New guidance issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Aug. 20 to help states prepare for the second implementation period of the federal regional haze program puts emphasis on “discretion and flexibilities” they can use to comply with long-standing mandates to protect visibility in federal areas. While it is not binding, the EPA’s […]
The Farmington, New Mexico, city council on Aug. 15 unanimously approved a deal to transfer 95% of the ownership interest of the coal-fired San Juan Generating Station (SJGS) to Enchant Energy, a company run by executives of a New York-based hedge fund that wants to utilize what it calls “state-of-the-art environmental technology” to capture carbon […]
San Antonio-based Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) said on Aug. 12 it will get $3 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and another $760,658 from an assortment of industry giants to design a large-scale flameless pressurized oxy-fuel combustion pilot plant. The announcement is a major boost for the promising, but yet unproven technology, that […]
GSE Systems said it has delivered and commissioned three additional full-scope simulators for Southern Nuclear’s new Operations Training Centers. The simulators are for the Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant, and the Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant. Simulators provide efficient hands-on learning for power plant operators. While power plants of […]
Today’s heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) are suffering reliability problems, mainly because they’re being operated in the cycling mode instead of the baseload mode for which they were designed. The good news is HRSG suppliers are adapting to the market demands and are designing the next generation of HRSGs to have cycling-friendly—also called fast-start—features. One […]
Discussions about fossil-fueled power capacity are typically centered on coal and natural gas. The former is seeing a marked decline amid climate concerns, and the latter is seeing unprecedented growth, owing to relatively low prices. Seemingly forgotten, but still a major source of power, are plants fired with petroleum liquids. In 2017, according to the […]
The world’s nuclear sector is struggling to stay economically afloat amid a deluge of renewables and natural gas power, and reinvigorating it will require operational flexibility from new or existing
I was recently reviewing a report issued last year by BMI Research, a Fitch Group company. The Megatrends 2050 Special Report , as it is called, suggests there are three main trends that will transform the
An innovative nuclear wastewater treatment approach that could provide a cost-effective alternative to fixed-column ion-exchange plants is poised to enter the nuclear market. Atkins, a company that
New coal power plant technology is being developed by various companies around the world, but there are some pretty efficient and reliable designs already commercially available. Circulating fluidized bed
