News

The International Energy Agency (IEA) says the need for cheap electricity in Southeast Asia will drive global demand for coal for power generation through 2040, even as many countries continue to retire coal-fired plants and cancel projects for new coal facilities. IEA, which is set to release its World Energy Outlook 2017 on November 14, […]

Michigan regulators on October 25 gave their support to Upper Michigan Energy Resources Corp.’s (UMERC) plan for two new natural gas-fired plants in the state’s Upper Peninsula (U.P.). The plants approved by the Michigan Public Service Commission (PSC) would be built in Baraga and Negaunee townships. The plants are designed to produce a combined 183 […]

Comments on the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) proposed grid resiliency rule from an assortment of state agencies, trade groups, environmental organizations, and organized market entities flooded the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC’s) docket before the tight three-week timeframe expired Oct. 23. The DOE’s “Grid Resiliency Pricing Rule” proposed on Sept. 29 directs FERC—an independent regulatory […]

A report released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) outlines a number of solutions and general best practices to thwart infiltration by the ongoing Dragonfly cyberattack campaign, which it says is targeting operational technology personnel. (For an in-depth story on that report, see: “DHS, FBI Identify Tactics in Cyberattack […]

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned in an e-mail on October 20 that an ongoing cyberattack campaign is targeting the nuclear, energy, and other critical infrastructure sectors since at least May 2017—with results ranging from cyber espionage to the ability to disrupt energy systems in the event of […]

The world’s first floating offshore wind farm, located roughly 25 kilometers off the coast of Peterhead, Scotland, powered up October 18, delivering electricity to the Scottish grid. Hywind Scotland was developed by Norwegian oil company Statoil based on the results of an eight-year demonstration project located off the shore of Karmøy, Norway. The new farm […]

Florida Power & Light (FPL), which recently sustained a blow to its nuclear expansion plans, on October 19 said it’s about halfway through an ambitious plan to add eight new solar plants in the state by early 2018, as it continues to increase its photovoltaic (PV) generation capacity as part of a larger strategy to […]

Construction of two nuclear plants in South Korea, halted this July by President Moon Jae-in’s announced policy to phase out nuclear power, will continue after a citizens’ jury voted to resume the projects. Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) was building Shin Kori 5 and 6, two AP1400 units, but the company decided to suspend […]

Stricken by falling orders for large gas turbines, global technology conglomerate Siemens AG is reportedly moving to downsize its Power and Gas segment. The changes may include closure or sale of major sites globally and result in thousands of job cuts. The company will likely embark on a reorganization plan this November that could result […]

More than 300 solar employees laid off this summer following a recent surge of U.S. photovoltaic (PV) panel imports may be eligible for federal entitlement, including income support and allowances, the Department of Labor (DOL) has determined. In petitions for Trade Adjustment Assistance filed with the DOL’s Employment and Training Administration by laid-off solar workers […]

SCANA Corp., already under federal and state scrutiny for how it handled the now-abandoned V.C. Summer nuclear expansion, has been served with a document subpoena by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). SCANA said in a news release that it intends to fully cooperate with the investigation of the nuclear project. The development follows […]

NRG Energy has stopped development of a proposed natural gas plant in Oxnard, California, after two state regulators earlier this month recommended the California Energy Commission (CEC) reject the project. NRG on October 16 asked the CEC to suspend its review of the plans for the Puente Power Project, or P3, a proposed $300 million, […]

An analysis by the University of Texas at Austin’s Energy Institute shows wind power generation capacity in Texas may already have surpassed coal-fired capacity in the state, and wind almost certainly will have leapfrogged coal by early next year, as wind farms continue to dot the landscape while more coal plants in the state are […]

Fourteen power plants in New Hampshire, including nine hydroelectric facilities, will soon have new owners as Eversource Energy divests its holdings in the state to satisfy an agreement with state regulators. Eversource outlined the sale of the hydro assets, along with three fossil fuel-fired plants and two combustion peaker units, in an October 12 filing […]

Vistra Energy moved to halt a financial hemorrhage stemming from unprofitable conditions in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), announcing plans to shutter two more coal-fired power plants—the 1.1-GW Sandow Power Plant (which includes a 2009-built unit) and the 1.2-GW Big Brown plant—in early 2018. The company’s decision made public on October 13 comes on […]

Criticism for Secretary of Energy Rick Perry’s recent notification of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) directing the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to show favor to coal and nuclear plants was in no short supply during an October 12 hearing of the House Subcommittee on Energy. The hearing, which focused on the Department of Energy’s (DOE) missions and […]

Continued problems with construction of the Olkiluoto 3 nuclear power plant in Finland have pushed the facility’s expected start date into 2019, meaning operations will not begin until at least 10 years after the original proposed start of commercial service. Project owner Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) on October 9 announced further delays. TVO project director […]

Two members of the California Energy Commission (CEC) on October 6 said they would recommend the full five-member group oppose construction of a new natural gas-fired power plant in Oxnard. The two commissioners said environmental impacts of the plant could not be mitigated, and the plant would not be able to conform to local ordinances […]

The Netherlands, a country that recently commissioned three state-of-the-art coal plants and has been reluctant to close them, on October 10 moved to phase out coal power by 2030. Meanwhile, the UK and Canada this week jointly urged other nations to drop coal from their power profiles. The countries are part of a growing list […]

A week after the Department of Energy (DOE) proposed a rule to bolster uneconomic coal and nuclear generators in competitive power markets, Luminant announced that an “unprecedented low power price environment” will force it to retire a 1.9-GW coal-fired power plant operating in the Texas market. The plant’s economic woes suggest a larger swath of […]

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chief Scott Pruitt on October 9 said he will sign a proposed rule Tuesday to repeal the Clean Power Plan (CPP), a signature initiative of former President Barack Obama’s administration that mandated cuts in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from power plants. Pruitt, speaking to a group of coal miners Monday at […]

The Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering its options to repeal or replace the Clean Power Plan (CPP), the signature climate regulation of former President Barack Obama. POWER magazine on October 6 obtained a 43-page draft of the EPA’s proposed action on the CPP. The formal document is expected to be released soon. The […]

Siemens has launched a new direct-current (DC) transmission system for alternating current (AC) grids of between 30 kV and 150 kV. The medium-voltage system that can bridge distances of up to 125 miles is designed to help grid entities handle ever-growing volumes of power fed into the distribution system from distributed and renewable power. The […]

Electricity from a 5.76-MW solar farm in Massachusetts will be stored in an adjacent energy storage system as part of a plan announced October 4 by ENGIE North America (ENGIE NA) and Holyoke Gas & Electric (HG&E). The project is part of Massachusetts’ Peak Demand Management Program. HG&E, which received a $475,000 grant from the […]

Peabody Energy on October 2 said several investors are interested in taking over the Navajo Generating Station in Arizona, a coal-fired power plant on tribal land whose current owners, including Salt River Project (SRP), voted earlier this year to close the facility. Peabody’s Kayenta Mine supplies fuel for the plant. Lazard Freres & Co., a […]

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) set a three-week window for comment on the proposed Department of Energy (DOE) grid resiliency rule that 11 power trade groups—representing natural gas, wind, solar, public power, and power consumers—worry could have serious ramifications for competitive markets because it favors coal and nuclear. The groups filed a joint motion on […]

Less than a week after GE struck a $2.6 billion deal with ABB for GE’s electrification business, GE Power completed the $3.4 billion sale of its lucrative water and process technologies division to multinational water management firm SUEZ. The sale of GE Water & Process Technologies, a systems and services provider of water, wastewater and […]

A partnership between Ontario Power Generation (OPG) and Coral Rapids Power, a wholly owned subsidiary of Taykwa Tagamou Nation (TTN), a Cree nation in northeastern Ontario, in late August announced the

A joint venture of two Russian companies is building a solar power project in southern Siberia based on heterojunction technology (HJT), which is touted as a high-efficiency solar cell concept. Researchers

The Midland Cogeneration Venture (MCV) in Midland, Michigan, is the largest natural gas-fired combined electrical energy and steam energy generating plant in the U.S. It is capable of continuously producing