Technology

The Biden administration is fully behind development of new nuclear power technology. It is encouraging the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to look at “new approaches to regulation” as advanced

Moving from reactive to predictive maintenance requires the right tools for use by subject matter experts. As the power industry continues to advance from preventative to predictive maintenance, one thing is

Turkey has considered adding nuclear power plants to its fleet of generators since at least 1970; yet, no commercial reactor units have ever been completed. That is likely to change soon. The country’s first nuclear power plant commenced construction in April 2018 at Akkuyu. When the planned four-unit facility is finished, about 10% of Turkey’s […]

In the utility industry, downtime and outages—from losing power to water shortages and burst pipes—can impact a customer’s day-to-day life, causing safety concerns and costly damages. This is especially true during sweltering summer months or freezing winter seasons caused by extreme weather and climate change. Today, digital transformation is shifting customer expectations as they demand […]

Reports from U.S. agencies indicate the use of renewable energy continues to grow. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the U.S. consumed a record amount of renewable energy in 2020. In addition, renewable energy in the U.S. grew for a fifth consecutive year, accounting for 12% of the total U.S. energy consumption. It was […]

The traditional approach to maintenance has two motors that keep it running. The first motor is proactive service: regularly maintaining equipment, following a schedule to ensure each element is running smoothly before repairs are needed in order to prevent a breakdown. The second motor is to repair once a breakdown happens. While the first part […]

Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is exploring designing, building, and operating an onsite nuclear reactor resource as part of a broader effort to achieve net-zero emissions at its sprawling campus in Idaho Falls by 2031. Battelle Energy Alliance (BEA), an entity that manages and operates the Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratory, on April 29 launched […]

The Advanced Clean Energy Storage Project, a much-watched project under development in Delta, Utah, that is shaping up to be the largest renewable hydrogen energy hub in the U.S., has garnered a conditional commitment for a $504.4 million loan guarantee from the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) federal loan guarantee program. The conditional loan guarantee commitment […]

South Korean power industrial giant Doosan has agreed to forge materials for NuScale Power’s small modular reactors (SMR) starting as early as this year, in a project that would support the commercial deployment of VOYGRs—NuScale’s name for its SMRs—at the 462-MWe Carbon-Free Power Project (CFPP) in Idaho Falls. NuScale separately also teamed with American large […]

Hydrogen combustion has begun at the 485-MW Long Ridge Energy Terminal combined cycle power plant—a flagship GE HA-class project that is purpose-built to transition from natural gas to hydrogen blends and ultimately be capable of burning 100% hydrogen. While the sprawling multimodal facility in Hannibal, Ohio—which sits on the Ohio and West Virginia border—achieved commercial […]

The Department of Defense (DOD) will push forward on Project Pele, a much-watched mobile microreactor prototype, and demonstrate its full operation for a minimum of three years at an Idaho National Laboratory (INL) site. The DOD’s Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO) on April 15 formally released a record of decision (ROD) to proceed with the program, […]

Some cybersecurity experts believe hackers today pose a greater threat than ever to power plants and electric grids. Much of the operational technology (OT) used in power stations and throughout the grid was installed at a time when cybersecurity was more of an afterthought than a focal point in the system design. Furthermore, the pool […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) will next week kick off its much-watched $6 billion Civil Nuclear Credit (CNC) program to bolster the existing U.S. nuclear fleet by issuing a guidance document that will set down criteria for a combined certification and a sealed bid auction process. The agency said in an April 6 update the […]

The Arizona Corporate Commission (ACC) has delivered a major blow to the Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District’s (SRP’s) urgent plans to expand the 575-MW gas-fired Coolidge Generating Station with 820 MW of fast-start capacity. The ACC in a 4–1 vote on April 12 denied approval of the public power utility’s Certificate of […]

Uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems are often installed to protect critical equipment and loads from power outages, and other voltage and current problems. Many UPS systems continuously regulate the input power, thereby maintaining a constant and uniform supply of electricity. UPS systems are typically used on computer hardware or other equipment where an unexpected power […]

Digitalization is furnishing nearly every facet of the power industry with new insights that promise value for generating assets, including refining efficiencies and shaving down operating costs. But though myriad solutions have been introduced, adoption by some power sub-sectors has been cautious, mainly because the advantages of the industrial internet of things (IIOT) are not […]

Palo Alto, Calif. (April 13, 2022) -Today, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) announced the 2022 election results of its Board of Directors, effective immediately. For the second consecutive year, Stanley W. (Stan) Connally, Jr., Southern Company’s executive vice president of Operations, and chairman, president, and CEO of its Southern Company Services (SCS) subsidiary, has been […]

A Wyoming court on April 5 sentenced NextEra Energy Resources affiliate ESI Energy to five years of probation and fined the wind power developer more than $8 million for three counts of violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA). The violations include alleged failures to apply for “eagle take permits” (ETPs) at facilities in Wyoming […]

The benefits of renewable energy continue to grow, with wind generation supplying 9.2% of generation in the U.S. and up to 22.6% in other western countries like Germany. Solar is at 2.8% in the U.S. (for utility-scale installations) and near 10% in Germany. Through diversification and greater distribution system integration, the application of renewable energy […]

Natural gas generation’s future hinges on a precarious and exceptionally volatile set of issues that the conflict in Ukraine intensified. Experts from the full natural gas chain shed light on how that

Natural gas electrical generation has increased significantly in recent years due to its cost advantage and reduced carbon footprint relative to coal. Many utilities are shifting to natural gas as a bridge fuel on their path to the ultimate goal of a net-zero carbon future. With the increase in gas-fired generation, the evaluation and demonstration […]

As more countries plan on achieving a green energy transition, Iceland offers guidance on how to effectively harness the power of geothermal. Imagining Iceland without geothermal energy would require turning

With the increased value of distributed capacity in various energy markets, there is a growing demand for generators in microgrids, which are local energy systems that can be disconnected from the electric

While virtualization has been a trend in the information technology sector for some time, it is also becoming increasingly attractive for operational technology. An Austrian steel producer therefore decided to

Electrification is changing global energy use, as entities worldwide replace technologies that use fossil fuels such as natural gas, oil, and coal, with processes that electricity as the source of energy. Proponents of electrification tout it as a way to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the industrial, transportation, building and other sectors, which […]

ENERGY SECURITY, ECONOMIC SAVINGS, LOWER EMISSIONS (Palo Alto, California—March 28, 2022) Confronted with accelerated timelines to dramatically reduce carbon by 2030 while maintaining reliability during seasonal and extreme weather events, a new study for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) offers electricity providers a rapid and feasible path: hybridize long-duration thermal […]

Today, hydrogen is experiencing unprecedented demand. Its potential to become a key facilitator of a global transition to a net-zero emission economy, and provide a clean energy solution, has not gone unnoticed by industries worldwide—especially in the energy, utilities, and resources sector. But introducing a hydrogen-powered energy economy is no light decision, it will affect […]

Power plants are planning very large investments in generators fueled by hydrogen, methane, mixtures, or ammonia. While hydrogen has the environmental advantage of zero carbon emissions, it has many disadvantages in terms of physical characteristics and safety. The demand on the valves, compressors, burners, NOx control, and other air, water, energy (AWE) products and services […]

Construction of a power plant in Turkey that will demonstrate a stand-alone “triple hybrid” system featuring renewable power sources, a reciprocating engine generator, and a battery has been completed. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group subsidiary Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engine & Turbocharger, Ltd. (MHIET) and Calik Enerji Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S., a subsidiary of Turkish energy […]

Hydrogen is widely seen as a vital component in efforts to decarbonize the world’s power supply. One example of this is a strategy being piloted by at least a couple of major gas turbine manufacturers, which involves storing “green hydrogen” produced through electrolysis using excess wind or solar power when renewable energy supplies exceed grid […]