News

A report from a group that looks at economic conditions in the Appalachia region of the U.S. says a hydrogen hub proposed for the area already faces significant challenges. The Ohio River Valley Institute in a research brief published this month said five of the 15 originally proposed projects in the hub have been canceled, […]

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded contracts with a total potential value of $8 million to four nuclear fuel companies to further U.S. enrichment capabilities for high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU), a critical piece of the next-generation nuclear supply chain. The selected companies include Centrus Energy’s American Centrifuge Operating, URENCO’s Louisiana Energy Services, Orano […]

A $900 million funding opportunity released by the Department of Energy (DOE) on Oct. 16 seeks to spur “first mover” teams that could deploy the first two Gen III+ light water small modular reactors (SMRs) in the U.S. It will also provide funding for “fast follower” deployment support by addressing critical gaps that have long […]

The power generation sector is looking at numerous ways to provide enough electricity to satisfy demand from data centers. Bloomberg Intelligence recently said its research shows data centers, buildings filled with servers and other computing equipment for data storage and networking that supports operations and artificial intelligence (AI), could be responsible for as much as […]

Japan’s Sumitomo Corp and Perennial Power Holdings Inc., a subsidiary of Sumitomo Corp. of Americas, have set up a joint venture with Virginia-based CEP Solar LLC to deliver renewable energy projects across Virginia. The companies said the JV will provide support for the state’s energy supply, in part to help with power demand from Virginia’s […]

The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) has identified 13 new transmission substation and line projects designed to reinforce the Pacific Northwest’s electric grid. If constructed, these projects would accommodate regional load growth and enable the BPA to add thousands of megawatts of new wind and solar generation, and battery storage to the federal grid. Combined, the […]

In yet another major set of deals spearheaded by a tech giant in support of nuclear power development, Amazon will back the deployment of 5 GW of new X-energy small modular reactor (SMR) projects by 2039, starting with an initial four-unit 320-MWe Xe-100 plant with regional utility Energy Northwest in central Washington. Separately, Amazon signed […]

Micro-modular nuclear plant developer Last Energy has unveiled plans to deploy four 20-MWe pressurized water reactor (PWR) power plants at the site of a former coal-fired power plant in South Wales. Last Energy’s project will transform the Llynfi Power Station, a now vacant site that housed four 30-MW coal units from 1951 to 1977,  the […]

In a deal that marks the first corporate agreement to deploy multiple small modular reactors (SMRs) in the U.S., Kairos Power and Google have signed a Master Plant Development Agreement to facilitate the development of a 500-MW fleet of molten salt nuclear reactors by 2035 to power Google’s data centers. The first reactor is expected […]

Chinese state-owned manufacturer Dongfang Electric announced the company has completed production of a 26-MW offshore wind turbine, continuing a trend of ever-more-powerful turbines from that country. The turbine’s nacelle, shown dwarfing company workers in a photo posted to social media on October 12, now ranks as the world’s largest. Dongfang said it has been designed […]

The European Industrial Alliance on Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) has identified nine SMR projects it will support as its first batch of project working groups (PWGs). The effort marks a significant first step toward the alliance’s goal of deploying SMR technologies across Europe by the early 2030s. The alliance, a collaborative public-private platform launched by the […]

What happens when you suffer a catastrophic injury at work and can’t continue in your career? Workers compensation begins. Those payments last until you reach the maximum medical improvement point. How long will you receive those benefits? It varies from state-to-state. In California, for example, benefits pay up to 104 weeks for most injuries and […]

The U.S. electric grid is under more strain than ever to support exponential electricity demand due to artificial intelligence (AI), data centers, electric vehicles, and hotter temperatures. Its infrastructure is made up of 180 million power poles spread out over 5.5 million miles that are frequently bombarded with increasingly severe storms and weather. Worsening SAIDI […]

UPDATED (Oct. 11): The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has upgraded its G4-level “severe” geomagnetic storm watch to a G3-level “strong” geomagnetic storm warning after an anticipated coronal mass ejection (CME) arrived at Earth at 11:15 a.m. EST on Thursday, traveling at nearly 1.5 million miles per hour. The G3-level warning is now in […]

A Chinese company has installed what it calls the world’s largest onshore wind turbine. Sany Group, a multinational firm known for its manufacturing of heavy equipment, on October 9 announced a 15-MW wind turbine has been placed in service at a site in Tongyu, Jilin Province, in China. Sany said the machine is a prototype […]

In a significant breakthrough for the development of supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) power cycles, the 10-MWe Supercritical Transformational Electric Power (STEP) Demo pilot plant in San Antonio, Texas, has wrapped up Phase 1 testing, demonstrating the commercial readiness of its next-generation indirect sCO2 Brayton cycle. The $169 million project—the largest of its kind in the […]

Mitsubishi Power announced completion of a 5.3-GW natural gas-fired power plant project in Thailand, with the multi-phase installation now fully in commercial operation. The two combined-cycle power plants in Chonburi and Rayong provinces, regions that are hubs for technology manufacturing and services in Thailand, each feature four M701JAC turbines. Mitsubishi on October 9 announced the […]

The U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) announced six companies have successfully bid to provide deconversion services for high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel to support advanced nuclear reactors. The DOE on October 8 announced the complete list of successful bidders. They include Nuclear Fuel Services, part of BWX Technologies (BWXT); American Centrifuge Operating, part of Centrus […]

The Nanko Power Plant in Osaka, Japan, will be upgraded with new gas turbines from GE Vernova. The 1,800-MW station, which was commissioned in late 1990, is replacing three boilers and three steam turbines in an effort to increase the efficiency of the facility and reduce its emissions of carbon dioxide. GE Vernova on October […]

In late 2023, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a $7 billion initiative to establish seven Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs, aiming to scale the use of cost-effective clean hydrogen. This initiative comes as utilities face growing pressures from data centers and other industries that are demanding increasingly large amounts of reliable power. Hydrogen’s role […]

Energy analysts have said the increasing need for reliable baseload power generation means natural gas-fired power plants will become even more important as demand for electricity increases. Several experts who have spoken with POWER noted the availability of natural gas—the U.S. leads the world in natural gas production, far outpacing second-ranked Russia—will drive continued construction […]

German multinational energy company RWE is joining with France’s TotalEnergies to jointly develop two large-scale offshore wind projects off the German coast. The companies on October 7 announced that TotalEnergies is acquiring a 50% equity stake in the two projects from RWE, which was awarded the sites in Germany’s latest offshore wind auction in August […]

The U.S. Supreme Court has said that rules requiring power plants burning fossil fuels to reduce emissions of toxic substances can stand, dealing a blow to several Republican-led states and some power generators that had challenged the regulations. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in May of this year finalized rules on emissions of mercury, after […]

A U.S. bank that supports technology exports to international groups is committing $98 million toward development of a small modular reactor (SMR) project in Romania. The board of directors of EXIM, the U.S. export-import bank, on October 2 announced approval of a final commitment for a loan for pre-project services for the SMR, which would […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded capacity contracts of up to $1.5 billion to four major transmission lines under its Transmission Facilitation Program (TFP) to aid the transfer of 7.1 GW of new capacity throughout Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. The DOE’s Grid Deployment Office (GDO) on Oct. 3 also released its […]

California-based Clearway Energy Group said it has closed financing and started construction of standalone solar and energy storage projects in Hopkins County, Texas. The company on October 2 said the 300-MW Pine Forest solar and 200-MW Pine Forest storage installations represent a $665 million investment. Dell Technologies has agreed to buy much of the electricity […]

Electric cooperatives across the Southeast describe Hurricane Helene’s devastation as vast and unprecedented, warning that restoring some crucial infrastructure serving the not-for-profit entities’ customers will take a long and arduous process. In a call with reporters on Oct. 1—five days after the massive Category 4 storm made landfall—co-op leaders serving customers in Florida, Georgia, South […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) unveiled plans on Sept. 27 to inject $1.3 billion into its portfolio of federally funded carbon capture demonstration and large-scale pilot programs by the end of the year—including up to $400 million to support one commercial-scale coal power plant carbon capture and storage (CCS) demonstration. The Office of Clean Energy […]

Project Tundra, a demonstration project that seeks to capture an average of 4 million tons of carbon dioxide from flue gas from two lignite-fired units at the 705-MW Milton R. Young Station near Center, North Dakota, has secured a $4.1 million federal award from the Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED). Under […]

A New Mexico senator has introduced a bill that would support community solar projects and help expand access to solar energy across the U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D), considered a champion for advancing clean energy through community solar, on October 1 introduced the Community Solar Consumer Choice Act. Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL) introduced companion […]