Latest
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Legal & Regulatory
Germany’s Energiewende at a New Turning Point
Germany’s Energiewende (energy transition) was adopted as policy beginning in September 2010, some six months before the disaster at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant, and full legislative support was
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Legal & Regulatory
Zero-Discharge Pozzolanic Brine Solidification: Another Option for Treating FGD Wastewater
In late 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published new regulations governing wastewater discharge from steam electric power plants. These new regulations, or effluent limitation guidelines
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O&M
Monitoring and Treatment of Closed-Loop Cooling Water Systems
There may be multiple closed-loop cooling systems at your power plant. Chances are good that they cool or control temperature on some very critical components. The two that are most likely to exist are the
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Renewables
Xcel Energy: Committed to Renewables, but Going Its Own Way
Utility holding company Xcel Energy, headquartered in Minneapolis and with large electric and gas operations in eight states in the upper Midwest, the Rocky Mountain West, and Texas, has ambitions to be the
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Technology
Beyond the Firewall: Best Practices for Cybersecurity Risk Management
Generating companies wondering if concerns about cybersecurity are overblown got some rude wake-up calls this winter. The first call came when Ukrainian media reported that a December 23 blackout that left
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Gas
New Metering Solution Controls Condensate in HRSG Systems
Many combined cycle and cogeneration plants with heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) were originally intended as baseload power sources or steam producers. In recent years, however, some have been
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Power
Why the Clean Power Plan Needs a Dynamic Reliability Safety Valve
John J. Novak The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Clean Power Plan is arguably the most ambitious and far-reaching regulation in the agency’s history. America’s electric cooperatives
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Nuclear
Lessons Learned from Fukushima Nuclear Accident: Human Aspects Still Need Work
“The one thing that is most difficult to enhance is one of the most important components of a nuclear power plant and that is the people,” said William D. Magwood IV, director-general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA). Magwood’s comment came during a February 29 press conference releasing the […]
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Coal
Gas-Fired Generation Pulled Nearly Even with Coal in 2015, EIA Says
Battered by stubbornly low natural gas prices and regulatory headwinds, coal-fired generation fell into a near-tie with natural gas in 2015, according to data released on Feb. 26 by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). For all of 2015, coal generated 1,356 TWh, while gas-fired generation produced 1,335 TWh, giving coal a slight 33.2% to 32.7% […]
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Cybersecurity
U.S. Cybersecurity Super Team Reveals How Attackers Prompted Ukraine Blackouts
External malicious actors deployed a “synchronized and coordinated” cyberattack to prompt the large-scale blackout in Ukraine last December, a U.S. interagency team has confirmed. The event on December 23, 2015— the world’s first power blackout prompted by a cyberattack—saw a swathe of unscheduled power outages afflict three regional power distribution companies (called the “Oblenergos”) and cut […]