News

Bolstering the Biden administration’s recently announced initiatives to modernize the nation’s grid and improve its resilience, the Department of Energy (DOE) on April 27 made up to $8.25 billion in loans available to expand transmission capacity nationwide, while the Department of Transportation (DOT) offered new guidance to help speed the siting and permitting of transmission […]

An energy investment group told Texas regulators the company has a plan to help solve some of that state’s electricity reliability issues, proposing a plan similar to one put forth by billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Energy in March. Starwood Energy Group on April 23 sent the state’s Public Utility Commission a proposal to build […]

Engineering and construction firm McDermott International and pipeline technology developer New Energy Development Co. have wrapped up engineering for two modular 50-MW hydrogen energy projects that they said could enable “grid-scale” hydrogen blending with natural gas pipelines as well as potentially integrate existing or new power plants with energy storage.  The “Green Hydrogen” facilities, which […]

Georgia Power has announced more milestones for its Vogtle nuclear power plant expansion project, including the start of hot functional testing for Unit 3 at the facility in Waynesboro, Georgia. The utility also said it could bring the reactor online as soon as December of this year, despite continued construction delays due in part to […]

American Electric Power (AEP), which in 2019 reached an agreement to close Unit 1 of the two-unit, 2.6-GW coal-fired Rockport power plant in Indiana, has now announced a plan to close Unit 2 of the facility. Both units at Rockport are now expected to be shuttered by year-end 2028. AEP, the parent of Indiana Michigan […]

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) said it will provide $109.5 million in funding for projects that directly support job creation in communities impacted by the energy transition, particularly for workers and areas struggling due to closures of coal-fired power plants and coal mines. The DOE in the April 23 announcement, made in connection with […]

The European Union’s (EU’s) much-watched Taxonomy Climate Delegated Act—the world’s first “green list”—unveiled by the European Commission (EC) on April 21 qualifies several power-producing sectors in its technical screening criteria for sustainable investment decisions. However, it delays controversial decisions on gas and nuclear.  The EC adopted the Delegated Act as part of an ambitious package […]

President Biden has set a new nationally determined contribution (NDC) for the U.S. to achieve a 50% to 52% reduction in economy-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2030 compared to 2005 levels.  The White House said on Thursday the NDC, which was determined after a “a whole-of-government process”  organized through the Biden administration’s National Climate […]

A well-known chocolate maker has announced two new clean energy partnerships as the company continues to increase its sustainability efforts. The Hershey Co. on April 20 said it has power purchase agreements (PPAs) to take electricity from two solar projects, one in North Carolina and another in Texas. Hershey, like many corporate power customers, has […]

A draft copy of a document outlining India’s latest National Electricity Policy (NEP) reportedly shows the country is considering building new coal-fired generation capacity, even as it sets new carbon reduction targets. The document also said government officials would push for better technology to help reduce emissions from those plants. Reuters on April 19 reported […]

An analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data for 2020 shows the number of workers in clean energy jobs last year fell for the first time since 2015, according to a group of business leaders and investors who study those numbers each year. The group’s “Clean Jobs America” report, released April 19, said about 3 […]

A Canadian company that has led design efforts for advanced compressed air energy storage (A-CAES) systems has received funding for development of a new 300-500-MW A-CAES facility. Hydrostor, based in Toronto, Ontario, on April 15 announced a commitment of about $4 million for the project, which would be built in Canada, from Natural Resources Canada’s […]

8 Rivers Capital, inventor of a novel supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) cycle, plans to begin operating a 280-MW NET Power natural gas–fired plant within the Southern Ute Indian Reservation in southwest Colorado by 2025. The company on April 15 also said it will team with agricultural and processing firm Archer-Daniels-Midlands Co. (ADM) to locate a […]

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) on April 13 urged Texans to conserve power as grid conditions tightened owing to a “a combination of high generation outages typical in April and higher-than-forecasted demand from a stalled cold front over Texas.” The Texas grid operator, which in February narrowly avoided system collapse as Winter Storm […]

The trend of supplying commercial and industrial locations with renewable energy—along with the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA’s) continuing support of investments in power projects that support sustainability—is being recognized at one of the most-iconic distilleries in the U.S. The TVA on April 13 said it has signed a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with Nashville-based […]

A New York realty company is providing a model of solar power’s continued growth as it works to complete a project to install solar panels on all the buildings it owns in the borough of Queens. Zara Realty on April 12 told POWER it is “halfway” to completing installation of solar technology on every site […]

Bleeding financially from underperforming and legally burdened coal generation in downstate Illinois and elsewhere, Vistra, the nation’s largest competitive generator, has renewed its call for passage of the Illinois Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Act, a bill that could help keep 2.2 GW of existing at-risk capacity online through 2025 while the state expands […]

A UK-based energy company said it is talking with government officials about securing financial support for an expansion of the world’s largest tidal energy project. SIMEC Atlantis Energy (SAE) on April 7 said it wants to move forward with a further rollout of “tidal stream technology” at the company’s MeyGen project in the Pentland Firth, […]

Emirates Nuclear Energy Corp. (ENEC) said Unit 1 of the Barakah nuclear facility has entered commercial operation, nine years after construction of the Arab world’s first nuclear power plant began. ENEC made the announcement April 6. Unit 1, operated by Nawah Energy Co., has been providing electricity to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) since reaching […]

A California company has teamed with the U.S. subsidiary of Japan’s largest gas utility to build a major solar power project just outside Houston, Texas. Rosendin, an electrical contractor with its corporate headquarters in San Jose, and Tokyo Gas America are developing the Aktina Renewable Power Project, a 500-MWac/631-MWdc solar farm spanning 4,000 acres in […]

The utility industry has undergone a remarkable shift over the past 10 years. What was traditionally a one-way commodity electron-flow to customers has now become bidirectional traffic of both electrons and bytes. With the rise of distributed energy resources (DERs) and customer demands for improved energy efficiency, utilities are handling an increasing amount of useful […]

A major chunk of President Joe Biden’s $2.25 trillion transformational plan to overhaul the nation’s infrastructure is dedicated to re-energizing America’s power infrastructure. The initiatives garnered the industry’s approval—with notable exceptions. The “American Jobs Plan,” released on March 31, strives to jumpstart the U.S. economy, which drooped under burdens posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. But […]

The natural gas sector is well aware of the challenges facing the fossil fuel industry, but analysts say gas has attributes that will keep it a big part of the U.S. and global energy mix. Natural gas has moved

Siemens Energy and Canadian pipeline company TC Energy in February agreed to commission a novel waste-heat-to-power facility in Alberta by 2022 that captures waste heat from a gas-fired turbine operating a

The nuclear power industry is brimming with technological innovation, particularly when it comes to small reactors that can provide power for several different applications. This is especially true in Canada

Tidal and wave energy installations in 2020 brought global cumulative installations for ocean energy to almost 60 MW. Another 6 MW of wave and tidal energy is slated for deployment this year, suggesting marked

An oscillating control valve may appear to be the source of control instability and repair efforts are usually focused only there. When this fails to solve the issue, further investigation often proves the

There are many challenges to overcome before electric trucks fill the road, and the timing for full adoption is many years away. However, now is the time to prepare for the inevitable shift toward

A predictive approach to finding potential issues with steam or gas turbine valve actuators can help power plant operators realize cost savings and avoid unit downtime. Having a way to analyze actuator