Technology

  • 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 […]

  • 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 […]

  • 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 […]

  • 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 […]

  • 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 […]

  • 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 […]

  • 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. […]

  • 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 […]

  • 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 […]

  • 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 […]

  • 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. […]

  • 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 […]

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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 […]

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • History of Power Plant Renovation and Modernization in India

    Good infrastructure is an essential component for the economic growth of a country, and power plays a crucial role in infrastructure development. India is home to 18% of the world’s total population, and it uses about 6% of the world’s primary energy. The total power generating capacity from all sources of power in India has […]

  • POWER Digest [November 2019]

    China Begins Operation of Two Innovative UHV Links. China’s state-owned transmission company State Grid on Sept. 26 said it put into operation two ultra-high-voltage (UHV) links: the Zhundong-Wannan 1,100-kV

  • First Floating Offshore Wind Farm to Power Oil and Gas Platforms Kicks Off

    Siemens Gamesa has bagged a lucrative contract to supply 11 8-MW offshore wind turbines to Equinor’s 88-MW Hywind Tampen floating wind farm, a first-of-its-kind project that will power oil and gas platforms 140 kilometers offshore Norway.  Equinor—as Statoil, Norway’s state-owned oil company, is now named—announced a final investment decision to build Hywind Tampen on Oct. […]

  • Russia Completes First-Phase Testing of Nuclear Accident-Tolerant Fuel

    Russia has completed the first phase of nuclear accident-tolerant fuel (ATF) reactor testing at a government research facility. The achievement paves the way for ATF testing at a Russian commercial nuclear plant, which could begin in 2020. TVEL Fuel Co. of Rosatom, a company that provides nuclear fuel to 72 reactors in 14 countries, including […]

  • Malware Discovered at Nuclear Plant in India

    Malware detected at the Kundankulam nuclear power plant in India’s state of Tamil Nadu has not affected plant systems, an investigation by Nuclear Power Corp. of India (NPCIL), the nation’s nuclear plant operator, confirms.  The entity said in a press release on Oct. 30 that it discovered the malware on Sept. 4 on the personal […]

  • Oil and Gas Heavyweights Seek Lifeline in Clean Energy and Tech Sectors

    Oilfield service providers are increasingly moving beyond oil and gas development work, and into renewable energy projects, according to a study conducted by Rystad Energy, an independent research and business intelligence company that provides data, tools, analytics, and consultancy services to the global energy industry. In findings released on Oct. 29, Rystad said that oil […]

  • Ansaldo Nucleare and Candu Energy awarded 9.727 M Euro Condition Assessment contract for Unit 1 of Cernavoda NPP (Romania)

    Ansaldo Energia Group, through Ansaldo Nucleare SpA, in association with Candu Energy Inc., a member of the SNC-Lavalin Group (TSX:SNC), were awarded a 9.727 million Euro contract by Societatea Nationala Nuclearelectrica S.A. (SNN). The contract is related to engineering services for performing condition assessments of systems, structures and components for the Cernavoda Unit 1 CANDU® […]