Renewables

  • GE Selling Biopharma Unit in $21.4 Billion Deal

    General Electric’s (GE’s) sale of its biopharma unit on February 25 is designed to reduce the company’s overall debt load, and CEO Larry Culp said the deal is the latest step in his plan to strengthen the whole of GE, particularly the company’s struggling Power division. GE on Monday agreed to sell the biopharma part […]

  • Kyocera, LO3 Energy Will Demonstrate Blockchain-Managed Virtual Power Plant

    KYOTO, Japan (February 25, 2019) — Kyocera Corporation and New York-based LO3 Energy today announced a joint project to test the feasibility of a blockchain-managed virtual power plant (VPP) utilizing a peer-to-peer distributed consensus network. The test will start Feb. 28, 2019 at Kyocera’s Yokohama Nakayama Office in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, where a small VPP will […]

  • Groups Reach Deal to Keep New Mexico Coal Plant Open

    A private New York-based real estate investment company that focuses on North American energy projects has reached an agreement with officials in Farmington, New Mexico, to keep the coal-fired San Juan Generating Station open beyond 2022. The city is part-owner of the 847-MW plant, and the other owners—which include Tucson Electric Power, Los Alamos County, […]

  • APS Will Add 850 MW of Battery Storage to Solar Plants

    Arizona’s largest utility wants to support its renewable power portfolio by adding as much as 850 MW of battery storage capacity to its solar power plants by 2025. Arizona Public Service Co. (APS) made the announcement February 21. Don Brandt, the utility’s chairman and CEO, in a statement said, “Arizona is already a national leader […]

  • Consumers Energy Announces Plans to Develop Solar Power Plant in Cadillac, Michigan

    CADILLAC, Mich. (Feb. 21, 2019) — Consumers Energy announced today that it plans to develop its third solar power plant in Cadillac, building on its Triple Bottom Line commitment to people, the planet and Michigan’s prosperity. “Consumers Energy is taking a stand for our planet with our Clean Energy Plan that includes over 40 percent […]

  • Japanese Conglomerates Rejigger Power Sector Strategies

    Hitachi and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), two giant Japanese companies with substantial stakes in the world’s power sector, are separately rethinking future business directions as sizable disruptions shake up prospects for traditional market growth. In recent months, Hitachi refined its business model to prepare it for explosive demand in  digitalization solutions, focusing heavily on grid […]

  • GeoGenCo’s Zero Water Geothermal Technology Helps Imperial Irrigation District Achieve Green Energy Goals

    GeoGenCo Nears Final Design Completion EL CENTRO, Calif., Feb. 20, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — GeoGenCo, LLC has completed their semi-final designs for their next generation True Geothermal 20-megawatt (MW) power plant in Imperial Valley, CA. GeoGenCo has a 15 MW Power Purchase Agreement with Imperial Irrigation District (IID) and expects to be providing power by June […]

  • Clobotics Joins Forces with Leading European Wind O&M Provider GEV to Bring Artificial Intelligence to $27.4 Billion Market

    SEATTLE – February 20, 2019– Clobotics, a leading provider in industry-level computer vision solutions, today announced a global strategic partnership with GEV Wind Power, one of the largest wind operations and maintenance (O&M) companies in Europe. The global partnership will use Clobotics pioneering artificial intelligence solutions to deliver AI-based autonomous blade inspections for wind turbines, […]

  • Cummins becomes the first manufacturer to receive the 2018 IBC Seismic Certification for its power generator sets

    COLUMBUS, Indiana – Cummins, Inc. (NYSE: CMI) became the first power generator manufacturer to obtain the 2018 International Building Code (IBC) seismic certification. The IBC code ‘provides minimum requirements to safeguard the public health, safety and general welfare of the occupants of new and existing buildings and structures’. The IBC certification assures Cummins generators will […]

  • Solar, Wind, Storage Come Together in Oregon Project

    A renewable energy project in eastern Oregon is being touted as the first in the U.S. to combine wind and solar power with battery storage. Portland General Electric (PGE) plans to build the Wheatridge Renewable Energy Facility just north of Lexington, Oregon, the company announced last week. The utility is developing the 380-MW project with […]

  • Technology Boosts Reliability of Power Plants Despite Shifting Business Foundations

    There is no industry more concerned with continuity of service than the power industry. Maintaining power supply to constituents is the critical mandate of every plant, whether harnessing energy from the sun, wind, water, coal, or nuclear sources. While consistency is a top priority, the plants themselves are often in a state of flux due […]

  • Voith wins modernization order for Togolese hydropower plant Nangbeto

    Voith wins modernization order for Togolese hydropower plant Nangbeto Extensive modernization ensures a future-oriented operation of the West African power plant for the next 30 years High level of involvement of local partners creates jobs on site Training courses enable the operators to handle upgraded components properly Heidenheim. Voith is the general contractor for the […]

  • Portland General Electric and NextEra Energy Resources to develop nation’s first major energy facility co-locating wind, solar and battery storage

    Project will advance Oregon’s clean energy future while delivering affordable electricity for PGE customers Portland, Ore. Feb. 12, 2019 — Portland General Electric Company (NYSE: POR) and NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE), today announced plans to construct a new energy facility in Eastern Oregon combining 300 megawatts of […]

  • California Governor Wants ‘Strike Team’ to Develop Utility Plan

    California Governor Gavin Newsom on February 12 said the state has formed a “strike team” as it works to develop plans to help not only utility ratepayers but also utility employees. The move comes in the wake of the bankruptcy filing by Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) as the state’s largest utility deals with its […]

  • Tri-State and EDP Renewables announce 104-MW Crossing Trails Wind Farm

    Westminster, Colorado (February 12, 2019) — Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association (Tri- State) and EDP Renewables (EDPR) today announced a 104-MW, 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA) that will enable the continued development and eventual construction of the 104 MW Crossing Trails Wind Farm. The project, which is expected to be operational in 2020, marks Tri-State’s […]

  • Tri-State announces Duane Highley as next Chief Executive Officer

    (February 12, 2019 – Westminster, Colo.) — The Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association Board of Directors has selected Duane Highley as the cooperative wholesale power supplier’s next chief executive officer. Highley, who currently serves as president and chief executive officer for Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp., and Arkansas Electric Cooperative Inc., will succeed Mike McInnes on […]

  • The ‘Green New Deal’ Out West

    COMMENTARY Launched last week by New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the “Green New Deal” appears to pick up where President Franklin Roosevelt left off with his “Second Bill of Rights” announced in his 1944 State of the Union Address1. More manifesto than mandate, the Green New Deal seeks to be a lens through which legislators’ […]

  • Iraqi Official Casts Doubt on Deals With GE, Siemens

    Multibillion-dollar energy deals that both Siemens and General Electric (GE) signed with the Iraqi government last year may not come to fruition, according to the country’s electricity minister. The Financial Times on February 10 reported that Luay Al-Khatteeb, who took his post late last year after the deals were brokered, told the newspaper, “I don’t […]

  • Financial and Gas Turbine Blade Troubles Plague GE Power

    GE Power’s financials spun out further on a dismal trajectory during the fourth quarter of 2018, plagued by slack market demand for products and services, technical glitches of a flagship gas turbine model, and poor project execution. Despite a series of divestments and corporate reshuffles, including of leadership, for the 12 months that ended on […]

  • Decarbonization, Electrification Key Among 8 Priorities for U.S. Investor-Owned Power Companies 

    In line with customer preferences, U.S. investor-owned electric companies are heavily invested in decarbonization and electrification, the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) told Wall Street analysts and bankers on Feb. 6. In its annual presentation to potential investors and industry observers, the trade association that represents U.S. investor-owned electric companies lamented a number of uncertainties affecting […]

  • Schneider Electric Selected to Perform Microgrid Expansion at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar

    BOSTON, February 6, 2019 – Schneider Electric, the global specialist in the digital transformation of energy management and automation, today announced the expansion of its microgrid project at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Miramar to boost resilience. A California Energy Commission (CEC) Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) grant will enable the $3.9 million project that […]

  • Sulzer Schmid’s new technology platform slashes cost of drone-based rotor blade inspections

    Zurich, Switzerland, 06 February 2019 – Sulzer & Schmid Laboratories AG, a Swiss company pioneering next-generation technology for the inspection of wind turbine rotor blades, announced today that it has launched a new highly competitive inspection platform. The company’s new 3DX™ HD product has been developed as a cost-effective solution to cope with large volumes […]

  • Hexagon Helps Electric Utilities Cut Fault Location Time from Hours to Minutes

    HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (Feb. 5, 2019) — Hexagon’s Safety & Infrastructure division has released a new software application that aids electric utilities in determining the location of faults more quickly and accurately. Launched at DistribuTECH 2019 in New Orleans, Hexagon’s Intergraph InService Fault Location helps utilities improve outage restoration by cutting fault location time from hours […]

  • Go Electric Launches Hive Microgrid-Enabled Switchgear

    ANDERSON, Ind., Feb. 5, 2019 — Go Electric Inc., a provider of energy resiliency and microgrid solutions, today announces the launch of its new microgrid-enabled switchgear product, Hive. Hive is designed and engineered to provide facilities with critical energy reliability and resiliency when experiencing disturbances from the electric grid. By integrating all the control functionality […]

  • NIPSCO Announces Three New Indiana Wind Farms

    Northern Indiana Public Service Co. (NIPSCO), which is phasing out coal-fired power as part of its “Your Energy, Your Future” plan announced late last year, on Feb. 1 said it will develop three new wind farm projects in the state that will add about 800 MW of renewable power generation capacity to its portfolio. The […]

  • THE BIG PICTURE: World’s Biggest Power Companies

    In 2017, the 10 largest power companies, ranked by their installed generation capacity, owned 18% of total global installed capacity, while the next-largest 15 owned around 10%—meaning that the top 25 companies own nearly 30% of global installed power generation capacity, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Chinese companies account for more than one-eighth of global installed […]

  • Show Preview: Connected Plant Conference

    The Connected Plant Conference is a forum designed for professionals in the power generation and chemical process industries who are leading digital adoption at all stages. Sessions are tailored to offer

  • Powering the Dragon: How China’s Power Sector Is Evolving

    China’s power sector reforms represent perhaps the world’s largest industrial reform program, with important consequences on both domestic and global levels. In 2015, Erdaoqiao, a settlement in southwest

  • DERMS Technology Part of Australia’s Push for Renewables

    A new distributed energy resources management system (DERMS) is being deployed in Western Australia, designed to manage distributed energy resources (DERs) across nearly 1 million square miles, with a focus on

  • COP24’s Hefty Impact on the Power Sector

    Two weeks of intense negotiations at the 24th meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP) in Katowice, Poland, last December culminated in