Technology

  • Novel Nuclear Wastewater Treatment Ready for Market

    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

  • SCR Project Upgrades Two Units at Four Corners

    The numbers tell the story of how the addition of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology helped an iconic New Mexico coal-fired plant reduce its emissions, keeping the plant in operation and continuing

  • Investments in Energy Storage Grow as Battery Costs Fall

    A new report released July 31 details continued growth in global energy storage, driven by lower costs for lithium-ion batteries. Research company BloombergNEF (BNEF) in its latest forecast published Wednesday said energy storage installations worldwide will grow across the next two decades, from the 9 GW/17 GWh of capacity deployed as of last year, to […]

  • The POWER Interview: What Drove the Gas Turbine Technology Leap at GE Over the Past 70 Years

    On July 29, 1949, at 2:15 p.m., General Electric’s (GE’s) first gas turbine at the Belle Isle Station in Oklahoma City began delivering power to Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co.’s distribution system. The 3.5-MW GE Frame 3 machine reportedly had an efficiency of about 17%. Since the Belle Isle machine (Figure 1) started up seventy […]

  • Positive Developments for Small Modular Reactors

    NuScale Power, Rolls-Royce, and China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC)—three companies working on different small modular reactor (SMR) technology—recently announced positive developments for their respective designs. NRC Makes Progress on NuScale Design Review Portland, Oregon-based NuScale said on July 22 that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) completed the second and third phases of its SMR […]

  • BHP, Mitsubishi Partner on Emissions Reduction Technologies

    BHP and Mitsubishi Development Pty (MDP) in late June signed a memorandum of understanding for joint research, development, and deployment of greenhouse gas emissions reduction technologies in several countries, including projects with battery storage, solar, and carbon capture and storage (CCS). The agreement, signed in Tokyo, Japan, on June 20, also calls for research into […]

  • Worried About Climate Change? Save Nuclear Plants [PODCAST]

    Nuclear power advocates suggest there are many benefits associated with nuclear energy. They point to high-paying jobs; billions of dollars in economic activity for plant-hosting communities; and secure, reliable, baseload electricity. But the most-important benefit of nuclear power may be that it emits no greenhouse gases, and therefore does not contribute to climate change. According […]

  • MET TECHNOLOGY WINS FGD AWARD IN INDIA

    Lebanon, Pennsylvania – July 24, 2019 | Marsulex Environmental Technologies (“MET”) has announced the award of a contract for flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems by an Indian government power company at its thermal power plant in the State of Jharkhand. MET’s licensee for India, Thermax Limited, has concluded the order for two FGD units at […]

  • BrandSafway adds precast refractory shapes to United States offerings

    BrandTech™ Precast Solutions deliver results to customers 90% faster Kennesaw, Georgia, USA, July 25, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) –Industrial Specialists by BrandSafway recently added a hot wire CNC (computer numerical control) foam-cutting machine to its portfolio of offerings, giving the company the ability to cut precast refractory forms within just hours (as compared to days, weeks […]

  • Wärtsilä signs 100 MW/100 MWh energy storage system project deal in South East Asia

    July 25, 2019 — The technology group Wärtsilä has signed an Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract for a 100 MW/100 MWh total capacity energy storage project in South East Asia. The energy storage system facility, including the Greensmith GEMS advanced software platform and GridSolv, will be used for grid support purposes. The order was […]

  • Rolls-Royce off-grid plant supplies power for industrial production in Mexico

    Rolls-Royce delivers MTU Onsite Energy gas and diesel gensets for power plant that provides electricity to remote hog industry Power plant operates in full island mode due to missing grid availability Gensets are capable of handling the pork processing facility’s altitude of 8,000 feet above sea level Rolls-Royce continues its expansion into the Latin America […]

  • Beyond Limits Selected by Xcell to Build World’s First Power Plant Guided by Cognitive AI

    GLENDALE, Calif., July 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Beyond Limits, an artificial intelligence software engineering company, has been awarded a $25 million contract initial order with follow on orders by Xcell Security House and Finance S.A (Xcell), the Swiss-based global financial and minerals development company, to build the world’s first cognitive power plant. With technology originated for NASA space […]

  • Sumitomo SHI FW Wins Contract for CFB Boiler in Taiwan

    Awarded CFB Steam Generator for CLC Chupei Mill in Taiwan Utilizes SFW’s advanced circulating fluidized-bed (CFB) technology ESPOO, Finland–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Sumitomo SHI FW (SFW) announces today that it has been awarded a contract by Cheng Loong Corporation, CLC for a CFB steam generator for their Chupei Mill in Taiwan. Commercial operation of the new boiler is […]

  • GE Is Speeding Massive Offshore Wind Turbine to Market

    GE Renewable Energy’s mammoth offshore wind 12-MW Haliade-X  turbine is on track for an accelerated commercial launch in 2021, the company said as it unveiled the turbine’s first manufactured components on July 22. Haliade-X features a 220-meter (m) rotor and a 107-m blade designed by GE subsidiary LM Wind Power. The turbine design also includes […]

  • New York Enacts 100% Clean Energy Law, Secures 1.7 GW of Offshore Wind

    New York on July 18 enacted the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA),  law that requires the state to produce 100% of its power from renewables and nuclear by 2040. The legislation includes agreements to build two offshore wind projects worth a combined 1.7 GW by 2025, the single largest renewable energy procurement in […]

  • Reversing Climate Change with Nuclear Power [PODCAST]

    According to the Energy Impact Center, a Washington, D.C.-based research institute focused on deep decarbonization, CO2 emissions “must go net-negative by 2040, globally across all energy sectors” to begin countering climate change. The only way it sees to accomplish this is to “produce energy inexpensive enough to make carbon negative fuels that compete with fossil […]

  • NYPA AND RENSSELAER LAB COLLABORATION TO RESEARCH CLEANER GRID TECHNOLOGIES

    Inter-lab collaboration between the New York Power Authority (NYPA) and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is paving the way for a greener and more resilient power grid – and attracting interest from businesses and government in the process. The Analysis Laboratory for Synchrophasor and Electrical Energy Technology (ALSETLab) at Rensselaer in collaboration with the Advanced Grid Innovation […]

  • PGE unveils first-of-its-kind ‘Smart Grid Testbed’

    U.S. utility Portland General Electric has launched a first of its kind project that will integrate smart grid technologies at a very large scale in the US. The smart grid test bed will accelerate the utility’s energy decarbonization and clean energy efforts, in partnership with customers. Some 20,000 customers across three neighborhoods, Hillsboro, Portland and Milwaukee, will participate in the utility’s demand […]

  • NYC Blackout Highlights Importance of NERC’s New Regulation

    The North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) recently issued a regulation for all power producers to test their electrical systems for proper coordination between protective relays. This protective-relay coordination standard number 27 (PRC-27) presents a big challenge for all power plants, but particularly for combined cycle/cogeneration plants, whose lean staffs lack the electrical engineering personnel […]

  • Fully Digital Nuclear I&C Upgrade Gets ‘Unprecedented’ NRC License

    A fully digital nuclear reactor instrumentation and control system (I&C)—the first of its kind in the U.S.—at a Purdue University research reactor in West Lafayette, Indiana, has been licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).  Upgrades to digitalize Purdue University Reactor Number 1 (PUR 1)—a pool-type12-kWt reactor (that runs at 1 kW) originally built in […]

  • Power Plant Solutions, Technologies, and Research in a Renewable Energy World

    In line with global emissions targets, energy markets are moving ever more quickly to take up renewables. Such a move is obviously important to ensure carbon reduction targets can be met. This does however create an issue—one that’s not been given the attention it deserves—of the impact this has on the conventional power plants that […]

  • The POWER Interview: New Directions for Aeroderivative Gas Turbines at PWPS 

    In a recent interview, Raul Pereda, president and CEO of PW Power Systems (PWPS), talked to POWER about the company’s long legacy as a gas turbine manufacturer, advancements in technology it has achieved over the past 60 years, and new applications for its turbines within a transitioning energy system.  No one can read a history […]

  • HEI™ (High Energy Ionizer) Wet Electrostatic Precipitator Offers Major Breakthrough in State-of-the-Art Fine Particulate Control

    Bionomic Industries, Inc., an industry leading manufacturer of proven air pollution abatement, product and heat recovery technologies, has announced the launch of their new HEI Wet Electrostatic Precipitator System. A breakthrough in the advancement of state-of-the-art fine particulate control, the HEI WESP System incorporates a unique discharge electrode technology that can be sized to specific […]

  • S&C Electric Company and North Bay Hydro Services Debut Canada’s First Utility-Scale Microgrid

    CHICAGO, July 10, 2019 —S&C Electric Company, a smart grid leader improving power reliability and delivery worldwide, and North Bay Hydro Services, an Ontario-based municipal electric utility affiliate services provider, today announced the completion of North Bay’s Community Energy Park project with the successful installation of the first utility-scale advanced microgrid in Canada. The system […]

  • Digital leader ABB provides Enel Green Power with predictive software for sustainable hydro operations

    ABB is partnering with Enel Green Power to deliver innovative predictive maintenance solutions that will lower maintenance costs and transform the performance, reliability and energy efficiency of its hydropower plants throughout Italy. The three-year contract will enable 33 of Enel Green Power’s hydroelectric plants, comprised of about 100 units, to move from hours-based maintenance to […]

  • Babcock & Wilcox Awarded Patent For Innovative Coal Ash Conveyor

    B&W’s Submerged Grind Conveyor enables realization of operation efficiencies and maintenance costs improvements not available with traditional high-pressure sluice systems Design also helps customers meet proposed Coal Combustion Residual rules and Effluent Limitations Guidelines (BARBERTON, Ohio – July 8, 2019) – The Babcock & Wilcox Company (B&W) has been awarded a United States patent for […]

  • A Brief History of GE Gas Turbines

    July marks two important milestones that set gas-fired generation on its course to becoming a dominant form of power generation: commercial operation of the world’s first industrial gas turbine in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, in 1939, and commercial operation of the first gas turbine in the U.S. used to generate electric power—a 3.5-MW General Electric (GE) unit […]

  • The Industrial Internet of Things and the Global Power Industry

    The Implications of Two Technologies and How They Merge for Next-Generation Intelligence Undoubtedly, as the world becomes more complex and interconnected, digitization and technological innovations are vital components of the global power future. The power industry’s digital transformation is not merely developing alongside the industry, it is infiltrating it—transforming the very fabric of how the […]

  • Lithium-Ion Batteries: Costs Down, Benefits Up [PODCAST]

    The price of lithium-ion batteries has plummeted over the past decade. Battery pack prices averaged $1,160 per kWh in 2010, according to BloombergNEF, but they dropped to $176 per kWh last year, and experts suggest they could be less than $100 by 2024. Tony Cooper, general manager of Green Cubes Technology’s Motive division, was a […]

  • J-Power Orders Two MHPS JAC Gas Turbines to Continue the Decarbonization of Illinois’ Electric Power Grid

    MHPS JAC Gas Turbines will produce enough electricity to power over 1.2M homes Lake Mary, FL (July 1, 2019) – Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) announced today that J-Power USA Development Co. Ltd. (J-Power) has ordered two 1 on 1 M501JAC power trains for the 1,298 MW Jackson Generation Project in Elwood, Illinois. Carbon dioxide […]