POWER

  • POWER Digest [January 2019]

    EDF Inks Agreement for O&M Services at UAE Nuclear Plant. French nuclear power plant operator EDF will operate and maintain the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) under a

  • Energy Storage as a Service: Why Renting Can Be Better Than Buying

    The burgeoning as-a-service model, offering greater user flexibility and attractive economics, is now a viable option for energy storage. As with transportation, office equipment, and other capital-intensive

  • Innovative Microgrid Will Power Finnish Distribution Center

    A distribution center in Finland is installing what is being called the country’s largest industrial microgrid, a system that will use 100% renewable energy. The system is being built by Schneider Electric

  • 10 Takeaways from the IEA’s Newest World Energy Outlook

    The International Energy Agency (IEA) deemed growth and disruptions of the world’s power sector so significant to the future of energy, it dedicated—for the first time—a four-chapter “special focus”

  • Control Room Considerations: What You Need to Know

    Control rooms are vital for organizations to efficiently and effectively monitor multiple information streams and make accurate mission-critical decisions. With an ever-increasing number of content sources and

  • Energy Storage Resources: A Year in Review

    From both a regulatory and development perspective, 2018 was a significant year for the expansion of energy storage resources (ESRs). From a significant ruling of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

  • Natural Gas and Renewable Energy to Continue Leading the Market

    Cheap natural gas and social pressure to reduce carbon emissions give gas-fired power plants and renewable energy resources a competitive advantage over traditional coal and nuclear generation. Energy storage

  • Blockchain Technology Will Transform the Power Industry

    What began in the world of finance has moved into the power sector. Blockchain, a nascent technology most often associated with cryptocurrency, is a new frontier in the energy space, changing the way power is

  • Game-Changing Coal Power Technologies

    To be a relevant player in the future power mix, coal power efficiency and costs must improve, and technologies in the realm of research and development promise to do just that. Although most experts agree

  • Debate Continues: Can New Technology Save Nuclear Power?

    Nuclear power provides carbon-free electricity for a warming world. But is its use still practical, can it still be economic, is its promise still achievable, and is nuclear a key to combating climate change

  • Understanding Amine Chemistry in Combined Cycle Power Plants

    Many combined cycle power plants have established a pH guideline between 9.6 and 10.0 to minimize corrosion in heat recovery steam generators and condensers. Neutralizing amines are used to achieve these pH

  • THE BIG PICTURE: Wind Turbine Trends

    Average wind turbine capacity, rotor diameter, and hub height increased in 2017, continuing a long-term trend. One reason that wind producers choose bigger turbines is to optimize wind power project cost and performance, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Source: U.S. DOE, 2017 Wind Technologies Market Report, […]

  • Three Things ICS Security Pros Can Do to Maximize Uptime

    Before industrial control systems (ICSs) were network-connected, operators had little to worry about in the way of cyber threats. But as industrial environments, such as energy utilities, become more connected, they’re exposed to vulnerabilities and attacks. ICSs are used in large amounts of critical infrastructure, including the electrical grid, transportation systems, and wastewater plants. How […]

  • Molten Salt Reactors: Military Applications Behind the Energy Promises

    The commercial nuclear power sector has evolved with great help from the military-industrial complex. Research and development funded for the purpose of national defense has resulted in advances directly

  • Equipment Showcase: Tools and Safety Products

    Safety should always be a priority for any business, no matter the industry. This is particularly true for power generation facilities, which feature multiple pieces of complex machinery that can present risks

  • How to Prepare for NERC CIP-013-1

    It’s an exciting era in energy generation. The rapid adoption of IT systems and networked technology has enabled new business models and catalyzed production decentralization. However, with innovation comes

  • Distributed Energy: A Burgeoning Market

    It’s not particularly easy to find reliable and detailed statistics on the deployment of distributed energy systems. One reason is that a lot of distributed energy is installed behind-the-meter. As a result

  • Australia’s Victoria State Ramps Up Renewables

    Victoria state in Australia continues to see dramatic growth in solar and wind power, as well as battery storage systems, as the region rapidly expands its power generation capacity, in large part to serve the

  • POWER Digest [December 2018]

    Veolia Hungary Creates VPP Portfolio. Veolia Hungary in October acquired a 51% ownership share in CHP Eromu Kft., the first step in a process for Veolia to create a virtual power plant (VPP) portfolio. The

  • Spain Closing Mines in Transition Away from Coal

    Coal from domestic mines provides just more than 2% of Spain’s electricity generation, as the country has increasingly moved away from coal-fired power toward renewable sources. The administration of new

  • Moroccan Molten Salt Tower Project Clears Reliability Test

    A 10-day reliability test for the 150-MW Noor Ouarzazate III thermoelectric solar plant in Morocco has wrapped up, demonstrating that the project can provide continuous rated power even in the absence of

  • Novel Floating Power Plants on the Horizon

    For decades, floating power plants have been used widely as a source of flexible, decentralized power generation for several reasons. Among them are that they can be built cost-effectively and rapidly; they

  • Eliminate Transient Vacuums by Air Injection

    Most operators know that air should be kept out of a heat exchanger’s cooling water supply line. Air can collect in pockets and block flow, increasing velocities, increasing system resistance, decreasing

  • Courts Back State Flexibility on Choice of Generation

    Power regulation in the U.S. is split between the federal and state levels, with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) having jurisdiction over the wholesale sales of electricity and the states

  • Cleanup and Closure Projects on a Massive Scale

    Thousands of workers are involved, and billions of dollars are being spent, as U.S. utilities convert and close dozens of coal ash impoundments in an effort to meet government regulations and prevent future

  • The Impact of Environmental Regulations on Power Generation

    For many years, air pollution control (APC) rules and regulations have governed the design and economics of the world’s power generation fleet. These rules have had a tremendous impact, improving air quality

  • A Legal Guide to Power Generation Mergers and Acquisitions

    A myriad of issues come into play when parties execute power industry mergers and acquisitions. Part 2 of this two-part series looks at the issues involved with acquisition agreements, and some of the more

  • Cyber Breaches: Is Fear Misplaced?

    The power sector’s terror of a debilitating cybersecurity attack is magnified seemingly every day as new vulnerabilities or destructive threat actors are identified. But according to several industrial

  • THE BIG PICTURE: Small Modular Reactors

    Interest in small modular reactors (SMRs) has ramped up of late owing to applications in niche electricity or energy markets where large reactors would not be viable—such as for cogeneration in countries with small grids, remote and off-grid areas, and for nuclear/renewable hybrid projects. Modular attributes may also enable SMRs to target the economics of […]

  • South Korea Adding Bio-Heavy Oil as Renewable Energy Resource

    South Korean legislators in September passed a law allowing the use of bio-heavy oil to generate electricity. The law, expected to be implemented at the start of 2019, is designed to use the oil, made from