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The Texas power market made headlines in August 2019 when wholesale prices for electricity repeatedly spiked close to and even hit the $9,000-per-megawatt-hour (MWh) cap. This August, average hourly prices peaked at “just” $1,700 per MWh, the afternoon of Aug. 15. There were many reasons for the reduced price volatility in Texas this year. First, […]

The use of coal for North American power generation will continue to decline, natural gas will continue as the leading source of power, and the use of renewable resources to provide electricity will continue to grow, according to a report from Hitachi ABB Power Grids. The outlook, titled “North America Power Reference Case: Spring 2020” […]

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued an order that advocates for distributed energy resources (DERs) say will enable DERs, including renewable energy such as solar, wind, and battery storage, to compete on a more-level playing field in the organized capacity, energy, and ancillary services markets run by regional grid operators. FERC Order No. 2222, […]

Hitachi will formally end business operations on the Horizon Nuclear Power Plant in the UK, citing an “investment environment” that has become “increasingly severe due to the impact of COVID-19.”  The Tokyo, Japan–headquartered conglomerate’s move comes 20 months after it first suspended plans to build the plant in Wylfa Newydd in Wales as part of […]

Carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) is widely viewed as a necessary technology to facilitate the continued use of fossil fuels in light of climate change concerns around the world. One company that has been highly focused on CCUS research and development, as well as deployment of the technology, is Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI). Tiffany […]

A California energy company is collaborating with its parent and the University of Texas on a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) project to show that renewable hydrogen can be a cost-effective fuel with several applications, including for both the transportation and power generation sectors. Frontier Energy, headquartered in San Ramon, California, and a subsidiary of […]

Distributed generation integrated with intermittent renewable generation responds to the growing need for highly flexible small-scale (less than 100 MW) power generation resources. The limiting factor facing plant designers is that the conventional heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) does not enable fast-acting power generation demanded by modern grid systems. John Cockerill Energy’s vertical once-through boilers […]

The move by major oil and gas exploration companies into renewable energy has taken another significant step, as BP announced a $1.1 billion deal to buy the U.S. offshore wind power assets of Norway’s Equinor. BP in announcing the deal on Sept. 10 said it is taking a 50% stake in Equinor’s Empire Wind project […]

New Jersey on Sept. 9 opened a second state offshore wind solicitation that could triple its committed capacity from 1.1 GW to 3.5 GW. The state this week also laid out a final strategy for how it will achieve its November 2019–expanded offshore wind target of 7.5 GW by 2035.  New Jersey’s five-member Board of […]

A German plan to provide coal-fired power plant operators with money to offset financial losses, part of the country’s plan to incentivize the closure of coal plants as part of Germany’s plan to exit the fuel, has led energy giant Vattenfall to say it could close its 1.6-GW Moorburg coal plant in Hamburg by the […]