Technology
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Press Releases
MiCo Acquires Global HRSG Leader NEM Energy
MiCo Co. Ltd. announced that its subsidiary, Hyundai Heavy Industries Power Systems Co. Ltd. (HPS), has signed a share purchase agreement (SPA) to acquire a 100% stake in Netherlands-based NEM Energy B.V. from Mutares SE & Co. KGaA, a German-listed investment firm. The transaction, which includes NEM Energy’s German subsidiary NEM Balcke-Dürr GmbH, is scheduled […]
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Fusion
DOE Approves Xcimer Energy Fusion Power Plant Design
A Colorado-based fusion energy company said the U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) has approved the company’s preconceptual technical design for its commercial fusion power plant.
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Technology
Advanced Weather Forecasting: How Sub-Kilometer Models Are Reshaping Utility Risk and Wildfire Decisions
As fire-weather risk expands beyond California, utilities are turning to sub-kilometer, asset-level forecasts to support public safety power shutoff decisions they can defend in front of regulators. When the National Weather Service (NWS) issued routine convective outlooks on the morning of May 27, 2025, public guidance for the Houston metro called for widespread 30 to […]
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T&D
Growing Grid Strategy: Undergrounding Power Lines to Withstand Weather
The power generation sector, including electric utilities and grid operators, recognizes the value of moving equipment underground to mitigate outages, lessen risks to assets, and reduce the chances of that equipment causing a wildfire.
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T&D
Advanced Technologies Tackling Task of Grid Hardening
Companies are deploying a variety of strategies in efforts to strengthen the power grid against severe weather and other issues.
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Trends
Five Winters After Uri: Why Winter Readiness Must Go Beyond Weatherization
From EOP-012-3 to Order 587-AB, from Cold Weather Critical Component inventories to dual-fuel conversions, the bulk power system has spent five years rewiring how it prepares for extreme cold. Winter Storm Fern, the latest test, showed the system ran “very close to the edge.” The last five winters have given the North American power sector […]
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Nuclear
Antares Mark-0 Becomes First Advanced Nuclear Reactor to Achieve Criticality Under DOE Pilot Program
Antares Nuclear Inc.’s Mark-0—a sodium heat-pipe-cooled microreactor fueled by high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) tri-structural isotropic (TRISO) fuel compacts—has achieved zero-power criticality at Idaho National Laboratory’s (INL’s) Reactor and Critical Experiment (RACE) facility, becoming the first advanced reactor to reach that milestone under the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Reactor Pilot Program. The development, announced on June […]
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Fusion
CFS Publishes Papers Validating Physics of ARC Fusion Power Plant
Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) announced the company has published five peer-reviewed physics basis papers detailing its work on the group’s ARC fusion power plant.
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Fusion
Helion Announces $465-Million Funding Round to Support Fusion Energy
Fusion energy group Helion said the company has completed a $465-million Series G investment round, increasing the Everett, Washington-based group’s valuation to $15.5 billion. Helion is among dozens of U.S. and global companies working to commercialize fusion power.
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Press Releases
AI-Powered Grid Management: Reducing Renewable Electricity Curtailment
Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the energy system: While the expansion of wind and solar power continues to progress across Europe, AI will ensure the efficient use of every generated kilowatt-hour. Intelligent algorithms that synchronize generation and consumption in real time will help stabilize grids, avoiding expensive curtailment. Software will become an important tool for […]
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Fusion
Xcimer Energy Starts Operations of Prototype for Laser Fusion Architecture
Colorado-headquartered Xcimer Energy has announced the start of operations for Phoenix, what the company calls the largest privately owned laser system in the world. Phoenix, named after the legendary bird from Greek and Egyptian mythology, is the company’s prototype for commercializing laser fusion.
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Fusion
Pacific Fusion Touts Funding, Technical Achievements on Way to Fusion Power
Another U.S.-based energy company said its technology has achieved key performance metrics that advance its goal of commercial fusion by the mid 2030s. California-headquartered Pacific Fusion on June 2 said its core pulsed power technology is on track to achieve net facility gain by 2030. That’s the state where the “entire fusion machine produces more […]
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Solar
Design and Construction Planning of Solar Power Projects Under Extreme Weather Conditions
According to the State of the Global Climate 2024 report released by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the continued rise in global temperatures is driving a measurable increase in both the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. Among these, tropical cyclones, including hurricanes and typhoons, as well as extreme precipitation events, have emerged as […]
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Energy Storage
Major Thermal Energy Storage Project Commissioned for South Dakota Biofuels Producer
POET, a South Dakota-headquartered company and the world’s largest producer of biofuels, has joined with Antora Energy to commission a 5-GWh, multi-day thermal energy storage system at POET’s bioprocessing facility in Big Stone City, South Dakota. Antora is supplying batteries from the company’s recently expanded San Jose, California gigafactory. The companies earlier in May said […]
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Data Centers
Five-Nines Data Center Uptime Starts with Automation
Uptime has become the defining performance metric of the modern data center. As digital services underpin everything from financial markets to transport systems, tolerance for disruption has all but disappeared. For mission-critical environments, 99.999% availability and just five minutes of downtime per year aren’t the dream, but the baseline. Industry performance is improving. According to the Uptime Institute’s Annual Outage Analysis 2025, data center service availability has […]
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Nuclear
Thea Energy Raises $100 Million in New Funding to Advance Fusion Technology
New Jersey-based Thea Energy, one of several U.S. companies working to commercialize fusion energy, said the company has raised $100 million in Series B funding. Thea is advancing stellarator technology to provide baseload fusion power. The company, which has several investors, is moving toward beginning construction of its Helios power plant (Figure 1) by the […]
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Press Releases
Texture Raises $12.5M to Tackle the Operational Complexity of the Modern Grid
VoLo Earth and Equal Ventures co-lead Series A in grid technology firm building an “operating system” to help utilities consolidate data and maximize value across operations — from data center load to renewables growth to distributed energy resources. Texture, the grid software platform that provides utilities a single view of every device and data source […]
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Nuclear
More Nuclear-Powered District Heating Planned in Finland
Finnish energy group Steady Energy has signed a letter of intent with Alva-yhtiöt, the city of Jyväskylä’s water and energy group, to study the suitability of small-scale nuclear power as a source of district heating for the city.
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Press Releases
Fives ProSim Launches ProSimPlus Python API, a New Generation of Python Driven Process Simulation
Fives ProSim, a subsidiary of the Fives Group and an expert in industrial process simulation and optimization, announces the release of ProSimPlus Python API. This new solution enables users to run the engine of ProSimPlus, a leading software dedicated to the design, simulation, and optimization of continuous industrial processes, directly from the Python environment. A […]
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Interview
The POWER Interview: Quantum Computing’s Importance for Utilities and Power Generators
Dr. Remy Notermans, director of Strategic Planning for Atom Computing, a Boulder, Colorado-based group developing large-scale quantum computers, recently provided POWER with information about how quantum computing works. Notermans discussed how quantum computing can benefit electric utilities and the power generation sector.
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Nuclear
How Trump’s EO 14300 Is Reshaping NRC Nuclear Licensing and Regulation
A year after President Trump signed Executive Order (EO) 14300 directing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to cut red tape and speed nuclear deployment, the agency is claiming a string of historic firsts, a backlog of rules in motion at unprecedented scale, and an internal reorganization due to take effect next month. In a news […]
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Gas
MD&A Positions Itself as Alternative Source for 7FA and 7EA Gas Turbine Rotor Life Extensions
With hundreds of 7FA and 7EA gas turbines approaching end-of-life thresholds and industry-wide constraints on forgings and shop capacity, MD&A has invested a decade in reverse engineering, supply chain development, and production of rotor components to offer utilities an independent path forward. The gas turbine bubble of 2000 to 2004 saw between 600 and 700 […]
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Trends
NRC Clears Long Mott’s Environmental Review on a Faster Path—Another Milestone for Commercial Advanced Nuclear
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has completed its environmental assessment (EA) of the proposed 320-MW Long Mott Generating Station at Dow’s Seadrift site in Texas, issuing a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the four-reactor X-energy project. According to X-energy, the NRC completed the environmental review in under a year, marking the first time […]
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Solar
How Solar PV Yield Risk Shapes Project Design, Investment, and Bankability
Expected annual energy yield (PVout) is a fundamental number for every utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) project. It informs the design, shapes the budget, feeds the financial model, and influences what investors and lenders are willing to accept. Behind every expected yield estimate, however, is a range of uncertainty. Part of it comes from the solar resource […]
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Gas
Wärtsilä, Origem Energia Partner on Brazilian Power Plant Projects
Technology group Wärtsilä has signed two equipment supply contracts with Origem Energia for the development of new balancing power projects in Brazil. The contracts announced May 13 cover the supply of two batches of 18 Wärtsilä 34SG balancing engines.
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Commentary
Managing AI’s Footprint in a Carbon-Constrained World
Behind even the smallest convenience powered by AI is a massive surge of computing power for training models and inference. All that computing power requires energy.
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Technology
Star Catcher Raises $65 Million to Build First Power Grid in Space
Florida-headquartered Star Catcher Industries said it has raised $65 million in an oversubscribed Series A funding round, as the company continues its effort toward building the first space-based power grid. Star Catcher, based in Jacksonville, said the new investment—led by B Capital and co-led by Shield Capital and Cerberus Ventures, the venture arm of Cerberus […]
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Gas
GE Vernova Modernizing Türkiye’s Power Generation With Country’s First H-Class Gas Turbine
GE Vernova announced the start of commercial operation of the 852-MW Kırklareli power plant in Türkiye. The natural gas-fired combined-cycle power station, featuring GE Vernova’s 9HA.02 gas turbine, is the first in that country to use an H-class product.
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Gas
Fast Power for a Constrained Grid: Wet Compression Applications in Gas Turbines
There has never been a time when so much power was needed so fast. Driven by the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, more data center capacity is in development or under construction now than has been built in all of history. According to analyst firm Industrial Info Resources (IIR), each month of 2025 saw at least […]
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Commentary
The Insurance Engine Behind Energy Growth
The global energy landscape is undergoing a profound transformation. Increasing demand for power driven by the proliferation of data centers, the rapid adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), expansive manufacturing, and widespread industrial electrification has brought the need for new, sustainable power sources into sharp focus. This burgeoning load growth necessitates the urgent deployment of renewable […]