Technology

The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) has approved the American Nuclear Infrastructure Act of 2020 (ANIA), just two weeks after it was introduced. Among the bill’s major provisions are that it will seek to  strengthen the nuclear fuel supply chain, help incentivize commercial deployment of new reactor designs, and create a credit […]

Another small modular reactor (SMR) design is moving closer to commercial operation after achieving a licensing milestone. GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH), which is designing the BWRX-300 SMR, on Dec. 1 said the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued a final safety evaluation report for the first of several licensing topical reports (LTRs) submitted […]

MUNICH, Germany (Dec. 1, 2020) — Siemens Energy has been selected by MHI Vestas Offshore Wind (MHI Vestas) to deliver 114 low-loss 66kV distribution transformers for the Seagreen Offshore Wind Farm in Scotland. With an installed capacity of 1,075 megawatts (MW), the wind farm will be Scotland’s single largest source of renewable energy and is […]

A quest for reliability and flexibility is driving significant interest in hybrid and co-located resources, but their widespread integration could hinge on how they are defined and valued in wholesale

At the virtual 2nd Global Ministerial Conference on System Integration of Renewables on Oct. 27, several high-ranking policymakers pointed to a number of localized challenges affecting their countries’

South Korea, Japan, and China, countries that rely heavily on coal power generation to fuel their economies, separately announced ambitious goals to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions within the

Norwegian Group Buying Vietnam Wind Farm. Norway’s SN Power AS in November agreed to purchase 100% of the shares in the 39.4-MW Dam Nai Wind Power project in Vietnam from Mekong Wind Pte. Ltd., a group owned

Even before the Stuxnet malware program made international headlines in 2010, cybersecurity was an important issue for utility companies. In the aftermath of one of the largest attacks on supervisory control

The equipment and facilities supporting today’s critical infrastructure are vital to modern society. This article provides testing and maintenance tips to ensure systems are kept in top condition. Power

Cutting-edge control automation will allow Europe’s biggest utility to extend the lifecycle of its assets at La Casella combined cycle power plant. Italian energy major Enel, through power engineering company Ansaldo Energia, is modernizing its gas turbine control systems at La Casella combined cycle power plant – located in Castel San Giovanni, Piacenza, Italy – […]

BWX Technologies (BWXT) on Nov. 23 said it has demonstrated the ability to additively manufacture nickel-based super alloys and refractory-metal-based alloys for use in nuclear components. The company also said it has “accomplished component-level qualification, leading to a more efficient certification of nuclear materials configured in complex geometries.”  The 3D printing breakthroughs achieved through a […]

Although there is only one nuclear power plant construction project in progress today in the U.S., that doesn’t mean the nuclear industry has gone dormant. A lot of research and development are ongoing, and the federal government is putting millions of dollars behind some of the efforts. The Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program “The Department of […]

“Digital Transformation” is a broad term that can mean vastly different things to different people. Within a given company, it’s easy to gain consensus that such a thing is necessary to stay competitive, but it’s tremendously difficult to define what it looks like in practical terms—much less where to start. Of course, it wouldn’t be […]

Geothermal is an often-overlooked and even disregarded renewable energy resource. While new wind and solar energy projects garner headlines nearly every day, geothermal is rarely sighted in news feeds. That could change in the future. In a report issued last year, the U.S. Department of Energy said geothermal electricity generation could increase more than 26-fold […]

New FLIR VS290-32 Offers a Dual-Sensor, Electrical Safety-Rated Videoscope for Safer and More Efficient Industrial Inspection  ARLINGTON, Va., November 17, 2020 – FLIR Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: FLIR) today announced the FLIR VS290-32™, an industry-first, videoscope that combines thermal imaging and a visible camera specifically designed for safer and more efficient inspections of hard-to-reach underground utility […]

American Electric Power (AEP) will shut down or refuel 5.6 GW of its 2020 coal-fired power fleet by 2030 to comply with environmental rules—including recent revisions governing federal coal ash and effluent limitations—and rebalance its portfolio in a bid to meet ambitious climate goals.  The move is bold for the Columbus, Ohio-based generating giant, which […]

Neil Wright Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology is not new, but it is extremely nascent. To many, it is the natural progression from “smart charging,” whereby electric vehicles (EVs) are only recharged at the best time for the network, to a more holistic grid scheme. But V2G trials are unfolding slowly, as finding the right business model […]

Joe Biden on Nov. 7 clinched the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency, barring Donald Trump’s prospects for a second-term. Almost immediately, reactions from various parts of the power sector streamed in, highlighting possibilities and pitfalls of Biden’s wide-ranging energy and environment agenda.  Energy, and its implications on the environment, figured prominently as […]

By Mark Bole, CEO, Quortus There has been a sharp increase in the number of enterprises across the world looking to build private mobile broadband networks—2G, 3G, LTE, and 5G—over the past few years. Put simply, this has seen enterprises buy up radio spectrum to provide organizations with the freedom to create dedicated, optimized and […]

By some estimates, offshore wind energy has the potential to deliver 18 times the current global electricity demand. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has said offshore wind power could develop into a $1 trillion industry over the next two decades, so there’s obviously a lot of growth potential around the world. While the cost for […]

The successful refurbishment of Unit 2 at the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station marked a pivotal milestone for Ontario Power Generation’s 10-year, C$12.8 billion overhaul of the plant’s four CANDU

Decarbonization is posing a fundamental dilemma that could have widespread serious implications for the power sector: the clean energy transition, if not properly managed, could increase water stress, or be

In a bid to spur economic activity and thwart a COVID-19–related downturn, Australia’s government in September set out a strategy to reset domestic power and gas priorities to tamp down power prices and

Japanese firm JERA, a joint venture between TEPCO and Chubu Electric, on Oct. 13 issued a roadmap to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2050. The move is notable for the company whose business includes a sizable

Through programs such as Transformative Power Generation, High-Performance Materials, and Advanced Coal Processing, the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) is conducting research and development

Inspecting generators has always been a time-consuming and expensive job, yet one that needs to be done at regular intervals. An impressive new visual inspection robot can save owners many days of unnecessary

Chezy and Manning developed equations that are used to determine the average volumetric flowrate in open channels. This article explains a laboratory method that was developed and tested to further identify

For nearly a century, the grid has been one, solid, hulking, inflexible machine. Now, with the rise of technologies like microgrids, distributed renewables, battery storage, and vehicle-to-grid applications, we can reimagine the grids that enclose our communities to be like those fictional spaceships.