Gas

  Power generators consumed 34% of total U.S. energy uses from fossil fuels and accounted for 39% of the nation’s carbon emissions from fossil fuel combustion in 2014—a fraction of a percent more than in 2013—the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said in its newly released Greenhouse Gas Inventory report. In 2014, 2,054.8 million metric tons […]

Despite the unprecedented stay by the Supreme Court, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Clean Power Plan will withstand legal challenges “based on its merits,” predicted the agency’s head, Gina McCarthy, at the IHS CERAWeek conference in Houston. McCarthy discussed the plan and other recent initiatives to stem greenhouse gas emissions—including recently announced rules to curb […]

Shortly after 4 p.m. on February 23, part of the boiler house at the Didcot A Power Station in Oxfordshire, UK, unexpectedly collapsed, killing one person. Three others are missing and feared dead. The plant—located about 55 miles west of London—was closed in March 2013 and was in the process of being demolished by Coleman […]

The OPEC secretary general and Saudi Arabia’s minister of petroleum shared their views on low oil prices, shale, and climate change at IHS CERAWeek.

We live in a world of “slow growth and volatility,” said Jeffrey Immelt, chairman and CEO of General Electric, but there’s an opportunity to “make a lot of money” if you have courage in such times.

Mexico’s ongoing energy reform is a “paradigm shift” in the way the country obtains, transforms, and exploits its energy resources, President Enrique Peña Nieto told attendees at IHS CERAWeek on February 22. The reform allows the state to maintain ownership of hydrocarbons underground, but it also encourages private participation in the entire hydrocarbon value chain […]

In the week since the highest court in the U.S. issued an unprecedented ruling to stay the Clean Power Plan—as at least two states suspended compliance efforts—the passing of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia may have boosted the odds that the Obama administration’s efforts to stem power plant carbon emissions will pass judicial review. The […]

Despite the positive attributes of nuclear power—zero carbon emissions, reliable generation, low fuel costs, and a small footprint—the outlook for new nuclear in the United States is “bearish,” said Anthony Ianno, a Morgan Stanley managing director who follows the electricity business as an investment banker and dealmaker.

Problem
A Florida pulp and paper mill faced a complicated, dangerous process to clean its power boiler during scheduled outages.
Previous efforts to clean the boiler included manual water blasting from scaffolding, which posed a safety risk to workers below due to the potential for falling debris.
Solution
The Operations team at MPW Industrial Services recommended that the facility’s

In large part because of swelling supplies of natural gas, and failing crude oil prices that have helped depress gas prices around the world, as well as because of its environmental advantage over fuel oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG) is garnering growing interest as a generation fuel. While huge, multi-billion-dollar LNG import and export terminals […]

Dealing a major blow to the Obama administration’s climate agenda, the U.S. Supreme Court by a 5-4 vote stayed implementation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Clean Power Plan (CPP) pending a decision on its legality in the D.C Circuit Court of Appeals. The one-page order gives no explanation for the court’s action, but issuance […]

Duke Energy is considering the sale of all or most of its international power plants, about 4,400 MW dispersed throughout Central and South America. The company’s international business segment, Duke Energy International (DEI), was forced to make the disclosure in light of a required statement from its Brazilian subsidiary, Duke Energy International, Geração Paranapanema S.A. […]

Case Study: MPW’s Automation Simplifies RO Replacement Process for Indiana Energy Plant

Mississippi Power’s lignite-fired Kemper County integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plant is seeing yet another delay and $110 million in new costs, a filing with state regulators shows. The company’s December 2015 monthly status report for the nation’s first commercial power plant that will capture and store carbon dioxide anticipates that it will now […]

INDUSTRIAL WATERMPW’s emergency response pays off for Virginia Challenge:
When a Virginia power station had an issue with its existing Reverse Osmosis [RO] process, it called on MPW to supplement its water needs during an excessively cold winter.
The plant lost RO functionality at one of its four power-production units, which would severely damage its ability to

Richmond, Va.–based Dominion Resources announced on February 1 that it would add to its more than 12,000 miles of natural gas transmission, gathering, and storage pipeline, by acquiring Salt Lake City, Utah–headquartered Questar Corp. The $4.4 billion deal would pay Questar shareholders $25 per share of common stock, a 30% premium to the company’s volume-weighted […]

RWE Abandons Hard Coal Construction Project. RWE scrapped plans to complete the 800-MW Block D of the Hamm hard coal plant in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia on December 18, citing damage and delays

Combined heat and power (CHP) is hot again—in more ways than one. After a surge in capacity during the 1980s, kick-started by the 1978 federal Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) that was designed

Use of natural gas for power generation in the U.S. is skyrocketing. From 2005 to 2015, the share of energy produced from gas has increased over 80%, with gas now comprising about 35% of the fuel mix. This

When it comes to a transition away from coal, TransAlta Corp. is playing political defense. The Canadian province of Alberta contains among the richest fossil energy resources in the world, including oil (and

When we undertook an initiative at Granite Ridge Energy (GRE) to identify, prioritize, and assess components that were due for their 10-year assessments, we didn’t know quite what we were taking on or how to

The New York State Public Service Commission on January 21 approved a 10-year, $5 billion Clean Energy Fund that is expected to address climate change and strengthen resiliency in the face of extreme weather. It will also bolster Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s aggressive Clean Energy Standard, which calls for the state to meet 50% of its […]

Following the D.C. Circuit’s denial of motions for stay, 26 states have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to immediately block the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) contentious Clean Power Plan from taking effect. The January 26 application, directed to Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., notes that the states filed petitions for review of the carbon rule […]

UniEnergy’s Technologies (UET) manufactures and installs large-scale energy storage solutions for utility, commercial, and microgrid applications. Their battery systems enable customers to address power needs, such as “frequency regulation” as well as “transmission generation deferral” and “peak shaving. This case study details how OSIsoft’s Connected Services enabled UET to offer capacity guarantees for their technology.

Congressional efforts to block the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) contentious rule asserting federal authority over small bodies of water were derailed on Jan. 21. Senate Republicans voted 52–40, failing to override the president’s veto of the so-called “Clean Water Rule”—also “Waters of the United States” (or WOTUS) well short of the 60 necessary votes. Clean […]

A federal court has denied the motions for stay requested by 27 states and numerous industry groups to block the Clean Power Plan from taking effect. “Petitioners have not satisfied the stringent requirements for a stay pending court review,” the court said in its two-page order on January 21. The court also ordered that consideration of the […]

New energy technologies, decreasing renewable energy costs, and low natural gas prices are forcing changes in the way traditional power companies must plan for the future. “A fundamental rethink is now well underway about how energy gets produced, delivered, consumed, and managed in many parts of the world, including the U.S.,” said Ethan Zindler, head […]

Calpine Corp. will idle a 578-MW natural gas–fired combined cycle (CCGT) power plant in northern California for likely the remainder of the year. The Houston-headquartered company told POWER on January 15 that it will put the 2001-built Sutter Energy Center in Yuba City in “cold layup.” That means that while will the plant will not […]

The month-old agreements that seemed to provide a lifeline for an array of coal-fired and nuclear power plants in Ohio owned by American Electric Power (AEP) and FirstEnergy have come under attack by other generators who say they can meet the demand at a lower cost to state taxpayers. AEP reached an eight-year power-purchase agreement (PPA) […]

Wholesale power prices across the nation plunged between 27% and 37% at major trading hubs last year compared to 2014, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported. The agency said on January 11 that the drop was driven largely by lower natural gas prices. Natural gas spot prices in 2015 at the Henry Hub averaged $2.61 […]