News

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) wants to know whether small-scale, modular coal-fired power plants are feasible. The DOE this week put out a request for information on how to accomplish such projects, following on its announcement earlier this year that it wants to establish funding opportunities for new coal technologies in an effort to […]

Florida regulators have given the green light to a pair of new natural gas-fired power plants that will add nearly 1,700 MW of generation capacity in the state, and a Florida-based energy project developer has announced a 1,000-MW gas-fired facility project in South Carolina. The Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) on May 8 gave approval […]

The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA’s) latest report on the nation’s power generation inventory expects 32 GW of new capacity will enter commercial service this year, the most in at least at decade. And for the first time in five years, renewable energy sources will not make up the majority of that new generation. Nearly […]

Siemens, one of the world’s largest turbine manufacturers, said it plans to temporarily shut its Power & Gas (PG) division operations worldwide in an effort to cut costs. The Germany-based energy giant in a May 7 news release said, “The shutdowns are part of a comprehensive package of measures, which also includes issues such as […]

A report from Barclays Plc said Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) received more than half of all global orders for gas-fueled turbines in the first quarter of 2018, the company’s best-ever performance in a market that has seen traditional gas turbine manufacturers struggle in recent months. The market report from the London, UK-based multinational investment […]

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) over the past two weeks has made a string of funding announcements, including nearly a half-billion dollars of new investment in power-related initiatives. The funding backs advancements in cybersecurity, advanced nuclear, solar, bioenergy, fuel cells, geothermal, and energy storage. $25 Million for Cybersecurity.On April 16, the DOE’s Office of […]

  Despite the recent retirement of “blackstart” units, grid operators have sufficient resources to quickly restore systems in the event of widespread outages, suggests a new report by staff at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC). The report—“FERC-NERC-Regional Entity Joint Review of Restoration and Recovery Plans”—released May […]

All-Energy 2018 Glasgow, the UK’s largest renewable and low-carbon energy exhibition and conference, began on May 2 having broken a record even before the doors opened. For the first time in the show’s history, four government ministers were scheduled to speak with Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon MSP, delivering the keynote in the opening plenary […]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued an official timeline for rulemaking that would potentially revise the Obama administration’s 2015 effluent limitations guidelines and standards (ELGs) for steam electric power plants. In its May 2-released Final 2016 Effluent Guidelines Program Plan, the EPA said it will potentially revise the stringent Best Available Technology (BAT) effluent […]

An electric cooperative that provides wholesale power and services to customers in 22 counties in western Kentucky has told state regulators it intends to end an operating agreement at a 312-MW coal-fired plant in Henderson, which could lead to the plant’s retirement. Big Rivers Electric on May 1 told the state Public Service Commission (PSC) […]

Dominion Energy plans to build eight new natural gas-fired power plants and speed the pace of its renewable energy efforts, according to the utility’s integrated resource plan (IRP) filed with Virginia regulators on May 1. The company also said its future plans focus on regulations on carbon emissions in part because Virginia is considering joining the […]

A three-year-long initiative spearheaded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in collaboration with industry has yielded a blueprint that establishes best operational and safety practices and recommended technologies for flying commercial drones beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS). As part of the FAA’s 2015-chartered Pathfinder Initiative, the agency partnered with three private companies to […]

The operator of the nation’s largest electrical grid on April 30 reiterated its system will remain reliable even with the retirements of substantial generation resources. But PJM Interconnection, whose system covers customers in 13 states, said it will conduct a review of its operations over the next several months “to understand the fuel-supply risks in […]

Just weeks after the 12th International Renewable Energy Storage Conference (IRES2018) concluded in Düsseldorf, Germany, newly announced figures from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) confirmed that battery storage technologies coupled with rapidly expanding renewables are blunting new fossil fuel investments. BNEF’s 2017 figures show that over $330 billion was invested in renewables with comparative costs […]

Germany’s electricity sector faced a renewed, violent shakeup in March as two of its biggest utilities, E.ON and RWE, announced a complex asset exchange that experts said points to the death of the

The first commercial-scale suction bucket jacket foundation has been installed at Vattenfall’s 11-turbine European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC) in Scotland. The pioneering foundation, which weighs

The first of four nuclear reactors at the Barakah plant in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was completed in late March, a milestone both for the UAE and for South Korea, which supplied the APR-1400 pressurized

Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) in March said it would work with the Netherlands Carbon-Free Gas Power project to support the conversion of the country’s 1.32-GW Magnum gas-fired power plant to run

NTPC Commissions First Unit of Lara Project. The first unit of the 4,000-MW super thermal power project in Chhattisgarh in India was commissioned in late March by NTPC. The coal-fired plant, a $4.62

India’s government-owned National Nuclear Power Corp. (NPCIL) in March signed cooperation agreements for equipment and construction related to the massive 9,900-MW Jaitapur project in Maharashtra, the

Those responsible for the operation or maintenance of thermal plant boilers know there is nothing trivial about hopper ash buildup. At a minimum, plugging can lead to decreased output, unscheduled maintenance

Malware-based attacks against utilities and power plants are increasing six-fold according to a recent federal report. Power plants have become an appealing target because of a lack of detection and monitoring

After the meltdowns at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in March 2011, Congress directed the Department of Energy (DOE) to support development of new fuel designs that could tolerate loss-of-cooling

The traditional electricity grid is being transformed, as more businesses look to control their costs by producing their own power. A need for reliable backup power, the push for more resiliency in generation

New low prices for offshore wind energy projects in Europe have excited policymakers up and down the East Coast about prospects in the U.S. and emboldened some to finally pull the trigger on long-mooted plans

As data volume, variety, and velocity continue to accelerate, power plant operators increasingly encounter situations where 2-D desktop data visualization is insufficient to convey context for advanced

A continuous emissions monitoring system (CEMS) is required in the U.S. under Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations to continuously collect, record, and report emissions data. CEMS are used to

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) on April 30 updated its summer 2018 planning reserve margin to 11% based on resource updates, but it warned that the regional grid serving most of Texas could still suffer rotating outages under extreme conditions. In its final Seasonal Assessment of Resource Adequacy (SARA) report for the upcoming […]

Despite pleas by environmental groups for more time to review recent dumps of groundwater monitoring data from power companies, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is forging ahead to finalize a proposed overhaul of the Obama administration’s 2015 final Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) rule. The EPA’s 45-day comment period for the agency’s March 1 proposed rule, […]

Nevada law has included net metering provisions for more than 20 years. Net metering is an arrangement that allows energy generated by a customer’s leased or purchased solar system to offset monthly power bills. It also permits excess energy supplied to the grid to earn credits, which are then automatically applied to future billing periods […]