Research and Development

New environmental regulations have forced many coal power plant operators to consider alternative options for handling their boiler bottom ash. Although mechanical drag systems can often meet regulatory

The ITER Organization has awarded a contract, for a global value above 200 M€, for the Tokamak Assembly (TAC2) to DYNAMIC, a company created specifically for the purpose of guaranteeing the seamless execution of the work by the collective contributions of its founding members: Ansaldo Nucleare, Endel Engie, Orys Group ORTEC, SIMIC, Leading and Ansaldo […]

Exelon’s Byron Unit 2 nuclear power plant has completed installation of EnCore Fuel, Westinghouse Electric Co.’s accident-tolerant fuel (ATF) solution, marking the start of the first test of uranium silicide fuel pellets in a commercial nuclear reactor.  The installation, completed during the plant’s scheduled 18-day spring refueling outage this April, but publicly announced on Sept. […]

There have been a lot of changes in how power plants do business. As financial pressure mounts and lean-staffing strategies are implemented, finding time to do all the work that needs to be done can be a

This year, it seems hardly a week has gone by without a new report making us even more nervous about climate change. It’s as if the editorial theme for 2019 was: “It’s worse than you thought.” Maybe

San Antonio-based Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) said on Aug. 12 it will get $3 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and another $760,658 from an assortment of industry giants to design a large-scale flameless pressurized oxy-fuel combustion pilot plant.  The announcement is a major boost for the promising, but yet unproven technology, that […]

The world’s nuclear sector is struggling to stay economically afloat amid a deluge of renewables and natural gas power, and reinvigorating it will require operational flexibility from new or existing

A pilot project was initiated by China’s largest energy provider to test the effectiveness of fog-based power augmentation for a gas turbine at a compressor station. The system provided a significant

Coal-fired plants have been powering the electric grid for more than a hundred years, but the technology being used in them is not stagnant, as many advancements have been made. One new design—the Clean

On July 29, 1949, at 2:15 p.m., General Electric’s (GE’s) first gas turbine at the Belle Isle Station in Oklahoma City began delivering power to Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co.’s distribution system. The 3.5-MW GE Frame 3 machine reportedly had an efficiency of about 17%. Since the Belle Isle machine (Figure 1) started up seventy […]

NuScale Power, Rolls-Royce, and China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC)—three companies working on different small modular reactor (SMR) technology—recently announced positive developments for their respective designs. NRC Makes Progress on NuScale Design Review Portland, Oregon-based NuScale said on July 22 that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) completed the second and third phases of its SMR […]

GE Renewable Energy’s mammoth offshore wind 12-MW Haliade-X  turbine is on track for an accelerated commercial launch in 2021, the company said as it unveiled the turbine’s first manufactured components on July 22. Haliade-X features a 220-meter (m) rotor and a 107-m blade designed by GE subsidiary LM Wind Power. The turbine design also includes […]

Inter-lab collaboration between the New York Power Authority (NYPA) and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is paving the way for a greener and more resilient power grid – and attracting interest from businesses and government in the process. The Analysis Laboratory for Synchrophasor and Electrical Energy Technology (ALSETLab) at Rensselaer in collaboration with the Advanced Grid Innovation […]

A fully digital nuclear reactor instrumentation and control system (I&C)—the first of its kind in the U.S.—at a Purdue University research reactor in West Lafayette, Indiana, has been licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).  Upgrades to digitalize Purdue University Reactor Number 1 (PUR 1)—a pool-type12-kWt reactor (that runs at 1 kW) originally built in […]

In line with global emissions targets, energy markets are moving ever more quickly to take up renewables. Such a move is obviously important to ensure carbon reduction targets can be met. This does however create an issue—one that’s not been given the attention it deserves—of the impact this has on the conventional power plants that […]

In a recent interview, Raul Pereda, president and CEO of PW Power Systems (PWPS), talked to POWER about the company’s long legacy as a gas turbine manufacturer, advancements in technology it has achieved over the past 60 years, and new applications for its turbines within a transitioning energy system.  No one can read a history […]

July marks two important milestones that set gas-fired generation on its course to becoming a dominant form of power generation: commercial operation of the world’s first industrial gas turbine in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, in 1939, and commercial operation of the first gas turbine in the U.S. used to generate electric power—a 3.5-MW General Electric (GE) unit […]

Adding carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) to two Xcel coal units in Colorado that are slated to be retired by 2025 would push up the cost of power if compared with replacement with wind/storage hybrids. But CCUS, which generates revenues, would still work out to be cheaper than other alternatives mandated under the company’s […]

Japan’s government this June adopted a new energy white paper that suggests the country must rely on a larger share of nuclear and renewables to slash its carbon emissions and meet its target of a 26%

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission conducts an extensive evaluation of reactor technology before approving and ultimately licensing nuclear power plants. Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co. Ltd. began the

GE’s Power Conversion business will provide the full electrical system integrated into Atlantis tidal stream turbine for significant potential to create new, cleaner power generation capacity RUGBY, ENGLAND— 19 June 2019—GE’s Power Conversion business is recently chosen by SIMEC Atlantis Energy Limited (Atlantis) as their preferred supplier to deliver the electrical systems that will power […]

As fossil plants look for new methods of minimizing corrosion, on-line analyzers are gaining importance. An analyzer for chloride and sulfate allows rapid response to rising levels of these corrosive ions. Learn more

Conductivity sensors can do more than just measure conductivity. Calculated values using conductivity data can provide valuable cycle chemistry information, confirm on-line sensor values, save time, and reduce costs. Learn more.

India is striving to conserve coal and slash its carbon emissions. The country which depended on coal for 56% of its total capacity of 356 GW as of May 2019, wants to reduce coal’s share to 45% of a planned capacity expansion to 480 GW by the end of 2022. During that period, it will […]

In China, though specific achievements are hard to pinpoint owing in part to a dearth of public or internationally available information, coal technology developments appear to be advancing more rapidly than anywhere in the world. China’s efforts to foster technology advancements are in the country’s national interest, said Mi Shuhua, executive vice president of China […]

The U.S. is investing heavily to ensure its future coal-fired power fleet will be cleaner, more efficient, and more flexible, experts said at the 9th International Conference on Clean Coal Technologies in Houston on June 4. The conference—which is taking place this week in the U.S. for the first time—is spearheaded by the IEA Clean […]

LOUISVILLE, KY (June 3, 2019) – Charah® Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: CHRA) (the “Company”), a leading provider of environmental and maintenance services to the power generation industry, announced today that it was recognized by the Coalition for Construction Safety (CCS) during their 26th Anniversary and Awards Celebration on April 25, 2019 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Charah Solutions […]

Ansaldo Leads Research Initiative for Low-NOx High-Hydrogen Retrofit Solution. The Dutch government has awarded six partners—Ansaldo Thomassen, Delft University of Technology, OPRA Turbines, Vattenfall

Swedish power company Vattenfall is testing a technology that stores energy in salt, with a goal of proving whether the process would be useful for storage of renewable energy such as from wind and solar