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The U.S. must first develop unsubsidized, cost-effective energy storage technologies, validate reliability and safety, establish an “equitable” regulatory environment, and boost industry acceptance before it will see the widespread deployment of energy storage systems, says a report released today by the Department of Energy (DOE) to members of the U.S. Senate.  Commissioned by Sen. Ron […]

Arkansas Nuclear One Unit 2 was taken offline the morning of Dec. 9 due to a transformer fire in the site switchyard. Operators at the plant declared an “Unusual Event” at 8 a.m. CST and notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) of the situation. An Unusual Event is the lowest of four nuclear emergency classifications […]

Duke Energy submitted its decommissioning plan to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) this week for the company’s retired Crystal River nuclear plant in Florida. The 860-MW plant, located about 85 miles north of Tampa, went into service on March 13, 1977. It has been shutdown since September 2009 when engineers discovered a delamination, or separation […]

With an electrical efficiency of 45.95%, the Lünen hard-coal-fired power plant, located on the Datteln-Hamm Canal in the state of North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany, is Europe’s cleanest and most efficient. The 750-MW unit is owned by Trianel Kohlkraftwerk Lünen GmbH und Co. KG and has been online in continuous operation since Dec. 1. The plant had […]

Solar photovoltaic (PV) installations in the United States for 2013 will surpass 4 GW for the first time, spurred by continually falling prices and surging popularity of residential rooftop solar, according to a report from the Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA) released this week. Notably, the U.S. is projected to beat Germany in solar PV […]

“No industry stays static over time. Change is inevitable,” said the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) John Norris in a house subcommittee hearing today. For the electric sector, he said in prepared remarks, “The time of incremental change is clearly over.” The Dec. 5 hearing before the House Energy & Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Energy and Power was […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) last week said it would enter negotiations with Global Laser Enrichment (GLE) for the sale of the depleted uranium hexafluoride inventory after it selected the GE-Hitachi division’s proposal to build and operate a laser enrichment facility at the shuttered Paducah enrichment site in Kentucky. The DOE will also enter into […]

Continuing his promise to take action on climate change outside of new legislation, President Obama today issued an executive order calling for federal agencies to secure 20% of their energy from renewable sources by 2020. This would nearly triple the federal government’s current consumption of renewable energy. A 2009 order had previously set the target […]

A final rule issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Nov. 22 allowing energy storage projects to connect with the electric grid could boost the energy storage industry’s presence as a backup power source for intermittent energy sources, industry experts say. FERC Order No. 792 amends Order No. 2006—the pro forma Small Generator […]

AREVA announced that on Nov. 29 the first steam production was achieved at the concentrated solar power (CSP) plant it is constructing near Dhursar in the state of Rajasthan, India. The plant is Asia’s largest CSP installation and will be operated by Reliance Power. The 100-MW plant was approved for carbon credits in July under […]