News

  • THE BIG PICTURE: World’s Biggest Power Companies

    In 2017, the 10 largest power companies, ranked by their installed generation capacity, owned 18% of total global installed capacity, while the next-largest 15 owned around 10%—meaning that the top 25 companies own nearly 30% of global installed power generation capacity, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Chinese companies account for more than one-eighth of global installed […]

  • Hydrogen Energy Gains Steam

    Interest in hydrogen-powered fuel cells for transportation and machinery applications appears to have kicked up of late, with several companies announcing major developments. Hydrogen Batteries for Spanish Port. The Port of Valencia in Spain in January said it is readying to implement a planned €4 million pilot project to power container-manipulating machinery with hydrogen batteries. The […]

  • Energy Secretary Should Use Discretionary Authority to Support Clean Coal Technologies

    The threat to power grid resilience and reliability due to the continued retirement of coal-fired power plants has generated calls for immediate action. A severe weather event such as the “bomb cyclone” or

  • Making the Connection: Digitization Ramps Up Optimization

    Power generators continue to expand their use of digital technologies. Data analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning are all part of a rapid transformation in how utilities are improving the

  • Planning for the Future of Intelligent Power Generation

    An Electric Power Research Institute-led collaborative utility project, called I4Gen (Insight through the Integration of Information for Intelligent Generation), is exploring new technologies for digitally

  • Digitization and Analytics in Power Plants

    A key aspect of any digitization effort is providing easy access to data by engineersand other experts so they can perform advanced analytics to improve outcomes. In the March 2018 issue of POWER, an article

  • A Grim Gap: Cybersecurity of Level 1 Field Devices

    Industrial control system cybersecurity is today largely focused on securing networks, and efforts largely ignore process control equipment that is crucial for plant safety and reliability, leaving it woefully

  • Hydro: An Old Generating Dog Can Offer New Tricks

    Hydroelectric power doesn’t get much attention in today’s discussions of how to generate electricity, particularly in a world looking to boost renewable technologies such as wind and solar. But the oldest

  • How to Alleviate Waterside Issues in Boilers and HRSGs

    It is fairly common for power plant engineers and maintenance managers to focus on fireside issues rather than waterside issues during routine maintenance outages. However, that could be a mistake. Waterside

  • Using Thermohydraulic Simulations to Assess HRSG Performance

    Thermohydraulic simulations can provide detailed heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) data to help determine the root cause of failures, predict the degree of wear from various mechanisms, and assess the

  • Energy-Efficiency Programs Benefit Us All

    Utility-sponsored energy-efficiency programs have always seemed like a contradiction to me. Obviously, power companies make money by selling electricity, so encouraging customers to install energy-efficient

  • Show Preview: Connected Plant Conference

    The Connected Plant Conference is a forum designed for professionals in the power generation and chemical process industries who are leading digital adoption at all stages. Sessions are tailored to offer

  • DERMS Technology Part of Australia’s Push for Renewables

    A new distributed energy resources management system (DERMS) is being deployed in Western Australia, designed to manage distributed energy resources (DERs) across nearly 1 million square miles, with a focus on

  • Powering the Dragon: How China’s Power Sector Is Evolving

    China’s power sector reforms represent perhaps the world’s largest industrial reform program, with important consequences on both domestic and global levels. In 2015, Erdaoqiao, a settlement in southwest

  • COP24’s Hefty Impact on the Power Sector

    Two weeks of intense negotiations at the 24th meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP) in Katowice, Poland, last December culminated in

  • Indian-Designed Nuclear Reactor Breaks Record for Continuous Operation

    India’s 220-MW Kaiga 1 nuclear power plant, an indigenously designed pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR), on Dec. 31 became a world record holder for running 962 unbroken days. The previous record for

  • Fuel Cell Technology Key to South Korea’s Energy Future

    South Korea is reliant on coal-fired and nuclear power for much of its power generation, and is among the world’s leading importers of liquefied natural gas (LNG). The administration of President Moon

  • POWER Digest – February 2019

    BHEL Completes India Coal Plant in 46 Months. Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BHEL) in January said it successfully built and commissioned the single-unit, 800-MW Kothagudem Thermal Power Station (KTPS), in

  • Designing for Extremes: Battery Storage in the Mojave Desert

    When Doosan GridTech installed a 25-MVA/10-MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) at its Beacon Solar Plant site in Kern County, California, the

  • Coal Plant Improves Combustion, Lowers Emissions, and Boosts Output

    Coal power plants today must find ways to operate economically if they are to survive. Every area of cost reduction must be investigated. On the maintenance side, time savings must be sought—to reduce

  • Polar Vortex Tests Resiliency of U.S. Power System 

    Brutally cold temperatures in the midwestern and northeastern U.S. spurred grid operator alerts as natural gas demand has surged, power prices have soared, and there have been forced generator outages.  The polar vortex, an extreme cold event characterized by back-to-back cold fronts, has so far prompted states of emergency in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan. On […]

  • Colstrip Power Plant Threatened by Westmoreland Bankruptcy

    The Colstrip Power Plant, a four-unit, 2,094-MW coal-fired station located about 100 miles east of Billings, Montana, could see its coal supply contract nullified as a result of Westmoreland Coal Co.’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. Westmoreland operates the 25,000-acre Rosebud coal mine, among others. Rosebud is adjacent to the Colstrip plant and supplies almost all […]

  • GE Restructure Will See Leaner Power but Heftier Renewable Energy Division

    GE has announced it will integrate its renewables, grid, and energy storage assets into a simplified, single business that nearly doubles the size of its Renewable Energy division, as the company banks on the accelerated uptake of grid-connected renewables worldwide.  The expansion will see GE’s grid solutions, solar solutions, and storage businesses move from GE […]

  • CORTIME premieres robust design at SolidWorks World 19

    For the first time, you can simplify, optimize and perform risk assessments on your design in one integrated tool in SolidWorks. COPENHAGEN, Denmark — CORTIME will unveil their SolidWorks-embedded robust design analysis at SolidWorks World 2019, being held February 10-13, 2019 at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, Dallas, Texas, USA. Robust design is used […]

  • BisCat – ceramic catalyst filter

    Düsseldorf, January 30, 2019 – GEA has developed high-temperature filters with ceramic elements that enable the removal of NOx, dioxins, mercury and VOC through an integrated catalyst matrix. BisCat ceramic catalyst filters are chemically inert and corrosion-resistant. This means that for many applications only one single system is required instead of three. Particle separation takes […]

  • Toshiba America Energy Systems Corporation Secures Long-Term Service Agreement for High Desert Power Project

    CHARLOTTE, N.C.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Toshiba America Energy Systems Corporation (TAES) recently secured a Long-Term Service Agreement (LTSA) for work at the High Desert Power Project (HDPP), a combined-cycle power plant located in Southern California and owned by Middle River Power. “We are fully committed to ongoing support of the entire Toshiba fleet, and thrilled to have negotiated […]

  • Independent Panel Needed for Diablo Canyon Decommissioning

    COMMENTARY Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s (PG&E’s) bankruptcy underscores the need for an independent advisory board to monitor, and help San Luis Obispo and the surrounding community navigate through, the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant decommissioning process. The existing panel—the Diablo Canyon Decommissioning Engagement Panel (DCDEP)—was created by PG&E to serve as a “public relations […]

  • PG&E Files for Bankruptcy, Prepares to Reorganize

    California utility Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Jan. 29, as the company faces as much as $30 billion in potential liabilities for its role in a series of wildfires in the state. The filing was expected after the company notified its workers two weeks ago it was preparing a […]

  • Creative Fields Releases CF-MESH+ 2.2

    CFD Meshing Made Simple London, UK Creative Fields, a provider of the state-of-the-art CFD meshing software, is proud to announce the release of CF-MESH+ 2.2. CF-MESH+ is a fully automated and easy-to-use CFD meshing software solution that features a powerful set of tools and functionalities for generation of quality CFD meshes in arbitrary complex geometries […]

  • KELVION LAUNCHES TWO NEW PRODUCTS FOR TRANSFORMING WASTE HEAT INTO ENERGY

    Industrial facilities and power plants generate waste heat that is usually released into the air. Kelvion has the solutions for how 2 Recover Waste Heat with two new additions to its product portfolio – the Exhaust Gas Heat Exchanger and the EcoMi modular economizer. They can transform waste heat into useful forms of energy, reducing […]