POWER
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News
There’s Value in Old Power Generation Components
Equipment from both renewable and thermal energy power plants is finding new life in the recycling market. The market for recycled power equipment components is getting a boost due to ongoing global supply
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Offshore Wind
Dramatic Innovation-Driven Ramp Up of Floating Offshore Wind Anticipated by 2030
A drumbeat of floating offshore wind–related developments this year suggests the pipeline for the long-nascent wind technology sub-sector may be finally beginning to grow. While floating wind’s current
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Legal & Regulatory
UK Leans Heavily on Nuclear in Bold New Energy Strategy
A long-awaited energy strategy published by the UK government on April 6 lays out bold commitments that tackle Great Britain’s multi-pronged challenges, including achieving net-zero carbon emissions while
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Nuclear
Small Modular Reactors Provide Opportunity to Rethink Automation for Nuclear Generation
An emerging generation of small modular reactors is encouraging suppliers and regulators alike to consider new digital instrumentation and control approaches. While instrumentation and control (I&C)
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Supply Chains
Supply Chain Issues Mean Planning Is More Important Than Ever
It’s hard to imagine a company that hasn’t been affected by supply chain issues over the past couple of years. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic began, a couple of utility executives had suggested POWER
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Legal & Regulatory
Administration, NRC, Nuclear Industry Look Ahead to Uncertain Territory
The Biden administration is fully behind development of new nuclear power technology. It is encouraging the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to look at “new approaches to regulation” as advanced
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Marmaduke
Marnie Surfaceblow: Oil Pump Amps Provide the Clue Marnie Needs to Stave Off Trouble
Incessant trivial alarms can drown out important warnings and cause headaches for control room operators. In this installment of Marnie Surfaceblow, our fearless heroine wades through all the noise to identify
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Point-Counterpoint
Natural Gas Bans Expensive, and Would Impact Electric Grid Reliability
Major cities including San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, and New York have either enacted or proposed measures to ban or discourage the use of natural gas in new homes and buildings, just a few years after
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Point-Counterpoint
Electrification Is the Sustainable Choice, but the Transition Is Not Just Technical
Energy powers everything we do. Where and how we create it—and how we store and distribute it—is constantly evolving. One of the most likely evolutions is electrification, which promises to have a huge
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Legal & Regulatory
Electric Utilities Have Critical Role in Broadband Infrastructure Deployment
Electric utilities will play a critical role in new broadband infrastructure deployment under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, known as the Infrastructure Act. Whether access to the internet
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Nuclear
How Does Nuclear Power Fit into a Country’s Energy Policy?
Reliable energy forms a fundamental building block of industrial and modern society. When a country examines its energy profile and determines its energy policy, it considers three main pillars: energy equity
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O&M
Advanced Analytics Applications Power Predictive Maintenance Efforts
Moving from reactive to predictive maintenance requires the right tools for use by subject matter experts. As the power industry continues to advance from preventative to predictive maintenance, one thing is
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O&M
The ‘Era of Location Intelligence’ for Utilities
Location-based information has played an important role in the utility industry for decades, but that history is just a prelude to the dramatically larger role it will play in the industry going forward
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News
How State-of-the-Art Monitoring Technology Will Be Used at a Turkish Nuclear Power Plant
Turkey has considered adding nuclear power plants to its fleet of generators since at least 1970; yet, no commercial reactor units have ever been completed. That is likely to change soon. The country’s first nuclear power plant commenced construction in April 2018 at Akkuyu. When the planned four-unit facility is finished, about 10% of Turkey’s […]
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IIOT
Boosting Productivity in the Utility Industry with Mobile Solutions
In the utility industry, downtime and outages—from losing power to water shortages and burst pipes—can impact a customer’s day-to-day life, causing safety concerns and costly damages. This is especially true during sweltering summer months or freezing winter seasons caused by extreme weather and climate change. Today, digital transformation is shifting customer expectations as they demand […]
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IIOT
The Growth of Renewables Calls for Scalable Approaches to OT System and Device Integration
Reports from U.S. agencies indicate the use of renewable energy continues to grow. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the U.S. consumed a record amount of renewable energy in 2020. In addition, renewable energy in the U.S. grew for a fifth consecutive year, accounting for 12% of the total U.S. energy consumption. It was […]
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IIOT
Don’t Fix That … Yet: How IoT-Enabled Sensors Predict Maintenance and Streamline Operations
The traditional approach to maintenance has two motors that keep it running. The first motor is proactive service: regularly maintaining equipment, following a schedule to ensure each element is running smoothly before repairs are needed in order to prevent a breakdown. The second motor is to repair once a breakdown happens. While the first part […]
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Trends
POWER Digest [May 2022]
Czech Republic Chooses Site for SMR Development. CEZ Group, a major conglomerate in the Czech Republic, in late March said it had set aside an area at the Temelin Nuclear Power Plant as a possible location for
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Gas
Gas Power Outlook: Volatility and Viability
Natural gas generation’s future hinges on a precarious and exceptionally volatile set of issues that the conflict in Ukraine intensified. Experts from the full natural gas chain shed light on how that
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Coal
Australia’s Coal Conundrum: Economy, Climate at Odds
Coal has long been a lifeblood for Australia. The country is the world’s largest exporter of metallurgical coal used to make steel, and it’s the second-largest exporter of coal for use in power generation
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Climate change
Power Companies Must Plan to Deal with Climate Risks
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a report at the end of February titled “Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability.” Among the warnings found in the 3,675-page
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Offshore Wind
Norway Setting Strategy for Offshore Wind
Offshore wind is big business in the North Sea, with dozens of wind power installations commissioned in the region over the past two decades. Norway, a country that gets 98% of its power from renewable energy
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Engineering
How to Complete Successful Power Projects Working with EPC Contractors
Power companies rely heavily on engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractors to build new power facilities and keep old ones in top condition. However, some projects go smoother than others
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Hybrid Power
Electrification Ignites Debate Over Future of Energy
Electrification—replacing fossil fuels with electricity to provide power—is a major part of the global effort toward decarbonization. It touches many sectors, and is sparking even more discussion about its
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Gas
Optical Continuous Emissions Monitoring for Combustion Turbine Systems
Natural gas electrical generation has increased significantly in recent years due to its cost advantage and reduced carbon footprint relative to coal. Many utilities are shifting to natural gas as a bridge fuel on their path to the ultimate goal of a net-zero carbon future. With the increase in gas-fired generation, the evaluation and demonstration […]
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Legal & Regulatory
California and Oregon Sail Forward on Offshore Wind
The Biden administration in 2021 announced its goal of developing 30 GW of offshore wind energy by 2030. Deep water off the West Coast means that any wind energy generation on this side of the U.S. must float
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Geothermal
Iceland Offers Case Study of Geothermal’s Powerful Potential
As more countries plan on achieving a green energy transition, Iceland offers guidance on how to effectively harness the power of geothermal. Imagining Iceland without geothermal energy would require turning
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Engineering
Making Power Plants Purr or Putting Them to Sleep: Hard Equipment and Soft Tools
Maintenance equipment and tools have always been important for plant operators. In the early days, the tools were likely made entirely of iron and steel, copper and brass, lead, leather, rubber, or glass. Some
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Microgrid
Microgrids with Propane-Fueled Backup Systems Deliver Reliable, Resilient Power
With the increased value of distributed capacity in various energy markets, there is a growing demand for generators in microgrids, which are local energy systems that can be disconnected from the electric
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Renewables
Competition Is More Important Than Ever to Tackle Today’s Energy Challenges
As we commemorate another Earth Day this April, the challenges facing our energy systems and the environment seem more pressing than ever. Americans face continued economic uncertainty following the COVID-19