Power

Varnish is one of the most widespread issues in power plants. It’s the hard, oil-insoluble organic residue that cannot be easily removed from mechanical components. It typically occurs in turbines or compressors due to extreme temperatures, disrupting plant operations and causing downtime, which ultimately leads to revenue losses. When varnish forms on a critical piece […]

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) said three new natural gas–fired units entered commercial operation on Dec. 31 at the Paradise Combined Cycle Plant near Drakesboro, Kentucky (Figure 1). “Natural gas is an important part of our transition to a carbon-neutral future while maintaining reliability,” TVA President and CEO Jeff Lyash, said in a statement on […]

Mexico’s expansion of its power generation capacity, particularly from natural gas, continues as GE Vernova and Iberdrola Mexico on Jan. 3 announced the start of commercial operation of the 766-MW Topolobampo III power plant. Mexico is building more gas-fired generation units to enable use of the country’s domestic natural gas resources. The Topolobampo facility, located […]

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and Avangrid said the Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind installation sent electricity to the power grid for the first time late on Jan. 2. The companies on Jan. 3 said Vineyard Wind 1, as part of its initial commissioning, delivered about 5 MW of electricity to the New England grid at […]

Solar, wind, and nuclear power, as well as battery storage systems, are the obvious winners as the world aims to decarbonize energy systems. It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who has been following trends

The U.S. power grid is in need of an upgrade and the federal government knows it. Much of the electric grid was built in the 1960s and 1970s, according to a paper published by the U.S. Department of Energy’s

Cutting maintenance costs can make you penny-wise and pound-foolish, unless you evolve your maintenance practices with the times. A lone car traveled an empty road through a bleak snow-scattered field. The

Steam turbines are used in many applications on various scales to drive equipment such as pumps, compressors, and generators. Routine maintenance, as laid out by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is

It’s not uncommon for organizations to go through performance cycles from good to bad, and hopefully, back to good before repeating the process. However, a well-conceived and consistently applied

Alabama Power is a subsidiary of Southern Company and the largest electric utility within Alabama, delivering power through 85,586 miles of lines in the southern two-thirds of the state. We operate in one of the most storm-prone areas of the country, facing tornadoes, thunderstorms, and tropical storms year-round. The continual rush of disruptive weather events […]

Solar photovoltaic (PV) power generation demonstrated the largest absolute growth of all renewable technologies in 2022, surpassing wind for the first time in history, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The IEA has said continuous growth in the economic attractiveness of PV, massive development in the supply chain, and increasing policy support, especially in […]

Proper steam and water analysis system (SWAS) maintenance is critical to the operation of any coal, nuclear, or combined cycle power plant, many of which are being forced to ask more of aging equipment. For

To understand what the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is, it helps to understand how the North American electric power system is configured. The contiguous U.S. is comprised of three power grids or “interconnections.” The Eastern Interconnection reaches from central Canada eastward to the Atlantic coast (excluding Québec), south to Florida, and west to […]

POWER magazine’s website gets millions of pageviews every year. Looking over the stats from 2023, the following five articles were the most-viewed by our audience, which includes many power industry professionals. Were you among the hundreds of thousands of readers of these stories? 5. Westinghouse Secures First Customer for eVinci Nuclear Microreactor (Nov. 27, 2023) […]

Boilers obviously play an important role in the power generation industry, providing the mechanism to convert heat produced by burning fuel into steam that can be used to drive a turbine to generate electricity. But many other industries also use boilers to produce steam for a variety of purposes. Boilers are commonly used for space […]

Steam power drove the Industrial Revolution, freeing manufacturers from the need to set up their factories near water power sources. Industrial steam is still largely used across various verticals, including power generation, chemical processing, and indoor heating. However, amid growing concerns about efficiency and sustainability, electrification of steam-powered systems emerges as a viable alternative capable […]

India’s Adani Group announced more development of renewable energy, with the company on Dec. 27 saying its Adani Green Energy arm has received $300 million for the transfer of a 1,050-MW clean energy portfolio as part of a joint venture (JV) with France’s TotalEnergies. The announcement Wednesday came one day after Adani, led by billionaire […]

Germany-based RWE, among the world’s leading companies in development of offshore wind energy, said it will acquire three major projects off the East Anglia coast of the UK from Sweden’s Vattenfall in a $1.2 billion deal. RWE on Dec. 21 said the projects, each with planned generation capacity of 1.4 GW, are in the Norfolk […]

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has unanimously approved the California Independent System Operator’s (CAISO’s) Day-Ahead Market Enhancements (DAME) and Extended Day-Ahead Market (EDAM) proposal, effectively allowing new market options to address challenges caused by increasing system variability and uncertainty in the West. FERC’s decision issued on Dec. 20, for the most part, accepts CAISO’s […]

Life cycle analysis or assessments (LCAs) are a quintessential tool for power and utility industry professionals and tradespeople. They determine the environmental and financial value of new technologies. Consumer products get the most attention, but LCAs for renewable energy systems (Figure 1) should be discussed more. It is time to synthesize known information to create […]

An iconic coal refuse power plant in West Virginia that burns gob—basically dirt—and pond fines as part of a complex environmental solution to address coal waste is stepping up efforts to improve its efficiency, reliability, and cost reductions by embracing cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI). American Bituminous Power’s (AMBIT’s) 80-MW Grant Town Power Project—West Virginia’s only […]

Work continues on what would be the largest hydropower project in Angola, a $5.2 billion run-of-river power station that Angolan officials have said could come online as early as 2026. Technology group Voith on Dec. 19 said it is supplying all the electrical and mechanical equipment for the Caculo Cabaca facility, located in the midstream […]

The U.S. energy sector has a bullseye on its back. Whether it’s nation-state hackers or domestic terrorists, the level of malicious activity directed against the sector has reached an all-time high, and we would do well to heed the threat. As the threat grows, some federal cybersecurity officials and others are sounding alarms about potentially […]

Following a difficult period for the renewable energy industry, firms must begin prioritising foreign exchange (FX) risk management against the rising threat of currency movements. It has been a tough year for the renewable energy industry. The post-COVID inflationary pressures that have gripped the global economy over the last two years are weighing heavily on […]

California’s Diablo Canyon nuclear plant can continue operating at least through much of 2030 after state energy regulators on Dec. 14 voted to keep the facility open an additional five years. The state’s Public Utilities Commission (PUC) on Thursday agreed to extend the closure date for Diablo Canyon, which originally was scheduled to shut down […]

Connecting millions of households in the ‘last mile’, the central challenge in modern power distribution is optimising efficiency while ensuring reliability and sustainability. However, complex issues arise where traditional grid infrastructures struggle to cope with the dynamic demands of contemporary energy consumption and the integration of renewable energy sources. This is increasingly important to solve […]

Negotiators from nearly every country in the world closed COP28 with a decision that—for the first time—formally recognizes the necessity of moving away from fossil fuels to achieve Paris Agreement targets. The decision, adopted on the last day of the two-week 28th Conference of the Parties (COP 28) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate […]

According to a guidebook issued by Sandia National Laboratories, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) multi-mission laboratory, microgrids are defined as a group of interconnected loads and distributed energy resources (DERs) that act as a single controllable entity. A microgrid can operate in either grid-connected or island mode, which includes some entirely off-grid applications. A […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has approved a construction permit for Kairos Power’s 35-MWth Hermes molten salt “non-power” demonstration reactor, which the firm has proposed to build at the East Tennessee Technology Park Heritage Center (ETTP) site in Oak Ridge. The NRC on Dec. 12 directed staff to issue the construction permit for the test reactor […]

GE Vernova said the company’s turbines will play a major role in supporting renewable energy in Spain through a collaboration with Forestalia, one of that country’s leading clean energy developers. The companies on Dec. 14 said they had a framework agreement in which GE Vernova will install as much as 693 MW of onshore wind […]