Research and Development

For the first time in decades, a wave of nuclear projects across the U.S. is advancing in parallel—from test reactors to early construction. POWER examines how first movers are navigating execution risk, supply chain constraints, and the race to achieve criticality by 2026. For the first time since the 1970s, multiple nuclear projects are under […]

Battery energy storage group FlexGen Power Systems said it has launched the latest version of FlexGen HybridOS, its hardware-agnostic energy management system (EMS), designed to unify and simplify the experience for battery storage and solar owners and operators with new capabilities that maximize site performance through real-time data and visibility.

Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has teamed up with artificial intelligence (AI) computing giant NVIDIA to advance “PROMETHEUS,” INL’s first-of-its-kind demonstration of an autonomous nuclear reactor driven by AI, to execute a key challenge under the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Genesis Mission. The move adds momentum to DOE’s push to apply AI across the full reactor […]

Nuclear power is emerging as a key, enabling technology for sustained human presence on the moon. With multiple countries and companies announcing ambitious lunar programs—from space research to mineral development to hotels—there is increasing global competition to establish long-term power supply and other infrastructure on the lunar surface.

Fusion energy company Helion said its Polaris prototype has set new industry benchmarks, becoming the first privately developed fusion energy machine to demonstrate measurable deuterium-tritium fusion and achieve plasma temperatures of 150 million degrees Celsius.

The Department of Energy (DOE) has released specifications for 26 artificial intelligence (AI) challenges under its Genesis Mission that could reshape how power plants are designed, licensed, built, and operated. Several directly target nuclear plant deployment timelines, grid interconnection bottlenecks, data center load integration, fusion commercialization, and subsurface energy recovery. Launched via executive order on […]

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) maintains one of the richest and most diverse histories in the federal government. Although the department itself has only existed since 1977, its lineage traces back to the Manhattan Project—the massive scientific effort that developed the atomic bomb during World War II—and to various energy-related programs that were previously […]

Scientists around the world are making progress as they try different techniques to bring commercial fusion energy to fruition.

InSolare Energy Limited (IEL), a leading clean energy solutions provider in India, has entered into a strategic collaboration with Versogen, a U.S.-based pioneer in Anion Exchange Membrane (AEM) technology, to jointly develop and commercialize advanced AEM stack and electrolyser solutions for the Indian green hydrogen market.

Global energy company GE Vernova announced the launch of another offering in the group’s GridBeats portfolio, which features software-defined automation solutions designed to modernize electrical grids by improving resilience, efficiency, and flexibility.

Vema Hydrogen, developer of a low-cost and clean hydrogen production technology known as Engineered Mineral Hydrogen, said the company has completed drilling its first two pilot wells in Quebec, Canada. The milestone marks completion of the world’s first Engineered Mineral Hydrogen pilot wells, according to the company. 

Xylem Inc., a global water solutions company, announced the launch of Sensus Evolve, its new intelligent grid platform designed to help electric utilities gain deeper insight, act faster, and adapt to a rapidly changing energy landscape.

An international nuclear power services company has confirmed it plans to submit an application to build new generation capacity at a long-closed nuclear power plant in Wisconsin.

The Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Type One Energy and the University of Tennessee in Knoxville are partnering to establish a world-class facility that will drive American innovation and move fusion energy closer to reality. This high-heat flux (HHF) facility, located at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) Bull Run Energy Complex in East Tennessee, will evaluate how materials react under extreme conditions in a fusion device.

This year will be a pivotal period for the global energy transition. The International Energy Agency’s recent revision to its net-zero roadmap reveals a changing narrative: we are no longer waiting on breakthrough technologies. Sixty-five percent of the emissions reductions we need are achievable with tools sitting on the shelf today. So, the debate is no […]

Power systems today operate in an environment where reliability and safety must be maintained despite rising loads, expanding interconnections, and increasing dependence on distributed energy resources. One of the most important technologies that supports this stability is the digital overcurrent relay.

As artificial intelligence (AI) models and workloads continue to scale in size and sophistication, their hunger for processing power—and the energy that fuels it—is accelerating faster than any previous wave of digital innovation.

The electricity sector faces a timing problem that’s becoming impossible to ignore. Data centers, artificial intelligence (AI) deployment, industrial reshoring, and broader electrification are driving load growth at rates not seen in decades—and much of that new demand wants carbon-free, firm power. Nuclear checks those boxes. But can the industry deliver capacity fast enough? POWER […]

Recent breakthroughs at U.S. fusion labs, along with new public-private partnerships, are bringing us closer than ever to realizing fusion energy’s limitless potential. However, the U.S. has a major gap to fill in fusion research and development (R&D), and workforce development.

Distributed energy resources (DERs) have become a major part of the power generation landscape, particularly in support of a more reliable and resilient grid. Generating electricity from a variety of sources, including fossil fuels and renewables, using smaller-scale installations is now a key element of demand response and energy efficiency.

Chicken Switch Hitter CBS ArcSafe, a leading manufacturer of remote racking and switching solutions for low- and medium-voltage switchgear, introduced the RSK-CSH-W Chicken Switch Hitter (Figure 1), a wireless

In early 2020, the prevailing narrative in the power sector was a continuation story of the developments from the decade before: renewable buildout will keep compounding, thermal capacity will keep retiring (albeit at a slower rate), markets will evolve to compensate for flexible generation products, capital will keep moving earlier in the development value chain […]

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has launched the “Genesis Mission,” a national effort to build an integrated artificial intelligence (AI) platform across its 17 national laboratories. According to The White House, the initiative will “accelerate scientific discovery, strengthen national security, secure energy dominance, enhance workforce productivity, and multiply the return on taxpayer investment into […]

The Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) is merging with a California-based company focused on development of nuclear fusion in a $6-billion deal. The all-stock transaction announced December 18 would create one of the first publicly traded fusion companies.

As AI demand accelerates, the race is on to bend the power curve before it bends the grid. The first electric refrigerators were mechanical curiosities—loud, bulky appliances that consumed staggering amounts of electricity. But they spread anyway, because the productivity gains were too great to ignore. Daily habits shifted. Food systems reshaped. Household labor changed […]

Vema Hydrogen, developer of a sustainable hydrogen production technology, said it has entered a hydrogen purchase and sale agreement with Verne, a provider of on-site power and cooling solutions. Verne will leverage Vema’s clean energy, known as Engineered Mineral Hydrogen (EMH), to provide low-emission power for its data center customers.

Fusion technology company Thea Energy said it has completed its preconceptual fusion power plant design. The company, founded in 2022 as a spin-out of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and Princeton University, is advancing the stellarator as part of its Helios system.

A California-based nuclear energy company with plans to place small modular reactors (SMRs) in mile-deep boreholes said it will break ground December 9 for a pilot project at a site in Parsons, Kansas. Berkeley-headquartered Deep Fission on December 4 said the company’s Gravity Nuclear Reactor is bring prepared for the Great Plains Industrial Park. Deep […]

Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has selected the five commercial teams that will potentially demonstrate advanced applications—including data center integration—at its much-watched Microreactor Application Research Validation and Evaluation (MARVEL) platform, an 85-kWth/20-kWe liquid-metal-cooled test bed currently under construction at the lab. The initial selections, unveiled on Dec. 4, mark the “first potential end users for MARVEL,” […]

China’s Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics (SINAP) in November reported it had achieved thorium-to-uranium fuel conversion inside an operating molten salt reactor (MSR). The milestone provides the first