News

  • RWE, E.ON Deal Will Reshape Energy Markets

    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 […]

  • Micro Generation with Macro Possibilities

    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

  • Minutes Matter in the Energy Imbalance Market

    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

  • Russia, China Drive Africa’s Plan for Nuclear Expansion

    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 Targets Renewables to Diversify Generation

    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

  • Cuba’s First Biomass-Fired Power Plant Inaugurated

    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

  • POWER Digest [July 2020]

    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

  • Advantages of Dual Linear Array Probes for Corrosion Inspection

    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

  • Digital Strategies for Power Plant Optimization

    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

  • At the Dawn of the Hydrogen Economy

    Interest in hydrogen is growing, with demand increasing rapidly. It is clear that the next significant transformation in the energy transition will be based on the hydrogen economy, transforming green

  • Powering Iraq During COVID-19: GE Executes Operations & Maintenance Works at Besmaya Power Plant, Securing 3 GW for Peak Summer Demand

    Baghdad, Iraq; 30th June, 2020: GE Gas Power successfully completed services on four 9F.03 gas turbines, two steam turbines and six generators at Iraq’s Besmaya Power Plant safely and on time, while continuing to execute wider operations and maintenance (O&M) works at the site despite the many challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. These service […]

  • The Rookery South Energy Recovery Facility, an Energy-from-Waste plant in the UK, chose a turbine with equipment from Pilsen-based Doosan Škoda Power

    Pilsen (30/6/2020) – Pilsen-based steam turbine manufacturer Doosan Škoda Power is producing and installing a turbine set for the Rookery South Energy Recovery Facility in the British county of Bedfordshire. The turbine, which has an output of 67 MW including auxiliary equipment, will be operated by the Covanta and Veolia consortium. The turbine is scheduled […]

  • Small hydropower plant Verkhnebalkarskaya in Russia put into commercial operation

    Voith delivered the main equipment for the hydropower plant The commissioning was carried out by Voith with remote assistance due to travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic The new power plant will ensure stable production of clean electric-ity in the Republic Kabardino-Balkaria, Russia KABARDINO-BALKARIA, RUSSIA. On June 25, 2020, all three units of the […]

  • Waste-to-Hydrogen Project Set for California

    A California company that produces renewable hydrogen has joined with a Louisiana construction group on a project to build a modular waste-to-hydrogen production facility. Ways2H, based in Long Beach, California, and Ford, Bacon & Davis, a Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based engineering, procurement, and construction firm, on June 30 announced a joint effort to design and build […]

  • Potomac Testing Acquires Electrical Maintenance & Testing, Inc.

    POTOMAC TESTING, a TechPro Power Group company, today announced the recent acquisition of Electrical Maintenance & Testing, Inc. (“EMT”), a NETA Accredited independent third party electrical testing firm based in Carmel, Indiana. CROFTON, Md., June 29, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — POTOMAC TESTING, a TechPro Power Group company, today announced the recent acquisition of Electrical Maintenance & […]

  • MOVA Technologies Announces Successful Pollutant Capture Testing in Partnership with Virginia Tech

    ~ Will Launch National Search for Commercial Development of Technology ~ Pulaski, VA — MOVA Technologies Inc., a Pulaski-based emerging technology company researching pollution control strategies for industrial emissions, today announced the successful completion of initial proof-of-concept (POC) testing of gaseous contaminants (CO2, SO2, NO) through the Advanced Propulsion and Power Laboratory at Virginia Tech. […]

  • Unit at Largest U.S. Coal Plant Will Close

    A Georgia power plant that has held the title of the largest coal-fired facility in the U.S. will give up that title by 2022, as the board of directors of a utility that owns a portion of the plant has agreed to a deal that will result in the closure of Unit 4 at the […]

  • TapRooT® Doubles Down on Improving Human Performance with New Complete TapRooT® RCA Book Set

    Why do industry leaders choose TapRooT® Root Cause Analysis to train their teams to be the best problem-solvers? At System Improvements Inc., we teach organizations to recognize and fix smaller issues in order to prevent repeat incidents or major accidents. Today, System Improvements offers its latest training tool—the new Complete TapRooT® RCA Book Set. KNOXVILLE, […]

  • Coal Community Leaders Release Historic Platform for National Economic Transition

    Built on Community-Driven Solutions by Local, Tribal, and Labor Leaders, NET Platform Pushes For Bold Investments in National Transition Program For Those Hit Hardest by Changing Coal Economy READ THE PLATFORM HERE   NATIONWIDE – Today, 80 local, regional, and national organizations and leaders unveiled their National Economic Transition (NET) platform to give federal and national leaders […]

  • Access Versus Productive Use of Energy: Is It Time to Craft SDG 7.4 for Africa?

    In 2012, 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were drafted at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, which was held in Brazil. The goals were adopted by all the United Nations member countries in 2015. They replaced the Millennium Development Goals, which started in 2000 to tackle the challenge of extreme poverty across the world. […]

  • Last Reactor at Oldest French Nuclear Plant Going Offline

    The last operating reactor at France’s oldest nuclear power plant is scheduled to shut down June 30, some 43 years after the plant entered commercial operation. The French government, though, on June 27 ruled out further full closures of nuclear plants, according to Reuters, which cited sources in the country’s energy ministry. France had said […]

  • $122 Million Earmarked for Coal ‘Innovation Centers’

    Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette said the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is ready to make about $122 million available to establish what the DOE calls “innovation centers” for coal. Brouillette and the DOE on June 26 said these centers will focus on the manufacturing of value-added, carbon-based products from coal. The facilities also would work […]

  • Hybrid Power Plants Are an Inefficient Usage of Battery Technology

    Hybrid power plants, also known as solar plus storage or wind plus storage projects, have gained significant traction in recent years. These projects combine solar energy or wind energy with battery energy storage. The result is a somewhat dispatchable renewable energy power plant, which can provide smoother (less-volatile) energy, and can shift time of delivery […]

  • Colorado Utility Will Close Last Two Coal Plants

    Two coal plants operated by Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) will close early after the agency’s board voted June 26 to retire the facilities. The move will leave Xcel Energy, Colorado’s largest utility, as the only group still operating coal-fired units in the state after 2030. The CSU board in a 7-2 vote Friday decided to […]

  • Pennsylvania Site Latest Gas Plant Online in Building Surge

    Gas-fired power generation in the U.S. remains the top source of electricity production, even as renewable energy continues to take market share. A POWER analysis of projects shows nearly 180 gas-fired units are either under construction or in development nationwide, with more than 2,000 gas-fired plants currently in operation. One of the most-recent plants to […]

  • Three Big Players Work Together on Bulgarian Nuclear Plant

    Russian state atomic energy corporation Rosatom is working with Paris-based Framatome and GE Steam Power, which is headquartered in the U.S., to secure contracts to construct the Belene nuclear power plant in northern Bulgaria near the Danube River, which forms the country’s border with Romania. An On-Again Off-Again History The Belene project has a long […]

  • Rural Electric Cooperatives Get Big Money to Improve Infrastructure

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said it will provide loans and loan guarantees to rural electric cooperatives and utilities to build or improve infrastructure in 21 states. The funding was announced on June 22 and amounts to more than $1.6 billion, including nearly $386 million for investments in smart grid technology, which uses digital […]

  • GE Integrating AI to Enable Performance-Informed Gas Turbine Inverse Design

    GE researchers developing an artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML)- enabled inverse design framework that allows performance metrics to create more optimized designs for industrial gas turbine (IGT) aerodynamic components   Project aims to achieve a 30-50% reduction in design cycle times, or from 1 year to a few months Partnered with University of […]

  • Infrastructure Plan Supports Solar Power, Energy Storage

    Energy industry analysts have said government support will be needed to help the sector recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, and Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives have introduced legislation that includes measures to help the solar and energy storage industries. The $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill introduced in the House on June 22, known as […]