Gas

Gas, wind, and solar are it for any new generation in North America for the next five to 10 years (with a few one-offs), speakers at this year’s Platts Global Power Markets conference agreed. The annual event for those involved in power project development, financing, and litigation was held in Las Vegas Apr. 7 to […]

The U.S. added 6,681 MW of net natural gas-fired capacity in 2013, far outstripping any other generation source, according to Energy Information Administration (EIA) data. This figure represented a substantial drop from 2012, when 9,210 MW of new gas capacity was added, but it still accounted for just over 50% of total additions last year. […]

Entergy Louisiana’s Ninemile Point plant has been powering New Orleans and southeast Louisiana since the 1950s. The facility in Westwego, just across the Mississippi River from New Orleans, comprises five dual-fuel boiler units, the oldest of which came online in 1951. The plant currently has just under 2,000 MW of generation capacity in operation. That’s […]

Calpine Corp. has agreed to sell six of its Southeast region combined cycle power plants with a total capacity of nearly 3.5 GW to LS Power Equity Advisors LLC for $1.57 billion. The deal includes the 1,134-MW Oneta plant in Coweta, Okla., the 795-MW Decatur plant in Decatur, Ala., the 606-MW Columbia plant in Calhoun […]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) failed to issue a final rule governing power plant cooling water by April 17 as agreed with environmental groups. In court papers, the agency instead stated its intention to complete the rulemaking by May 16, 2014.  The agency secured more time under a modified settlement agreement with a coalition of […]

In a stark departure from the zero-nuclear future proposed by a previous administration, the cabinet of Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Friday endorsed restarting the country’s idled nuclear reactors as it develops more renewables.  The cabinet on Friday officially adopted the first Basic Energy Plan since the Fukushima disaster, a 78-page document (in Japanese) that […]

Ten witnesses from federal and state regulatory agencies, a public power entity, environmental groups, and power companies today outlined a number of threats to the bulk power system’s reliability in a Senate hearing to assess whether enough was being done to keep the lights on. General measures to address day-to-day issues affecting reliability—such as tree […]

The 417-MW Andong combined cycle power plant (CCPP) constructed in the province of Gyeongsangbuk-do, in South Korea, was completed in only 24 months. Owned and operated by Korea Southern Power Co. Ltd. (KOSPO), the plant is fired using liquefied natural gas and utilizes a Siemens SGT6-8000H gas turbine, an SST6-5000 steam turbine, an SGen6-2000H generator, […]

By 2029, renewable sources in Arizona’s energy mix will double and natural gas’s share will surpass coal’s and nuclear’s, the state’s largest utility, Arizona Public Service (APS) projects in its newly released “Integrated Resource Plan.”  The report, which foresees that the state’s energy needs will grow 52% while peak demand will surge 60% compared to […]

Mention the word “drone,” and most people will have a mental picture of what a drone is and does. They likely will think first of military drones carrying missiles and other weapons that could malfunction

I spent the week before this issue went to press at IHS Energy’s CERAWeek in Houston, listening and talking to many of the attendees representing 55 countries during the annual event that examines strategic

If you were thinking the shale gas boom had permanently changed the natural gas business in the U.S., gas market fundamentals have some news for you. Natural gas prices have traditionally risen during the

On the energy front, Australia seemingly has it all. It is endowed with significant reserves of coal, natural gas, uranium, and thorium—as well as resources that excel by world standards for wind, solar

The changing generation mix and recent extreme weather throughout the U.S. have led the power sector to evaluate and begin making changes to address their increased dependence on natural gas and the integration of renewables, staff at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) said in the 2013 State of the Markets report. Gas Price Hikes […]

With natural gas exports as its focus, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources held its first oversight hearing with new chair, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), at the helm on Mar. 25. Landrieu began the hearing by pointing out how greatly America’s natural gas situation has changed in less than a decade. She noted […]

Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.)—one of a handful of Democrats that are critical of the Obama administration’s carbon rules for new power plants—on Monday introduced a bill that would provide federal funds, tax credits, and pricing support to private power companies investing in carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies.  Heitkamp’s newly unveiled bill, “Advanced Clean Coal […]

Source: POWER During IHS CERAWeek in Houston in early March, POWER Editor Gail Reitenbach sat down with Heiner Markhoff, president and CEO of GE Power & Water’s Water & Process Technologies, to ask him about several issues of concern to power plants.  Though the “water/energy nexus” theme has gained prominence recently, Heiner Markhoff’s comments underscored […]

Germany’s biggest utility E.ON will shutter nearly 13 GW of capacity—more than a quarter of its conventional fleet in Europe—to offset the “negative effects of a difficult economic and regulatory environment” in the European Union (EU), CEO Johannes Teyssen said on Wednesday.  The company released gloomy financial year results for 2013, reporting a 14% drop […]

Janet McCabe, a top air regulation official at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defended the agency’s carbon rule for new power plants at a House hearing on Wednesday, even as industry witnesses countered that technology does not yet exist to meet the regulatory requirements. The EPA’s acting assistant administrator for air and radiation reiterated the […]

A study by the Sandia National Laboratory last year demonstrated that hydrogen fuel cells mounted on floating barges could potentially provide shore-based power for visiting ships at West Coast ports, substantially reducing emissions from shipboard diesel generators. Now, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and the U.S. Department […]

March 11 marked the third anniversary of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck the east coast of Japan. Within days of that event, with no backup power, cooling systems failed at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s (TEPCO’s) Fukushima Daiichi plant, leading to meltdowns and hydrogen explosions at Units 1, 2, and 3.  But […]

U.S. energy infrastructure is increasingly vulnerable to acute weather events and long-term changes in the climate, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) says in a new report. Options to help reduce those risks include measures to improve its durability and resiliency. The Mar. 4–released report titled “Energy Infrastructure Risks and Adaption Efforts,” cites data from the National Research […]

At a keynote address at CERAweek 2014 in Houston, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz reiterated the Obama administration’s support for all U.S. fuel sources while pursuing a low-carbon future but rarely mentioned nuclear power. Prompted by POWERnews, Moniz later outlined the administration’s actions to address spent nuclear waste.  Following the D.C. Circuit’s ruling in November 2013 […]

In its preliminary Seasonal Assessment of Resource Adequacy (SARA) for the summer of 2014, the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) said that more than 2 GW of new combined cycle plants coming online this summer will “significantly reduce the likelihood of scarcity conditions.” The region has struggled with its reserve margins for years, and […]

Brazil’s electricity market is vast: the largest in Latin America and 10th largest in the world, with an installed capacity of 121,000 MW. Download the report.

Increasing Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) restrictions pertaining to emissions from coal-fired power plants, the increasing cost of coal operations, and the decreasing cost of natural gas provide strong

Recent shale gas development, resulting in cheap natural gas in the U.S., has opened the debate about whether or not to export some of that energy—mainly as liquefied natural gas (LNG). As the U.S. considers

The Gyeonggi Green Energy facility, a 59-MW fuel cell park in Hwasung City, South Korea, commenced commercial operation on Feb. 19. The plant consists of 21 2.8-MW hydrogen fuel cells supplied by FuelCell Energy of Danbury, Conn. The 5.1-acre facility in Gyeonggi Province, along the country’s northwest coast, is owned and operated by POSCO Energy, the […]

In a surprising deal, the developer of a proposed $1 billion natural gas–fired power plant in Salem, Mass., has agreed to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the new facility annually over its 40-year lifespan to meet state climate change mandates—and to permanently shutter the plant by 2050.  The settlement reached between New Jersey–based Footprint […]

3D metal printing is still an experimental process in nearly all industries, used primarily for prototypes and test products. But if Siemens and GE have their way, it will soon become a standard means of rapidly producing small numbers of industrial parts. Siemens announced in December that it would begin using 3D printing—also known as […]