Solar

Utilities are faced with many disruptive changes in the power market. Customers are demanding cleaner energy and turning to distributed generation as a solution. One expert suggested power companies must react and evolve their business models to change with the times. During a keynote presentation at the Distributed Energy Conference in Golden, Colorado, on October […]

Test Your Knowledge The quizzes provided here offer an easy way to test your knowledge of various power-related subjects. If you want to learn more about the quiz topics, follow links to articles from the POWER archive, which are provided on each individual quiz webpage. Competitive Maintenance Strategies Quiz https://www.powermag.com/test-your-knowledge-competitive-maintenance-strategies/ Scaffold Safety Quiz https://www.powermag.com/test-your-knowledge-scaffold-safety/ Monitoring and Treatment of Closed-Loop […]

Large 48 MW-dc (output capacity 35MW-ac) output enough to power 32,628 households(2) TOKYO, Oct 10, 2018 – (JCN Newswire) – On September 25, 2018, the first mega solar power plant in Vietnam began commercial operation. This plant was a joint construction project involving Sharp Energy Solutions Corporation (SESJ)(3), the Thanh Thanh Cong Group (TTC Group)(4), […]

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Oct. 8, 2018) — CPS Energy has taken a major step in using new technology to produce emission-free renewable energy during high energy use days. This focus on reliability, environmental stewardship and innovation was announced today as Greater San Antonio’s natural gas and electric provider broke ground on their first solar energy and battery […]

Natural gas combined cycle, wind, and residential solar photovoltaic technologies may be the least-expensive way to generate power across a wide swathe of the U.S., an interactive map published and recently updated by the University of Texas (UT) at Austin’s Energy Institute shows.  The interactive chart (Version 1.4.0, retrieved on October 4, 2018), first published […]

Gasification Plant Under Construction in Saudi Arabia. A Pennsylvania company has partnered with two Saudi Arabian energy firms on construction of a gasification-to-power plant project in Saudi Arabia. The

The Greek island of Tilos may provide the model for a renaissance of renewable energy across the European Union (EU). Technicians this summer have tested a system that will allow the island to produce and run

The California Independent System Operator’s Energy Imbalance Market (EIM) is a real-time energy market, the first of its kind in the western U.S. EIM’s advanced market systems automatically find low-cost

Leading European rooftop mounting company brings customer-centric innovation to U.S. solar market ATLANTA—September 20, 2018—Esdec, a leading European solar rooftop mounting solutions provider, announced today that it is entering the U.S. market. With more than 1.8 GW of installed capacity and leading market share in several European countries, the company brings 14 years of solar mounting and […]

TORONTO, September 18, 2018— Grasshopper Solar, Canada’s largest vertically integrated solar energy company, announces a USD $10 million investment in six solar power plants from Univergy Solar in Japan. These six ground mount projects, ranging from 439kW to 971kW totaling 4 MW, will utilize 12,500 solar panels, generate 4,544 MWh of clean energy and deliver […]

A report this week from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows coal-fired power was still the major source of generation on a state-by-state basis in 2017, though natural gas-fueled electricity production slightly outpaced coal overall The EIA’s report, published September 10, said 18 states relied on coal for the bulk of their power generation […]

California Gov. Jerry Brown on September 10 signed into law a measure requiring the state to produce all its electricity from renewable sources by 2045. It’s a goal that also has been set by Hawaii and is being discussed by other states. Environmental groups and renewable energy advocates immediately praised Brown’s action. Utilities operating in […]

Unlike their regulated counterparts, merchant power generators have increasingly struggled to compete over the last few years and the outlook for many is that this won’t change any time soon. While regulated power companies often enjoy near monopolies in their respective markets, merchant power companies build out their power generating capacity on a speculative basis […]

EDISON, N.J. (Sept. 4, 2018) — Conti Solar, a national solar engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), O&M and energy storage company, announced today that it was selected to provide full turnkey EPC services for Southern Sky Renewable Energy’s 35 MW solar project portfolio. Headquartered in Warwick, Rhode Island, Southern Sky is the region’s leading renewable […]

GUANAMBI, BAHIA STATE, Brazil (Sept. 3, 2018) – GE Power (NYSE: GE) was chosen by EPC Construtora Quebec, a Brazilian engineering company, to provide its 4.4-megawatt (MW) and 2.2-MW LV5 1,500-volt inverters and skids for the 14-MW Verde Vale III project in Guanambi, Brazil. This project is owned by Vientos Solutions, an owner and operator […]

The framework of a cooling tower. Weathered concrete walls, with empty holes as windows. The remains of what might have been provide the backdrop for what is—a solar farm that’s boosting economic

The U.S. power system is separated into three major components—the Western Interconnection, the Eastern Interconnection, and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. The three operate almost independently

China completed its first large commercial-scale parabolic-trough concentrated solar power (CSP) plant at the end of June. The 50-MW Delingha project built by CGN New Energy, a subsidiary of China General

Tesla in July released more details of its virtual power plant (VPP) project in South Australia (SA), outlining the initiative as well as its resources and the benefits it will bring to the region. The company

The Solar Energy Industries Association, the national trade association for the U.S. solar industry, reports that solar power has grown in the U.S. at a compounded annual rate of 59% since the solar investment

The inaugural integrated system plan (ISP) released by Australia’s Energy Market Operator (AEMO) in mid-July warns that the country is in the midst of a “transformative and unprecedented” rate of change

Lawmakers in California’s Assembly on August 28 cleared a key vote on a bill that would require the state to obtain 100% of all retail electricity sales from renewable and zero-emissions resources by 2045.  The state’s Assembly voted 43–32 in favor of SB 100. The bill, which now heads to the state Senate for a […]

The Trump administration’s Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule announced August 21 calls for coal-fired power plants to meet state-designed performance standards, most notably focused on increases in heat rate and overall efficiency for individual generating stations. Energy experts speaking at the MEGA Symposium in Baltimore, Maryland, on August 22 agreed it’s a goal worth pursuing. […]

The power market is changing. It’s being driven more and more by the retail side of the business, according to Roy Palk, Esq., president of New Horizons Consulting. Palk will give a presentation titled “The Rise of Distributed Energy — New Challenges Bring New Opportunities” during the Distributed Energy Conference, which will be held at […]

Energy industry experts speaking at the MEGA Symposium in Baltimore, Maryland, on August 21 agreed that storage is becoming more important to the overall mix of U.S. power sources. They also said utility-scale storage solutions remain “years away,” even as technology advancements in battery systems occur more rapidly. Panelists at the session entitled “The Transformation […]

52-MWac FL Solar 5 project to produce low-cost, renewable electricity for Reedy Creek Improvement District NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) announced it has committed the capital in construction debt, as well as the tax-equity funding of $35 million for the new solar generation facility, known as FL Solar 5 in Orange County, Florida. This […]

An Indiana consumer protection agency has told state regulators they should reject Vectren Corp.’s plan to build a new natural gas-fired power plant in the state. Vectren wants the plant to replace four of the utility’s retiring coal-fired units. Indiana’s Office of Utility Consumer Counselor (OUCC) on August 13 said it completed a five-month legal […]

The Mongolian government in late June commissioned the country’s second photovoltaic (PV) solar power plant, a 15-MW facility in the province of Dornogovi, in an “economic development zone” of

An aluminum smelter in Odisha, India, built a 900-MW coal-fired captive power plant for its own power consumption. Though the plant features new generation turbogenerator sets, it was completed on time and on

Two planned solar projects in Nevada would be the first in that state to include battery storage, part of an increasing trend toward such projects to help mitigate issues with integrating renewable energy into the larger transmission grid. Both projects are scheduled to begin construction next year pending regulatory approval, with the Bureau of Land […]