Plant Design

Battery energy storage systems (BESS) have emerged as a crucial technology for storing and dispatching energy when needed. However, the rapid expansion of BESS has been accompanied by safety and risk management challenges. Most BESS units use lithium-ion batteries, which require particular care to avoid fire concerns. Though lithium-ion BESS is overall a safe and […]

Power plant construction and retrofit projects come in all shapes and sizes, but they all generally have at least one thing in common: complexity. There are usually a lot of moving pieces that must be managed. This can include sourcing the right materials and components, getting equipment delivered to the site at the right time, […]

One of the biggest challenges the nuclear power industry faces is building plants on time and on budget. Having an experienced project team with the right leaders driving the bus, so to speak, can mean the

In a strategic move to reduce its heavy dependence on Russian natural gas, Belarus has successfully completed its first nuclear power plant (NPP). The Belarusian NPP, featuring two VVER-1200 reactors, now

The need for emissions-free power generation, along with the ability to provide more power when and where it’s needed, is driving research and development of smaller nuclear reactors. Energy industry

Simple cycle gas turbines provide efficiency levels of around 35% to 40%. Combined cycle units boost efficiency to 60% and beyond. But another option is emerging that combines the attributes of simple and combined cycle designs. This hybrid configuration uses a single power turbine expander and recycles exhaust heat back to the combustor to combine […]

Microreactors are a class of very small modular reactors targeted for non-conventional nuclear markets. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) supports a variety of advanced reactor designs, including gas, liquid-metal, molten-salt, and heat-pipe-cooled concepts. In the U.S., microreactor developers are currently focused on designs that could be deployed as early as the mid-2020s. The key […]

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 […]

Caithness Energy’s Guernsey Power Station, which features GE Vernova equipment, is an important gas-fired facility helping replace retired coal-fired generation in the PJM Interconnection territory

Oil shale doesn’t fuel a lot of power plants around the world, but in Jordan, it’s a vital option, offering energy security and independence. The success of the Attarat Power Plant in capitalizing on this

Space-based solar power (SBSP) could prove transformative to global energy demand by providing price-efficient, continuous clean energy from orbit (Figure 1). Recent developments, including low-cost space access, mass-produced satellites, robotics, and other commercial-led innovations, will unlock this capability within the next 10 to 20 years. While both U.S. allies and adversaries are rapidly advancing their […]

Fusion energy is a promising form of power generation that aims to harness the same process that powers the sun and stars. Fusion involves combining two light atomic nuclei to form a heavier nucleus, releasing a large amount of energy in the process. This is the opposite of nuclear fission, which splits heavy atoms apart. […]

Back in the early 2000s, some controversy emerged about the practice of spraying large amounts of fog directly into the compressor. Some claimed that this led to blade erosion, pitting, and scaling. So, is it safe to use wet compression on gas turbines by pumping water droplets into the compressor inlet? The answer is yes—provided […]

A run-of-river hydro project on the St. Joseph River in downtown South Bend, Indiana, spearheaded by the University of Notre Dame, was one of the first ever in the U.S. to utilize the StreamDiver propeller

Pumped-storage hydropower is seen as a key technology in China to balance the grid and store excess energy from intermittent sources like wind and solar. The 1.2-GW Jinzhai pumped-storage project is a model

Anyone who works in the power industry knows how important fasteners, such as nuts, bolts, and rivets, and gaskets are to plant operation. Fasteners provide structural integrity, effectively holding everything

There is plenty of enthusiasm around hydrogen as a possible alternative fuel to natural gas in combustion processes. Some hope it can eventually replace natural gas in applications such as utility boilers. However, any transition to 100% hydrogen has plenty of challenges to overcome due to it having such fundamentally different combustion characteristics. This gives […]

MeeFog’s very first installation of inlet air fogging was done at Harbor Cogen in Southern California in 1991 on a GE 7EA turbine where it continues to be used for power augmentation to this day (Figure 1). When it was installed, the fogging arrays were placed upstream of the air filters. Since that time, more […]

The chemicals and water present in power generation plants can have a corrosive effect on metal. Integrating fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) into power plants can help reduce downtime due to maintenance. Power generation plants almost have “too much of a good thing.” The demand for power in the U.S. alone has skyrocketed in the last few […]

Managers know that valves are important to plant operation. That’s why keeping them in top condition is a priority. Upgrading to advanced valve designs and reducing stress on valve materials are just a

Sustainable municipal waste management solutions often involve waste-to-energy plants that can produce electricity while also providing steam to district heating systems. Efficient steam turbines are important

Power companies understand the importance of safety and incorporate many safeguards into plant designs. Yet, the materials used in these defenses also matter, and fiberglass-reinforced polymer (FRP) is an

This month, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and the Commonwealth’s largest utility, Dominion Energy, announced a request for proposal (RFP) for the development and construction of an advanced nuclear small modular reactor (SMR), and the governor signed Senate Bill 454 designed to facilitate the research, design, construction, and deployment of what will be America’s first commercial […]

Siemens Energy has been awarded a contract by German utility EWE to supply a 280-MW electrolysis system. The plant in the German city of Emden is expected to go into operation in 2027 and will provide up to 26,000 tons of green hydrogen annually for various industrial applications in the region. If this green hydrogen […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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

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

The combination of combined heat and power plants with thermal energy storage and industrial heat pumps provides a sustainable and efficient heating sector option. In recent years there has been a growing