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  • Japanese Conglomerates Rejigger Power Sector Strategies

    Hitachi and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), two giant Japanese companies with substantial stakes in the world’s power sector, are separately rethinking future business directions as sizable disruptions shake up prospects for traditional market growth. In recent months, Hitachi refined its business model to prepare it for explosive demand in  digitalization solutions, focusing heavily on grid […]

  • Southern Company CEO: Vogtle Ahead of Schedule

    Southern Company CEO Thomas Fanning on February 20 said construction of two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle is on track and could possibly beat the current regulatory approved startup dates for the AP1000 units. Fanning spoke Wednesday on the company’s fourth-quarter 2018 earnings call. He said Georgia Power, a Southern Company subsidiary and the […]

  • Alabama Power Will Close Century-Old Coal Plant

    An Alabama power plant that has operated for more than a century will close in April, with Alabama Power saying that the cost to comply with government regulations on the handling of coal ash and wastewater no longer make the plant economically viable. Jim Heilbron, Alabama Power’s senior vice president and senior production officer, on […]

  • MDU Will Close Coal Units in Montana, North Dakota

    A subsidiary of MDU Resources Group on February 19 said it plans to close three of its coal-fired units at power plants in Montana and North Dakota. Montana-Dakota Utilities said it would partly replace the lost generation with a new simple-cycle gas-fired unit at the North Dakota site. The company on Tuesday said a biannual […]

  • Georgia PSC Backs Additional Costs for Vogtle Nuclear Project

    Georgia regulators on February 19 approved another $526.4 million in expenditures by Georgia Power related to the long-delayed Vogtle nuclear power plant expansion near Waynesboro, Georgia. Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) members voted 4-1 to approve a settlement agreement for the 19th Vogtle Construction Monitoring (VCM) Report, which covers the first six months of 2018. The […]

  • Entergy Texas Breaks Ground on New 993-MW Combined Cycle Plant

    Entergy Texas on February 15 began construction of its first new power plant in 40 years. The Montgomery County Power Station (MCPS), located in Willis, will be a 993-MW combined cycle gas turbine plant, adjacent to the existing Lewis Creek Power Plant. Entergy Texas is part of Entergy Corporation, which provides power to about 3 […]

  • Solar, Wind, Storage Come Together in Oregon Project

    A renewable energy project in eastern Oregon is being touted as the first in the U.S. to combine wind and solar power with battery storage. Portland General Electric (PGE) plans to build the Wheatridge Renewable Energy Facility just north of Lexington, Oregon, the company announced last week. The utility is developing the 380-MW project with […]

  • Wärtsilä power plants will support Dominican Republic’s growing tourist industry

    Wärtsilä Corporation, Press release, 18 February 2019 at 2 pm EET The technology group Wärtsilä has successfully handed over projects for two Wärtsilä engine power plants installed in the Dominican Republic. The additional capacity is needed to meet the increasing electricity demand from the country’s growing tourist industry. Both hand-overs took place in December 2018. […]

  • Video Shows Demolition of Old German Coal Plant

    The Gustav Knepper power plant in Dortmund-Mengede, Germany, was leveled by two controlled explosions on February 17. The facility had been closed for five years. The plant’s boiler house was brought down first. A 210-meter chimney and 128-meter cooling tower were leveled in a second blast, about 45 minutes after the first. The German YouTube […]

  • Two Harriet Monroe Poems About Power Plants 

    Harriet Monroe, the founder and longtime editor of Poetry magazine, was the author of a large body of poems that captured the essence of urban industrial modernity. Her 1914 book, You and I ( Macmillan Company, New York), contains two poems about power generation. The first, “The Turbine,” is an engineer’s ode to his turbine. […]