News

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

• 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 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 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 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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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. […]

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 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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 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 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. […]

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

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

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 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

Polish officials have said it is “not possible” for the country to meet the European Union’s (EU’s) goal of cutting net carbon emissions to zero by 2050, and as such the government will continue to

In the September issue of POWER , I wrote about a public utility (JEA) that is exploring privatization, and in October, I looked at a city (Boulder, Colorado) that is exploring municipalization. While I think

The Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant completed an extended power uprate (EPU) that increased the total capacity of the facility’s three units by about 465 MW. The addition is an important part of the Tennessee

Boiler and burner manufacturers, along with suppliers of combustion control systems, work with the power generation sector along with other industries. They provide equipment for low- and high-pressure steam

A historical analysis of nuclear power technology by researchers from the German Institute for Economic Research suggests that none of the 674 reactors developed globally since 1945 were developed based on “economic grounds”—as private investments in the context of a market-based competitive system.  Until the 1950s, only four major countries dominated nuclear technology by establishing independent […]

France’s nuclear research agency, Commissariat à l’énergie atomique (CEA), in September confirmed it abandoned plans to build a prototype Advanced Sodium Technological Reactor for Industrial

Completion of the first ACPR1000 reactor at Yangjiang 5 within a mere 58 months marks a major achievement for China’s lengthy efforts to commercialize the first-of-its-kind 1,000-MW evolutionary