Technology
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IIOT
EDD to lead $4.9MM U.S. DOE Project for Resilient DER Integration
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy has selected Electrical Distribution Design (EDD) to lead a project focused on increasing solar situational awareness and grid resilience through threat detection. EDD, working with project partners PEPCO Holdings (PHI), Clean Power Research (CPR), Florida State University (FSU), Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA), University of Delaware (UD), […]
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Fuel
Regulators: Central Station Generation Will Stay Dominant Despite Emerging Tech
A nationwide survey of state utility commissions suggests regulators are increasingly grappling with issues that could “profoundly” alter energy delivery and utility business models. However, over the next decade, they expect central station generation will continue to dominate state portfolios, and utility-scale solar growth will surpass customer-owned photovoltaic (PV). The survey to take the “regulatory […]
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Gas
ExxonMobil and GE Launch Advanced Co-Branded Turbine Oil Capable of Increasing Bearing Efficiency by 15 Percent
Mobil SHCTM 918 EE turbine oil is the first lubricant to meet the GEK 121603 specification, the first-ever Energy Efficiency (EE) turbine oil spec on the market New technology can help operators reduce energy consumption, and, thus, the cost to produce power The turbine oil is designed for use in multi-shaft 7HA, 9HA, 6FA.01 and […]
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O&M
United Electric Controls Demonstrates WirelessHART Gas Detection Solutions for the Power Industry
Watertown, Mass. U.S.A — November 19, 2019 — United Electric Controls, a leading producer of safety, alarm and emergency shutdown technology, is demonstrating wireless gas detection solutions for the power industry, including new ammonia and hydrocarbons sensor head options for its Vanguard WirelessHART gas detector. Wireless gas detection reduces compliance costs and improves safety by eliminating […]
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O&M
United Electric Controls Demonstrates Smart Switches for Power Applications
Watertown, Mass. U.S.A — November 19, 2019 — United Electric Controls (UE), a leading producer of safety, alarm and emergency shutdown technology, is demonstrating its line of smart switches for power industry applications. This includes its One Series electronic pressure and temperature switches with optional 4-20 mA output that replace electromechanical switches, and its One […]
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News
IEA World Energy Outlook: Solar Capacity Surges Past Coal and Gas by 2040
Solar photovoltaic (PV) could surge ahead of coal and gas and become the largest source of installed power capacity in the world in the next two decades if countries pursue stated policies and targets, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its newly released World Energy Outlook 2019 (WEO2019). The agency’s annual publication, which it […]
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Nuclear
One Nuclear Power Project Delayed; Three Leap Forward
The long-overdue Olkiluoto 3 nuclear power plant (NPP) in Finland has been delayed again, but nuclear projects in Russia, Canada, and Iran achieved important milestones in November. New Novovoronezh Unit Enters Commercial Operation Rosatom announced on Nov. 1 that Unit 2 at the Novovoronezh Nuclear Power Plant II entered commercial operation 30 days ahead of […]
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News
How the DOE Plans to Modernize the Grid in the Near Term
Twenty-three projects chosen by the Department of Energy (DOE) in response to its 2019 Grid Modernization Lab Call provide a broad look at the critical issues that are roiling the nation’s power sector, as well as the tools and technologies that it has determined will best bolster the grid of the future in the near […]
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Connected Plant
Schneider Electric Provides Grid Flexibility With Release of Ecostruxure DERMS
Paris, France, November 12, 2019 – Schneider Electric, global specialist in energy management and automation, announces the release of EcoStruxure™ DERMS – Distributed Energy Resource Management System. The new energy landscape is becoming more decarbonized, more decentralized and more digitalized. Electricity consumers are seeking more control over their energy future and are driving the growing […]
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Gas
Siemens to upgrade steam power plant in Vietnam to combined cycle power plant
• Electrical capacity increased to approximately 1,200 megawatts • Fired with regasified liquefied natural gas instead of oil • Fifty percent lower CO2 emissions per kilowatt hour produced Siemens will provide the equipment to upgrade the Hiep Phuoc 1 steam power plant in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, to a combined cycle power plant. This […]
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Technology
SAP and Accenture Co-Develop New Cloud-Based Solution to Help Utilities Companies Supercharge Business Processes and Customer Experiences
WALLDORF, Germany, and NEW YORK — Nov. 11, 2019 — SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) and Accenture (NYSE: ACN) announced they are co-innovating and co-developing the new SAP® Cloud for Utilities solution to help companies more effectively manage business processes and customer experiences. The initiative aims to elevate energy transition and customer experiences, helping companies quickly […]
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Cybersecurity
Air-Gapped Industrial Control Networks: What You Need to Know
Many networks across a variety of verticals including government, military, financial services, power plants, and industrial manufacturing have been so-called “air-gapped.” This means they are physically and logically isolated from other networks where communication between these networks is not physically or logically possible. This can be a good thing or bad thing depending on your […]
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Instrumentation & Controls
Leading Technology for Measuring Steam
World’s Only Clamp-on Steam Meter Edgewood, NY, November 8th, 2019 – FLEXIM is pleased to announce its development of the one and only, ultrasonic clamp-on steam meter. This has been years in the making as it was FLEXIM’s ultimate challenge, until today. The worldwide official release date of the FLUXUS ST is November 1, 2019. […]
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Fuel
New Boosts for Commercial Production of HALEU Advanced Nuclear Reactor Fuel
Efforts to commercialize production of high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel, which is needed for an array of advanced reactors, ramped up this week with two major announcements. As the Department of Energy (DOE) contracted Centrus Energy to demonstrate production of HALEU fuel for advanced reactors at the DOE’s American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio, private […]
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Connected Plant
The POWER Notebook: Power Sector Digitalization Accelerates
The pace at which new digitalization technologies are being adopted in the power sector is dizzying, but news from major players in the sector—among them, AES, Invenergy, Google, and IBM—this week suggests it will only accelerate. For more insight into power plant digitalization, including the latest in digital monitoring, diagnostic, analytics, Industrial Internet of Things […]
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News
EPA Proposes Revisions to Two Obama-Era Rules: Effluent Limitations Guidelines and Coal Ash
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued long-awaited proposed revisions of two 2015 Obama-era rules that apply to effluent limitations guidelines (ELGs) for steam electric power plants and coal combustion residuals (CCR) management by electric utilities. The agency coordinated the release of the two related revisions, which apply overwhelmingly to coal-fired steam power plants, after […]
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Connected Plant
GE Shelves Plans to Spin-Off Digital Business
GE will retain its lucrative digital business—not spin it off, as had been planned—but it will sharpen the division’s focus on four key markets, including electric utilities and power generation, GE Digital CEO Pat Byrne told customers in an Oct. 31 letter. “I want to affirm that GE Digital is staying in GE,” Byrne wrote. […]
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IIOT
CleanSpark Awarded $627,000 Software Controls and Energy Storage Contract
SALT LAKE CITY, Oct. 30, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — CleanSpark, Inc. (OTCQB: CLSK), a microgrid company with advanced engineering, software and controls for innovative distributed energy resource management systems, today announced an award of a contract totaling $627,000 to provide software controls and energy storage to Energias Limpias De CentroAmerica (ELCA) as part of their Energy as […]
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IIOT
EAM Solutions Stretch Capabilities of Lean Plant Maintenance Teams
Of the many challenges power and industrial plant maintenance teams face, stretching the capabilities of their ultra-lean staff is one of the most critical. Assets can range from industrial generators, to
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News
Evolution of Nuclear Power Continues with Operation of First EPR
Unit 1 at the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant in China is the site of a milestone for nuclear technology. It also illustrates cooperation between France and China, using the lessons learned from earlier projects
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News
Equipment Showcase: Boilers, Burners, Combustion
Boiler and burner manufacturers, along with suppliers of combustion control systems, work with the power generation sector along with other industries. They provide equipment for low- and high-pressure steam
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Infographics
THE BIG PICTURE: The Diffusion of Nuclear Technology
A historical analysis of nuclear power technology by researchers from the German Institute for Economic Research suggests that none of the 674 reactors developed globally since 1945 were developed based on “economic grounds”—as private investments in the context of a market-based competitive system. Until the 1950s, only four major countries dominated nuclear technology by establishing independent […]
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News
France Scraps Fast Nuclear Reactor Demonstration
France’s nuclear research agency, Commissariat à l’énergie atomique (CEA), in September confirmed it abandoned plans to build a prototype Advanced Sodium Technological Reactor for Industrial
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Connected Plant
Evolutionary Triumph: China’s First ACPR1000
Completion of the first ACPR1000 reactor at Yangjiang 5 within a mere 58 months marks a major achievement for China’s lengthy efforts to commercialize the first-of-its-kind 1,000-MW evolutionary
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News
Is Small Beautiful? Maybe Not When It Comes to Wind Power
Wind power has become a major electric generating source in the U.S. and elsewhere, based on the reality that this renewable energy technology, beloved of the environmental community that has long embraced the
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Fuel
Dependable Renewable Energy for the Power Grid
Although wind and solar facilities receive most of the renewable power publicity, biomass offers a reliable baseload solution for power generators. State-of-the-art circulating fluidized bed boilers are a
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News
Operating HRSGs with Elevated Feedwater pH
Cycle-chemistry guidelines for combined cycle power plants have changed over the years, with pH frequently maintained between 9.6 and 10.0 today. That can cause problems with condensate polisher operation
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Connected Plant
Innovative Technology Captures Energy from Waste Heat
Fuel- and emission-free generators convert low-grade waste heat from diesel generators into power. In 2014, three organic Rankine cycle (ORC) generators were installed to turn the waste heat from three diesel
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News
Stranded Nuclear Asset Provides Opportunity for Seawater Pumped Storage
The closure of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in 2013 left a stranded coastal asset. However, the existing transmission infrastructure, site control, and geographic topology make it an ideal site