POWER
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Renewables
Risk Mitigation: An Essential Prerequisite for Inflation Reduction Act Funding
The groundbreaking Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) will put hundreds of billions of dollars toward renewables. As the most comprehensive energy policy in recent years, the IRA is already having a profound impact
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O&M
Water Chemistry Important to Avoid Equipment Damage
Technology advances for heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) at power plants continue to provide higher efficiency, with major gains recognized in natural gas–fired and cogeneration systems in recent
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Legal & Regulatory
Identifying State-Focused Renewable Energy Tax Exemptions
President Joe Biden last year signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that, in addition to a number of other actions, extended and enhanced a number of green energy tax opportunities. Notably, it extended the
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Hydrogen
Should We Really Use Renewable Electricity to Make Green Hydrogen? Not Always
There’s a growing belief that hydrogen will play a key role in lowering CO 2 emissions. However, there are several caveats in realizing that vision, and in some cases, hydrogen may not be the right choice
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O&M
APM: Making It Easy to Maintain a Greener Grid
The Inflation Reduction Act gave the power generation industry the push it needed to go all in on renewable energy. In the short term, we’ll see more solar and onshore wind. In the long term, we’ll have
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Research and Development
Enterprise Asset Management: Empowering Stronger Vision for Net-Zero Reality
Managers are constantly battling to improve efficiency and become more sustainable. Having effective asset management tools can help decision-makers visualize what’s working well and what isn’t, so fixes
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Hybrid Power
Hybrids Combine Technologies to Enhance Electricity Production
Solar + wind, solar + storage, wind + storage—even fossil fuels combined with renewable energy—are supporting the growth of hybrid power plants that are breaking the norms of traditional power generation
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Nuclear
Nuclear Power Is Finally Poised to Ramp Up Again in Japan
The Japanese have been hesitant to re-embrace nuclear power following the triple reactor meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in 2011, but there are indications that nuclear power could ramp up again in
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Trends
THE BIG PICTURE: Global Coal-to-Gas Switching
The Global Energy Monitor (GEM), an organization dedicated to enhancing understanding of climate change data, in a recent report, estimated that about 89.6 GW (or 13%) of the 692 GW of global gas-fired capacity in development are coal-to-gas conversions or replacements. East Asia has the most coal-to-gas conversions or replacements in development (29.6 GW). By […]
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Solar
Major Energy Players Seal Big Deals for Renewables
The world’s oil and gas majors, along with some of the largest utility companies, continue to invest in renewable energy as they develop diversified power generation project portfolios. Among the latest is
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Nuclear
War and Nuclear Power: Stakes Are High for People, Environment, and Industry
John Stevens Cabot Abbott, the 19th century American historian perhaps best known for writing History of Napoleon Bonaparte and History of the Civil War in America , is attributed with the quote, “War is the
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Hydrogen
Projects Underway as Part of UK’s Hydrogen Plan
The UK has a broad plan to develop a hydrogen economy as a feature of its commitment to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Energy analysts have said hydrogen not only could fuel the country’s
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Interview
How Monitoring and Diagnostics Centers Benefit the Power Industry
GE has been operating a monitoring and diagnostics center for the power generation sector for more than 25 years. From modest beginnings, the facility now monitors about 1,000 power plants around the world
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Top Plant
Large Hydro Station Wins POWER’s Highest Honor, 21 Additional Outstanding Projects Recognized in 2022
It’s always difficult to select winners from the field of nominations submitted to POWER for its annual awards, and this year was no exception. The Wudongde Hydropower Station was the big winner, while
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O&M
POWER Digest [December 2022]
Qatar Inaugurates the Country’s First Utility-Scale Solar Photovoltaic Power Plant. With Essa bin Hilal Al-Kuwari, president of Qatar General Electricity & Water Corp. (Kahramaa); Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi
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T&D
How to Reduce Risks at Distribution Pole Storage Sites
Working with and around electrical distribution system poles is dangerous. Georgia Power has taken a proactive approach to reducing the risk, keeping safety first in its operations. In the electric utility
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O&M
Insulation Pays Off: The Business Case for Insulation Energy Appraisals
Identifying areas in your plant where insulation is inadequate and fixing the problem can save significant amounts of money, eliminate safety hazards for workers, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It’s a
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Nuclear
Exploring Innovative Solutions for Nuclear Waste
Advanced nuclear energy can, and should, play a major role in meeting the societal goal of 100% clean energy by mid-century. Advanced nuclear energy would complement other energy sources like wind and solar
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Solar
Tracker Configurations for Bifacial Modules Support Distributed Generation Sites
Industry trends toward bigger and heavier modules, along with greater adoption of bifacial technology, are changing the way designers of solar power sites are thinking about tracking systems. Distributed
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O&M
Reduce Plant Fuel Use, Emissions, and Operating Cost with Performance Models and Predictive Maintenance
Thermal power generation has to adapt new methods to thrive as renewables transform dispatch. Now used more often as a bridge source of power rather than the main source of power, many fossil fuel plants
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Commentary
IRA’s Impact on Power Generation: Clock Is Ticking to Maximize New Tax Credits
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) includes the largest clean energy incentive effort in U.S. history. It builds on the energy initiatives included in 2009’s American Reinvestment Recovery Act
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O&M
Water Quality Management and Control—Managing the Second-Largest Waste Material in the U.S.
Coal ash, or coal combustion residuals (CCRs), is the second-largest waste material in the U.S., just behind household garbage. The safe and sustainable management of coal ash poses one of the most complex
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Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity Requires Understanding Humans as Much as Technology—Here’s How
Even more than technology and processes, power and utilities leaders must focus on that most timeless of resources—people—to be successful against a landscape of ever-evolving cybersecurity threats. Users
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Top Plant
A Half-Century of Reliability: Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant
Baltimore Gas & Electric set out to build the 1.8-GW Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in 1967 because fossil energy was becoming expensive and controversial. Over its nearly 50 years of operation
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Top Plant
New Units at Hongyanhe Further China’s Nuclear Ambition
An innovative design, emphasizing safety and economic efficiency, is key to the reactor technology at China’s newest—and now largest—nuclear power plant. China’s nuclear power program has utilized
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Commentary
Idiot or Maniac: Where Does Your Power Company Fit in the Discussion?
It’s kind of exciting to be able to write that events are back in full swing. In case you missed it, POWER hosted the co-located Experience POWER, Distributed Energy Conference, and HydrogeNext events, Oct
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History
History of Power: Dominion Energy’s Fluid Transition
A company that has corporate roots that go back to the Colonial era, Dominion Energy has been shaped by acquisitions and market forces. It is now in the midst of an extraordinary transformation to expand its
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Hybrid Power
Mini-Grids Powering Energy Access in Africa
Governments and power generators continue to work to improve access to electricity on the African continent. Engie Energy Access, a subsidiary of French energy major Engie, recently signed a $60 million
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Nuclear
China Approves Commissioning of Thorium-Powered Reactor
China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment on Aug. 2 gave Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics (SINAP) the green light to commission the experimental 2-MWth thorium-based molten salt reactor (TMSR-LF1) at
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Coal
Why Sulfur Oxides Are Bad and How Flue Gas Desulfurization Technology Works
Sulfur oxides (SO x ) have several harmful effects both to the environment, and to human and animal health. Much of the SO x in the atmosphere comes from the burning of fossil fuels by power plants and other