International

  • THE BIG PICTURE: Siemens’ Corporate History

    Siemens AG, the global technology conglomerate that today has headquarters in both Berlin and Munich, in May 2019 announced it will spin off its energy units to focus on its digital “core.” The news has stunned many in the power sector, where Siemens has clenched a formidable presence since 1866. But restructuring at Siemens is […]

  • Blockchain Pilot Shows Promise for Grid Balancing

    A blockchain pilot wrapped up by European transmission operator TenneT and storage solutions provider sonnen Group this May showed “tremendous potential” when used to network decentralized home storage

  • Vietnam Supports Solar and More Coal Generation

    The first solar power plant licensed to operate in Vietnam came online in late April, another signal of the country’s increasing reliance on renewable energy. But analysts forecast that coal-fired power

  • Piloting Boiler Startup at Lightspeed

    Many combined cycle power plants are being operated as peaker plants, rather than as baseload units. That can pose a problem for economizer safety valves. Pilot-operated safety valves offer several advantages

  • Innovative Fabric Structures Offer Power Plants Options

    The design of a power plant often revolves around efficiency and mapping out operations in a manner that decreases unnecessary expenditures, while increasing productivity. This challenge produces the need for

  • How to Hire the Best Talent

    It’s no secret that the power industry workforce is aging and managers are struggling to find qualified candidates interested in filling open positions. In my April column, I referenced a

  • POWER Digest [June 2019]

    Ansaldo Leads Research Initiative for Low-NOx High-Hydrogen Retrofit Solution. The Dutch government has awarded six partners—Ansaldo Thomassen, Delft University of Technology, OPRA Turbines, Vattenfall

  • Storing Energy in Salt—Vattenfall Testing Technology at Berlin Plant

    Swedish power company Vattenfall is testing a technology that stores energy in salt, with a goal of proving whether the process would be useful for storage of renewable energy such as from wind and solar

  • Nuclear Power Needed for Clean Energy Future

    “Without action to provide more support for nuclear power, global efforts to transition to a cleaner energy system will become drastically harder and more costly,” Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), wrote in his foreword to the IEA’s recently released report titled Nuclear Power in a Clean Energy System. The report […]

  • SCHADE Bridge Reclaimer with Active Harrow to homogenise Coal Mix

    The Australian mining company South32 has awarded SCHADE Lagertechnik GmbH an engineering order for a harrow modification, which became necessary after the alteration of the coal specification at the DMO (Douglas-Middelburg Optimization) coal mine in South Africa. DMO operates a coal mine in the Province of Middelburg, around 160 km east of Johannesburg, to supply […]

  • MHPS Receives Contract for Complete Renovation of Flue Gas Desulfurization System at the Dětmarovice Power Station in the Czech Republic

    Advanced Technology to Comply with Strict European SOx Regulations – Renovation will provide compliance with EU’s Industrial Emissions Directive on SO2, with completion and delivery scheduled for mid-2020 – MHPS’ world-leading market share and reliability significantly contributing to an improvement global environment YOKOHAMA, Japan, May 23, 2019 – (JCN Newswire) – Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, […]

  • GE Gains Vattenfall’s Backing for Massive 12-MW Offshore Wind Turbine

    Swedish utility Vattenfall will take up deployment of the massive 12-MW Haliade-X offshore wind turbine in Europe, marking a major milestone for GE Renewable Energy’s effort to boost sales of the largest turbine currently on the market.  The two companies agreed to cooperate after a year of “intensive exchanges during which Vattenfall conducted an in-depth […]

  • Sempra, Saudi Aramco Have 20-Year Deal for LNG

    Saudi Arabian Oil Co., better known as Saudi Aramco, on May 22 signed a 20-year agreement to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) from a Texas export terminal being developed by California-based Sempra Energy. The two companies confirmed the deal is a sale-and-purchase agreement for 5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of LNG, which is equal […]

  • GE Is Banking on Africa’s Burgeoning Power Market

    Sub-Saharan Africa’s power generation capacity is projected to surge 4% annually through 2040, and its current energy mix—which is today dominated by hydro and coal—will likely be more diversified as interest rises in renewables such as solar and wind, General Electric (GE) said in a white paper surveying market opportunities in the region that it […]

  • Industrial Gas Turbine Demand Grows [PODCAST]

    When it comes to gas turbines, size matters. Although the market for large, heavy-duty gas turbines has been challenging in recent years, demand for industrial gas turbines—generally units with output ranging from about 5 MW to 100 MW—has been growing, according to Reed Lengel, product line manager for SCC-800 solutions with Siemens Energy. “When you […]

  • NuScale Power and Enfission Sign MOU to Explore Use of Next Generation Nuclear Fuel Technology

    Agreement could spur new improvements in core design, performance, and levelized electricity cost of NuScale’s small modular reactor PORTLAND, Ore.—Today, NuScale Power and Enfission, LLC, a joint venture of Lightbridge Corporation (NASDAQ: LTBR) and Framatome, announced a memorandum of understanding to explore the use of next generation nuclear fuel technology in NuScale’s small modular reactors. […]

  • Opole Unit 6 Begins to Deliver up to 900 MW of Power to the Polish Grid

    GE Steam Power, PGE (Polska Grupa Energetyczna) and GE-led consortium partners celebrate the synchronization of Opole Unit 6 to the grid With Opole Unit 5 and 6 synchronized to the grid, up to 1.8 GW of power is being delivered to the grid, enough electricity for two million Polish homes The consortium is on track […]

  • GE Tops MHPS, Siemens in 1Q Turbine Orders

    General Electric, Siemens, and Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems confirmed their gas turbine sales for the year’s first quarter, with GE taking the top spot with six orders for its advanced HA-class unit. The three companies on May 14 confirmed the numbers to Reuters. GE, which had no sales in the same period a year ago, […]

  • Arctech Solar Inks Supply Deal for Landmark 125-MW Solar Power Plant in Oman

    SHANGHAI, May 13, 2019 — Arctech Solar, a leading solar tracking and racking system provider, announced that it will supply 125 megawatt (MW) solar trackers to a solar power plant in Oman, Middle East. Located in the southern city of Amin, the plant will be commissioned by the end of 2019 and will power Petroleum Development Oman’s interior operations […]

  • Insights Into Siemens’ Stunning Gas and Power, Renewables Shakeup

    In the days following its May 7 announcement that it will spin off its Gas and Power business, Siemens has fleshed out how and when the carveout will occur, laid out its reasons for lumping its energy businesses together, and put forth a market case for why a business separation may be a “win-win” situation […]

  • UK Milestone: One Week Without Coal-Fired Generation

    The UK has gone a week without using electricity from coal-fired generation, according to the National Grid Electricity System Operator (NGESO), which oversees the power network in England, Wales, and Scotland. Government officials said it’s the first time the UK has gone without coal in a week-long period since 1882, when a coal-fired plant opened […]

  • Minimize silica deposition on turbines with real-time measurement

    Sponsored by:
    Mettler Toledo

    Continuous silica measurement is the best means to protect against contamination from spent anion resin and from steam carryover. Check out how to minimize risks of corrosion with accurate silica monitoring.

  • Siemens Will Exit Power, Gas, Renewable Businesses

    Siemens will spin off and give up its majority stake in its lucrative Gas and Power division—comprising its conventional power generation, power transmission, oil and gas, and related services businesses—and transfer its current majority 59% stake in Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) to the new business. The company’s supervisory board announced the spinoff on May 7 […]

  • NuScale Gains Potential Financial Backing for Worldwide SMR Deployment 

    NuScale Power, the front-runner in the race to commercialize small modular reactors (SMRs), has bagged another major backer that could broaden its nuclear supply chain base and expand its financial standing.  On April 29, NuScale signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction (DHIC), a South Korean–based engineering, procurement, and construction […]

  • NRC Certifies South Korea’s APR1400 Nuclear Reactor Design for U.S. Use

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has certified the Advanced Power Reactor 1400 (APR1400), a third-generation design developed by deployed by South Korean state-owned companies Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) and Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP). The U.S. nuclear regulatory body on May 1 said it will issue a direct final rule certifying the reactor […]

  • Q&A With Geothermal Experts

    Geothermal energy has been around forever, used as a heating source across the world. Today it has surfaced as another renewable resource, with advancements in drilling technology bringing down costs and opening new areas to development. In conjunction with the feature article on geothermal in the May 2019 issue of POWER, we sought opinions from […]

  • Clump Weights in Offshore Mooring Systems

    Offshore moorings have a long tradition in the oil and gas industry. Even though most offshore mooring systems feature similar components, they differ a lot in design, depending on the bathymetries, the metocean data, and the design of the platform they support. But despite the wide range available in the market, the fast development of […]

  • Modifying Behavior to Protect Systems in a Malicious Threat Landscape

    The malicious threat landscape for industrial control systems (ICSs) is constantly evolving and getting more sophisticated, thereby raising the need to have visibility, implement protective controls, and perform continuous monitoring. As a result, it is important to take a look at the attack vectors of some malware/malicious events—such as Triton—that have occurred over the last […]

  • High-Volume Hydrogen Gas Turbines Take Shape

    In preparation for a large-scale power sector shift toward decarbonization, several major power equipment manufacturers are developing gas turbines that can operate on a high-hydrogen-volume fuel. According to

  • Iran Expands Plans for Nuclear Power

    Nuclear power in Iran has struggled to gain a foothold, with the country dogged by political power struggles, international sanctions, and significant scrutiny of its nuclear program for decades. The country