News

The two VECO-Drives have been running successfully for more than 6,000 operating hours, after being installed in February. The customer, Guangzhou China Resources Thermal Power Co., Ltd. is particularly impressed by the increased efficiency. Efficiency can be improved significantly compared to the replaced variable speed solution and reaches approximately 97 percent. YORK, Pa./GUANGZHOU/SHANGHAI. (July 23, 2020) […]

The DIII-D National Fusion Facility, operated by General Atomics for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is the largest magnetic fusion research facility in the U.S. The mission of the DIII-D research program is to establish the scientific basis for the optimization of the tokamak approach to fusion energy production. The DIII-D program is a […]

Drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), have been dabbled with throughout the power industry for years. POWER featured a drone on its cover in April 2014, and has published many articles on drone technology since then. Yet, the technology has been used more as a novelty in the power sector up to this point. As […]

Duke Energy Progress, the Duke Energy subsidiary that serves about 1.6 million customers in the Carolinas, announced the completion of its new Asheville Combined Cycle Station in Arden, North Carolina. The company said the $817 million combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) facility (Figure 1) includes two power blocks with a total of four generators and […]

German energy supplier E.ON is collaborating with UK energy firms Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) and Costain Group to roll out an innovative business model that monetizes resilience and grid stability services to remote areas.  E.ON Innovation, one of Europe’s largest distribution system operators (DSOs) and the transmission and distribution arms at SSEN and […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) wants the electric power industry to help the DOE draft rules that will prohibit the U.S. bulk-power electric system from using equipment sourced from, or otherwise susceptible to, harmful influence by “foreign adversaries.” Asset owners, utility operators, equipment vendors, and other interested parties can voluntarily provide information to the DOE […]

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) is working feverishly to get a provision into the next COVID-19 stimulus package that would allow electric cooperatives to reprice loans from the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) at current low interest rates without penalties. The change could save co-ops more than $10 billion. The RUS, which is a […]

A microgrid project pairing natural gas with solar power is taking shape at Pittsburgh International Airport, with the installation expected to be the primary source of electricity for the property by the summer of 2021. Construction of the microgrid (Figure 1) began a few weeks ago with site preparation work, which included rerouting an electrical […]

Is gas generation quickly going down the same path as coal? Will gas power generation built today be abandoned in 30 years? How can you be serious about climate change and still build gas power generation? As governments, utilities, and private enterprises continue to set aggressive net-zero emissions goals, these are the hard questions being […]

July 20, 2020, Somerville, MA – LineVision, a provider of solutions to monitor, optimize, and protect the world’s critical energy delivery infrastructure, today announced the launch of a new partnership with OSIsoft, a leader in operational intelligence for critical operations. The relationship includes tight integration between LineVision’s V3 overhead line monitoring solution and OSIsoft’s PI […]

July 20, 2020 – Framatome delivered its first nuclear fuel reload to the largest power producer in the U.S. The 100 fuel assemblies were manufactured at Framatome’s fuel fabrication facility in Richland, Washington, and inserted into the reactor at the nuclear energy facility as part of the spring refueling outage completed in May. Framatome delivered […]

BayWa r.e. has begun construction on the Witnica solar park, which will be by far the largest solar power plant in Poland. The 64.6 MWp project, which is due for completion by the end of 2020, is being built without the need for any government subsidies, and the electricity generated will be sold locally to […]

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) finalized a long-awaited rule revising regulations that govern qualifying small power producers and cogenerators under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA). While FERC said the rule was necessary to respond to significant market changes, the action drew mixed reactions from industry.  FERC’s final rule issued on […]

With the advantages of clean, renewable energy, wind power has become one of the fastest-growing energy sources and one of the most economical solutions for electricity generation. There are already 350,000 wind turbines installed globally, with more than 650,000 MW of  installed generation capacity. In light of climate change, demand continues to grow. However, to […]

Summertime heat is cresting at the same time many economic restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic are easing in communities across the United States.  Meanwhile, as extreme weather events are becoming more frequent, much of the country is on alert as forecasters predict severe hurricane, tornado, and wildfire seasons will continue.   Utilities know they need […]

Pilsen (07/09/2020) – A pair of two cylinder DST-S10 condensation turbines with no reheating and with axial output have been operating since March 2020 at the Fadhili steam-gas power plant near the Jubail industrial city in Saudi Arabia on the Persian Gulf. The Fadhili steam-gas combined cycle plant, with a total capacity of 1,509 MW, […]

California is widely regarded for environmental leadership, especially around clean energy policy. The state has set an ambitious goal of achieving 100% renewable energy by 2045. Decarbonizing its electric power sector requires new approaches and ways of thinking to meet carbon reduction goals, all while minimizing land use, emissions, and cost. One promising approach is […]

The five owners of a 410-MW coal-fired unit at the Craig Generating Station in Colorado have said they will retire the generator on Sept. 30, 2028, about one year before what will then be the last operating unit at the facility will be shuttered. Owners of the Yampa Project—Units 1 and 2 at the site […]

A government-run development bank is expected to end its ban on investment in nuclear energy, a move that could allow U.S. companies to take a greater role in foreign nuclear power projects. The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) as early as this week could lift its prohibition on supporting nuclear power. The DFC on […]

Ahwatukee-based Athena 3D Manufacturing and face-scanning app company Bellus3D worked with SRP to deploy an alternative innovation to the N95 mask With Arizona’s COVID-19 cases still on the rise, and a global shortage of N95 masks, Salt River Project (SRP), along with the help of local and national partners, developed state-of-the-art, 3D-printed mask solutions for […]

Hitachi on July 1 commandeered a majority share of ABB’s lucrative Power Grids business and officially launched a joint venture company—Hitachi ABB Power Grids. The new company, which already has a volume of about $10 billion, is expected to provide financial muscle to support ambitious projects and new business opportunities as the sector embraces decentralization […]

Two German energy heavyweights have completed an asset swap that will have a major impact on the global market for renewable energy. RWE and E.ON on July 1 closed a deal that had been months in the making, with RWE taking on the assets of Innogy, an E.ON subsidiary (and former RWE company), to make […]

The market for microgrids continues to expand, with utilities, businesses, and neighborhoods installing a variety of technologies in systems designed to ensure a reliable and resilient supply of power. The

An energy imbalance market (EIM) is a voluntary market that provides a sub-hourly economic dispatch of participating resources for balancing supply and demand every five minutes. One such market is the Western

Officials in South Africa and across the African continent continue to explore new nuclear power generation projects, and the region provides an opportunity for other countries to export their advanced nuclear

Algeria, like other countries that are members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), wants to diversify its electricity production, and is looking to solar power for the bulk of its

The first biomass-fired power plant in Cuba—located adjacent to Ciro Redondo sugar mill in the central province of Ciego de Ávila—recently synchronized its two boilers to the grid. The 60-MW plant is

Germany Adopts National Strategies for Energy, Climate, Hydrogen. Twenty days before Germany commandeers the European Union Council presidency, Germany on June 12 adopted two national strategies that could

The power generation industry is among those whose aging infrastructure contributes to increased safety concerns, and can lead to costly unscheduled maintenance and shutdowns. Facilities must be vigilant about

The power generation sector has been challenged by trends in digitalization, growth of intermittent renewables, equipment performance improvements, new generation, and storage technologies. Digitalization is a