POWER
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Renewables
Solar-Plus-Storage Project Brings New Energy to California
Clearway Energy’s Daggett Solar + Storage power plant in San Bernardino County is a model for producing renewable energy, and taking advantage of existing infrastructure, at the site of a closed thermal
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Hydro
Jinzhai Pumped-Storage Hydro Facility Helps Integrate Renewable Energy and Solve Grid Stability Challenges
Pumped-storage hydropower is seen as a key technology in China to balance the grid and store excess energy from intermittent sources like wind and solar. The 1.2-GW Jinzhai pumped-storage project is a model
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Infographics
THE BIG PICTURE: Geothermal Power Landscape (Infographic)
According to the Global Geothermal Power Tracker (GGPT), a comprehensive dataset of geothermal power facilities, about 14 GW of geothermal power is operational worldwide. The U.S. has the largest installed capacity at 3,900 MW, followed by Indonesia (2,418 MW), the Philippines (1,952 MW), Türkiye (1,691 MW), New Zealand (1,042 MW), and Kenya (985 MW). Most […]
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Power
Market for Energy Storage Growing Across Europe
The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union (EU), in 2023 issued recommendations on how member states should proceed with deployments of energy storage. The group said EU countries should
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O&M
Fasteners and Gaskets for Power Plant Service
Anyone who works in the power industry knows how important fasteners, such as nuts, bolts, and rivets, and gaskets are to plant operation. Fasteners provide structural integrity, effectively holding everything
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Solar
POWER Digest [September 2024]
Investment Fund Buys Spanish Solar Projects. NextEnergy Capital, an investment fund focused on renewable energy, in August said it had an agreement to buy 12 solar power projects in Spain. The installations in
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Fiction
Marnie Surfaceblow: Marnie’s Mailbag—Questions on Coal Ash and Tritium Lighting
Marnie and Maya answer real questions from readers. “Ma’am, don’t you think you should take a rest?” asked Maya Sharma, lead field engineer of Surfaceblow & Associates International. “But how can
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Commentary
Gearing Up for Experience POWER Week
Every year, I look forward to attending several power industry events. Among my favorites is the big event POWER hosts, known as Experience POWER Week. The conference will be held this year at the Renaissance
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Sustainability
The Carbon Countdown: Captive Insurance Strategies for Energy’s Ticking Time Bomb
As the urgency to combat climate change intensifies, the energy sector faces unprecedented financial risks. One of the most pressing issues is the risk of stranded assets. This challenge was first brought to widespread attention by the Carbon Tracker Initiative’s 2011 report, which highlighted the financial risks associated with unburnable carbon. Now, the risk of […]
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Hydrogen
Can Utility-Scale Power Boilers Safely Fire Hydrogen?
There is plenty of enthusiasm around hydrogen as a possible alternative fuel to natural gas in combustion processes. Some hope it can eventually replace natural gas in applications such as utility boilers. However, any transition to 100% hydrogen has plenty of challenges to overcome due to it having such fundamentally different combustion characteristics. This gives […]
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Gas
Original Approach to Fogging Regains Popularity
MeeFog’s very first installation of inlet air fogging was done at Harbor Cogen in Southern California in 1991 on a GE 7EA turbine where it continues to be used for power augmentation to this day (Figure 1). When it was installed, the fogging arrays were placed upstream of the air filters. Since that time, more […]
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Sustainability
Navigating the Transition to Sustainable MV Switchgear Amidst Decarbonization Initiatives
The push for decarbonization in Europe is reshaping the power sector. Stringent environmental regulations and ambitious renewable energy targets have necessitated the expansion and upgradation of the electricity distribution network. This is to accommodate the increased adoption of distributed energy resources (DERs) and electrification across sectors. These factors are expected to significantly drive the demand […]
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Connected Plant
Data Mobility Will Define the Future of Power Operations
As the power industry becomes more complex, the ability to move contextualized data will be a catalyst for more successful, efficient operations. Power producers and distributors face a unique set of
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Connected Plant
Enhancing the Potential of Condition Monitoring Using Vibration Information
Condition monitoring can transform how power plants operate and maintain their assets. This article argues that to exploit the full potential of condition monitoring, it’s necessary to use data to acquire
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Renewables
Risk Management, Skilled Counsel Key in Renewable Energy
Renewable energy project developers and contractors must be prepared to negotiate novel risks in a quickly changing global market. Technological innovations in renewable energy equipment and decreasing
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Commentary
How Energy Services Businesses Can Adapt and Win in a Changing Market
Energy services businesses are poised to benefit from an unprecedented amount of government support for energy infrastructure. However, choppy waters lie ahead as business models and market conditions evolve
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Distributed Energy
Peak Performance: APS’s Virtual Power Plant Saves Big During Brutal Heatwave
Through its innovative virtual power plant (VPP), Arizona Public Service (APS) harnessed smart home devices to save 138 MW during a historic heatwave, shifting peak demand and proving critical for grid
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Renewables
A Refined Approach to Onsite Power Generation
The Pine Bend refinery in Minnesota added a 45-MW solar power array to support the facility’s supply of electricity, reaping the benefits of reduced costs, lower emissions, and more. Owners of commercial and
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Connected Plant
Vietnamese Distribution Grid Automation System a Winning Project
Vietnam Electricity Group’s Ho Chi Minh City Power Corp. (EVNHCMC) deployed a distribution automation system that facilitates automatic—and very quick—fault detection and handling with a success rate of
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T&D
Viking Link: The Epic Build of the World’s Longest Onshore and Subsea HVDC Interconnector
A marvel of modern engineering, Viking Link—the world’s longest onshore and subsea interconnector—began commercial operations in December 2023. The project garners POWER’s inaugural Transmission and
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Commentary
It’s the End of the World as We Know It — Do You Feel Fine?
I thought the title from R.E.M.’s 1987 song was a fitting headline for this article. I contemplated using Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’,” but I thought R.E.M.’s “stream of
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International
South Africa Announces Bold Shift to Renewables and Nuclear
Emerging from a historic election that stripped the African National Congress (ANC) party of its majority, South Africa’s new government has indicated it will accelerate the transition to renewable power to
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O&M
Tips for Improving Power Plant Valve Performance
Managers know that valves are important to plant operation. That’s why keeping them in top condition is a priority. Upgrading to advanced valve designs and reducing stress on valve materials are just a
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O&M
Forced Outage Parametric Insurance Solutions for CCGTs
Combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plants started appearing on a larger scale in the late 1990s and have since then been a very efficient supplier of baseload and lately peaking capacity to the power grids. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) recently reported that natural gas–fired capacity additions are increasing in the U.S. again […]
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Legal & Regulatory
EU Mandates Biodiversity Restoration, Setting Up New ‘Green’ Requirements Alongside ‘Clean’ Ones for Power Sector
This June, the European Council formally adopted a first-of-its-kind regulation that sets out to restore at least 20% of the European Union’s (EU’s) land and sea areas by 2030 and all ecosystems in need of
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Fiction
Marnie Surfaceblow: What Helped Make Marnie, Marnie
Negativity can push you off your course in life. This is when Marnie first pushed back. “Any signal, Maya?” asked Marnie Surfaceblow, vice president of Surfaceblow & Associates International, as she
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Hybrid Power
Applying Photovoltaic Charging and Storage Systems: Challenging the Limits of PV Technology
To achieve net-zero goals and accelerate the global energy transition, the International Energy Agency (IEA) stated that countries need to triple renewable energy capacity from that of 2022 by 2030, with the development of solar photovoltaics (PV) playing a crucial role. Additionally, the comprehensive electrification of combustion engine vehicles is an indispensable measure for reducing […]
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Commentary
Looking Through ‘Green-Colored’ Glasses: Hydrogen in the Energy Transition
Transitioning the world towards cleaner and greener energy is proving to be more challenging than we once all hoped. There are real concerns about what impact the slower speed of uptake is having on our
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Trends
POWER Digest [August 2024]
Malaysia Slightly Moves Up Timeframe for Coal Phaseout. Malaysia will halve its coal use by 2035 and phase out coal generation by 2044, slightly earlier than previously anticipated by the country’s National
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Waste to Energy
Empowering Waste-to-Energy Solutions with Steam Turbines
Sustainable municipal waste management solutions often involve waste-to-energy plants that can produce electricity while also providing steam to district heating systems. Efficient steam turbines are important