Renewables

A new study from Stanford University suggests that, if the overall amounts of fuel and electricity required to build and operate energy storage technologies are factored in, grid-scale batteries make sense for

A tremendous amount of offshore wind capacity—from 100 MW to 13,000 MW—is expected to play a major role in Germany’s transition to sourcing 80% of its power from renewables by 2050. However, Energiewende

Scaling is one of the most frequently occurring problems in geothermal power plants and can prohibit the control of well flow if it builds in the well or wellhead. At HS Energy on the Reykjanes Peninsula in

Renewable portfolio standards (RPSs) have been remarkably successful in boosting renewable generation, especially in the western U.S., where most states enjoy large areas of prime wind and solar potential

RusHydro Completes First Stage of New Far East Hydro Project. The RusHydro Group on Oct. 3 announced it had officially completed the first stage of the 570-MW Ust’-Srednekanskaya hydropower plant on the

Abengoa’s Solana solar thermal plant, the world’s largest parabolic trough concentrating solar power (CSP) plant and the first in the U.S. with thermal energy storage, began commercial operations on Monday. The 280-MW plant, near Gila Bend in Arizona about 70 miles southwest of Phoenix, employs molten salt to store about six hours of thermal energy […]

A federation of Germany’s biggest companies last week called for urgent reforms to the country’s renewable energy strategy within the first 100 days of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s newly elected government, including abolishing feed-in-tariffs (FITs) that they say have sent power prices in the country soaring. Key points of the 19-page reform proposal submitted by the […]

Southeast Asia, with an increasingly affluent population of 600 million, must kick investment in the power sector into the next gear to meet expected demand for electricity. Download the report.

California’s drive to add flexibility to its grid in response to expanding renewable generation took another step forward in September as NRG Energy commissioned two new fast-start units at its El Segundo Energy Center near Los Angeles. The two units, with a combined 550 MW capacity, represent the second Siemens Flex-Plant to go into commercial […]

As variable generation from wind and solar power increases and peak loads grow and become more volatile, the U.S. electric grid will rely more and more on gas-fired power to maintain system flexibility. Often at the core of these gas-fired power plants are aeroderivative turbines, whose fast-start and cycling capabilities allow for frequent on-again, off-again […]