Markets

Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) have found that a combination of lower capital, operating, and finance costs, in addition to better equipment performance, and longer useful lives, have driven power purchase agreement (PPA) prices and the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) for utility-scale wind and solar projects to all-time lows. The findings were […]

General Electric (GE) has agreed to pay a $200 million penalty to settle claims by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that the company misled investors when it failed to disclose material information related to its power and insurance businesses. In an order on Dec. 9 capping an investigation that the SEC opened in […]

By 2025, the economics of low-carbon generation technologies are poised to disrupt conventional fossil fuel generation so dramatically, onshore wind could have the lowest levelized costs of electricity (LCOE) on average, and nuclear power could emerge as the dispatchable low-carbon technology with the lowest expected costs.  Those are key findings in the Dec. 9-issued 2020 […]

RWE Generation will install 11 units of GE Gas Power’s freshly launched LM2500XPRESS power plant technology to provide a critical gas-power reserve in Germany’s reliability-challenged southern region.  The project will debut GE’s LM2500XPRESS, a “plug-and-play” power plant model it launched in January 2020 that features pre-packaged LM2500 aeroderivative gas turbines. Delivered in a simplified set […]

The U.S. Senate on Nov. 30 confirmed Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) nominees Allison Clements and Mark Christie, filling out all five seats at the helm of the federal energy regulator with a bipartisan panel for the first time in nearly two years.  Clements, a Democrat, replaces former Commissioner Cheryl LaFleur for a term that […]

At the virtual 2nd Global Ministerial Conference on System Integration of Renewables on Oct. 27, several high-ranking policymakers pointed to a number of localized challenges affecting their countries’

Norwegian Group Buying Vietnam Wind Farm. Norway’s SN Power AS in November agreed to purchase 100% of the shares in the 39.4-MW Dam Nai Wind Power project in Vietnam from Mekong Wind Pte. Ltd., a group owned

American Electric Power (AEP) will shut down or refuel 5.6 GW of its 2020 coal-fired power fleet by 2030 to comply with environmental rules—including recent revisions governing federal coal ash and effluent limitations—and rebalance its portfolio in a bid to meet ambitious climate goals.  The move is bold for the Columbus, Ohio-based generating giant, which […]

There is a growing trend toward clean energy around the world. A number of high-profile companies, including Google, Apple, Walmart, and more than 260 others, have set 100% renewable electricity goals, and power companies, too, have joined in the movement, with many targeting net-zero emissions in coming decades. However, most consumers have found it more […]

Joe Biden on Nov. 7 clinched the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency, barring Donald Trump’s prospects for a second-term. Almost immediately, reactions from various parts of the power sector streamed in, highlighting possibilities and pitfalls of Biden’s wide-ranging energy and environment agenda.  Energy, and its implications on the environment, figured prominently as […]

A pan-renewables organization has chastised the Department of Labor (DOL) for fast-tracking a new rule it has said is a “transparent attempt to slow the growth” of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing.  According to the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE)—a group that represents a wide range of renewables stakeholders including some of the […]

Joe Mease and Bryan Benoit, Grant Thornton LLP After serving as a primary source of electrical power generation for the last half-century, bankruptcies throughout the American coal mining industry in 2020 serve as the proverbial canary in the mine for the once dominant black nuggets found across the U.S. from the Appalachians to the Powder River Basin. […]

In mid-August, the western U.S. experienced some of the most extreme heat it has encountered in recorded history. Temperatures in some locations were up to 20F above normal. During the hot spell, California

At least eight cities have now dropped shares in the Carbon Free Power Project (CFPP), a 720-MWe NuScale Power small modular reactor (SMR) project proposed by Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS). Despite the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Oct.16–announced $1.4 billion, 10-year award to fund one-time costs for the first-of-a-kind project, four Utah cities withdrew […]

At a time when deal activity in the energy and natural resources sector has slowed dramatically—down 26.2% globally year-on-year—one development in particular may define the industry’s near-term future. In mid-May 2020, French oil major Total opted not to pursue a deal, announced in 2019, to purchase the African assets of Anadarko Petroleum, a U.S. producer […]

An expansion of New York’s Clean Energy Standard (CES) approved by the state’s Public Service Commission (PSC) adopts several measures that will help the state meet its new, more ambitious 70%-by-2030 renewable power target. In an Oct. 15 order, the PSC adopted several changes proposed by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority […]

Buoyed by two major developments last week for prospective customers, NuScale Power is maintaining “strong program momentum” toward commercialization of its small modular reactor (SMR) technology, the company told POWER.  On Oct. 16, the Department of Energy (DOE) approved a $1.355 billion award to fund the Carbon Free Power Project (CFPP), a potential 720-MWe NuScale […]

Doubling down on its net-zero efforts, Duke Energy will retire all coal-only units in the Carolinas, multiply its renewable portfolio, and cease emitting methane in its natural gas business by 2030.  The company made the announcements on Oct. 12 at its first environmental, social and governance (ESG) day, a virtual event geared toward its investors. […]

DTE’s new Central Energy Plant will energize a flexible and high-tech revamp of Ford Motor Co.’s Research and Engineering campus in Dearborn, Michigan. Because it goes beyond the envelope of modern

Though a lesser discussed power-to-x solution, power-to-heat technologies are already mature, commercially available, and market competitive. And they are already making an impact on the power sector. Much

The U.S. power industry lacks forward-looking ways to measure grid resiliency and traditional reliability metrics could become irrelevant as more intermittent generation inundates the bulk power system. But rather than continually looking backward to learn from ever-increasing emergencies or close-shaves, power system operators must work to cultivate a balanced portfolio that considers all aspects of […]

Entergy Corp., an integrated energy company with a 30-GW power generating fleet, took a bold step toward decarbonization on Sept. 23, announcing it would join forces with Mitsubishi Power to integrate green hydrogen into utility businesses in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.  Entergy will focus on developing hydrogen-capable combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) facilities and […]

GE said it will exit the new-build coal power market, subject to applicable consultation requirements. “GE’s Steam Power business will work with customers on existing obligations as it pursues this exit, which may include divestitures, site closings, job impacts and appropriate considerations for publicly held subsidiaries,” the company said in a Sept. 21 announcement. It […]

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC’s) ruling on Sept. 4, 2020,  rejected, in a three-to-one decision, the New York Independent System Operator’s (NYISO) proposal to change its capacity market rules, ostensibly intended to support, among other things, New York and New Jersey’s ambitious, and some say, unattainable renewable goals. The action comes directly on the […]

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on Sept. 6 took the rare but drastic action of issuing an emergency order under the Federal Power Act (FPA) to authorize the maximum operation of three natural gas–fired facilities on the California Independent System Operator’s (CAISO’s) grid whose full capability had been stranded by federal air quality and […]

BP made headlines in early August when it announced it wants to develop about 50 GW of net renewable generating capacity by 2030—a 20-fold increase from the 2.5 GW deployed in 2019—as part of a new

With a lack of attractive solar power purchase agreements (PPAs) available in the market, project owners have been seeking alternative arrangements to secure long-term revenue certainty. One alternative is a

Milestone for First 700-MW Domestically Built Indian Nuclear Reactor. Unit 3 of the Kakrapar nuclear power plant in the Indian state of Gujarat—an indigenously designed 700-MW pressurized heavy water reactor

A new report from two groups that study energy policy supports the establishment of a fully competitive regional electricity market in the U.S. Southeast, something already being discussed by at least two of the region’s largest utilities. The analysis published August 25 from San Francisco, California-based Energy Innovation, and Boulder, Colorado-based Vibrant Clean Energy (VCE), […]