News

The inaugural integrated system plan (ISP) released by Australia’s Energy Market Operator (AEMO) in mid-July warns that the country is in the midst of a “transformative and unprecedented” rate of change

New natural gas-fired power plants and wind farms are part of Egypt’s strategy to increase the country’s power generation by at least 50%. It began delivering on that plan in July as it brought three

The Frades II pumped-storage hydro project in Portugal took advantage of existing dams to incorporate a scheme that includes the largest variable-speed reversible units installed in Europe. The facility

The framework of a cooling tower. Weathered concrete walls, with empty holes as windows. The remains of what might have been provide the backdrop for what is—a solar farm that’s boosting economic

The power industry is changing and leading companies are turning to digital technologies to revolutionize their operations. Monitoring and diagnostics centers are leveraging vast amounts of data from around

Hydropower is Brazil’s major source of electricity. The country is moving toward more generation from solar and wind, and away from so-called “mega dams,” but what could be a final mammoth hydro project

Long-distance conveyors are a reliable and energy-efficient method of bulk material transport. Pipe conveyors—fully enclosed material handling systems—offer additional environmental protection and more

Israel Embarks on a Major Electricity Reform. Under a law passed on July 19, Israel will break up a monopoly held by state-owned Israel Electric Corp. (IEC) and open the country’s electricity sector to new

Palo Verde is the largest nuclear-generating site in the U.S. It has three of the five largest nuclear units in the country, with each pressurized water reactor licensed at almost 4,000 MWth. Like many plants

The U.S. power system is separated into three major components—the Western Interconnection, the Eastern Interconnection, and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. The three operate almost independently

Though tidal energy is still considered by many to be in its nascent stages, power generated from turbines harnessing fast tidal flows in the same way wind turbines catch the wind has entered the commercial

Electric vehicles (EVs) have the potential to realign the transportation sector and present an opportunity for the power industry to transform and reinvent itself in fundamental ways. But whether this

Pumps and pumping systems have multiple applications in power plants and can be located in several locations throughout a facility. These pumps are generally centrifugal and positive displacement pumps

New Jersey is yet another state expanding public access to cannabis for medical purposes and is poised to legalize access for recreational use. This means energy service providers and public utilities will

State-owned Korea Midland Power Co. (KOMIPO) operates the Shin Boryeong Thermal Power Plant (TPP), a two-unit, 2,000-MW ultrasupercritical bituminous-coal-fired power plant. Shin Boryeong TPP is an extension

China completed its first large commercial-scale parabolic-trough concentrated solar power (CSP) plant at the end of June. The 50-MW Delingha project built by CGN New Energy, a subsidiary of China General

Along with producing power from 99 turbines, the 309-MW Hornsdale Wind Farm in South Australia has helped trial new technologies that could ramp up power system security and reliability. At first glance, the

Tesla in July released more details of its virtual power plant (VPP) project in South Australia (SA), outlining the initiative as well as its resources and the benefits it will bring to the region. The company

South America’s first and only geothermal power plant, the 48-MW Cerro Pabellón project, sits at an elevation of 4,500 meters above sea level in Chile’s harsh and remote Atacama Desert. Building and

The Solar Energy Industries Association, the national trade association for the U.S. solar industry, reports that solar power has grown in the U.S. at a compounded annual rate of 59% since the solar investment

NTE Energy on August 28 formally began operations of its 475-MW Kings Mountain Energy Center (KMEC) natural gas–fired plant in Cleveland County, North Carolina, marking the third major milestone in recent months for gas-turbine giant Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) Americas. The $500 million KMEC facility features MHPS G-Series advanced-class gas turbine technology. Owned and […]

Lawmakers in California’s Assembly on August 28 cleared a key vote on a bill that would require the state to obtain 100% of all retail electricity sales from renewable and zero-emissions resources by 2045.  The state’s Assembly voted 43–32 in favor of SB 100. The bill, which now heads to the state Senate for a […]

FirstEnergy Solutions Corp. (FES) notified PJM Interconnection, the regional transmission organization (RTO), of its plans to deactivate four fossil-fuel generating plants in 2021 and 2022. In a press release issued on August 29, the company said it “is closing the plants due to a market environment that fails to adequately compensate generators for the resiliency […]

A spate of major power companies—including American Electric Power (AEP) and Southern Co.—have acquiesced to investor pressure and announced drastic cuts to their generating fleet carbon emissions over the long term. Industry group Edison Electric Institute (EEI) this week launched an official industry-designed template to help its member utilities better inform investors about their environmental, […]

An executive with the AES Shady Point coal-fired power plant in Oklahoma said the facility could close as soon as January after being notified its power purchase agreement (PPA) will not be extended. Oklahoma Gas & Electric Co. (OG&E) this month said it will not execute another five-year extension of a PPA between the two […]

The Trump administration has extended a potential lifeline to coal-fired power plants with its Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule. Now the debate is about how much the plan will actually help coal generation. Energy analysts and other industry experts who spoke with POWER on August 28 say the new rule, which would give individual states the […]

On August 8, Georgia Power announced that its revised capital and construction cost forecast for its share of the Plant Vogtle expansion project had increased from $7.3 billion to $8.4 billion, based on a revised cost-to-complete estimate from Southern Nuclear. The news was softened somewhat by Georgia Power’s declaration that significant construction progress had been […]

The Trump administration’s Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule announced August 21 calls for coal-fired power plants to meet state-designed performance standards, most notably focused on increases in heat rate and overall efficiency for individual generating stations. Energy experts speaking at the MEGA Symposium in Baltimore, Maryland, on August 22 agreed it’s a goal worth pursuing. […]

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule is proposed to replace the 2015 Clean Power Plan—which the Supreme Court stayed in February 2016 and never went into effect. According to the EPA, the replacement is necessary because the Obama-era Clean Power Plan “exceeded the EPA’s authority.” However, like the Clean Power Plan, […]

Energy industry experts speaking at the MEGA Symposium in Baltimore, Maryland, on August 21 agreed that storage is becoming more important to the overall mix of U.S. power sources. They also said utility-scale storage solutions remain “years away,” even as technology advancements in battery systems occur more rapidly. Panelists at the session entitled “The Transformation […]