News

The federal agency in charge of U.S. offshore energy management said it has completed the final environmental analysis for a proposed 800-MW offshore wind project, paving the way for the nation’s first commercial-scale development of its kind to move forward. The U.S. Dept. of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on March 8 […]

Russia’s state-owned nuclear power company Rosatom continues to diversify, as one of the group’s subsidiaries has acquired a major stake in a South Korean manufacturer of energy storage products. RENERA LLC, which is Rosatom’s integrator company for the energy storage business, and also a subsidiary of TVEL Fuel Company of Rosatom, on March 5 announced […]

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) in freshly revealed data on March 4 reported that the Texas grid suffered 1,796 generating or energy storage outages or derates as winter storm Uri bore down on the state in mid-February.  The grid operator made the list public in a letter it sent to lawmakers in the […]

Board members of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the entity that operates and manages the electricity grid that covers much of Texas, voted late on March 3 to fire ERCOT CEO Bill Magness. The move comes as state and federal officials continue to investigate the actions of the grid operator that led to […]

The chairwoman of the Public Utility Commission (PUC) of Texas has resigned, stepping down after the state’s lieutenant governor earlier on March 1 called for her resignation, along with that of the CEO of the state’s power grid operator. DeAnn Walker, the PUC chair, in her resignation letter Monday to Gov. Greg Abbott, defended her […]

The group considered Texas’ oldest and largest electricity cooperative has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, saying it can’t pay money wanted by the state’s grid operator in connection with power outages during a major winter storm that hit in February. Brazos Electric Power Cooperative filed its bankruptcy petition March 1 in the U.S. Bankruptcy […]

Advancements in batteries, along with an improved regulatory environment and more investment, could make this decade the Roaring ’20s for energy storage. Many areas have been considered a focus for the

Siemens Energy said it is joining with a power generation cooperative on a plan to integrate hydrogen production and storage at a Utah power plant. Siemens on March 1 said it has been awarded a $200,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to support a conceptual design study, which is set to begin […]

Enegix Energy has confirmed it plans to build what the company said would be the world’s largest green hydrogen plant, a facility in northeast Brazil that could produce more than 600 million kilograms, or about 1.32 billion pounds, of the fuel per year. Enegix on March 1 said the hydrogen production would come as part […]

Global technology heavyweights Shell and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Swedish state-owned energy firm Vattenfall, and German municipal heat generator Wärme Hamburg are teaming on a massive project to repurpose a 2015-commissioned 1.6-GW coal plant in northern Germany as a massive green hydrogen hub.  The four companies in January said they signed a letter of intent to […]

Upgrades to the power grid are needed worldwide, and energy companies are working on the best solutions for providing reliable and resilient power in a cost-efficient and timely fashion. Areas hit hard by

Mexico reformed its energy market in 2013, opening the country’s energy sector to private investment. It created opportunities for foreign companies to bring their expertise to Mexico, particularly in the

There is a trend churning in the wind power industry; it involves upgrading wind turbines with newer, more powerful generation systems. Thanks to higher-capacity turbines and more efficient components

Energy storage is becoming increasingly important in solar installations, and many renewable energy projects, including wind farms and others, are incorporating storage into their design. Figuring out the

Over the past two decades, Ecuador has added a lot of hydroelectric power to its mix. Going forward, natural gas generation is expected to play more of a role in maintaining reliability and adding flexibility

Hydropower Plant Comes Online in Turkey. GE Renewable Energy in February said the company has successfully completed the Lower Kaleköy Hydropower plant at the Lower Kaleköy Dam in Turkey, with the plant

Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) announced it was awarded the firm order from the EDF Renewables-Enbridge-wpd consortium for the 448-MW Courseulles-sur-Mer offshore wind power project. The installation will be located just more than 6 miles off the Bessin coast, in an area of Normandy, France. SGRE on Feb. 22 said the wind turbine nacelles and […]

Responding to rapid changes in the power industry, Exelon Corp. plans to cleave its business into two publicly traded companies: one comprising its six regulated electric and gas utilities, and the other, which it plans to spin off, comprising its 31-GW competitive generation fleet and customer-facing businesses.  The separation—which the company’s Board of Directors approved […]

A federal government geothermal program based at the University of Utah has chosen 17 projects that will receive up to $46 million from the U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE). The DOE on Feb. 24 said its Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy (FORGE) Initiative will support funding for what it called “cutting-edge, domestic, and […]

Two GE 9HA.02 gas turbines—the largest model of GE’s second-generation H-class heavy-duty gas turbine fleet and one of the largest gas turbine models on the global market—on Feb. 24 began commercial operation at Southern Power Generation’s (SPG’s) 1,440-MW Track 4A Power Plant in Pasir Gudang, Johor, Malaysia.  The combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant, built […]

Five board members of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the state’s power grid operator, on Feb. 23 announced they would resign their posts, just days after extreme winter weather left more than 4 million Texas electricity customers without power for several days. Sally Talberg, chairwoman of ERCOT, is among those resigning. All those […]

The fallout from the severe weather that crippled the power grid in Texas and other states over the past week continues, as officials grapple with what went wrong and who should be held accountable for an energy emergency that left millions without electricity. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Feb. 19 said his office would […]

After three harrowing days during which the Texas grid veered precipitously toward system collapse, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has begun directing transmission operators to cease rotating blackouts.  The grid recorded a gradual increase of restored generation capacity through Feb. 17 and overnight on Feb. 18. Early on Thursday, a little more than […]

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has said reforming the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is an emergency item for state legislators in the current session, as power outages continue across the state for another day due to record cold temperatures as part of a massive winter storm. The governor on Feb. 16 said he wants […]

Historically frigid temperatures across Texas forced 34 GW of generation—across all fuel types—off the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) system, prompting the grid operator to initiate rotating outages starting at 1:25 a.m. CST on Feb. 15. ERCOT said it expects outages will likely last at least through Feb. 16. This article has been updated […]

GE Renewable Energy and independent asset manager Luxcara announced an agreement to develop Europe’s largest onshore wind farm, an installation that includes a 25-year full-turbine service and maintenance contract. Luxcara has begun infrastructure work on the project in Sweden. GE Renewable Energy on Feb. 15 said it expects to begin installing the first of 137 […]

In a pioneering effort to overcome pandemic challenges that have hampered its interaction with customers, partners, and other stakeholders, Hitachi ABB Power Grids on Feb. 9 inaugurated a “customer experience” center at the company’s North American headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina.  The North America Customer Experience Center, which is located in a state-of-the-art facility on […]

The plan to retire the last coal-fired units at a power plant in Colorado has moved a step closer to completion, with the announcement that Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) has chosen General Electric (GE) technology to keep the plant operating at least temporarily as a gas-fired facility. GE on Feb. 10 announced that six of […]

Three GE business units will partner with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) to develop and demonstrate an integrated additive manufacturing process for high-performance blade designs as part of a $6.7 million project funded by the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO).  Under the AMO’s proposed “Additive […]

The South Korean government has announced a major part of the country’s effort to reduce reliance on fossil fuels. President Moon Jae-in on Feb. 5 attended a ceremony in which contracts were signed for a 48.5 trillion won ($43.2 billion) plan to build the world’s largest offshore wind farm by 2030, an installation that would […]