Nuclear

Challenges abound for nuclear power plants in today’s world, with increased competition from other fuels, stricter safety regulations, divided public opinion, and low electricity prices providing an

The PJM Interconnection, the largest regional transmission operator in the U.S., faces many problems: adapting to state policies designed to skew power markets in the face of natural gas and renewable

The once seemingly insurmountable technical challenges of dismantling a commercial nuclear plant have been largely eliminated through experience. Decommissioning processes have been standardized and optimized

Power plants are designed to operate at their highest efficiency. Once a plant goes into operation, however, real life takes over and sometimes design outcomes are not regularly realized. Improving plant

Dynegy Inc.’s pending merger with Vistra Energy will create a company of a significant diversification and scale designed to weather volatile markets. Over the past year, at least eight other major power companies have embarked on various strategies to guard against distress in unregulated markets. Duke Energy. Three years ago, Duke Energy announced it would move away from organized […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 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 […]

During its 135-year history, POWER magazine’s pages have reflected the fast-changing evolution of the technologies and markets that characterize the world’s power sector today. —Copy and artwork by Sonal Patel, a POWER associate editor

POWER magazine—the oldest-running trade publication for power generators in the world—has since its establishment in 1882 been a valuable resource for business and technology developments. Here are compelling excerpts from the magazine’s voluminous pages over the 14 decades it has been published. [Scroll down for full content.] Source: POWER magazine archives. All rights reserved.  —Sonal […]

Recently, two epic hurricanes—Harvey and Irma—struck North America with extremely destructive force. Harvey first made landfall in the U.S. near Rockport, Texas, about 30 miles northeast of Corpus Christi

Construction Scheduled for Hydrogen Fuel Cell Plant in South Korea. Hanwha Energy  on August 25 approved formation of a subsidiary,  Daesan Green Energy , to build a 50-MW hydrogen fuel cell plant in the

Scientists at the Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group (NRG) in Petten, Netherlands, have commenced the world’s first thorium molten salt reactor (TMSR) experiment in more than 45 years (Figure 1). The

Energy Secretary Rick Perry said in a statement that the “future of nuclear energy in the United States is bright” as his agency on September 29 announced another $3.7 billion in loan guarantees for continued construction of two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle in Georgia. The Department of Energy (DOE) has guaranteed another $1.67 […]

A rule proposed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on September 29 directs the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to mandate that competitive power markets develop and implement market rules to “accurately price” what it calls “fuel-secure” generation. The DOE’s “Grid Resiliency Pricing Rule” directs FERC—an independent regulatory government agency that is officially organized as […]

Most large power plants have continuous vibration monitoring systems installed on turbine generators and other critical equipment. The systems have evolved greatly since the 1970s. In this episode of The POWER Podcast, Steve Sabin, SETPOINT product manager for Brüel & Kjær Vibro, offers some tips to get the most out of these systems. He talks […]

Entergy Corp. will keep the Palisades nuclear power plant in Covert, Michigan, open until the spring of 2022, owing to a shortfall in recovery granted to Consumers Energy by state regulators. In a bid to actively exit the merchant nuclear power business, investor-owned Entergy had decided to shutter the 798-MW plant by October 1, 2018.  […]

SCANA Corp. and Santee Cooper moved to cash in a $2.2 billion settlement with Toshiba—even though it will cost them $171 million—rather than risk collecting guaranty payments from the Japanese conglomerate over the next five years for the unfinished V.C. Summer nuclear expansion. Just days before the utilities decided to abandon the project, Toshiba on […]

Westinghouse Electric has asked a New York bankruptcy court to stop Georgia Power from terminating Westinghouse’s contract to continue construction of two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle near Waynesboro, Georgia. Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, in large part due to massive cost overruns from the Vogtle project and the V.C. Summer nuclear […]

Chinese coal-fired electricity generation is expected to flatten through 2040 as renewables fill the gap caused by increased energy demand, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) International Energy Outlook 2017. According to the study, coal accounted for more than 72% of China’s energy generation in 2015. By 2040, however, coal’s share of generation […]

SCANA Corp.’s troubles concerning its decision to abandon the V.C. Summer nuclear expansion intensified again this week after South Carolina’s attorney general’s office and state lawmakers urged state law enforcement to conduct a criminal investigation on how it handled the project. The company said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on […]

SCANA Corp. and Santee Cooper—utility partners that recently abandoned a two-unit expansion at the V.C. Summer nuclear plant—have received federal subpoenas for documents associated with a much-guarded February 2016 assessment report conducted by Bechtel, documentation of meetings with the firm, and documentation of site walk-downs and real-time observations at the half-built project. A copy of […]

State regulators in Georgia could decide the future of the troubled Vogtle nuclear expansion project in February 2018, and have scheduled a series of hearings in December of this year to discuss spending for continued construction of two new units at the plant near Waynesboro, Georgia. The Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) on September 19 […]