News
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Hydrogen
Siemens Studies Hydrogen Production, Storage at Utah Plant
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 […]
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Hydrogen
‘World’s Largest’ Green Hydrogen Plant on Tap
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 […]
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Hydrogen
1.6-GW Coal Plant May Get New Life as Green Hydrogen Hub
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 […]
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Distributed Energy
Distributed Generation Part of Puerto Rico Rebuild
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
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News
Wärtsilä Project Moves Forward, but Challenges Remain for Renewables in Mexico
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
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O&M
Bolting Tools Important for Operation, Maintenance of Wind Turbines
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
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Renewables
Solar and Storage: When It Makes Operational Sense
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
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News
Ecuador’s Power Grid Gets a Massive Makeover
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
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News
POWER Digest [March 2021]
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
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News
SGRE Turbines Tabbed for French Offshore Wind Project
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 […]
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News
Exelon to Split Business, Spin Off Generation Segment
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 […]
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News
DOE Awards $46 Million for Geothermal Projects
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 […]
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Gas
GE Debuts Giant 9HA.02 Gas Turbines at 1.4-GW Plant in Malaysia
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 […]
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News
ERCOT Board Members Resign in Wake of Blackouts
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 […]
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News
Texas Launches Probe of Power Companies After Blackouts
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 […]
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News
ERCOT Signaling Some Relief as Power Crisis Stretches Into Fourth Day
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 […]
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News
Texas Gov. Declares ERCOT Reform ‘Emergency’; Millions Still Without Power
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 […]
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News
ERCOT Sheds Load as Extreme Cold Forces Generators Offline; MISO, SPP Brace for Worsening System Conditions
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 […]
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News
GE Turbines Will Supply Europe’s Largest Onshore Wind Farm
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 […]
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Connected Plant
Hitachi ABB Power Grids Reshapes COVID-Challenged Customer Engagement
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 […]
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News
GE Gas Turbines Will Replace Coal at Colorado Plant
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 […]
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Wind
GE, Labs Join Project for 3D-Printed Wind Turbine Blades
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 […]
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Offshore Wind
South Korea Has Plan for $43 Billion Offshore Wind Farm
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 […]
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News
Retirement Set for Wisconsin’s Second-Largest Coal Plant
The Columbia Energy Center, a two-unit 1,100-MW coal-fired station located in Columbia County, Wisconsin, south of Portage, will be permanently retired by the end of 2024. Alliant Energy, which co-owns the facility with Wisconsin Public Service Corp. (a subsidiary of WEC Energy Group) and Madison Gas and Electric Co., made the announcement on Feb. […]
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Nuclear
Big Boost for Framatome’s Accident-Tolerant Nuclear Fuel
In another significant boost to commercial deployment of accident-tolerant fuel (ATF) at existing nuclear reactors, the first 18-month fuel cycle test of Framatome’s GAIA Enhanced Accident Tolerant Fuel (EATF) at Southern Co.’s Vogtle 2 has “demonstrated expected results and excellent performance,” Framatome said on Feb. 2. Southern Nuclear installed four GAIA lead fuel assemblies (LFAs) […]
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News
Licensing Green Technology Can Boost India’s Economy
During lockdown, Delhi, one of the world’s most polluted cities, enjoyed some of the freshest air that the capital has seen in decades. Having witnessed the benefits of eliminating pollution from their cities, politicians the world over are talking about “building back better” in the wake of Covid-19. For many countries that means accelerating investment […]
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News
BOEM, Bolstered by Biden Offshore Wind Agenda, Resumes Vineyard Wind Review
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will resume an environmental review for the 800-MW Vineyard Wind project offshore Massachusetts as part of a larger push by the Department of Interior (DOI), its parent agency, to accelerate development of renewables on public lands and waters. BOEM, an agency that manages U.S. offshore energy and mineral […]
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News
Siemens Will Cut 7,800 Jobs from Gas and Power
Siemens Energy announced it will cut 7,800 jobs from its gas and power division by 2025 as the company attempts to be more competitive in a global energy market that is moving away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy. The company on Feb. 2 in its latest earnings release said it plans to jettison […]
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Nuclear
Hualong One Reactor Now Operating in China
The first of two new reactors at a nuclear power plant in China has entered commercial operation, becoming that country’s 50th operating reactor, according to the China Nuclear Energy Association (CNEA). Hualong One is a third-generation pressurized water reactor, developed by China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC) and China General Nuclear Power. It is the fifth […]
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News
Using Data for Smarter Power Generation
Power plant operators continually search for ways to make electricity production and transmission more efficient. With more generation sources coming online, the use of artificial intelligence and machine