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  • Electrical Area Classification in Coal-Fired Power Plants

    Electric power production from coal is on a steep rise in major developing countries, including China, India, Indonesia, South Africa, and Vietnam, albeit declining in developed countries such as the United States. Shortfalls in coal production have been reported in some of these countries, but these issues are being addressed by increasing coal production, as […]

  • Binz Withdraws From FERC Nomination

    In a letter to President Obama on Monday, former Colorado Public Utility Commissioner Ron Binz withdrew his name from further consideration as chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). His nomination proved to be highly controversial and was met with resistance by many members of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. In […]

  • Federal Court Orders EPA to Move on Final Coal Ash Rule

    A federal court on Monday said it would issue a memorandum opinion by the end of this month on a lawsuit filed by several environmental groups to force the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to promulgate a final coal ash rule. At least 11 environmental groups, including the Sierra Club and the Southern Alliance for Clean […]

  • Miss. Power Delays Kemper IGCC Plant (Corrected)

    “Abnormally wet weather” and “lower-than-planned construction labor productivity” have forced Mississippi Power to push back commercial startup of its integrated coal gasification combined cycle (IGCC) project in Kemper County, Miss., to later in 2014 from the originally scheduled in-service date of May 2014. The company said in a stock filing on Tuesday that it would […]

  • Federal Court Blocks Maryland Order to Build New CCPP

    A federal court on Sept. 30 shot down Maryland’s drive to spur construction of a new combined cycle power plant outside of PJM’s capacity auctions. Ruling in favor of various entities that had sued to block the plan, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland found that the state’s order last year for […]

  • Nuclear Plant Shut Down Due to Jellyfish

    Courtesy: OKG At noon on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2013, Oskarshamn Unit 3 (O3) was manually shut down due to a large amount of jellyfish present at the cooling water intake. Operations management chose to disconnect the facility from the grid as a preventive safety measure rather than risk an automatic shutdown due to insufficient cooling […]

  • IPCC Report Says Climate Change Is Real and Caused by Humans

    A report issued on Friday, Sept. 27 by a working group of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) essentially confirms the conclusions drawn by previous reports that human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels, are largely responsible for climate change. Working Group 1’s “Contribution to the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report Climate Change 2013: […]

  • Germany’s National Election Sheds Little Light on Energiewende Future

    A federation of Germany’s biggest companies last week called for urgent reforms to the country’s renewable energy strategy within the first 100 days of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s newly elected government, including abolishing feed-in-tariffs (FITs) that they say have sent power prices in the country soaring. Key points of the 19-page reform proposal submitted by the […]

  • Power in Southeast Asia: Cubs on a Growth Spurt

    Southeast Asia, with an increasingly affluent population of 600 million, must kick investment in the power sector into the next gear to meet expected demand for electricity. Download the report.

  • California Boosts Grid Flexibility with Another Fast-Start Plant

    California’s drive to add flexibility to its grid in response to expanding renewable generation took another step forward in September as NRG Energy commissioned two new fast-start units at its El Segundo Energy Center near Los Angeles. The two units, with a combined 550 MW capacity, represent the second Siemens Flex-Plant to go into commercial […]