Global Monitor

Mini-grids—smaller off-grid electricity distribution networks—are being recognized as a cost-effective solution to bring power to rural communities that often have no access to a traditional power grid

Power generation news briefs from around the world.

Roiled over 2020 by the COVID-19 pandemic, two much-watched international power market outlooks surveying short-term and long-term implications caution the road ahead will be ridden by complexity. The

Advancements in small modular reactor (SMR) technology are being supported by government investment within several countries, including the U.S. and the UK, as SMRs are increasingly seen as a way to take

Feasibility Study Set for Netherlands’ CCS Plan. Neptune Energy in mid-December announced a feasibility study to develop a carbon capture and storage (CCS) plan for the Netherlands. The study will look at

Over its 50-year history, several rules issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have reshaped the power sector. But for at least a few modern rules, the road has been full of turns. Notes: CAA = Clean Air Act; BSER = best system of emission reduction; CO2 = carbon dioxide; GHG = greenhouse gases; […]

At the virtual 2nd Global Ministerial Conference on System Integration of Renewables on Oct. 27, several high-ranking policymakers pointed to a number of localized challenges affecting their countries’

Global energy demand has waned in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The lingering impacts of COVID-19 are expected to continue into 2021, but energy industry experts predict the world’s need for

South Korea, Japan, and China, countries that rely heavily on coal power generation to fuel their economies, separately announced ambitious goals to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions within the

Norwegian Group Buying Vietnam Wind Farm. Norway’s SN Power AS in November agreed to purchase 100% of the shares in the 39.4-MW Dam Nai Wind Power project in Vietnam from Mekong Wind Pte. Ltd., a group owned

As part of Cuba’s National Economic and Social Development Plan for 2030, the country aspires to increase the share of renewable energy on its electric grid to 24%. To accomplish this objective, the

In a bid to spur economic activity and thwart a COVID-19–related downturn, Australia’s government in September set out a strategy to reset domestic power and gas priorities to tamp down power prices and

Advancements in battery technology are critical to continuing growth in the energy storage market, and energy industry analysts say those advancements also are needed to move e-mobility forward and combat

Japanese firm JERA, a joint venture between TEPCO and Chubu Electric, on Oct. 13 issued a roadmap to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2050. The move is notable for the company whose business includes a sizable

UK Expands Offshore Wind Targets, Sets 1 GW Target for Floating Wind. The UK on Oct. 6 raised its target for offshore wind power capacity by 2030 from 30 GW to 40 GW. To help the nation meet its commitments

Offshore wind capacity is slated to surge to more than 234 GW by 2030—a remarkable boost when compared to the current 29.1 GW that was installed worldwide at the end of 2019, the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) said in an August-released analysis of the sector. In the second edition of its Global Offshore Wind […]

In 2019, global liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports reached 482 billion cubic meters, up 13% from 2018, according to BloombergNEF figures cited in the International Gas Union’s August–released Global Gas Report 2020. Last year, the world also saw a definitive shakeup in rankings of importers and exporters. Compared to 2018, LNG imports by Japan and […]

It’s been nearly 35 years since the Philippines mothballed the country’s only nuclear power plant, declaring the 621-MW Bataan facility would not be commissioned despite the country spending $2.3 billion

Swedish energy company Vattenfall, mining company LKAB, and steel manufacturer SSAB in September started the world’s first pilot plant to produce “fossil-free” steel in Lulea, Sweden (Figure 3). As part

Countries in Latin America did not feel the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic until several weeks after Europe and the U.S., but the impacts of the coronavirus when it arrived were swift on the region’s

Enel Ready to Close Italian Coal Plants. Enel, Italy’s largest power generator, said it wants to close three coal-fired units in the coming months as part of the company’s complete exit from coal. Enel

Construction of the 10-MW Supercritical Transformational Electric Power (STEP) pilot plant in San Antonio, Texas, is inching along, and developers in July announced that the building to house the innovative

Vietnamese officials earlier this year said they want the country to more than double its power generation capacity by 2030, to as much as 130 GW from the current capacity of about 55 GW. The Communist Party

BP made headlines in early August when it announced it wants to develop about 50 GW of net renewable generating capacity by 2030—a 20-fold increase from the 2.5 GW deployed in 2019—as part of a new

At the end of 2019, 125 projects larger than 1 MW were co-located with other generators or storage at a single point of interconnection across the U.S., according to a July 2020 report from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. These “hybrid/co-located” projects, which exist in various configurations, represent a combined 13.4 GW of generating capacity and […]

Milestone for First 700-MW Domestically Built Indian Nuclear Reactor. Unit 3 of the Kakrapar nuclear power plant in the Indian state of Gujarat—an indigenously designed 700-MW pressurized heavy water reactor

Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction (DHIC) this summer made major strides to establish itself at the core of South Korea’s strategy to become only the fifth country to own an independent gas turbine

Utility Expects New Schedule for Olkiluoto 3 Reactor. Finnish utility Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) said it expects to soon receive the revised schedule from the Areva-Siemens consortium for the commissioning of the Olkiluoto 3 (OL3) EPR. Fuel loading of the reactor, which was planned for June, has been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic and other […]

Developers of renewable energy projects in China are ramping up efforts to move their installations forward, after delays from the coronavirus pandemic slowed the government’s plan to have solar and wind

The market for energy storage is growing quickly in the UK, with investment companies helping develop projects and noting it could help spur the power sector’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. Though