News

South African state-owned utility Eskom has garnered the National Nuclear Regulator’s (NNR’s) approval to continue operating Unit 1 of the 1,860-MW Koeberg Nuclear Power Station for another 20 years, until July 21, 2044. The nuclear regulator’s approval effectively extends the lifetime of the 930-MW unit to 60 years. The unit’s current 40-year license was set […]

In 2018, Cooperative Energy, a generation and transmission co-op headquartered in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, had an issue to deal with. Several years earlier, it had joined the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), giving the power provider access to a competitive market. However, Cooperative Energy’s R.D. Morrow Sr. Generating Station, a 400-MW two-unit coal-fired facility that had […]

Managing risk is nothing new to utilities. Providing the safe utility services like electricity, water, sewer, and wastewater management that everyone relies upon is hard work. Critical infrastructure assets are prime targets for bad actors looking to use cyberattacks to cause high-impact disruptions. As utilities adopt software-centric, data-driven operations, they will continue to work diligently […]

A group that assesses the effectiveness of actions by the European Union (EU), including how energy initiatives impact the economies of EU member states, said the current goals for EU hydrogen production are “overly ambitious” and not realistic. The European Court of Auditors (ECA) in a report published July 16 said targets to produce as […]

In approving the development of a 2,800-acre wind farm across prime agricultural land in the east of England, the UK Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Ed Miliband, has confirmed what those who understand renewable market dynamics have known all along: That the UK’s energy transition policymaking has been flawed and riven […]

SolarEdge Technologies said it would lay off about 400 workers, including 200 in its home country of Israel, as the company tries to become more financially stable. SolarEdge on July 15 announced the job cuts in a letter to employees. The company, which said it had about 4,600 workers prior to the layoffs, had announced […]

Avangrid said it has started producing power from the first phase of the True North solar project in Texas, an installation the company said is its first solar installation in the state. Avangrid, headquartered in Orange, Connecticut, on July 15 said the solar farm when complete will have 238 MWac (321 MWdc) of generation capacity, […]

Countries active in the offshore wind industry continue to consider steps to counter China’s dominance of the sector. The latest to announce a move is South Korea, where officials recently announced they may work with a global offshore wind industry group in order to better compete with China. Officials have said joining the Global Offshore […]

More than $106.5 billion in large-scale clean energy project investments have been announced in Republican-held congressional districts in the U.S. during the period from August 2022 through June 2024. The figure was released by E2, a national, nonpartisan group of business leaders, investors, and professionals from every sector of the economy who advocate for “smart […]

Higher prices for natural gas across Europe mean some countries, particularly in Eastern Europe, likely will burn more coal for power generation during the upcoming winter season. Coal remains a large part of the energy mix in Germany—the largest energy consumer in Europe—as well as other countries such as Poland, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Romania, […]

A global group that provides quality assurance for the battery energy storage system (BESS) and solar photovoltaic (PV) industries has launched a battery pack review service designed to improve detection and correction of capacity imbalance issues. Sinovoltaics on July 11 said it has launched its BESSential analysis service, offering 100% battery pack review. The service, […]

A global professional services and project management company headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, announced it has been chose to develop the pre-concept design for a nuclear fusion pilot plant (FPP). The pilot, announced by Canada-based Canada-based AtkinsRéalis on July 10 as part of Type One Energy’s FusionDirect program, will be a commercial-scale FPP. It will use […]

Unitil Corp., the largest provider of natural gas in Maine, on July 9 said it has a deal to purchase Bangor Natural Gas Co., which has been the state’s No. 2 provider of the fuel. The Maine Public Utilities Commission, which still must approve the merger, said Unitil has about 27,000 customers in Maine, most […]

Waste from end-of-life solar panels and other solar-related equipment provides an opportunity to recover valuable materials, along with other benefits. The International Renewable Energy Agency said that by 2030, the cumulative value of recoverable raw materials from end-of-life panels alone will be about $450 million worldwide, which the agency said is equivalent to the cost […]

On Friday, May 31, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Jennifer Granholm flew to Georgia to attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Plant Vogtle, the first set of nuclear reactors built in the U.S. in nearly 30 years, where she called for another 198 large-scale reactors to follow. There is a lot I don’t understand in […]

Clearway Energy Group on July 8 said it has closed financing and begun a repowering project for the California-based company’s Cedro Hill wind farm in Webb County, Texas. Clearway said the repowering will boost the wind farm’s generation capacity to 160 MW, from its current 150 MW. Workers will replace the blades and nacelle with […]

Nuclear power has consistently provided about 19% to 20% of total annual U.S. electricity generation since 1990. It provides significant amounts of electricity in many other countries as well. According to data from The World Nuclear Industry Status Report (WNISR), a total of 414 reactors were operating in 32 countries, as of July 1, 2024. […]

Government officials in India have reportedly asked the country’s power companies to spend billions on equipment to support additional coal-fired generation. India is looking for ways to more quickly increase its baseload electricity supply as demand for power increases across the country. Reuters news service on July 3 said the Indian government supports tenders for […]

A major concentrated solar power (CSP) project in China selected Sulzer, a global fluid engineering company, to supply both the hot and the cold molten salts pumps for the installation. The planned 100-MW solar project will feature technology designed to deliver electricity from solar energy 24 hours a day. Molten salts have been used in […]

Over the past week, the offshore wind power sector in the U.S. received two major federal approvals that could add nearly 5 GW to the grid. On July 1, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) approved a construction and operations plan (COP) for  Avangrid’s 791-MW New England Wind 1 project and 1,080-MW New England Wind […]

Next-generation, or “next-gen,” geothermal resources have the potential to increase geothermal power generation in the U.S. by twenty-fold by 2050. Next-gen geothermal concepts use technologies developed by the oil and gas industry to engineer reservoirs for geothermal energy generation, vastly expanding the available resource base. Typically, the term next-gen geothermal refers to enhanced geothermal systems […]

The U.S. Supreme Court on June 28 overturned the Chevron doctrine—a forty-year-old precedent—significantly curtailing the power of federal agencies to interpret ambiguous statutory provisions, even in areas of agency expertise. The landmark 6–3 decision could have far-reaching effects on the power industry, with specific impact on sweeping energy regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) […]

A new report from Guidehouse Insights, the Colorado-based dedicated market intelligence arm of Guidehouse, estimates global revenue for hydrogen-capable gas turbines (HGTs) will grow to more than $7 billion by 2033. The group said HGTs will help to buffer intermittent electricity output from renewable resources, and provide stability for the power grid. The report released […]

In a strategic move to jumpstart domestic uranium enrichment capacity in the U.S., the Department of Energy (DOE) has launched a request for proposals (RFP) to buy low-enriched uranium (LEU) from domestic suppliers. The RFP will seek LEU through procurement contracts for indefinite quantity and indefinite delivery (IDIQ). It could result in awards of “two […]

Adding new reactors to the U.S.’s fleet of nuclear power plants doesn’t happen every day. In fact, prior to the addition of Plant Vogtle Units 3 and 4, it hadn’t been done from scratch in decades

Decarbonization of power generation and other industrial sectors relies on hydrogen, and a Bloom Energy demonstration project is supporting the fuel’s production through an advanced electrolyzer system. The

Brazilian independent power generator Epasa faced significant environmental and operational challenges with heavy fuel oil sludge. Through innovative engineering and problem-solving, the company developed a

As the oldest renewable energy resource, hydropower is well-established as a reliable source of dispatchable energy. Yet, it is often overlooked and taken for granted. It’s commonly believed that hydro’s

It’s not uncommon to hear people talk about the energy transition. Yet, throughout its history, the power industry has almost always been transitioning in one way or another. There are constantly new

Mexico is ramping up its use of natural gas for power generation, with several plants coming online in recent years, and at least 10 more (Table 1) expected to come online this year, next year, or in 2026. The