News

  • The Cleanie Awards Honorees: Moving Clean Energy Industry Forward

    Companies and individuals honored by The Cleanie Awards, a comprehensive awards program focused on the clean energy industry, are a diverse group, representing nearly every facet of the clean technology and renewable energy market. The 2019 honorees received their awards at the Solar Power International (SPI) event in Salt Lake City, Utah, in late September. […]

  • United Electric Controls Demonstrates WirelessHART Gas Detection Solutions for the Power Industry

    Watertown, Mass. U.S.A — November 19, 2019 — United Electric Controls, a leading producer of safety, alarm and emergency shutdown technology, is demonstrating wireless gas detection solutions for the power industry, including new ammonia and hydrocarbons sensor head options for its Vanguard WirelessHART gas detector. Wireless gas detection reduces compliance costs and improves safety by eliminating […]

  • United Electric Controls Demonstrates Smart Switches for Power Applications

    Watertown, Mass. U.S.A — November 19, 2019 — United Electric Controls (UE), a leading producer of safety, alarm and emergency shutdown technology, is demonstrating its line of smart switches for power industry applications. This includes its One Series electronic pressure and temperature switches with optional 4-20 mA output that replace electromechanical switches, and its One […]

  • ‘GREEN Act of 2019’ Extends Tax Credits for Renewables

    The Ways and Means Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives on Nov. 19 released a draft tax package for clean energy projects that includes a five-year extension of the 30% solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC), along with new incentives for energy storage. The legislation also supports incentives for electric vehicles (EVs), offshore and onshore […]

  • Plan to Build New 1-GW Plant in Rhode Island Officially Dead

    A project to build a 1-GW gas-fired power plant in Rhode Island has officially ended, after developer Invenergy took no action to appeal the project’s rejection by state regulators, who earlier this year voted unanimously against the plant’s construction. Invenergy had until Nov. 15 to challenge the formal denial of a construction license for the […]

  • GE Will Close Georgia Plant; 200 Jobs at Stake

    GE Renewable Energy has confirmed the company will close its GE Grid Solutions manufacturing plant in Waynesboro, Georgia, with the 200 workers at the facility offered the chance to relocate to a similar site in Charleroi, Pennsylvania, or apply for other jobs within the company. The plant is expected to close by year-end 2020. The […]

  • The POWER Interview: How Industry 4.0 Will Improve Sustainability

    As the world continues to face climate uncertainties, industrial companies are looking for ways to ensure they are as sustainable as possible while maintaining profitability. POWER’s recent Distributed Energy Conference included a session on sustainability from the viewpoint of utilities and others in the power generation industry. Many companies are working toward the goal of […]

  • IEA World Energy Outlook: Solar Capacity Surges Past Coal and Gas by 2040

    Solar photovoltaic (PV) could surge ahead of coal and gas and become the largest source of installed power capacity in the world in the next two decades if countries pursue stated policies and targets, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its newly released World Energy Outlook 2019 (WEO2019).  The agency’s annual publication, which it […]

  • One Nuclear Power Project Delayed; Three Leap Forward

    The long-overdue Olkiluoto 3 nuclear power plant (NPP) in Finland has been delayed again, but nuclear projects in Russia, Canada, and Iran achieved important milestones in November. New Novovoronezh Unit Enters Commercial Operation Rosatom announced on Nov. 1 that Unit 2 at the Novovoronezh Nuclear Power Plant II entered commercial operation 30 days ahead of […]

  • How the DOE Plans to Modernize the Grid in the Near Term

    Twenty-three projects chosen by the Department of Energy (DOE) in response to its 2019 Grid Modernization Lab Call provide a broad look at the critical issues that are roiling the nation’s power sector, as well as the tools and technologies that it has determined will best bolster the grid of the future in the near […]

  • 2.2-GW Coal-Fired Behemoth Could Permanently Close This Week

    The 2,250-MW coal-fired Navajo Generating Station (NGS) in Arizona will permanently close likely this week, ending a long and bitter fight to keep the plant and its affiliated coal mine open. The plant’s utility owners—Salt River Project (SRP), Arizona Public Service Co., Tucson Electric Power Co., and NV Energy—in February 2017 voted to shut down […]

  • Siemens to upgrade steam power plant in Vietnam to combined cycle power plant

    • Electrical capacity increased to approximately 1,200 megawatts • Fired with regasified liquefied natural gas instead of oil • Fifty percent lower CO2 emissions per kilowatt hour produced Siemens will provide the equipment to upgrade the Hiep Phuoc 1 steam power plant in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, to a combined cycle power plant. This […]

  • EDF and Bilfinger close in on Project Agreement for Hinkley Point C

    EDF previously selected Bilfinger as preferred bidder to deliver NSSS and fabrication of BOP Bilfinger continues with preparation work based on existing framework contract French energy company EDF (Électricité de France) has re-affirmed to Bilfinger its aspiration to award NSSS (Nuclear Steam Supply System) and the fabrication elements of BOP (Balance of Plant) contracts to […]

  • ExxonMobil Extends Deal for Fuel Cell Carbon Capture Project

    ExxonMobil and FuelCell Energy announced a new joint-development agreement to enhance carbon capture fuel cell technology, as the groups work on a process to capture combustion exhaust from power plants and other industrial facilities. The two-year deal, announced Nov. 6 and an extension of an earlier agreement, is aimed at optimizing core technology, process integration, […]

  • AES Commits to Build 2.2-GW CCGT Plant in Vietnam

    AES Corp. on Nov. 8 signed a memorandum of understanding with the Vietnamese government to build a $1.7 billion gas-fired power plant in Vietnam. The U.S. Embassy in Hanoi made the announcement along with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, who was attending a ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the American […]

  • SAP and Accenture Co-Develop New Cloud-Based Solution to Help Utilities Companies Supercharge Business Processes and Customer Experiences

    WALLDORF, Germany, and NEW YORK — Nov. 11, 2019 — SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) and Accenture (NYSE: ACN) announced they are co-innovating and co-developing the new SAP® Cloud for Utilities solution to help companies more effectively manage business processes and customer experiences. The initiative aims to elevate energy transition and customer experiences, helping companies quickly […]

  • Air-Gapped Industrial Control Networks: What You Need to Know

    Many networks across a variety of verticals including government, military, financial services, power plants, and industrial manufacturing have been so-called “air-gapped.” This means they are physically and logically isolated from other networks where communication between these networks is not physically or logically possible. This can be a good thing or bad thing depending on your […]

  • Mississippi Lime Attains ISO Certification

    ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Nov. 8, 2019 – Mississippi Lime Company’s (MLC) specialty operations in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri has received the ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management Systems Certification from NSF International Strategic Registrations (NSF-ISR). The certification recognizes quality management systems and looks at factors such as customer satisfaction, support of top management, product processes, and continual […]

  • Leading Technology for Measuring Steam

    World’s Only Clamp-on Steam Meter Edgewood, NY, November 8th, 2019 – FLEXIM is pleased to announce its development of the one and only, ultrasonic clamp-on steam meter. This has been years in the making as it was FLEXIM’s ultimate challenge, until today. The worldwide official release date of the FLUXUS ST is November 1, 2019. […]

  • New Boosts for Commercial Production of HALEU Advanced Nuclear Reactor Fuel 

    Efforts to commercialize production of high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel, which is needed for an array of advanced reactors, ramped up this week with two major announcements.  As the Department of Energy (DOE) contracted Centrus Energy to demonstrate production of HALEU fuel for advanced reactors at the DOE’s American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio, private […]

  • The POWER Notebook: Power Sector Digitalization Accelerates

    The pace at which new digitalization technologies are being adopted in the power sector is dizzying, but news from major players in the sector—among them, AES, Invenergy, Google, and IBM—this week suggests it will only accelerate.  For more insight into power plant digitalization, including the latest in digital monitoring, diagnostic, analytics, Industrial Internet of Things […]

  • EPA Proposes Revisions to Two Obama-Era Rules: Effluent Limitations Guidelines and Coal Ash

    The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued long-awaited proposed revisions of two 2015 Obama-era rules that apply to effluent limitations guidelines (ELGs) for steam electric power plants and coal combustion residuals (CCR) management by electric utilities.  The agency coordinated the release of the two related revisions, which apply overwhelmingly to coal-fired steam power plants, after […]

  • Alliant Announces Plan for 1 GW of Solar in Wisconsin

    Wisconsin-based Alliant Energy has announced a plan to add 1 GW of solar power generation to its portfolio by 2023. The company on Oct. 31 in its “Powering What’s Next Plan” said it would begin construction of its first “Community Solar” site in Fond du Lac County next year. David de Leon, president of Alliant […]

  • The POWER Interview: Eaton Targets Skilled Labor Shortage With Hands-on Training

    POWER in 2018 reported on the lasting impact that a dip in training programs has had on the utility workforce. In the 1980s, there were fewer training programs and the impact is still being felt today. There are fewer utility workers able to move into middle- and upper-management positions, contributing to a workforce gap as […]

  • Dominion Plans 500-MW Gas Plant, Also Adding Solar and Wind

    Dominion Energy announced plans for a new 500-MW natural gas-fired power plant and also has taken over a solar farm project in Pittsylvania County in Virginia, with the company saying it would invest about $330 million in the two projects. The Nov. 1 announcement came one day after Dominion said it would it would add […]

  • GE Shelves Plans to Spin-Off Digital Business

    GE will retain its lucrative digital business—not spin it off, as had been planned—but it will sharpen the division’s focus on four key markets, including electric utilities and power generation, GE Digital CEO Pat Byrne told customers in an Oct. 31 letter. “I want to affirm that GE Digital is staying in GE,” Byrne wrote. […]

  • Protecting Critical Infrastructure from Drone Intrusions

    Drones represent a classic good news/bad news scenario. The good news is great. The bad news is terrifying. On the good news front, drones can keep utility-sector workers safely on the ground, with the

  • EAM Solutions Stretch Capabilities of Lean Plant Maintenance Teams

    Of the many challenges power and industrial plant maintenance teams face, stretching the capabilities of their ultra-lean staff is one of the most critical. Assets can range from industrial generators, to

  • Evolution of Nuclear Power Continues with Operation of First EPR

    Unit 1 at the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant in China is the site of a milestone for nuclear technology. It also illustrates cooperation between France and China, using the lessons learned from earlier projects

  • Solar Projects Show Rapid Growth in Middle East

    Solar power continues to make inroads in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and other parts of the Persian Gulf region. The Middle East Solar Industry Association (MESIA) in late September said it