Research and Development

Energy and utilities companies are grappling with unprecedented challenges. With the cost of electricity surging by 28.5% in just five years, the average American now spends nearly $300 a month on utilities, leading to a rise in customer defaults and mounting bad debt. Global energy demand is only set to grow in the coming years […]

A $900 million funding opportunity released by the Department of Energy (DOE) on Oct. 16 seeks to spur “first mover” teams that could deploy the first two Gen III+ light water small modular reactors (SMRs) in the U.S. It will also provide funding for “fast follower” deployment support by addressing critical gaps that have long […]

The power generation sector is looking at numerous ways to provide enough electricity to satisfy demand from data centers. Bloomberg Intelligence recently said its research shows data centers, buildings filled with servers and other computing equipment for data storage and networking that supports operations and artificial intelligence (AI), could be responsible for as much as […]

Chinese state-owned manufacturer Dongfang Electric announced the company has completed production of a 26-MW offshore wind turbine, continuing a trend of ever-more-powerful turbines from that country. The turbine’s nacelle, shown dwarfing company workers in a photo posted to social media on October 12, now ranks as the world’s largest. Dongfang said it has been designed […]

As part of the energy transition journey, there is a global push to prioritize the production of renewable energy sources in the fight against climate change. One solution that is propelling this transition forward is the transformation of waste and residue materials such as used cooking oil (UCO) into renewable fuels including sustainable aviation fuel […]

In late 2023, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a $7 billion initiative to establish seven Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs, aiming to scale the use of cost-effective clean hydrogen. This initiative comes as utilities face growing pressures from data centers and other industries that are demanding increasingly large amounts of reliable power. Hydrogen’s role […]

The artificial intelligence (AI) revolution is transforming our world, but it comes with an insatiable surge in data centers that are powered by an ever-growing appetite for energy. As AI and high-performance computing (HPC) applications proliferate, the tech industry faces a growing challenge: building the next generation of data centers and finding suitable locations with […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) unveiled plans on Sept. 27 to inject $1.3 billion into its portfolio of federally funded carbon capture demonstration and large-scale pilot programs by the end of the year—including up to $400 million to support one commercial-scale coal power plant carbon capture and storage (CCS) demonstration. The Office of Clean Energy […]

Project Tundra, a demonstration project that seeks to capture an average of 4 million tons of carbon dioxide from flue gas from two lignite-fired units at the 705-MW Milton R. Young Station near Center, North Dakota, has secured a $4.1 million federal award from the Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED). Under […]

Space-based solar power (SBSP) could prove transformative to global energy demand by providing price-efficient, continuous clean energy from orbit (Figure 1). Recent developments, including low-cost space access, mass-produced satellites, robotics, and other commercial-led innovations, will unlock this capability within the next 10 to 20 years. While both U.S. allies and adversaries are rapidly advancing their […]

A project that will demonstrate the conversion of a former coal mine in Bell County, Kentucky, into a utility-scale 287-MW pumped storage hydroelectric facility has garnered federal backing from the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED). Rye Development, a pumped storage hydropower developer, on Sept. 25 secured $12.1 million—the first tranche […]

The UK government has narrowed its shortlist of technologies competing in its flagship Small Modular Reactor (SMR) competition to four candidates. On Sept. 25, it announced that Westinghouse, GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH), Holtec Britain, and Rolls-Royce SMR remain in the running to negotiate potentially multi-billion-pound nuclear technology development contracts under the fast-track initiative aimed at […]

Google’s top executive confirmed the company is working on large-scale data centers that would use more than 1 GW of power. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, in a speech last week at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh said small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) could possibly be used to generate the needed electricity. Pichai […]

The U.S. Department of the Air Force has awarded Sage Geosystems an initial $1.9 million contract to demonstrate its pioneering geothermal baseload power and energy storage system at an off-site test well in Starr County, Texas.  When completed as planned in 2025, the demonstration will become the first Geopressured Geothermal Systems (GGS) facility in the […]

Energy giant Equinor said it will not export blue hydrogen from Norway to Germany due to economics and a lack of demand. Equinor on September 20 said it would discontinue a project that would have supplied German gas-fired power plants with blue hydrogen via the world’s first offshore hydrogen pipeline. Blue hydrogen is a fuel […]

Fusion energy is a promising form of power generation that aims to harness the same process that powers the sun and stars. Fusion involves combining two light atomic nuclei to form a heavier nucleus, releasing a large amount of energy in the process. This is the opposite of nuclear fission, which splits heavy atoms apart. […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has granted Abilene Christian University (ACU) a construction permit to build its Molten Salt Research Reactor (MSRR) facility on the university’s campus in Texas. The approval is the regulatory body’s first for a liquid-fueled advanced reactor, the first for a research reactor in decades, and its second for any advanced […]

A project near Basin Electric’s Dry Fork Power Station, a 405-MW coal-fired power plant in Gillette, Wyoming, has become the first of four Department of Energy (DOE) selections to receive federal funding to kick off a large-scale carbon capture pilot. The DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) on Aug. 27 said it awarded the […]

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced it will provide $125 million in funding to support two Energy Innovation Hub groups that will look at challenges facing the battery energy storage industry. The DOE on September 3 said teams of researchers “will develop scientific concepts and understanding to impact decarbonization of transportation and incorporation of […]

Research from a group that tracks fossil fuel and other energy projects shows that just 15 countries, led by China and India, account for 98% of coal-fired power plants under development worldwide. Global Energy Monitor (GEM), a San Francisco, California-based non-governmental organization, in its latest Global Coal Plant Tracker (GCPT) said China and India alone […]

There is plenty of enthusiasm around hydrogen as a possible alternative fuel to natural gas in combustion processes. Some hope it can eventually replace natural gas in applications such as utility boilers. However, any transition to 100% hydrogen has plenty of challenges to overcome due to it having such fundamentally different combustion characteristics. This gives […]

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has published details of a plan to make millions of acres of public lands across the western U.S. available for development of solar power. The Western Solar Plan, which revises guidelines from more than a decade ago, was published in the Federal Register on August 30. The BLM said […]

The chemicals and water present in power generation plants can have a corrosive effect on metal. Integrating fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) into power plants can help reduce downtime due to maintenance. Power generation plants almost have “too much of a good thing.” The demand for power in the U.S. alone has skyrocketed in the last few […]

Solar energy is one of the main ways to curb greenhouse gas emissions and take action against the impact of climate change. Solar power offers security that homeowners can continue to generate their own electricity and potentially store it, especially in areas prone to natural disasters and power outages. There’s been a surge in adoption […]

A leading nuclear science and technology group in Canada, along with the investment arm of one of the country’s top banks, said they together would invest about CA$20 million ($14.6 million) to support development of commercial fusion energy. Canadian Nuclear Laboratories and BDC Capital, part of the Business Development Bank of Canada, on August 8 […]

Sage Geosystems will build a first-of-its-kind 3-MW geothermal baseload power and energy storage system on land owned by San Miguel Electric Cooperative (SMECI) in Christine, Texas. The company plans to begin operating the project later this year to supply the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) grid. The project will mark the first commercial-scale deployment […]

India’s Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) will allow the country’s flagship 500-MWe/1,250-MWth prototype fast-breeder reactor (PFBR) in Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu, to approach criticality. The nuclear energy safety watchdog on July 30 granted state-owned Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Ltd. (BHAVINI) permission to embark on the final stage of core loading following assessments, extensive safety reviews, and plant […]

Managers know that valves are important to plant operation. That’s why keeping them in top condition is a priority. Upgrading to advanced valve designs and reducing stress on valve materials are just a

Transitioning the world towards cleaner and greener energy is proving to be more challenging than we once all hoped. There are real concerns about what impact the slower speed of uptake is having on our

Construction of Hermes, Kairos Power’s 35-MWth iterative non-power demonstration molten salt nuclear reactor, has officially kicked off in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The effort marks another major step for the burgeoning advanced nuclear industry, which celebrated the groundbreaking of TerraPower’s Kemmerer 1, a pioneering sodium-cooled fast reactor demonstration, in June. Site work and excavation for the Hermes […]