International
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Coal
Death Toll at 35 in India Plant Explosion; Officials Point to High Pressure in Boiler
Officials in India on November 6 said the death toll has risen to 35 after an explosion and fire November 1 at NTPC’s Feroze Gandhi Unchahar Thermal Power Station in Uttar Pradesh state. NTPC, the nation’s largest power utility, said flue gases and steam were released in the blast, which occurred in a 500-MW coal-fired unit […]
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Coal
Death Toll at 29 After Explosion at India Thermal Plant
An explosion at a coal-fired power plant in India has killed as many as 29 people and injured more than 100, according to officials in Lucknow, India. The blast, which occurred November 1 at the Feroze Gandhi Unchahar Thermal Power Station, was apparently caused when a boiler pipe burst in a 500-MW generating unit that […]
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Gas
Plant Converts to Combined Cycle Operation with Help of Thermal Mass Air/Gas Flowmeter
Process engineers at a power plant in Western Europe were upgrading the facility with new combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) technology. CCGT power plants operate with both gas turbines and steam turbines
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Renewables
Uganda Ready to Double Generation with More Hydro Projects
Ugandan officials said they want to double the country’s installed power generation capacity over the next two years, primarily with the construction of hydropower projects. However, those same officials
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Coal
Beleaguered Eskom Starts Up Kusile’s First Supercritical Coal Unit
Africa’s first major coal-fired power unit to implement flue gas desulfurization (FGD) has been completed nearly a year earlier than expected. South Africa’s state-owned utility Eskom brought Kusile 1
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Nuclear
China Advances HTGR Technology
China’s State Nuclear Power Technology Corp. (SNPTC) has completed the installation of its high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) project, the joint venture told the International Atomic Energy Agency
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Renewables
POWER Digest [November 2017]
Giant UK Tidal Lagoon Project Secures Grid Connection Deal. Tidal Lagoon Power’s project to build a full-scale 3.2-GW tidal lagoon power plant in the Severn Estuary in Swansea Bay to harness strong tides on
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Coal
Scotland to Press Ahead with CCS in Response to UK Inaction
The UK dropped the ball on carbon capture and storage (CCS) development and Scotland intends to pick it up, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced in early September. In the government’s program
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Coal
Poland Will End Coal Investments, Move Toward Nuclear
Poland’s energy minister in September said the country was ready to shift away from coal-fired power, which provides about 90% of its electricity. Krzysztof Tchorzewski, speaking at the Krynica-Zdroj
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Renewables
As Gas Power Generation Jumps in the EU, Bloc Guards Against Supply Disruptions
Banking on natural gas as it moves away from coal, the European Union (EU) in September adopted new rules that require member states to help neighbors affected by supply disruptions. The new rules adopted by
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Nuclear
Russia Continues Legacy of Innovation at Novovoronezh Nuclear Power Plant
Russia’s nuclear power station operations arm Rosenergoatom brought its most powerful nuclear reactor to date into commercial operation in February 2017, marking the latest evolution of its Water-Water
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Nuclear
Ringhals Delivers Record Output Despite Tough Economics
Challenges abound for nuclear power plants in today’s world, with increased competition from other fuels, stricter safety regulations, divided public opinion, and low electricity prices providing an
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Commentary
Why CrashOverride Is a Red Flag for U.S. Power Companies
Organizations across every industry today face a wide range of cyber threats and serious security challenges from various vectors. A top concern among these is the persistence cybersecurity experts are seeing
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Renewables
IEA Says Southeast Asia Will Keep Coal Demand High
The International Energy Agency (IEA) says the need for cheap electricity in Southeast Asia will drive global demand for coal for power generation through 2040, even as many countries continue to retire coal-fired plants and cancel projects for new coal facilities. IEA, which is set to release its World Energy Outlook 2017 on November 14, […]
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IIOT Power
DHS, FBI Identify Tactics in Cyberattack Campaign Targeting Industrial Control Systems
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned in an e-mail on October 20 that an ongoing cyberattack campaign is targeting the nuclear, energy, and other critical infrastructure sectors since at least May 2017—with results ranging from cyber espionage to the ability to disrupt energy systems in the event of […]
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Legal & Regulatory
Citizens’ Jury Recommends Resuming Nuclear Construction in South Korea
Construction of two nuclear plants in South Korea, halted this July by President Moon Jae-in’s announced policy to phase out nuclear power, will continue after a citizens’ jury voted to resume the projects. Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) was building Shin Kori 5 and 6, two AP1400 units, but the company decided to suspend […]
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Gas
Siemens Reportedly Downsizing Power and Gas Business
Stricken by falling orders for large gas turbines, global technology conglomerate Siemens AG is reportedly moving to downsize its Power and Gas segment. The changes may include closure or sale of major sites globally and result in thousands of job cuts. The company will likely embark on a reorganization plan this November that could result […]
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Renewables
Droneweek [PODCAST]
[Ed. note: This post was first published on October 5, 2017, and was updated on October 17, 2017, with embedded video from the DRONEWEEK television show.] DRONEWEEK is a television program that will air on the Viceland network beginning Monday, October 9, 2017, and continuing each night throughout the week. Each episode will feature footage […]
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Renewables
The Netherlands to Quit Coal Power; UK and Canada Champion Global Transition Away from Coal
The Netherlands, a country that recently commissioned three state-of-the-art coal plants and has been reluctant to close them, on October 10 moved to phase out coal power by 2030. Meanwhile, the UK and Canada this week jointly urged other nations to drop coal from their power profiles. The countries are part of a growing list […]
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Legal & Regulatory
How Power Sector Deregulation Is Affecting Mexico [PODCAST]
Mexico’s energy reform began in 2013. It has opened up key parts of the country’s electricity sector to new market participants, foreign investors, and innovative technology. Prior to the reform, Mexico operated under a traditional, vertically integrated model with the state-owned Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) responsible for all power supply functions from generation to distribution. […]
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Distributed Energy
Siemens Rolls Out MVDC Transmission System to Bolster Distributed Generation
Siemens has launched a new direct-current (DC) transmission system for alternating current (AC) grids of between 30 kV and 150 kV. The medium-voltage system that can bridge distances of up to 125 miles is designed to help grid entities handle ever-growing volumes of power fed into the distribution system from distributed and renewable power. The […]
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Water
GE Power Sells Lucrative Water & Process Technologies Division to SUEZ in $3.4B Deal
Less than a week after GE struck a $2.6 billion deal with ABB for GE’s electrification business, GE Power completed the $3.4 billion sale of its lucrative water and process technologies division to multinational water management firm SUEZ. The sale of GE Water & Process Technologies, a systems and services provider of water, wastewater and […]
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Legal & Regulatory
The U.S.’s War on Coal Is Purported to Be Over—What About the Rest of the World?
The Trump administration unabashedly supports coal, and regulations designed to phase out its use in U.S. power production are being reviewed. But while other nations continue to rely on coal for much of their power, they also are increasing their use of natural gas and renewables, including heavyweight coal users such as China and India. […]
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Environmental
Reports: Electric Vehicles Are Poised to Reshape Global Power Consumption
The rapid adoption of electric vehicles (EVs)—both battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs)—is expected to transform global electricity consumption through 2040, three
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Coal
POWER Digest (October 2017)
Construction Scheduled for Hydrogen Fuel Cell Plant in South Korea. Hanwha Energy on August 25 approved formation of a subsidiary, Daesan Green Energy , to build a 50-MW hydrogen fuel cell plant in the
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Nuclear
Thorium Molten Salt Reactor Experiment Underway in the Netherlands
Scientists at the Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group (NRG) in Petten, Netherlands, have commenced the world’s first thorium molten salt reactor (TMSR) experiment in more than 45 years (Figure 1). The
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Renewables
OPG, First Nations Group Partner on Ontario Hydro Project
A partnership between Ontario Power Generation (OPG) and Coral Rapids Power, a wholly owned subsidiary of Taykwa Tagamou Nation (TTN), a Cree nation in northeastern Ontario, in late August announced the
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Renewables
Heterojunction Solar Technology Being Deployed at Siberian Site
A joint venture of two Russian companies is building a solar power project in southern Siberia based on heterojunction technology (HJT), which is touted as a high-efficiency solar cell concept. Researchers
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Renewables
Green Climate Fund Makes Largest Investment Yet
In its largest investment to date, the Green Climate Fund (GCF) is teaming up with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to contribute $1 billion to the Egyptian Government’s
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Coal
Rihand: A Model for India’s Coal Transformation
The country’s ever-increasing need for electricity means coal will continue to be a large part of its power generation, and this NTPC facility is at the forefront of expanding capacity while improving its