In This Issue
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InfographicsTHE BIG PICTURE: Nuclear Spins
Editors note: Corrected (Dec. 7). A previous version of this infographic listed Russia’s nuclear total as 1.9 GW. It is 2.9 GW.
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Legal & RegulatorySeminole Electric Cooperative Sees Big Challenges from Clean Power Plan
Florida’s Seminole Electric Cooperative faces what may be the most difficult generation transition in the nation as a result of the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan. One of the nation’s largest generation and transmission rural electric cooperatives, Seminole owes its origins and its current position primarily to a single coal-fired plant. When electric utility veteran […]
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RenewablesTermosolar Borges, Les Borges Blanques, Spain
You can’t spell C-S-P without S-P-A-I-N. Though there are now many nations with concentrating solar power (CSP) plants in operation, and nations with larger ones than Spain possesses, it’s difficult to
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O&MElectric Motor and Transformer Maintenance Best Practices
It is true that electric motors and transformers are some of the most dependable pieces of equipment installed at power plants. They can, in many cases, withstand a high level of mistreatment while continuing
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SolarThe Future of Load Control for Solar PV
Solar power has taken off the training wheels. Once an afterthought, solar photovoltaic (PV) generation has been one of the major sources of new capacity for several years. According to statistics from the
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O&MOptions for Optimizing Combined Cycle Plants
Gas-fired power is booming—even more than expected. For only the second time ever, but also the second time this year, gas generated more electricity in a month in the U.S. than coal. According to statistics
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WaterWater-Stressed Regions Provide Proving Grounds for Advanced ZLD Systems
In water-stressed regions outside the U.S., power producers and other industrial water users are incorporating higher levels of water reuse, some to the point of zero liquid discharge (ZLD), due to heightened
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Legal & RegulatoryGoldilocks, Ozone, and Obama’s EPA
There’s an old saying in Washington that when everyone is upset, you’ve probably done something right. By that measure, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) latest update to the National
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O&MCoal Pulverizer Maintenance Improves Boiler Combustion
Coal pulverizers are the heart of a pulverized coal-fueled boiler. Often, the root causes of nonoptimized combustion lie with the pulverizers. Capacity; reliability; and environmental issues such as slagging
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Commentary2 Billion Underserved Customers Are Waiting for Energy Services
The world has a problem. According to the World Bank, 1.1 billion people lack access to any form of modern energy service, and more than double that number lack access to adequate, reliable, affordable, and
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RenewablesBiomass-Fed Organic Rankine Cycle Units Make It Big
One of the world’s largest biomass-fed organic rankine cycle (ORC) plants is getting ready to begin operations. Italian firm Turboden is preparing to put online an 8-MW power unit in Athens, Maine, that will
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CommentaryEngaging Youth in Power
The challenge of getting a new generation of workers interested in the power sector is one I hear about frequently. Too many young adults are more fascinated by the tech sector, plant folks say. That may be
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HydroEthiopia Begins Generating Power from 1.87-GW Gibe III Hydro Plant
Ethiopia’s generation capacity got an immense boost as operations began at the 1.87-GW Gibe III hydroelectric power plant in the middle reach of the Omo River basin this October. The plant—Ethiopia’s
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CoalOptimize Boiler Combustion Using Improved Flue Gas Measurement
The presence of unburned fuel in a power plant’s ash indicates an inefficient combustion process, as some of the energy in the fuel is being wasted. Unburned fuel also poses a risk to safety; if ignited, an
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RenewablesThe Potentials and Pitfalls of Battery Storage
Battery storage firms and energy storage experts at the Energy Storage North America (ESNA) conference in San Diego Oct. 13–15 were effusive in their praise of battery storage’s potential while
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TechnologyAn “Acoustic Mouse” for Handheld 3-D Imaging
Ultrasonic testing (UT) has long been a key method for detecting defects and service-induced degradation in nuclear and fossil plant components and for supporting remaining component life assessment. But it
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Wind“Revolutionary” Grid Connection for Offshore Wind Turbines Unveiled
Siemens, the only provider of direct-current (DC) offshore wind connection projects, in October unveiled a potentially game-changing technology that it says enables cheaper and simpler grid connection of wind
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RenewablesBlue Lake Expansion Project, Sitka, Alaska
Baranof Island is home to Sitka, Alaska. Located on the outer coast of Alaska’s Inside Passage, it is accessible only by air and sea (although once on the island, standard forms of transportation are
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Renewables
POWER Digest (December 2015)
GE Completes Alstom Acquisition. GE announced on Nov. 2 that a $10.6 billion deal to acquire Alstom ’s power and grid business is complete. Alstom will now entirely refocus its activities on rail transport
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RenewablesBlackspring Ridge Wind Project, Carmangay, Alberta
With its vast resources of oil, gas, coal, and tar sands—some of the largest in the world—the province of Alberta has long been known as Canada’s fuel tank. Coal- and gas-fired power has supplied the
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RenewablesDesert Sunlight Solar Farm, Desert Center, California
Just how fast are things moving in solar? When we received the nomination for the massive Desert Sunlight Solar Farm in late April, the 550-MW facility was the largest solar power plant in the world, sharing
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NuclearGermany: Utilities Must Shoulder Nuclear Phase-Out Costs
Germany’s nuclear power–producing companies will be able to shoulder the costs of the nuclear phase-out—including costs for decommissioning and the disposal of radioactive waste. That’s according to
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RenewablesOlkaria Geothermal Expansion Project, Rift Valley Province, Kenya
The Great Rift Valley is a massive continental fault system that runs 6,000 kilometers (km) from Mozambique to Jordan. In Kenya, the East African nation that is neatly halved by the equator, the Rift Valley is
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RenewablesSihwa Lake Tidal Power Plant, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea
From space, the 12.7-kilometer (km) Sihwa Lake tidal barrage that houses a 400-meter (m)-long tidal power plant looks like a delicate strand stretched across one of many bays and inlets characterizing the
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CoalTake These Five Steps Now to Ensure ELG Compliance at Your Power Plant
The first effluent limitation guidelines update since 1982 is game-changing for many U.S. power plants.