POWER

Navigant’s Operational Excellence Awards are presented annually to those North American coal-fired generation plants that have demonstrated excellence in cost-efficient reliable plant performance over the preceding five-year period. The data used to select the winners derives from Navigant’s Generation Knowledge Service fossil database.

Driven by policies to limit carbon emissions, as well as government subsidies, the share of worldwide nonhydro renewable power is set to grow from just 3% in 2009 to 15% in 2035, the International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts in its recently released World Energy Outlook 2011. Under the same scenario—which assumes that carbon pricing, explicit […]

For each of the past 10 years, nearly 1,200 U.S. construction workers have died as the result of injuries received on the job. Of these fatalities, 25% involved heavy equipment—most categorized as struck-by incidents. Remote sensing and visualization technology promises to improve worker situational awareness on congested and busy work sites.

After more than a decade debating whether to pass a carbon-limiting law, Australia’s Senate in November voted in a landmark bill that will impose a price on carbon emissions. The country, which accounts for just 1.5% of global carbon emissions, but which is the world’s highest emitter per capita because 80% of its power comes […]

Xenon has introduced the T925 Wireless Cellular Controller for connecting remote sites with central control and monitoring stations through cellular networks. A T925 remote communications network eliminates the need to make hardwired Ethernet connections to the Internet or an intranet at each remote site and the central control and monitoring station. The network operates from […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in October directed staff to begin implementing seven safety recommendations put forth by the federal body’s Near-Term Task Force on lessons learned from the nuclear accident at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Daiichi power plant in Japan’s Fukushima prefecture last March. The recommendations affecting all 104 nuclear reactors (Figure 1) […]

A new nonmetallic Mobile Pump/Tank Cart from Vanton Pump and Equipment Corp. transfers wastewater and caustic/acidic chemicals with no corrosion and ultrapure fluids with no contamination. All fluid contact surfaces of the tank, base plate, and secondary containment chamber are of solid polypropylene, polyethylene, PVC, or other inert thermoplastic, precluding corrosion across the entire pH […]

The world’s steel industry is power-hungry. Using energy both to supply heat and power for plant operations and as a raw material for the production of blast furnace coke, the sector uses a major fraction of the world’s total energy consumption. China’s steel and iron sectors have been mushrooming on the back of skyrocketing demand, […]

HDE’s newly launched DVM-80UVK Universal Voltmeter Kit expands features of the DVM-80 series voltmeter and includes several accessories that enable voltmeter and phasing operations for virtually all overhead and underground applications. HDE is offering the kit as a complete, ready-to-use universal voltmeter package. It includes a dual-stick phasing voltmeter with overhead hook probes for use […]

A supplement to “The Big Picture: Gas Taxes” in our January 2012 issue.

Fluor Enters Small Modular Reactor Market, Backs NuScale. Fluor Corp. on Oct. 13 announced it planned to invest more than $30 million in NuScale Power, an Oregon-based small modular reactor (SMR) technology company. As part of its investment, Fluor has purchased the company’s shares that had previously been in U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission receivership […]

Sierra Instruments has introduced a new lineup of its popular transit-time ultrasonic flow meters, which now include improved next-generation Innova-Sonic 203, 205i, and portable 210i models. The Innova-Sonic 205i is Sierra’s highest performing dedicated clamp-on instrument. It incorporates the latest developments in digital signal processing to offer excellent accuracy and repeatability for a wide variety […]

A structure or mechanical system that requires fasteners also demands tools to maintain it properly. In power sectors such as wind, fossil fuel, and nuclear, some work areas may be several hundred feet in the air. While working at those extreme heights, or even just 10 feet off the ground, it’s simply unacceptable to drop anything. That’s why the concept of “tools at height” is being embraced as a way to improve safety and efficiency on the worksite.

Hendrix Wire & Cable, a provider of overhead and underground power distribution products, introduced its Spacer Cable Systems, a “green” solution for overhead distribution circuits. Because Spacer Cable is more compact and can withstand temporary contact with branches without causing outages, Hendrix Spacer Cable Systems can help reduce the amount of vegetation that must be […]

Inlet fogging systems for combustion turbines achieve their effect at the molecular level: The cooling effect occurs by converting thousands of gallons of water into single evaporated molecules suspended in the air. The right fog pattern comes down to a matter of selecting the best nozzle design and proper placement in the inlet air stream.

Oil Eater Naturals is a new line of eco-friendly absorbent pads made of natural plant by-products. Featuring woven construction, the pads are designed to provide a safer and cleaner workplace and help users meet OSHA and EPA requirements. The line includes Oil-Only Pads and Rolls that soak up oil and repel water; Universal Pads and […]

Correct welding procedures are extremely important elements of the work done by the PSEG Central Maintenance Shop (serving Public Service Electric and Gas Co., PSEG, a New Jersey utility). We have, for example, a Critical Weld Inspection Program for high-temperature pressure piping whose goal is to identify cracks in high-temperature piping welds.

Harrington Hoists launched the RHN Series, a new line of electric wire rope hoists, offered in two configurations: the deck/base-mounted hoist in 2–20 metric tons and ultra-low-headroom trolley hoist in 2–15 metric tons. Both versions are dual speed. The deck/base-mounted hoist features a compact, modular design that is perfect for stationary applications or combined with […]

Energy professionals and the general population are both acutely aware of the explosion of a Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PG&E) natural gas pipeline in San Bruno, Calif., that led to the death of eight people and the total destruction of 38 homes in September 2010. The tragic accident garnered immediate national attention, thrusting the natural gas industry into the spotlight. The California Public Utilities Commission’s (CPUC) Independent Review Panel neatly encapsulated the sentiment surrounding the event: “The fact that a large segment of pipe literally blew out of the ground in an urban neighborhood and the residents were generally unaware of the proximity of a high-pressure natural gas transmission system to their homes—raises significant public safety concerns.”

Ashcroft A2, A2X, and A4 pressure transmitters answer the call for an accurate, rugged, and reliable heavy-duty sensor. Available in accuracies up to +/-0.25% full scale, the A2 is offered with a wide variety of electrical connections, analog output signals, and pressure ports to meet the requirements of most any industrial application. The A2X (explosion/flame proof) […]

The current largest photovoltaic plant in the U.S., the 48-MW Copper Mountain Solar 1, utilizes approximately 775,000 solar panels to generate emission-free electricity for about 14,000 homes without the use of water. The facility was constructed in less than a year—an unprecedented achievement for a project of this size.

Advanced graphical interface technology provider DiSTI Corp. unveiled Replic8, a new software tool to effortlessly create interactive virtual training content from Autodesk’s 3D Studio Max. Replic8 allows users to easily produce compelling 3-D interactive training content through a simplified development process. (The image is a Relic8-generated 3-D Cummins 855 Diesel Engine.) The software tool works […]

Owner/operator: EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG/EnBW Renewables GmbH Germany’s first commercial offshore wind farm—the 48.3-MW EnBW Baltic 1—consists of 21 Siemens wind turbines, each with a capacity of 2.3 MW and a rotor diameter of 93 meters. Siemens constructed the facility in an area covering about 7 square kilometers in the Baltic Sea.

The wind power industry has exploded over the past decade. In the U.S. alone, almost 40,000 MW of wind power have come online since 2000. As more wind generation has been added, grid operators have been challenged to integrate a large amount of intermittent generation. As the state with by far the most installed wind power capacity, Texas has had to face this problem head on.

The 5-MW Kimberlina Solar Thermal Energy Station is the first to use compact linear Fresnel reflector technology developed to generate continuous superheated steam, a key element for higher-efficiency power generation and integration with new and existing plants. The facility’s innovative technology helps deliver power even during periods of transient cloud cover.

The 75-MW Martin Next Generation Solar Energy Center is the first hybrid solar facility in the world to combine a solar thermal array with a combined cycle natural gas power plant. Because the facility uses a steam turbine, transmission lines, and other infrastructure from an existing combined cycle unit, financial savings of approximately 20% were achieved compared to what a similar stand-alone solar plant would have cost.

Germany’s government has decided to shutter all 17 of its nuclear plants (23 reactors); eight plants are now closed for business, six more will be closed by 2021, and the final three will close by 2022. What is lacking is an honest discussion of the rising cost Germans will pay for electricity for what The Economist describes as “the greatest change of political course since unification.”

In December 2009, construction of an underwater tower and fish collection structure was successfully completed at the 465-MW Pelton Round Butte Hydroelectric Project. The first-of-its-kind fish bypass and intake structure returns temperatures in the lower Deschutes River to historic patterns and restores downstream passage of Chinook, steelhead, and sockeye salmon while maintaining existing generating capacity.

The world’s biomass power facilities, not counting those in the pulp and paper industry, average just 18 MWe to 20 MWe. In the U.S., passage of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 ignited development of many existing biomass plants. Greenhouse gas rules and renewable policies around the world have kindled a new generation of much larger biomass facilities. New announcements routinely are for plants 50 MW or larger, presumably to leverage economies of scale.

The 80-MW Sarnia Solar Project is the world’s largest operational photovoltaic plant, with 1.3 million solar modules. The facility utilizes First Solar’s proven thin-film photovoltaic (PV) technology, which has the lowest environmental footprint and the fastest energy payback of current PV technologies.