International

  • Yokogawa Opens Technology Collaboration Center to Support Disruptive Innovation in Process Automation

    New technology center in The Woodlands, Texas to support the development of a new standards-based, open, secure and interoperable process control architecture and host ExxonMobil’s Open Process Automation Test Bed HOUSTON, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Yokogawa is pleased to announce the opening of the Open Process Automation (OPA) Test Bed Collaboration Center, located six miles […]

  • Honeywell Introduces New Industry Approach for Management and Hosting of Control System Infrastructure

    Experion® PKS IT Highly Integrated Virtual Environment (HIVE) centralizes up to 80% of IT infrastructure, reducing costs and freeing engineering talent to focus on higher-value activities HOUSTON, Feb. 4, 2020 — Honeywell today announced the release of Experion® PKS IT Highly Integrated Virtual Environment (HIVE), a transformative new technology that centralizes up to 80% of IT […]

  • GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy and ČEZ Announce Small Modular Reactor Technology Collaboration in the Czech Republic

    WILMINGTON, North Carolina—February 3, 2020—GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) and ČEZ, a. s. (ČEZ), an integrated electricity conglomerate, have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding through which the companies have agreed to examine the economic and technical feasibility of potentially constructing a BWRX-300 in the Czech Republic. “This agreement is the latest example of the […]

  • Show Preview – Connected Plant Conference

    The Connected Plant Conference allows for interaction with the industry’s early adopters. Attendees will meet generators who are using the latest connected plant tools. The speaker lineup (Figure 1) provides

  • Data Is the New Power: Key Learnings from a Successful ERP Migration

    Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software allows an organization to use a system of integrated applications to manage and automate many business functions related to operations, technology, services, and

  • Is Biomass Dead?

    With subsidies running short and emissions regulations still a challenge, the promise of biomass as a sustainable source for utility-scale power generation remains elusive. Yet, there are novel applications

  • Community Solar: Ready for the New Decade

    Community solar refers to local solar facilities shared by multiple subscribers who receive credit on their electricity bills for their share of the power produced. Community solar allows homeowners, renters

  • Taking Efficiency and Flexibility to the Next Level

    In a rapidly changing energy market, the competitiveness of any power producer increasingly depends upon the reliability, efficiency, and flexibility of its power plants. As the share of renewable energy

  • Hype and Hope: Artificial Intelligence’s Role in the Power Sector

    Artificial intelligence (AI) is a term power professionals are seeing increasingly to describe sophisticated digital technologies. Could it be the breakthrough that is so highly hyped? There is no argument

  • POWER Digest [February 2020]

    Indonesia Readying to Build 145-MW Floating Solar Plant. Pembangkitan Jawa Bali (PJB), a subsidiary of Indonesian state electricity company PT PLN, is planning to begin construction of the $129 million Cirata

  • Endesa to Close Two Giant Spanish Coal Plants

    Endesa on Dec. 27 formally moved to shutter two massive coal-fired power plants—the 1.4-GW As Pontes plant in A Coruña, Galicia, which is the biggest coal-fired power plant in Spain, and the 1.16-GW

  • South Korea Continues Nuclear Phase-out

    South Korea has announced the permanent closure of another nuclear reactor, as the country continues to phase out thermal power generation and increase the use of renewable resources for electricity. The

  • Australia, Long a Uranium Champion, Mulls Nuclear Power

    An Australian federal inquiry last December recommended partially lifting a nationwide ban on nuclear energy, urging that the government pursue a “goal-oriented” and community-focused strategy as it

  • India’s Energy Market Overhaul—Infrastructure, Renewables, and Keeping Coal in the Mix

    India wants to reform its power generation sector, including upgrades to energy infrastructure, and plans to introduce new technology to make its electricity supply more reliable and resilient. It’s part of

  • GEH Launches NRC Licensing Process for BWRX-300, an ESBWR-Derived SMR

    Marking another major milestone for U.S.-based small modular reactor (SMR) development, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) said it has formally begun the regulatory licensing process for its BWRX-300, a 300-MW boiling water reactor that it claims could be competitive with natural gas power. The company revealed on Jan. 30 that it submitted the first licensing […]

  • Cementing Coal Power Phaseout, Germany Sets Out to Shutter 40% of Current Generation Mix

    Germany’s federal cabinet on Jan. 29 approved a nationwide phaseout of coal power generation by 2038, paving the way for the country, which has already initiated a nuclear phaseout, to rely even more heavily on renewables. The federal cabinet’s approval of the “Reduction and Termination of Coal Power Generation” (Gesetz zur Reduzierung und zur Beendigung der […]

  • MOX Nuclear Fuel Loaded in Russian Reactor, More to Come

    Power plant engineers have loaded 18 mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel assemblies in Unit 4 at the Beloyarsk nuclear power plant in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia. Distinct from traditional nuclear fuel with enriched uranium, MOX fuel pellets are based on the mix of nuclear fuel cycle derivatives, such as plutonium oxide bred in commercial reactors and uranium oxide […]

  • The POWER Interview: What Is a Digital Twin?

    The term “digital twin” is used frequently by tech-savvy power industry professionals, but what does it really mean? To get an insider’s perspective, POWER posed the question to Akshay Patwal, strategic business manager with Siemens Energy. Patwal leads the development and commercialization of digital business transformation projects, using big data platforms and analytics, to create […]

  • Future of Solar Energy Brighter Than Sun: Rapid Innovations Pave the Way

    We live in the age of automation and artificial intelligence. We need smartphones with long-lasting battery backup. We demand computers with higher computing power. In short, we require more and more energy. And when it comes to energy, we often turn to the most sustainable power alternative: solar energy. Its abundance is not the only […]

  • Environmental Concerns Dominate Global Risks List

    For the first time in the 15-year history of the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report, environmental perils filled the top five positions on the list of long-term risks in terms of likelihood of occurrence over the next 10 years. The report, which is a qualitative and quantitative study of global risks, conducted in partnership […]

  • Qatar Will Boost Middle East Solar with 800-MW Project

    Qatar’s energy minister on Jan. 19 said the country will build an 800-MW solar power project that will push the country far beyond its announced goal for solar energy. That goal of 100 MW of solar generation was established when Qatar in December 2010 was awarded rights to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup tournament. […]

  • Small business, big impact: E.ON extends 100% renewables-backed electricity offer to small business customers

    January 20, 2020 — E.ON today announced it would be extending its 100% renewables-backed electricity supply to eligible small business customers across Britain – committing to source electricity matched with wind, solar and other sources for 100,000 or more small businesses over the next 12 months. E.ON already provides its residential customers electricity supply backed […]

  • Report: Investment in Renewables Hit Record High in 2019

    Financial support for installations of offshore wind projects helped investment in renewable energy capacity hit a record high in 2019, according to data from research company BloombergNEF (BNEF) released Jan. 16. The group said worldwide investment in renewables was $282.2 billion last year, up 1% from $280.2 billion in 2018. Financing of offshore wind projects, […]

  • The world’s most powerful boiler feed pump dispatched

    A boiler feed pump with the largest drive rating worldwide was dispatched by the KSB Group based in Frankenthal in late December 2019. It will be used in the coal-fired power plant Pingshan II that is currently being built in Huaibei, China. The supercritical power station employs a new technology that is said to reach […]

  • Exelon Installs New Accident Tolerant Fuel at Illinois Nuclear Plant

    Global Nuclear Fuel (GNF), a GE-led joint venture with Hitachi Ltd. that supplies boiling water reactor fuel and fuel-related services around the world, said lead test assemblies utilizing its ARMOR-coated zirconium cladding and IronClad Accident Tolerant Fuel solutions have been installed at Exelon’s Clinton nuclear plant in Illinois. “We continue to work with our customers […]

  • Beltran Technologies developing advanced WESP for Flue Gas Desulfurization

    Beltran Technologies Inc. recently announced the development of an advanced Wet Electrostatic Precipitator for wet scrubber Flue Gas Desulfurization at power plants. To control particulate, aerosols and visible emissions from wet flue gas desulfurization (WFGD) systems, wet electrostatic precipitators (WESP’s) have to be installed after desulfurization, as the WFGD system is inefficient to remove submicron […]

  • Russelectric, a Siemens Business, Offers Customized Switchgear Simulators

    Ideal for training personnel on automatic and manual operation of Russelectric switchgear Hingham, MA – Russelectric, A Siemens Business, a leading manufacturer of power control systems and automatic transfer switches, announces the availability of Switchgear Simulators designed to train personnel on automatic and manual operation of Russelectric switchgear. Customized to mimic the operation of the […]

  • ACWA Power expands its geographic footprint by entering the Azerbaijan market

    Azerbaijan, Baku, 09 January 2020: ACWA Power signed today an implementation agreement with the Ministry of Energy of Azerbaijan for developing, building and operating a 240 MW wind power project. The power purchase agreement (PPA) of the project spans over a period of 20 years on a Build Own Operate (BOO) basis. The ceremony was […]

  • Siemens-Gamesa Bags Deal for Mammoth 2.64-GW Virginia Offshore Wind Project

    Dominion Energy’s proposed 2.64-GW Virginia Offshore Wind project—the world’s largest single offshore wind project proposed to date—will likely feature turbines supplied by Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE). A Jan. 7-announced preferred supplier agreement signed by the two companies could give the wind turbine maker a stronghold in the burgeoning offshore wind U.S. market. While the […]

  • Solar Installations to Grow by Additional 142 GW in 2020 – Seven Times the World’s Total Solar Installations a Decade Ago

    LONDON (January 7, 2020) – Global solar installations will continue double-digit growth rates into the new decade, according to the new 2020 Global Photovoltaic (PV) Demand Forecast by IHS Markit (NYSE: INFO), a world leader in critical information, analytics and solutions. New annual installations in 2020 will reach 142 gigawatts (GW), a 14 % rise […]