Wind
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Renewables
Battery Storage Goes Mainstream
Grid-connected batteries have long been touted as a tantalizing prospect that could help balance electricity supply and demand as the amount of installed variable renewable generation ramps up. New
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Renewables
Natural Gas Projected to Fuel Largest Share of U.S. Summer Power Generation
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects natural gas–fueled electricity generation will exceed all other fuel sources once again this summer, marking the third year in a row that gas has been the leader. However, the EIA anticipates electricity generation from both gas and coal will be less this summer than in 2016. The reason […]
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Renewables
Report: Global Renewable Investment Down, Capacity Grows
Global new renewable power capacity grew in 2016 even as global new investment in renewables dropped, according to a report commissioned by the United Nations Environment Program out April 6. The Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2017 report found that global investment in renewables—excluding large hydro—fell in 2016 by 23% to $241.6 billion. That […]
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Renewables
POWER Digest (April 2017)
Russia Marks Milestone with Commercial Operation of Third-Generation Reactor. After nearly a decade of construction, the first advanced third-generation VVER-1200 nuclear reactor began commercial operation on
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IIOT Power
New Approaches for Transformer Operation and Maintenance
Technology advancements and new regulatory requirements could reshape how power plant owners operate and maintain large power transformers. Experts outline emerging strategies and call attention to overlooked
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Renewables
Big Winds for Big Offshore Wind Turbines From Siemens, MHI Vestas
Siemens has installed the prototype of its towering 8-MW offshore direct-drive wind turbine at a national test center in Østerild, Denmark, marking the company’s foray into the global race to develop mega–wind turbines. The new offshore turbine was installed on a steel tower at a hub height of 120 meters (m) in late January (Figure […]
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Renewables
A 100% Renewable Grid: Pipe Dream or Holy Grail?
The boom in renewable energy, spurred by dramatically falling costs, has led some experts and political figures to begin talking seriously about what was once science fiction: A world powered entirely by renewable generation. But is it truly feasible or economic? One series of studies suggests it is—with some important caveats. In the first half […]
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Wind
SPP Becomes First U.S. Grid Operator to Record Greater Than 50% Wind Penetration
A large swath of the central U.S. set a North American wind penetration record of 52.1% early in the morning on February 12, the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) reported. The regional transmission organization (RTO), whose footprint spans 550,000 square miles from the Canadian border in Montana and North Dakota to parts of New Mexico, Texas, […]
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Legal & Regulatory
State Opposition to Wind Power Spikes as Trump Prepares to Take Office
Amazon’s latest wind farm in coastal North Carolina has completed construction and is weeks from beginning operations—and state legislators have just asked the incoming Trump administration to shut it down. The $400 million, 208-MW, 104-turbine project, built by Apex Renewables near Elizabeth City and backed by financing from Iberdrola Renewables, is supposed to power Amazon’s […]
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