News

  • Biomass Power: Stalled in the Market, Stalled in Washington

    After flowering between 2008 and 2014, power from biomass has withered in the face of market forces. Furthermore, lawmakers in Washington, D.C., have resisted regulatory action that could boost the industry

  • How to Make Shutdown, Turnaround, and Outage Events Successful

    Shutdown, turnaround, and outage events are extremely complex, with multiple stakeholders all focused on minimizing the time assets are offline, delivering their scope on budget, and ensuring zero safety

  • Automated Plant Startups Reduce Fixed and Fuel-Related Costs

    State-of-the-art automation systems are common at power plants these days. Still, many plants start up units in a very manual way. When startups were rare, the implications were minimal, but as units cycle

  • Adding Fog for Power Augmentation and Emission Reduction

    A pilot project was initiated by China’s largest energy provider to test the effectiveness of fog-based power augmentation for a gas turbine at a compressor station. The system provided a significant

  • Electric Power Trends and Opportunities

    I was recently reviewing a report issued last year by BMI Research, a Fitch Group company. The Megatrends 2050 Special Report , as it is called, suggests there are three main trends that will transform the

  • Power Plants of the Future: 21st Century Coal-Fired Steam Generator

    Coal-fired plants have been powering the electric grid for more than a hundred years, but the technology being used in them is not stagnant, as many advancements have been made. One new design—the Clean

  • How Nuclear Hybrids Could Redefine the Industry’s Future

    The world’s nuclear sector is struggling to stay economically afloat amid a deluge of renewables and natural gas power, and reinvigorating it will require operational flexibility from new or existing

  • Fertile Ground for Community Solar Gardens

    Community solar projects, also known as solar farms or solar gardens, are maturing and moving forward. Minnesota leads the nation with 559 MW of capacity on the ground, and other states are following with new

  • Volcanic Rock Offers New Take on Energy Storage

    Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE), known for its wind turbines used in both large onshore and offshore projects, in June began operation of an electric thermal energy storage (ETES) system in Germany

  • Equipment Showcase: Coatings and Corrosion Control

    A major part of maintaining a power plant at peak efficiency is dealing with or preventing damage from corrosion and corrosive objects that can enter air and water intake systems, including pipes and fluid

  • POWER Digest [August 2019]

    VW Chooses MHPS to Modernize Cogen Plant. Volkswagen AG (VW) in early July said it chose Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Europe (MHPS Europe) to build a gas-and-steam power plant in Wolfsburg, as part of the

  • Considering the True Costs of Carbon-Reducing Technologies

    The hard realities of an energy system based on renewables will soon be with us, causing far more problems than are realized. Renewables don’t offer a quick fix, and we need to get the transition from

  • Novel Nuclear Wastewater Treatment Ready for Market

    An innovative nuclear wastewater treatment approach that could provide a cost-effective alternative to fixed-column ion-exchange plants is poised to enter the nuclear market. Atkins, a company that

  • Applying IEEE 1584 in Power Generation Facilities

    An arc flash is the explosive energy released when an electrical fault causes an arc. This rapid release of energy causes excessive temperatures in addition to air and metal in the path of the arc expanding

  • The Power of a ‘Green’ Decommissioning, Remediation, and Redevelopment Plan

    Economic pressures coupled with new and proposed regulations to reduce air emissions and regulate cooling water use and the management and disposal of coal combustion residuals (CCRs) continue to drive the

  • SCR Project Upgrades Two Units at Four Corners

    The numbers tell the story of how the addition of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology helped an iconic New Mexico coal-fired plant reduce its emissions, keeping the plant in operation and continuing

  • Healy 2: The Story of a Coal Unit’s Remarkable Resiliency

    Coal is the reason that Healy, Alaska, exists. To ensure low-cost power and reliability to interior Alaska—a remote place that is bereft of gas and has little sun—and sustain regional employment, Golden

  • Benefits of Tenaska Westmoreland Generating Station Celebrated

    Plant Owner Announces College Scholarship Program for Local Students SMITHTON, Pennsylvania – A dedication celebration Wednesday for Tenaska Westmoreland Generating Station highlighted the economic benefits the natural gas-fueled power plant near Smithton has brought to the area over almost three years of construction and now during operation. “One of Pennsylvania’s strengths is our abundant and […]

  • SNC-Lavalin’s CDI joint venture company closes deal to decommission US Oyster Creek nuclear power plant

    MONTREAL: July 30, 2019 – Comprehensive Decommissioning International, LLC (CDI), a joint venture company of SNC-Lavalin (TSX:SNC) and Holtec International, has been awarded its first commercial contract, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, to decommission the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant in Lacey Township, Ocean County, New Jersey. Under the contract with Holtec, CDI will […]

  • Investments in Energy Storage Grow as Battery Costs Fall

    A new report released July 31 details continued growth in global energy storage, driven by lower costs for lithium-ion batteries. Research company BloombergNEF (BNEF) in its latest forecast published Wednesday said energy storage installations worldwide will grow across the next two decades, from the 9 GW/17 GWh of capacity deployed as of last year, to […]

  • Vogtle Nuclear Expansion Unlikely to Meet Aggressive Schedule Deadline

    A team that reviewed Southern Nuclear Company’s (SNC’s) April 2019 Vogtle Units 3 and 4 Re-baseline of Forecast Schedule and Cost said it believes the working schedule predicated on commercial operation dates of May 23, 2021, and May 23, 2022, for the respective units, is unachievable. Furthermore, the reviewers said the regulatory-approved schedule from the […]

  • The POWER Interview: What Drove the Gas Turbine Technology Leap at GE Over the Past 70 Years

    On July 29, 1949, at 2:15 p.m., General Electric’s (GE’s) first gas turbine at the Belle Isle Station in Oklahoma City began delivering power to Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co.’s distribution system. The 3.5-MW GE Frame 3 machine reportedly had an efficiency of about 17%. Since the Belle Isle machine (Figure 1) started up seventy […]

  • Positive Developments for Small Modular Reactors

    NuScale Power, Rolls-Royce, and China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC)—three companies working on different small modular reactor (SMR) technology—recently announced positive developments for their respective designs. NRC Makes Progress on NuScale Design Review Portland, Oregon-based NuScale said on July 22 that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) completed the second and third phases of its SMR […]

  • BHP, Mitsubishi Partner on Emissions Reduction Technologies

    BHP and Mitsubishi Development Pty (MDP) in late June signed a memorandum of understanding for joint research, development, and deployment of greenhouse gas emissions reduction technologies in several countries, including projects with battery storage, solar, and carbon capture and storage (CCS). The agreement, signed in Tokyo, Japan, on June 20, also calls for research into […]

  • Worried About Climate Change? Save Nuclear Plants [PODCAST]

    Nuclear power advocates suggest there are many benefits associated with nuclear energy. They point to high-paying jobs; billions of dollars in economic activity for plant-hosting communities; and secure, reliable, baseload electricity. But the most-important benefit of nuclear power may be that it emits no greenhouse gases, and therefore does not contribute to climate change. According […]

  • MET TECHNOLOGY WINS FGD AWARD IN INDIA

    Lebanon, Pennsylvania – July 24, 2019 | Marsulex Environmental Technologies (“MET”) has announced the award of a contract for flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems by an Indian government power company at its thermal power plant in the State of Jharkhand. MET’s licensee for India, Thermax Limited, has concluded the order for two FGD units at […]

  • BrandSafway adds precast refractory shapes to United States offerings

    BrandTech™ Precast Solutions deliver results to customers 90% faster Kennesaw, Georgia, USA, July 25, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) –Industrial Specialists by BrandSafway recently added a hot wire CNC (computer numerical control) foam-cutting machine to its portfolio of offerings, giving the company the ability to cut precast refractory forms within just hours (as compared to days, weeks […]

  • Rolls-Royce off-grid plant supplies power for industrial production in Mexico

    Rolls-Royce delivers MTU Onsite Energy gas and diesel gensets for power plant that provides electricity to remote hog industry Power plant operates in full island mode due to missing grid availability Gensets are capable of handling the pork processing facility’s altitude of 8,000 feet above sea level Rolls-Royce continues its expansion into the Latin America […]

  • GE and LongWing Unlock Financing and Technology for First Phase of Zaporizhia Onshore Wind Farm in Ukraine

    GE Capital’s Energy Financial Services connects financing to GE’s fourth wind farm project in Ukraine Sponsor, LongWing Energy, and co-investor, VLC Renewables, secure project financing for the first 98 MWs of its Zaporizhia wind farm project in Ukraine GE Renewable Energy secures onshore wind turbine order for the 98 MW phase one, which is expected […]

  • TEPCO Says It Will Decommission Second Fukushima Nuclear Plant

    Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) on July 24 said it will decommission its Fukushima Daini nuclear station. The plant is located just south of the larger Fukushima Daiichi plant, site of a meltdown in March 2011 after an earthquake and tsunami heavily damaged the Daiichi facility. The four reactors at Daini automatically shut down after […]