Research and Development

  • EPRI Elects New Chairs, Board Members

    Palo Alto, Calif. (April 13, 2022) -Today, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) announced the 2022 election results of its Board of Directors, effective immediately. For the second consecutive year, Stanley W. (Stan) Connally, Jr., Southern Company’s executive vice president of Operations, and chairman, president, and CEO of its Southern Company Services (SCS) subsidiary, has been […]

  • SNC-Lavalin announces strategic partnership with Moltex on Small Modular Reactor development, expanding nuclear energy in Canada

    MONTREAL: April 13, 2022 – Candu Energy Inc., a member of the SNC-Lavalin Group (TSX: SNC), and Moltex Energy Canada (“Moltex”) are pleased to announce a strategic partnership to advance the development and deployment of next-generation Small Modular Reactor (SMR) nuclear technology in Canada, including efforts to license and construct a first of a kind waste […]

  • Best Insurance for Next Energy Crisis: Nuclear Power

    Nothing gets your attention like a crisis. It exposes what you haven’t done to prepare for it, and what you must do so it never happens again. So it is with the war in Ukraine. We now have a clearer picture of where we’ve grown too comfortable with the status quo. Countries dependent on Russian […]

  • Distributed Renewables’ Cyber Resilience

    The benefits of renewable energy continue to grow, with wind generation supplying 9.2% of generation in the U.S. and up to 22.6% in other western countries like Germany. Solar is at 2.8% in the U.S. (for utility-scale installations) and near 10% in Germany. Through diversification and greater distribution system integration, the application of renewable energy […]

  • Optical Continuous Emissions Monitoring for Combustion Turbine Systems

    Natural gas electrical generation has increased significantly in recent years due to its cost advantage and reduced carbon footprint relative to coal. Many utilities are shifting to natural gas as a bridge fuel on their path to the ultimate goal of a net-zero carbon future. With the increase in gas-fired generation, the evaluation and demonstration […]

  • DOE Project Highlights Advantages of Hybrid Energy Storage

    ENERGY SECURITY, ECONOMIC SAVINGS, LOWER EMISSIONS (Palo Alto, California—March 28, 2022) Confronted with accelerated timelines to dramatically reduce carbon by 2030 while maintaining reliability during seasonal and extreme weather events, a new study for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) offers electricity providers a rapid and feasible path: hybridize long-duration thermal […]

  • Making the Best Decisions on Air, Water, and Energy Products Relative to Hydrogen Combustion

    Power plants are planning very large investments in generators fueled by hydrogen, methane, mixtures, or ammonia. While hydrogen has the environmental advantage of zero carbon emissions, it has many disadvantages in terms of physical characteristics and safety. The demand on the valves, compressors, burners, NOx control, and other air, water, energy (AWE) products and services […]

  • Westinghouse eVinci Micro-Reactors Energize Canada’s Carbon-Free Efforts

    Company’s micro-reactor receives Government of Canada Funding, supports country’s aggressive climate goals Burlington, Ontario, Canada – March 17, 2022 – Westinghouse Electric Canada announced today, along with the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, an investment of C$27.2 million from the Government of Canada’s Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF). This investment will support […]

  • DOE Funds New Program to Recycle Used Nuclear Fuel, GE Conducting Innovative Related Research

    The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced this week that it would provide up to $48 million for a new Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) program that could substantially reduce the disposal impact of used nuclear fuel (UNF). The program, dubbed CURIE (Converting UNF Radioisotopes Into Energy), is intended to support “a comprehensive national strategy […]

  • New Realms for Gas Power Technology

    Gas power technology developers are exploring new roles and applications to ensure gas power will remain relevant as power markets embrace decarbonization. At the end of 2020, about 1,600 GW of gas turbines

  • Sweden’s Government Approves Construction of Spent Nuclear Fuel Repository 

    Sweden’s government in late January gave radioactive waste management company Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB (SKB) the green light to proceed with a deep geological repository (DGR) for spent nuclear fuel (SNF) at a site near Vattenfall’s 3.2-GW Forsmark nuclear power plant. The milestone, which wraps up a planning process that has taken more than 40 years, makes Sweden only the second country, after Finland, to take active steps on building a permanent SNF repository.

  • Low-Cost Long-Duration Energy Storage at a Natural Gas Pipeline

    An energy storage project based on Compressed Natural Gas Energy Storage (CNGES) technology is being studied at the Abbott Power Plant in Illinois. This article presents an overview of CNGES technology

  • Composite Insulator Application and Design for a Growing and Evolving Transmission Grid

    The need to integrate renewable energy resources, and prepare for increased demand for power as electrification takes hold in transportation and other sectors, creates challenges for an aging grid. Some

  • Decarbonizing the World: Hydrogen Technology Is the Next Big Thing

    Many experts believe hydrogen holds great promise as a clean energy resource that can help nations achieve carbon-free goals. Green hydrogen, which is made from water through electrolysis powered by renewable energy, could be used to decarbonize a wide range of hard-to-abate industries, including petrochemical, cement, and steel, which often require high temperatures and combustion […]

  • California Energy Commission Awards Funding to GreenFire Energy Inc. for Demonstration of its Geothermal GreenLoop Technology at The Geysers

    GreenFire Energy Inc. to Partner with Calpine Corporation to Implement Its Steam Dominated GreenLoop Technology San Francisco, California – February 17, 2022, GreenFire Energy Inc. announced today that it was awarded more than $2.7 million by the California Energy Commission (CEC) to install its Steam Dominated GreenLoop (SDGL) technology at The Geysers geothermal field in […]

  • Duke Energy Eyeing Coal Phaseout by 2035

    Duke Energy, the nation’s largest power producer, will dramatically slash coal generation’s share from the current 22% of total generation to 5% by 2030 and achieve a full phaseout of unabated coal by 2035. The company instead expects to deploy more than $130 billion over the next decade—$63 billion of which it will spend over […]

  • American Nuclear Society warns advanced reactors face ‘significant deployment delays’ unless DOE accelerates HALEU availability program

    The American Nuclear Society (ANS) warned the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) that the continued unavailability of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel within the United States is risking “significant deployment delays” of advanced reactors. In a February 14th letter,  ANS President Steven Nesbit and ANS Executive Director and CEO Craig Piercy urged the DOE to expedite the creation of a HALEU availability […]

  • GE-Led Carbon Capture Project at Southern Company Site Gets DOE Funding

    A GE Gas Power front-end engineering design (FEED) study will receive $5,771,670 in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management following successful completion of the award negotiation phase. The funding is focused on carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) for power generation applications with a goal […]

  • Fusion Energy Breakthrough: Record Performance Achieved at JET

    Scientists and engineers working at the Joint European Torus (JET) have set a new record for sustained fusion energy. The team on Feb. 9 reported producing 59 megajoules of fusion energy, more than doubling the previous record of 21.7 megajoules set in 1997 at JET. The achievement was touted as “a major step forward on […]

  • Cormetech Selected to Optimize Point Source Capture to Decarbonize the Natural Gas Power and Industrial Sectors Using Carbon Capture

    CHARLOTTE, N.C.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $45 million in funding for 12 projects to advance point-source carbon capture and storage technologies that can capture at least 95% of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions generated from natural gas power and industrial facilities that produce commodities like cement and steel. CORMETECH, Inc. (Charlotte, NC) has been […]

  • China Starts Up First Fourth-Generation Nuclear Reactor

    The first of two units at China’s much-watched high-temperature gas-cooled modular pebble bed (HTR-PM) demonstration project was successfully connected to the grid on Dec. 20. The achievement marks a major

  • Wind Power and Its Impact on Wildlife: A Look at Current Efforts to Minimize Harm

    The energy transition is likely to result in the continued growth of wind energy project development, and by 2030 more than 224.07 GW across 47 states could be installed, according to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Along with the environmental benefits of replacing fossil-fuel power with wind power, this will undeniably affect songbirds, raptors, […]

  • Japan Bolsters Fuel Ammonia Combustion at Gas Turbines, Coal Boilers

    Japan is furnishing $500 million (59.8 billion yen) to much-watched projects that will develop and demonstrate 100% fuel ammonia combustion technology for gas turbines and 50% co-firing at coal boilers, as part of an effort to build out the nation’s supply chain for fuel ammonia. The country’s national research agency New Energy and Industrial Technology […]

  • Assessing Hydrogen Compatibility with Pipeline Materials and Operations in the HyBlend Project

    January 6, 2022, Des Plaines, IL — GTI is bringing gas industry leaders and stakeholders to the table for a new research and development project that will address the technical barriers to blending hydrogen in natural gas pipelines at large scale. Led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) National Renewable Energy Laboratory–along with participation […]

  • Optimism Is Warranted in the Power Industry in 2022 and Beyond

    While some sectors of the power industry are struggling to stay relevant, there are many more segments that are thriving. As new technologies are developed and perfected, there is more reason than ever for

  • DOE’s First $1B Loan Guarantee in Years Seeks to Bolster Turquoise Hydrogen Process

    The Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) first conditional loan guarantee offered to a non-nuclear project since 2016 will finance the expansion of a pioneering commercial-scale “turquoise hydrogen” and carbon black production facility in Nebraska. The agency’s Loan Programs Office (LPO) on Dec. 23 offered a commitment to guarantee a loan of up to $1.04 billion under […]

  • Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc. Set to Receive $3,300,000 in Funding to Develop Technologies to Reduce Methane Emissions

    Funding Awarded as Part of ARPA-E Program Seeking to Create Cleaner Solutions for Oil, Gas, and Coal Sectors Lancaster Pennsylvania – Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc. (ACT) announced today that it has been selected to receive $3,300,000.00 in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). The funding is part of an […]

  • U.S. Department of Energy awards INNIO Waukesha $2.2 million for emissions reduction technology demonstration project

    Funding is part of Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy program seeking cleaner technology solutions for oil, gas, and coal sectors INNIO Waukesha one of 12 companies nationwide to receive award for innovative emissions reduction technology demonstration INNIO Waukesha’s emissions reduction technology demonstration to support U.S. Methane Emissions Reduction Action Plan announced at COP26 Waukesha, Wisconsin, USA […]

  • How Microreactors Could Change the Nuclear Power Industry (and the World)

    What is a microreactor and why would you want one? The definition could be debated, but nuclear reactors in the 1 MW to 20 MW range generally fit the bill, and there are countless possible applications for the technology. “This could be used for disaster relief. This could be used for mines, remote communities—on a […]

  • DOE Begins Fleshing Out Availability of Advanced Nuclear Reactor Fuel  

    The Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a request for information (RFI) on a planned temporary federal program to ensure enough high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) will be available to jumpstart deployment of a new fleet of advanced nuclear reactors.  Comments received over the next month in response to the DOE’s Dec. 14–issued RFI will inform […]