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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 […]

According to the latest data from the Energy Information Agency (EIA), while gas power burn is down from its peak last year, generation from coal has not recaptured much of what it lost. EIA estimates show that electric power sector gas consumption was, on average, down 13% through November compared to the same period in […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has extended the expiration date of the construction permit for the unfinished Unit 2 at the Watts Bar Nuclear Power Plant (WBN) to Sept. 30, 2016. WBN is located about 10 miles south of Spring City, Tenn., and is owned by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). TVA requested the extension […]

Nine Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states on Monday urged the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to model state programs to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants on the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), the market-based cap-and-trade regulatory program in which the states participate.  The EPA should recognize the RGGI model as an “effective system” of emission […]