News

Under a government decree published in early August, Russia will build up to 11 new nuclear reactors by 2030, including two BN-1200 sodium-cooled fast-neutron reactors. Russia already has 36 operating reactors

New York City is aiming to have 100 MWh of energy storage by 2020 under an unprecedented target set by Mayor Bill de Blasio on September 23. The city’s first-ever energy storage deployment target will help reduce reliance on the grid by making variable sources of energy production, such as solar panels, usable for more […]

Duke Energy agreed to pay a $6 million fine under a new settlement reached with North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for the February 2014 coal ash spill at its Dan River power plant in Eden. State regulators fined the utility $6.8 million in February, but Duke Energy challenged the decision, which was the […]

The Dutch parliament’s vote in favor of a motion to cut carbon emissions 55% by 2030 could spell the end of coal-fired power generation in the European nation. Although nonbinding, the measure would bring the Netherlands in line with agreements negotiated during the Paris climate talks that took place late last year. What it means […]

Oral arguments on the merits of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Clean Power Plan were concluded before an en banc panel (10 judges, rather than the anticipated three) at the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on September 27. West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency (No. 15-1363) is arguably the most important environmental case in nearly […]

A recently released International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) study predicts that nuclear power will continue expanding globally in the coming years, even as the pace of development slows due to low fossil fuel prices and the growth of renewable energy. The IAEA presents nuclear power generating capacity projections annually. The estimates were released just days […]

In a widely expected move, the Japanese government finally killed the ill-fated Monju breeder reactor project on September 21, but reasserted its faith in breeder reactor technology as a component of the nation’s future power mix. The Monju plant was an ambitious project that never came close to meeting its backers’ expectations. Launched in 1980, […]

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) last week unanimously adopted a final rule on reliability standards to address the threat to the grid from geomagnetic disturbances (GMD).

Global resources of variable renewable energy—primarily wind and solar—despite breakneck growth over the past two decades, are beginning to run up against technological and policy limitations on further deployment, and future growth will depend on significant changes in policy and grid design, according to a new report. Released on September 20, Variable Renewable Energy Sources […]

At least three states called for hefty new measures relating to greenhouse gas (GHG) goals over the past week. Mass. Gov. Directs State Officials to Implement Regulations to Annually Reduce GHG Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) signed an executive order on September 16 directing state officials to develop rules for specific, yearly reductions in GHG […]

The Heysham 2 nuclear power station broke a nearly 22-year-old record for continuous operation when it shut down Unit 8 on September 16 after 940 days online. The previous record—held by Pickering 7, a Canadian nuclear plant—was 894 days, set on October 7, 1994. EDF Energy said that the Heysham reactor—a 615-MW unit located on […]

States, regulators, and market participants have in recent years called attention to a trend concerning uneconomic baseload generation in organized wholesale markets, specifically in ISO New England, New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), MISO, PJM, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), and the California Independent System Operator (CAISO). Cheap natural gas, low power demand […]

In an effort to become a fully regulated power company, American Electric Power (AEP) has agreed to sell four Midwestern power plants—representing a total of 5.2 GW—to a newly formed joint venture of Blackstone and ArcLight Capital Partners for about $2.17 billion.  AEP will sell: the 1,186-MW natural gas–fired Lawrenceburg Generating Station in Lawrenceburg, Ind. […]

The $23.8 billion Hinkley Point C nuclear project has received the UK government’s green light, but the country wants to ensure that project’s ownership cannot change without government agreement. After a “comprehensive review” of the project and a revised agreement with French power generator EDF, the UK Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial (DBEI) Strategy […]

After years of incremental advances, a variety of innovations both simple and exotic are promising to boost the output of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems as much as 30% over current technologies—if the market can be convinced to adopt them. The Dawn of SiC For a generation, silicon has been the go-to material for semiconductor substrates. […]

A strategy rolled out by the Department of Energy (DOE) and Department of the Interior (DOI) to enable 86 GW of offshore wind capacity in the U.S. by 2050 highlights a number of key hurdles, including those related to technology, regulations, the environment, and markets. The DOE’s and DOI’s September 9–released joint document, “National Offshore […]

The global solar market has moved beyond its early, uncertain, freewheeling days. The luxury of behaving like start-ups has passed, and major firms in solar need to “grow up.” That at least was the message from top executives at Solar Power International (SPI), the industry’s largest trade show, in Las Vegas. David Crane of Pegasus […]

NRG Energy has taken action to acquire 2.1 GW of utility-scale wind and solar assets owned by bankrupt renewables giant SunEdison with a $144 million auction bid this week. New Jersey–based NRG Energy on Sept. 12 executed a purchase and sale agreement (PSA) to take on 200 MW of SunEdison’s construction-ready, fully contracted solar assets […]

In response to what was a record earthquake for the country, four of South Korea’s 25 nuclear power plants have been shut down as a precautionary measure.

Talen Energy’s two-unit Martin’s Creek Power Plant in Mount Bethel Township, Penn., was forced offline as a result of a transformer fire Sept. 11, the company said. The incident occurred Sunday evening at a transformer yard adjacent to the plant. The fire was extinguished by local firefighters after about three hours. The plant was not […]

Duke Energy Renewables, part of Duke Energy’s Commercial Portfolio, announced on September 7 that it will add six Georgia solar projects to the 2.8-GW renewable energy portfolio the company owns and operates. The projects are relatively small in terms of capacity—averaging about 1 MW DC each (769 kW AC)—but they are the first Duke Energy […]

A merger proposed between Canadian firm Enbridge and Houston-based Spectra Energy Corp. could create the largest energy infrastructure company in North America. The companies announced on September 6 that they have entered into a definitive agreement to combine in a stock-for-stock merger transaction that has an enterprise value of $127 billion. The transaction was reportedly […]

Panelists debating the pros and cons of a regionalized western power grid seemed to agree that the development of such a system is inevitable, but they disagreed on how fast the evolution should occur. The panel discussion took place during the California Independent System Operator (ISO) Stakeholder Symposium held on September 7 in Sacramento. At […]

The Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in Massachusetts, limping toward retirement in 2019, suffered yet another unplanned shutdown on September 6 after operators were forced to power down the reactor because of high water levels in the core. According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) event report, “operators initiated a manual reactor scram due to high […]

Updates finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to its Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) identify nitrogen oxide emission (NOx) reductions from power plants in 22 states to help states address transported pollution under the agency’s more stringent 2008 ozone air quality standards. It marks the first time the EPA has updated an existing program […]

If wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) penetrations in the Eastern Interconnection were amped up to 30%, they would decrease coal, combined cycle, and combustion turbine capacity factors by 30% to 50%, a new study from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) suggests. The study, NREL’s Eastern Renewable Generation Integration Study (ERGIS), was released on August […]

UK Abolishes Climate Change Department. As part of the major governmental shakeup triggered by Brexit—the UK’s momentous vote to leave the European Union—newly appointed UK Prime Minister Theresa May

A main bank transformer fire has put a halt to power ascension testing at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA’s) Watts Bar Unit 2 nuclear plant. The incident occurred at about 9:10 p.m., on August 30, when an electrical fault on the 2B main bank transformer caused the Unit 2 main turbine to trip. The reactor, […]

Westinghouse, the lead supplier for the V.C. Summer nuclear plant expansion project in South Carolina, said on August 30 that it had successfully placed the reactor vessel for the new Unit 2. The 278-metric-ton vessel was rigged into place by one of the largest construction cranes in the world, a heavy lift derrick with a […]

A fire at Muscatine (Iowa) Power and Water’s (MP&W’s) coal-fired power plant forced Unit 9 offline on August 30. The plant—located along the Mississippi River just south of town—includes three units with a combined capacity of about 276 MW. Units 7 and 8 were reportedly unaffected and continue to be available for power production. Customers […]