International

China’s CAP1400—a reactor design based on Westinghouse’s AP1000 pressurized water reactor—has successfully passed the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA’s) Generic Reactor Safety Review. The milestone is significant for China, which plans to deploy the advanced reactor design in large numbers (Figure 4) as well as export the technology. 4. On the nuclear horizon. An artist’s […]

Projections that coal utilization will decline faster than previously forecast have spurred Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (B&W) to shed 200 jobs and restructure its traditional power business that serves coal-fired power generation in a bid to reduce overhead and improve efficiency. The Charlotte, N.C.–based energy and environmental technology and service company said on June 28 […]

The world’s power sector last year emitted a third of global sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions, 14% of nitrogen oxides (NOx), and 5% of total particulate emissions (PM2.5), but those emission values have fallen drastically over the last decade even though coal power generation has seen a surge, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a […]

When the UK, the European Union’s (EU’s) second-largest economy, voted to leave the union on June 23, reactions were swift and sometimes unexpected, but what does the Brexit vote mean for the nuclear power industry, which is an increasingly global one? Based on comments made at this week’s World Nuclear Exhibition (WNE) outside Paris, the […]

The second World Nuclear Exhibition (WNE) began on June 28 in Le Bourget, just outside Paris, with the usual mixed messages about the need for and challenges of nuclear power globally. During the opening ceremony, Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), noted that the event was being held in the same […]

Although it’s not widely publicized, a majority of the energy used to generate electricity is wasted in the form of heat discharged to the environment. For better or worse, that’s just the way a typical thermal power plant works. Fuel, such as coal, biomass, natural gas, or uranium (in the case of nuclear plants), is […]

Enrico Viale, head of global thermal generation for the Italian energy company Enel, kicked off an international power industry event yesterday with a keynote presentation describing the “needs” of utilities in the future.

Guinness World Records recognized GE’s HA gas turbine for powering the world’s most efficient—up to 62.22%—combined cycle power plant. The first unit equipped with an HA turbine officially began operation on June 17 at EDF’s plant located in Bouchain, France. “Today we are making history with this power plant for the future,” said Steve Bolze, […]

Domestic uranium production is falling to levels not seen since the early 2000s, which are themselves equal to production during the dawn of the nuclear age in the 1950s. Prospects for any sort of rebound look bleak, as a joint venture between GE, Hitachi, and Toshiba is looking to import Russian-designed fuel assemblies for use in […]

Droughts attributed to the El Niño phenomenon have gripped Venezuela’s neighbor Colombia. Bogotá in April prepared to ration power and instituted mandatory reductions in consumption, warning that

GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy is pulling out of Global Laser Enrichment (GLE), a company that in 2012 got the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC’s) unprecedented approval to build and operate a full-scale laser uranium enrichment facility. The move was precipitated by a change in business priorities, but it doesn’t necessarily mean the GLE’s proprietary SILEX technology is […]

Ghana Starts Up Key Gas-Fired Power Unit. Ghana has inaugurated the first of two 180-MW units of a natural gas–fired power plant that it is banking on to boost the West African country’s electric reliability. President John Dramani Mahama inaugurated the first unit of the Sonon-Asogli project at Kpone, near the capital Accra, on April […]

Oil-rich Venezuela is gripped by a power crisis so debilitating that the government has instituted four-hour daily blackouts across most of the country, forced hotels and malls to generate their own power, and

The annual panel discussion by high-level leaders from diverse power companies is a cornerstone of the ELECTRIC POWER Conference & Exhibition, and it has been consistently emblematic of the state of the

China unveiled its 13th Five-Year Plan this March. The official proposal that will guide the country’s economic and social development from 2016 through 2020 lays out targets and other measures to address a number of climate change, air pollution, and water policies that will build on progress to transform its power sector. The plan sets […]

The world’s frenzied economic growth through 2040 won’t be matched by electricity demand growth, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) says in the International Energy Outlook 2016 (IEO2016 ) released on May 11. World net electricity generation will jump 69% by 2040, the IEO2016 reference case projects, but that is still well below “what it would […]

GE’s shopping spree in the power sector continued on May 10 as GE Power signed an agreement with Doosan Engineering & Construction to acquire the Korean firm’s heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) business for $250 million. According to GE, the acquisition will allow it to expand its offerings for combined cycle power plant solutions. The […]

SaskPower’s Boundary Dam Unit 3 carbon capture facility is now operating with a reliability rate of over 92%.

Hands down, 2015 was a record year for global investment in renewable energy. Excluding large hydroelectric projects, the amount of money committed to renewables rose 5%, to $285.9 billion, exceeding the previous record of $278.5 billion reached in 2011.

Taking full advantage of the international political thaw with Iran, Germany has begun working closely with the fossil fuel–rich nation to develop renewable energy strategies based on the successes and failures its policymakers have learned from its own Energiewende (energy transition). To jumpstart this, Germany’s government recently released a commissioned report titled “Enabling PV Iran,” […]

Malaysia, a country that has historically depended on oil and natural gas for energy, put online a $1.67 billion ultrasupercritical coal-fired power plant this March. Malaysian firm Malakoff Corp.’s giant 1-GW Tanjung Bin Energy Power Plant (T4) entered commercial operation this March, on schedule, four years after construction began (Figure 6). 6. The face of […]

South Africa’s power system is preparing to receive a critical capacity boost. In March, state-owned utility Eskom grid-synchronized the first of four units of the Ingula Pumped Storage project in

WTO Rules Against India in Solar Power Dispute. A mandate that certain types of solar cells and modules used for India’s ambitious state-backed solar initiative must be domestically manufactured violate

The world added 33 GW of new hydropower capacity in 2015, including 2.5 GW of pumped storage, the International Hydropower Association (IHA) said in a recent brief. The new capacity made up only 3% of the

Spain’s power sector, which has been shaken financially in recent years owing to plunging power demand, posted its first electricity tariff surplus in 14 years at the end of 2015. The National Markets and

Although the December attack on Ukraine’s power infrastructure mostly affected the distribution grid, generators are just as vulnerable to cyberattack, in part because they tend to rely more on outside contractors working remotely. Here’s the latest on the attackers’ path and methods, areas in generation that are potentially vulnerable, and recommendations to address the vulnerabilities.  […]

Dominion Resources, a large electric and gas utility holding company serving mostly Virginia and North Carolina, has big ambitions to spread its wings nationally and internationally in gas, while carefully hedging its electricity business. The company’s strategy is eclectic. “Eclectic.” Miriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition, defines the word as “1: selecting what appears to be […]

On April 27, 2016, Siemens’ century-old factory in Berlin will celebrate the shipment of its 1,000th in-house-produced gas turbine.

Financially bruised Peabody Energy Corp.—the world’s largest privately owned coal mining firm—is seeking bankruptcy protection. The St. Louis–headquartered company filed for voluntary Chapter 11 protection in a desperate attempt to strengthen liquidity and reduce debt amid what it says has been an “unprecedented industry downturn.” It filed petitions for most of its U.S. entities in […]

S. Alam Group has suspended work at the site of a proposed 1,224-MW coal-fired power station in Chittagong, Bangladesh, due to safety concerns following a rally that ended with four protesters dead on April 4. According to multiple sources, groups opposing construction of the plant agreed on April 10 to halt their activities for 15 […]