Research and Development

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 […]

The California Hydrogen Hub and the Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub have garnered a combined $57.5 million in the first tranche of funding under the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) $7 billion Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs (H2Hubs) program. H2Hubs, managed by DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED), is backed by funding from the Infrastructure Investment and […]

A Kentucky-based group has announced plans to build a 6-GW fleet of nuclear power stations in the U.S., looking to take advantage of bipartisan support for nuclear technology and the need to build more baseload, zero-carbon sources of energy. The Nuclear Company, headquartered in Lexington, said its business model would lean on “proven, licensed technology […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has wrapped up its final safety evaluation for Kairos Power’s Hermes 2 “low power” advanced test facility, comprising two 35-MWth test molten salt reactors—similar to the Hermes 1 “non-power” demonstration reactor for which the regulatory body issued a construction permit in December 2023.  The NRC’s action, announced on July 22, […]

As climate change accelerates, rising humidity is causing an increase in the number and severity of storms occurring in the northern hemisphere. An academic study found that the frequency of unstable atmospheric conditions increased by 8% to 32% over most land areas from 1979 to 2020. “Storm intensity is increasing much faster than the average […]

Next-generation, or “next-gen,” geothermal resources have the potential to increase geothermal power generation in the U.S. by twenty-fold by 2050. Next-gen geothermal concepts use technologies developed by the oil and gas industry to engineer reservoirs for geothermal energy generation, vastly expanding the available resource base. Typically, the term next-gen geothermal refers to enhanced geothermal systems […]

The Morrow Repower Project, winner of POWER’s 2024 Reinvention Award, exemplified a strategic coal-to-gas conversion at a brownfield site that masterfully combined cutting-edge advanced technology with a

Never forget the human factors that can impact safety and success at every level of a project. Marnie Surfaceblow, vice president of Surfaceblow & Associates International, watched the Maharashtra

The combination of combined heat and power plants with thermal energy storage and industrial heat pumps provides a sustainable and efficient heating sector option. In recent years there has been a growing

Efforts to combat climate change drive the growth of renewable energy technologies as governments and utility companies increase investments in solar and wind installations to meet rising electricity demands. Onshore wind is a well-developed market, while offshore wind is beginning to expand due to its high production efficiency and significant energy production potential. According to […]

Southern Nuclear, a subsidiary of Southern Company and operator of more than 8.2 GW of nuclear power capacity, said it has completed the installation of lead test assemblies with additively manufactured debris-filtering bottom nozzles (AMBN) at Alabama Power’s Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant. The AMBN assemblies are a new technology manufactured by Westinghouse Electric Co. […]

The U.S. Senate has passed the Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy (ADVANCE) Act, sweeping legislation that seeks to promote U.S. nuclear leadership, accelerate advanced nuclear technology development while preserving existing nuclear generation, bolster national security measures, and enhance regulatory efficiency to support new nuclear deployment. The Senate passed the bill on […]

Dynamic line rating (DLR) enables utilities to unlock up to 40% additional capacity from existing infrastructure, allowing grid operators to rapidly increase energy throughput. This capability is crucial in today’s energy landscape, where the proportion of renewable energy sources is quickly expanding, and the existing aging infrastructure cannot support this growing demand. Operating power lines […]

The future of energy may depend on technology with roots in the video game industry, by a company founded more than 30 years ago that wanted to use accelerated computing to improve the look and feel of the gaming experience. Jensen Huang, NVIDIA’s CEO and president since co-founding the Santa Clara, California-based company in 1993, […]

Lhyfe, a pioneer in the production of green and renewable hydrogen, delivered 350 kilograms of green hydrogen (Figure 1) to natural gas expert Géométhane, on June 13, for it to test injecting hydrogen into salt caverns at its Manosque site in the south of France. The injection, which was completed within the day, is a […]

Bill Gates’ nuclear innovation firm TerraPower has broken ground on the non-nuclear portion of Kemmerer Unit 1, a 345-MW Natrium sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) power plant. The groundbreaking on June 10 makes the federal demonstration project the first advanced nuclear reactor project to move from design into construction in the Western Hemisphere, the company noted. […]

Decarbonization goals call for advancing high-impact energy technologies. The U.S. has pledged to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, a goal that presents both challenges and opportunities in the field of advanced materials. This ambitious goal requires a wide range of technological advancements to enable the shift from fossil fuel-based systems to more sustainable and low-carbon […]

Engineering firms are increasingly recognizing the importance of digital construction and its transformative impact on electrical engineering and MEP (mechanical, electrical, and plumbing) design. Leveraging digital construction tools enables firms to optimize design processes, enhance collaboration, and deliver more efficient and sustainable solutions for their clients. Rahul Mittal, senior electrical engineer at Arup, has been […]

A year after EPRI and the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) unveiled the first phase of their Advanced Reactor Roadmap, the nuclear industry and its stakeholders have rallied to make significant strides in aligning around the roadmap’s strategic priorities.   Over the past year, efforts have been particularly focused on increasing engagement, promoting regulatory efficiency, and […]