s plan to modernize its generation fleet with today’s vote to approve an agreement for the company to buy a 361-megawatt plant to be built in Washington Parish. The agreement unanimously approved by the Louisiana Public Service Commission calls for Entergy […]
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O&M
The Best Place to Sample HRSG Tubes
Finding the best place to sample heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) tubes isn’t as hard as finding a needle in a haystack (but it’s like that). Ask most HRSG users where they take their routine tube samples for monitoring under-deposit corrosion in the high-pressure evaporator, and they’ll tell you, “first row, because it’s the hottest […]
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O&M
GE Sets Sights on MHPS and Siemens Customers
Drawing on decades of gas turbine experience, GE’s Power Services business announced on May 16 that it is expanding its cross-fleet service offerings to a broader portion of the F-class market, including Siemens’ SGT6-5000F and SGT-800 models, and Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems’ (MHPS’s) 501F technology. “GE is proven as one of the technology leaders and […]
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Renewables
GE Will Take on Alstom Stakes in Energy Joint Ventures for $3.2B
GE will buy Alstom’s stakes in three energy joint ventures (JVs) the companies formed when GE acquired Alstom’s energy business nearly three years ago. Alstom and GE on May 4 signed an agreement that essentially sets out a plan for Alstom to exercise put options on JVs it formed with GE pertaining to their renewables […]