Research and Development

  • DOE’s Loan Programs Office Offers Game-Changing Possibilities

    As the presidential inauguration loomed on the horizon in January this year, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Loan Programs Office (LPO) published a “year-in-review” article, highlighting accomplishments from 2024 and looking ahead to the future. It noted that the previous four years had been the most productive in the LPO’s history. “Under the Biden-Harris […]

  • The POWER Interview: Proper Planning Key to Support Electrification

    Several members of the energy community recently provided POWER magazine with their insights on electrification, looking at the challenges for continuing adoption of technologies driving the transition.

  • TVA’s Clinch River Nuclear Power Project: Where Things Stand Today

    The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has for many years been evaluating emerging nuclear technologies, including small modular reactors, as part of technology innovation efforts aimed at developing the energy system of the future. TVA—the largest public power provider in the U.S., serving more than 10 million people in parts of seven states—currently operates seven reactors […]

  • Industry Experts: Market Forces Still Support Electrification

    A changing policy landscape presents challenges for moving away from fossil fuels. Executives say that may slow, but won’t halt, the momentum to electrify. Remember the slogan “electrify everything”? It

  • Overcoming Engineering Challenges in Energy Generation

    This whitepaper from SimuTech Group explores how multiphysics simulation helps engineers solve performance and reliability challenges across the energy generation industry. Covering structural, thermal, fluid, and electromagnetic domains, it highlights practical applications across fossil, nuclear, hydro, wind, solar, and hydrogen systems. Backed by 40+ years of experience, SimuTech Group offers proven strategies to accelerate innovation […]

  • The Virtual Nuclear Reactor

    The current fleet of nuclear reactors are based in huge imposing facilities generally located in isolated locations away from population centers.  This need not be the case. In the near future nuclear reactors will be regarded as portable, modular sources of safe and clean energy. Rather than being located in remote facilities hundreds of miles […]

  • Software and DLRs Key to Unlocking Power Grid’s Potential

    Imagine unlocking 30% more power from our existing grid overnight. That’s the potential we’re ignoring, and it’s costing us billions. The demand for energy is rising, and utilities are struggling to serve this growth. In the U.S., congestion costs have increased from $8 billion in 2021 to more than $11 billion in 2023 despite record […]

  • Baker Hughes, Woodside Energy Developing Decarbonization Solution Utilizing NET Power Platform

    U.S.-based energy tech company Baker Hughes is joining with Australia’s Woodside Energy in an initiative to develop a lower-carbon power generation technology solution specifically designed for oil and gas, heavy industries, and other smaller-scale applications.

  • Nuclear Power Renaissance Underway in West Texas

    When you think of innovative advancements in nuclear power technology, places like the Idaho National Laboratory and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology probably come to mind. But today, some very exciting nuclear power development work is being done in West Texas, specifically, at Abilene Christian University (ACU). That’s where Natura Resources is working to construct […]

  • GE Vernova, AWS Address Energy Demand With Collaboration Agreement

    GE Vernova and Amazon Web Services announced the companies have signed a strategic framework agreement aimed at supporting AWS’s data center scaling. The groups on March 4 said they would collaborate to address increasing global energy demand, advance grid security and reliability, and decarbonize electric power systems.

  • What Comes Next for Carbon Capture in the Power Industry?

    Policy upheavals have cast uncertainty over the future of carbon capture and storage in the power sector, though its momentum is widely expected to continue. In November 2024, the Global CCS Institute, an

  • POWER Digest (March 2025)

    Major Solar-Plus-Storage Project Announced in Middle East. A solar-plus-storage project that could provide gigawatts of generation capacity was unveiled in January during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW)

  • Private Equity Weighs Focus as Government Policies Shift

    As the new administration begins implementing its energy policy agenda, the market is keenly anticipating the impact on private equity sponsors’ energy transition investments. President Trump has signaled

  • Geothermal Energy Storage: The Clean Power Solution You Haven’t Heard Of

    Geothermal energy has been utilized by humans for millennia. While the first-ever use may be a mystery, we do know the Romans tapped into it in the first century for hot baths at Aquae Sulis (modern-day Bath, England). Since then, many other people and cultures have found ways to use the Earth’s underground heat to […]

  • Duke Researchers: Grid Flexibility Key to Accommodate Load Growth

    Researchers from Duke University have said that integrating more flexibility into U.S. power grids could help provide the energy needed to power future load growth, particularly the electricity needed to support artificial intelligence and data centers. The group in a Feb. 19 webinar discussed their findings, which are contained in their recent report titled “Rethinking […]

  • Space-Based Solar Power: The Future of 24/7 Clean Energy Generation

    Imagine a field of solar panels floating silently in the endless day of Earth’s orbit. Unlike their terrestrial cousins, this space-based solar array never faces nighttime, clouds, or atmospheric interference. Instead, they bathe in constant, intense sunlight, converting this endless stream of energy into electricity with remarkable efficiency. But the true innovation lies in how […]

  • Chinese Research Group Unveils New Lithium-Hydrogen Battery System

    A research team at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) has published a study that supports use of a new type of chemical battery system for energy storage and electric vehicles. The USTC team, in their report published in the Angewandte Chemie International Edition, said the system utilizes hydrogen gas as the […]

  • U.S. Hydrogen Production Group Leads Major Japanese Project

    The Yamanashi Prefectural Government in Japan and Washington, D.C.-headquartered SGH2 Energy have formalized an agreement to promote green hydrogen-related initiatives in the Fuji Five Lakes region. The area near Mount Fuji is a world-renowned tourist destination celebrated for its natural beauty. The companies on Feb. 13 said the collaboration “marks a pivotal step in the […]

  • Generate a Cleaner Future with Air Products

    Let Air Products be your decarbonization partner through the transition to sustainable energy. We can help you utilize oxygen to improve your natural gas efficiency, find a potential carbon capture and sequestration solution, or introduce hydrogen to your process to reduce emissions. Download to read our latest content to learn more and take the first […]

  • Bloom Energy, Chart Industries Announce Partnership for Carbon Capture

    California-based Bloom Energy, known for its fuel cell technology, announced a partnership with industrial gas company Chart Industries that will see the companies collaborate on carbon capture technology. Chart, a global company with its U.S. headquarters in Georgia, and Bloom on Feb. 13 said the groups will use natural gas and fuel cells to generate […]

  • How Utilities Can Activate Data to Improve Asset Management

    Nearly every utility in the world has embarked on their own journey of digital transformation, using data to help make processes faster and more efficient. Traditionally, utility data has been collected in silos to support individual functions, and utilities have been hard at work to break down these silos so data can be shared among […]

  • ERCOT and CAISO market trends and successful bid optimization

    Battery energy storage systems (BESS) play an essential role in balancing grids with high renewable energy. They can charge during low price hours and discharge during high price hours in the wholesale markets, or support grid stability participating in the ancillary markets. It is important for BESS owners to maximise their profit by deciding how […]

  • The POWER Interview: Enhancing Reliability of the U.S. Power System

    Designing, building, and maintaining the network of power transmission lines and associated infrastructure that delivers electricity across the U.S. is a complex task. It involves disparate components, from thermal power plants using different fuel types, to renewable energy such as solar, wind, and geothermal installations. Substations are another component, and the use of battery energy […]

  • Software, Hardware, Innovation All Needed to Upgrade the Power Grid

    Enhancing the transmission and distribution of electricity is a priority to ensure a reliable and resilient power supply, as demand increases and grid challenges mount. Providing more electricity to meet

  • The POWER Interview: Emerson Exec Discusses Grid Enhancements

    There are many ways to enhance power grid and power plant reliability, including the implementation of advanced control strategies, proactive maintenance programs, and modern technologies for early detection

  • Building Better Ways to Keep the Lights On

    Utilities and power grid operators walk a fine line when it comes to providing reliable and resilient power while also protecting valuable assets in the electricity transmission and distribution system. Power

  • Focused Energy, Livermore Lab Join in Support of Fusion Research

    Focused Energy and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California have announced the signing of a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to develop a model simulating the behavior of low-density foams wetted with liquid deuterium and tritium during implosion. The agreement supports the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s INFUSE project. Focused, based in the San […]

  • Texas A&M Launches SMR ‘Energy Proving Ground’ with Selection of Four Nuclear Firms

    Texas A&M University System has unveiled four nuclear developers with which it plans to explore building and operating small modular reactor plants (SMRs) at its Texas A&M-RELLIS campus near College Station. The project—dubbed “The Energy Proving Ground”—is part of a state-supported initiative to deploy operational advanced reactors in Texas within the next five to seven […]

  • Streamlining Outage Efficiency at a Pennsylvania Nuclear Power Plant

    Nuclear power plant outages demand efficiency, safety, and a high level of coordination to execute time-critical tasks and bring plants back online quickly. When a Pennsylvania nuclear power plant faced excessive critical path time due to outdated steam line plugs and a unique control rod blade transportation and storage requirement, the plant’s leadership engaged Preferred […]

  • Going Nuclear: Why AI Will Lead the Next Energy Transition

    As policies and regulations are adjusted to reflect a new presidential administration, the U.S. needs to unleash its full energy potential by embracing nuclear power. With opinions and regulations historically slow to adjust, the impetus for nuclear power may depend on the tech companies whose race for artificial intelligence (AI) may at last solve the […]