Water

Thirteen states are suing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over the recently finalized Clean Water Rule, which they say illegally puts the federal government in charge of a majority of water and land resources in the U.S.  North Dakota, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, […]

Beacon Power to Supply Flywheels for Hybrid Alaska Energy Storage Project. Beacon Power on May 26 said it will supply flywheels for a hybrid energy storage project in Anchorage, Alaska, as part of an agreement

Taking action on climate change could reduce electricity demand between 1.1% and 4% and save the U.S. $10 billion to $34 billion in power system costs by 2050, says a new report released by the White House and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) touting the U.S. economic, health, and environmental benefits of global climate action.  […]

California’s grid gurus say they can make it through this summer, but the future may pose real problems for a hydro-heavy regional system. As the grip of California’s four-year drought tightens, will the long-running event crimp electricity generation in the state? So far, according to the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), which dispatches much of […]

In the opening move of what is certain to be a long and contentious process, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources (ENR) Committee, introduced a suite of bills covering a broad range of energy issues, from infrastructure to regulatory reform to civil enforcement. Along with several others introduced by […]

ALLETE Inc., a Minnesota holding company known mostly for its Minnesota Power subsidiary, is making a major strategic transition into the broader world of energy services, exemplified by its recent purchase of U.S. Water Services. At the same time, Minnesota Power, which previously transitioned from hydro to coal, now is shifting to a portfolio of […]

The ongoing record drought in California has caused significant changes in the state’s power mix as water available for hydroelectric generation becomes increasingly scarce, according to a recent report from Oakland-based nonprofit the Pacific Institute. The California Independent System Operator warned last year that water shortages were likely to substantially impact the state’s generation, with […]

Water is the lifeblood of a thermal power plant. As such, obtaining clean and pure makeup water and dealing with wastewater has been a requirement since the first steam generating unit went into operation. As

Worldwide, the U.S. is the largest producer of geothermal power; however, geothermal energy provides less than 0.5% of total generation in the U.S. Given geothermal’s small piece of the U.S. electricity pie

Alloys found in the condensate and feedwater systems of power plants include carbon steel for piping, pumps, and in some cases heat exchangers. Many systems still have some copper-based alloys from admiralty

Geothermal resources have important strategic value for New Zealand, as they are able to directly supply both heat and electricity (see “New Zealand Geothermal Industry Is Poised for the Future” in this

Brine, the waste stream of the geothermal power production cycle, is usually considered a nuisance. High in corrosive minerals, even when reinjected, it’s challenging to manage. So when Simbol Inc. showed it had a way to turn this waste stream into a revenue stream by mining it for high-value minerals like lithium, a lot of […]

Water and energy are intimately linked. Water is necessary for the production, distribution, and use of energy. Energy is needed for the withdrawal and delivery of water. The two are inseparable. Several

In mid-November, members of the POWER Generating Company Advisory Team responded via email to the following set of questions. Their comments have been edited for style. POWER: What changes in your fleet’s

POWER Associate Editor Aaron Larson recently interviewed LaMarr Barnes, vice president of marketing and business development for U.S. Water Services Inc. U.S. Water is a Minnesota-based integrated water treatment solutions provider that has developed a phosphorus-free cooling water treatment solution, which may be beneficial for power generation companies. Many power plants add phosphate-based treatments to […]

A lack of rainfall is hitting the power industry especially hard in parts of Brazil. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the country depends on hydroelectricity for more than 75% of its electric power supply (Figure 2). But with reservoir levels at historic lows in some places, more electricity has been required from […]

The U.S. power sector has seen a number of developments on the regulatory front in recent months. Here’s where major federal rules stand today. (For a more dynamic and graphic version of this article, see http://powermag.com/long-form-stories/bw-power/ .) GHG Rules New Power Plants. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in September 2013 revised a 2012 proposal to […]

Like some of those tests your doctor is always after you to get, boiler chemical cleaning is something that most of us would rather not think about but that we all agree is necessary. Adding to our general discomfort with the process are new Environmental Protection Agency regulations, which make the disposal of chemical cleaning […]

North Carolina’s Legislature last week became the first in the nation to approve a sweeping coal ash bill, but the state’s governor isn’t fully endorsing it.  Both the House and the Senate on Aug. 20 approved the Coal Ash Management Act (S.B. 729), a measure that became an urgent legislative priority after Duke Energy’s February […]

Strategies for compliance with the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards led the list of topics covered during the Power Plant Pollutant Control “MEGA” Symposium held Aug. 19–21, in Baltimore, Md., but carbon dioxide (CO2) control solutions and sessions dealing with water problems weren’t far behind. The conference—hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Electric […]

U.S. coal power plants are finding that they need to comply with an increasing number of stringent environmental regulations, and while nobody in any industry looks forward to additional regulatory burdens

The era of Big Solar has arrived, and at the moment there are none bigger than Ivanpah. For overcoming numerous obstacles to build the world’s largest solar thermal plant, the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System is awarded POWER’s 2014 Plant of the Year Award. When the 392-MW Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System in Nipton, Calif., […]

Forced outages at Entergy’s two Indian Point nuclear units proposed by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to protect fish are “unnecessary” and a “terrible idea,” a company official testified at a public hearing on Tuesday.  The DEC has proposed Entergy shutter the two units for at least 42 outage days every summer […]

National Hydro Power Corp. (NHPC) and the Renewable Energy College (REC) of Kolkata have partnered to develop a 50-MW floating solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in the Indian state of Kerala, according to a report in the Economic Times. The project would represent the largest floating solar PV plant in the world, dwarfing a 1.2-MW plant […]

Power plant operators have long understood the vital role water plays in power generation. Now, as the rest of the world begins recognizing that as well, a conflict is brewing between the growing demand for electricity and increasingly strained water resources. Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you’ve likely heard the term “water-energy nexus” […]

The interlinkages between water and energy are complex and run deep, warns a United Nations (UN) World Water Development water and energy–themed report released this March. As global water demand (in terms

On May 16, 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is scheduled to release its long-delayed final 316(b) rule for existing facilities. The rule—which was supposed to have been issued Apr. 17 after

A final rule released by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today will affect cooling water intake structures at 544 U.S. power plants and provide those plants with lower-cost compliance options than previously proposed to reduce fish impingement and entrainment. The final rule issued under Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act applies to facilities that […]

Marilu Hastings With all the recent scientific studies, media coverage, and policy decisions about reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, one might think that the emissions issue is the only challenge that

Water stresses in developing countries threaten to derail a massive build-out of coal capacity, according to a new analysis from the World Resources Institute (WRI). The WRI estimates that about 1,400 GW of new coal capacity is being proposed worldwide, and of that, three-quarters of it are in China and India. Unfortunately, much of this […]