POWER

Since March, Hong Kong has been contemplating two options as it prepares to phase out its coal-fired power plants—which currently produce more than half of its electricity—to improve an enduring local and regional air quality and visibility crisis. One option calls for buying more power from coal-heavy mainland China, and the other is to increase […]

To ensure that its nuclear plants do not meet the same fate as those damaged and destroyed by the March 2011 events at the Fukushima Daiichi plant—should they be hit by similarly severe natural disasters—Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is using multiple new approaches to enhance safety. First Installation of New Spent Fuel Pool Instrumentation Spent […]

The world’s nuclear power generation capacity is slated to grow between 17% and 94% through 2030, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) forecasts in its 2013 Annual Report, released this July. However, it notes, those figures are slightly lower than projections made in 2012, owing to the continuing impact of the Fukushima Daiichi accident, the […]

Skilled maintenance and service teams inspect critical infrastructure, perform preventive maintenance, and quickly respond to issues to keep service levels high. It is critical that such teams work with as-built drawings that reflect original plans along with the cumulative changes. Armed with the current drawings, service teams can avoid surprises. The challenge is that drawings […]

Despite stagnant economic growth globally, primary energy consumption surged in 2013, with growth for nuclear power and renewables in power generation expanding at above-average rates, BP said in its recently released Statistical Review of World Energy 2014. According to the report, world power generation grew 2.5% in 2013, slightly up over 2012 (which saw 2.2% […]

Commissioning of all 18 generating units at China’s 13.9-GW Xiluodu Hydropower Station has been completed, making it the world’s third-largest hydroelectric project (Figure 5), China Three Gorges Corp. announced in early July. 5. Hydropower giant. Commissioning of all 18 generating units at China’s 13.9-GW Xiluodu Hydropower Station has been completed, making it the world’s third-largest […]

For a country focused on wooing big businesses, constructing large industrial complexes, and building new administration offices, having a reliable electricity supply is vital. But with few natural resources, flexible and efficient generation is imperative. Korea Southern Power Co. (KOSPO) CEO Lee Sang Ho has a vision of making KOSPO into a “global top 10 […]

Awash in a sea of wind turbines, California’s Coachella Valley needed reliable peaking generation to back up its intermittent wind power. Competitive Power Ventures answered the call with the eight-unit, 800-MW Sentinel plant. Driving west on Interstate 10 through the Mojave Desert in California is a mostly monotonous experience of sand, scrub brush, and rolling, […]

The Municipal Government of Beijing through its operating companies is making enormous investment into its power and energy infrastructure, particularly combined heat and power facilities and renewable energy projects. The latest addition to its fleet of plants is the Jingqiao Power Plant, which supplies electricity to the Beijing grid and steam heat to nearby commercial […]

NYU needed to repower its decades-old cogeneration system and cut emissions at its main campus in Lower Manhattan. The new gas turbine–based system cut the university’s energy bills by $5 million a year—and kept it going when Hurricane Sandy walloped the East Coast.  When figuring the payback period on a new power plant, calculations are […]