News
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Legal & Regulatory
Energy Security, Climate Change Initiatives Endure with Surprise U.S. Senate Deal
The inclusion of an estimated $369 billion in energy security and climate change investments in a July 27–unveiled U.S. Senate budget reconciliation proposal has prompted optimism from a range of energy sectors. Less than two weeks after negotiations on clean energy and climate provisions within the reconciliation package hit an impasse and suggested their demise, […]
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Hydro
Experts Say Hydropower Needs to Double by 2050 to Meet Climate Goals
Global installed hydropower capacity rose by 26 GW in 2021 to 1,360 GW, but that’s far short of the progress needed to achieve the world’s climate change mitigation goals. “We know that to keep climate change below 2°C, or the more challenging 1.5°C net zero target, we will need to see a huge increase in […]
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Press Releases
Innovative Utility Partnerships Making Underground Electrical Grid Stronger and Safer
Duquesne Light Company, ComEd and Pacific Gas and Electric identifying unique ways to enhance underground infrastructure and improve worker and public safety PITTSBURGH — Duquesne Light Company (DLC) today announced that Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) — an Exelon Corporation unit — and Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) have joined the first phase of its public […]
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Nuclear
Canada’s National Nuclear Lab Backs Fuel Development for ARC Fast Reactor
Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) and ARC Clean Energy Canada have agreed to collaborate on a two-year joint project to “deliver a technology demonstration for the fuel fabrication process” customized for ARC Canada’s ARC-100, a 100-MWe/286-MWth, sodium-cooled “advanced small modular reactor” (aSMR), the parties announced on July 26. The development marks a pivotal boost for ARC […]
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Nuclear
Nuclear Power Plants Report Stellar Performance, but Retirements Could Limit Climate Benefits
The world’s nuclear power plants generated a total of 2,653 TWh of energy in 2021, up 100 TWh from 2020. It was the third-highest total ever for global generation from nuclear, just 4 TWh short of the output in 2019 and 7 TWh less than the record set in 2006. The results were reported by […]
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Press Releases
EnergyHub Launches Electric Vehicle Grid Management Solution for Utilities
(New York) July 26, 2022 — Today, EnergyHub announced EnergyHub EV, an offering for utilities that delivers electric vehicle demand flexibility coupled with a powerful EV data management system. EnergyHub EV is built on the core of EnergyHub’s Mercury DERMS platform, the most widely deployed grid-edge DERMS. EnergyHub works with over 60 leading utilities and […]
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Connected Plant
Here’s How Utilities Are Primed to Lead America’s Race to Clean Energy
The U.S. will rely on utility leaders to scale smart grid infrastructure and reduce carbon emissions. Climate change has captured the world’s attention for decades. We’ve seen countless intergovernmental summits, worldwide protests, and documentaries on global warming over the years. Although momentum has been building across the public and private sectors, leaders are preparing for […]
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Engineering
Ferris State University’s Construction Management Program Expands Its MEP Courses
The Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) trades make up a significant portion of a construction project’s budget, and MEP scope continues to grow in complexity and size as we get further into the 21st century. Depending on the type of project, the MEP scope can account for upwards of a third of an overall project’s […]
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Nuclear
UK Throws Support Behind Sizewell C Nuclear Plant Construction
The UK government has given the go-ahead for construction of the Sizewell C nuclear power plant in southeast England, which officials have called an important project for the country to meet its net-zero climate goals. Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng on July 20 confirmed the government’s support, saying UK officials consider it a major infrastructure project […]
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Renewables
Community Choice Aggregation Provides Renewable Energy at Reduced Costs
Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) programs have become quite prominent in communities across California, and have begun to spring up in other states including Illinois, Massachusetts, and Ohio. Through CCA, communities can purchase electricity on behalf of residents and businesses, in place of investor-owned utilities such as Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), San Diego Gas & […]
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Nuclear
Kairos Commissions Molten Salt Coolant Production Plant for High-Temperature Nuclear Reactors
Kairos Power, an advanced nuclear reactor developer, has commissioned a molten salt purification plant (MSPP) that will produce “large quantities” of a high-purity coolant for reactors based on its fluoride salt-cooled, high-temperature reactor (KP-FHR) technology. The MSPP, one of the largest of its kind, is located at materials supplier Materion Corp.’s campus in Elmore, Ohio. […]
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Offshore Wind
BOEM’s First Two Offshore Wind Areas in the Gulf of Mexico Could Feed Texas, Louisiana
The Biden administration’s push to accelerate offshore wind deployment formally expanded into the Gulf of Mexico as the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on July 20 unveiled two draft wind energy areas (WEAs) off the coast of Galveston, Texas, and Lake Charles, Louisiana. The sites represent a “small subset” of its original 30-million Gulf […]
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IIOT
Digitalisation and Cyber Resilience: Why the Energy and Utilities Sector Is a Top Target for Cybercrime
The energy and utilities sector is not just the lifeblood of the world’s economy, but fundamental to society’s existence as a whole. Yet, recent events have highlighted just how volatile and unpredictable it can be. Output is influenced by everything from weather patterns to war, and no business, consumer, or household is immune from the […]
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News
Explosion, Fire Reported at Hoover Dam
A transformer exploded and caught fire at Hoover Dam in Nevada on July 19, according to local officials. Bureau of Reclamation official Jacklynn L. Gould said that at about 10 a.m. local (Pacific) time, the A5 transformer at the site caught fire. The blaze was extinguished at about 10:30 a.m., according to Gould. Gould said […]
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Press Releases
Introducing Aurora Solar’s AI Solutions to Drive Solar Adoption and Accelerate a Clean Energy Future
Built on the platform delivering over 100,000+ projects a week, Aurora’s AI solutions simultaneously evaluate HD map imagery and LIDAR data to generate 3D models in 30 seconds July 19, 2022 – SAN FRANCISCO – Aurora Solar, a cloud-based platform trusted by solar professionals across marketing, sales, design, and operations, today unveiled new artificial intelligence […]
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Press Releases
TAE Technologies Exceeds Fusion Reactor Performance Goals By 250% As Company Closes $250 Million Financing Round, Totaling $1.2 Billion To Date
Following scientific milestones with current fusion reactor, Norman, TAE receives investments from long-term partner Google, as well as Chevron, Sumitomo Corporation of Americas, and others to fund the construction of the company’s sixth-generation research reactor that will demonstrate the viability of net energy from TAE’s approach Foothill Ranch, Calif., July 19, 2022 – After achieving […]
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News
GE’s Energy Business Will Have a New Name—Vernova
General Electric (GE) is again announcing changes to its corporate structure, with the company on July 18 saying its energy and other businesses will operate under new brand names. H. Lawrence Culp Jr., the company’s chairman and CEO, and CEO of GE Aerospace, on Monday said the strategy involves a planned separation into three groups, […]
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Gas
Regasification Project Will Provide New Power for Papua New Guinea
The government of Papua New Guinea (PNG) has entered a joint venture with a nationally-owned power producer in a project to bring additional electricity generation capacity to the island nation. The system will utilize a process featuring liquefied natural gas (LNG) and could eventually be converted to work with hydrogen as the fuel. Singapore-based Twenty20 […]
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Gas
New 1.1-GW GE-Powered Gas-Fired Plant Enters Service in Michigan
A new $1.1-billion natural gas-fired power plant, built by Kiewit and featuring equipment from General Electric (GE), has entered service in southwest Michigan. The Indeck Niles Energy Center in Niles, a community just north of South Bend, Indiana, will provide 1,100 MW of generation capacity. Indeck Niles LLC, a joint venture among Indeck Energy Services […]
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Solar
IEA Calls for More Diverse Solar PV Supply Chains
The International Energy Agency (IEA) is urging the development of more diverse solar PV supply chains, suggesting the sector’s heavy reliance on China has led to imbalances that pose risks to its future growth. A dedicated study of the world’s solar PV supply chain issued by the Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental organization on July 7 acknowledges that government […]
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Nuclear
France Set to Take Over Major Power Producer Amid Energy Crisis
The French government is prepared to take full control of EDF, one of the world’s largest producers of electricity, as the energy group struggles with increasing debt due to problems with its current and future nuclear power fleet. Élisabeth Borne, who took over as France’s prime minister in May, in her first state-of-the-nation speech to […]
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Coal
Plant Bowen Will Showcase Largest Coal Ash Beneficial Use Project in the U.S.
Georgia Power will harvest 9 million tons of coal ash landfilled at its 3.4-GW Plant Bowen station in Bartow County, Georgia, and beneficially use it in concrete for major regional construction projects. The project, announced on June 29, will be the “ single largest beneficial use project of its kind in the U.S., and the largest […]
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Legal & Regulatory
Are PJM’s Plunging Capacity Prices a Harbinger of Power Markets’ Demise?
Few observers outside the electric utility industry understand the U.S. power grid, often called the world’s largest machine. It’s three grids, actually—the Eastern Interconnect, the Western Interconnect, and the Texas Interconnect. Much of the Eastern and Western Interconnects are subdivided regionally into independent organizations—independent system operators (ISOs) or regional transmission operators (RTOs)—that monitor, coordinate, and […]
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Press Releases
Van Beest Group granted the Royal title upon its 100th anniversary
Sliedrecht, 1 July 2022 – The Van Beest Group, a leading manufacturer of premium quality lifting, lashing, and mooring fittings, is now Royal. During a festive ceremony with the company’s employees in attendance, the King’s Commissioner Jaap Smit awarded the Royal title to CEO Hendrik Kok on 1 July. It is Van Beest Group’s 100th anniversary […]
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Legal & Regulatory
DOE Grants California’s Request to Revise Civil Nuclear Credit Program Eligibility, Extends Deadline
The Department of Energy (DOE) has revised eligibility criteria for the first-award cycle of its $6 billion Civil Nuclear Credit (CNC) program and extended its application period to Sept. 6, 2022. The action responds to a request for adjustments from the California governor’s office to better address Pacific Gas & Electric’s (PG&E’s) 2,240-MW Diablo Canyon […]
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Top Plant
Harnessing Cooling Tower Plumes to Provide Purified Water
A novel technology that is surprisingly simple in principle promises to significantly reduce water consumption in evaporative cooling tower systems by capturing water from cooling tower plumes. Sonal Patel
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T&D
Advanced Power Grid Sensors and Switches Reduce Downtime and Improve System Reliability
A Fault Isolation Service Restoration module, part of an Advanced Distribution Management Solution, has improved grid reliability, and reduced outages and outage durations, for customers of PPL Electric
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Renewables
How a Solar and Storage Portfolio Ramped Up a City’s Sustainability and Financial Outlook
The City of White Plains, New York, enlisted DSD Renewables to design, engineer, develop, construct, and finance a nine-site, 6.8-MW community solar and 1.7-MW/8-MWh energy storage portfolio. The
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Solar
Turning Public Transit into a Solar Paradigm
An innovative project that combines solar power with electric buses is POWER’s Distributed Energy Award winner. The microgrid it created can help the community during emergencies, as well as during peak
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News
Risks and Opportunities: It’s an Interesting Time to Be in the Power Industry
War rages in Europe. Natural gas prices are through the roof. Drought threatens hydro production. Weather extremes are becoming commonplace. Supply chains are strained. Demand for electricity is headed