Latest
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Legal & Regulatory
Trump Expands Regulatory Rollback, Including for Power, Amid Economic Fallout
President Trump in a new executive order (EO) has directed federal agencies to rescind, modify, waive, or provide exemptions from regulatory requirements that may inhibit economic recovery. The Executive Order on Regulatory Relief to Support Economic Recovery, issued May 19, is sweeping and extends beyond the administration’s previous efforts to scale down regulatory mandates—including the […]
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Hydro
Failed Michigan Dam Had Longstanding Spillway Deficiencies
The Edenville dam, which failed on March 19 flooding Midland, Michigan, and forcing as many as 10,000 residents to evacuate their homes, had its license revoked by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Sept. 10, 2018, due to a “longstanding failure to increase the project’s spillway capacity to safely pass flood flows,” among other […]
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News
Group Says It Will Launch World’s Largest Green Hydrogen Project
Global energy company SGH2, part of Washington, D.C.-based Solena Group, said it has a deal with Lancaster, California, to build what the company calls the world’s biggest green hydrogen production plant, set to be in full operation in early 2023. The company on May 20 said the plant will feature SGH2’s technology that uses recycled […]
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News
Construction Halted on 1-GW Polish Coal Plant
Polish energy companies Enea and Energa late on May 19 announced they were ending their involvement with construction of the Ostroleka C coal-fired power plant, after new co-owner PKN Orlen said it would not be involved in the project if it utilizes coal. PKN Orlen, a Poland state-owned energy company that recently acquired Energa, said […]
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News
IEA: Renewables Showing Resiliency Despite Serious COVID Disruptions
Renewable power sources will mark their first annual decline in new additions in 20 years, owing to delays in construction activity, supply chain disruptions, lockdown and social distancing measures, and emerging financing challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this, the sector has showed “impressive” resilience, said the International Energy Agency (IEA) in a new […]
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News
Siemens Launches ‘Most Powerful’ HL-Class Gas Turbine
Siemens on May 15 began moving what the company calls its “largest, most powerful, and most efficient heavy-duty gas turbine” from Germany to the UK, where the company will test the equipment for use in a combined cycle power plant. The SGT5-9000 HL turbine, built by Siemens Gas and Power in its Berlin factory, will […]
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Nuclear
DOE Launches Program to Demonstrate Advanced Nuclear Reactors Within 5 Years
Bolstered by $230 million in Congressionally appropriated funding, the Department of Energy (DOE) has officially launched the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP) to help U.S.-based private developers of advanced nuclear reactors demonstrate their technology in the U.S. Much anticipated by industry, the program formally established under the Office of Nuclear Energy program on May 14 […]
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Markets
Despite COVID-19, ERCOT Expects Record Summer Demand; Retired Coal Plant May Resume Service
Despite uncertainties posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) again expects to shatter its peak demand record this summer. Factoring in changes to its generation profile, extreme weather, and low wind output, the grid operator expects energy alerts are still possible. ERCOT’s forward-looking projections for capacity, demand, and reserves are murkier, […]
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Nuclear
Advanced Nuclear Reactor Designs to Get Digital Twins
Nine projects will get $27 million in federal funding to develop digital twin technology for promising advanced nuclear reactor designs—including Kairos, Xe-100, BWRX-300, and the SSR-W—and help achieve a ten-fold reduction in their operations and maintenance (O&M) costs. The funding announced by the Department of Energy (DOE) on May 13 will be furnished under the […]
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News
The Green Cowboy, David Freeman Dies at 94
Engineer, attorney, author, and former head of some of the largest public power utilities in the U.S., S. David Freeman passed away on May 12 outside of Washington, D.C., following a heart attack at the age of 94. Freeman was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and received a degree in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute […]