POWER
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Nuclear
Could Advanced Reactor Technology Save the Nuclear Industry?
Constructing a new nuclear power plant is a massive undertaking. It involves years of planning and countless hurdles just to get the necessary regulatory approval to break ground. Once physical work begins
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IIOT Power
Immersive Visual Environments, Advanced Analytics Drive Operational Optimization
As data volume, variety, and velocity continue to accelerate, power plant operators increasingly encounter situations where 2-D desktop data visualization is insufficient to convey context for advanced
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Coal
German Giants Swap Assets and Reshape Energy Sector
Germany’s electricity sector faced a renewed, violent shakeup in March as two of its biggest utilities, E.ON and RWE, announced a complex asset exchange that experts said points to the death of the
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O&M
Basics of Sound and Noise Propagation
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 22 million people—including nearly all power plant workers—are exposed to potentially damaging noise at work each year in the U.S. Hearing
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Renewables
Vattenfall Pioneers Innovative Offshore Wind Foundations
The first commercial-scale suction bucket jacket foundation has been installed at Vattenfall’s 11-turbine European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC) in Scotland. The pioneering foundation, which weighs
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Coal
Equipment Showcase: Continuous Emissions Monitoring Systems and Gas Analyzers
A continuous emissions monitoring system (CEMS) is required in the U.S. under Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations to continuously collect, record, and report emissions data. CEMS are used to
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Technology
Construction Complete on Unit 1 of Barakah Nuclear Plant in UAE
The first of four nuclear reactors at the Barakah plant in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was completed in late March, a milestone both for the UAE and for South Korea, which supplied the APR-1400 pressurized
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Gas
MHPS Will Convert Dutch CCGT to Run on Hydrogen
Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) in March said it would work with the Netherlands Carbon-Free Gas Power project to support the conversion of the country’s 1.32-GW Magnum gas-fired power plant to run
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Commentary
The Nuclear Waste Impasse Can Only Be Resolved by the Public
The more I review the Yucca Mountain political boondoggle, the more I am convinced the stalemate will have to be resolved through a grassroots public campaign. At the outset of the Yucca startup, the
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T&D
POWER Digest [May 2018]
NTPC Commissions First Unit of Lara Project. The first unit of the 4,000-MW super thermal power project in Chhattisgarh in India was commissioned in late March by NTPC. The coal-fired plant, a $4.62
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Nuclear
France, India Moving Forward with Massive Nuclear Project
India’s government-owned National Nuclear Power Corp. (NPCIL) in March signed cooperation agreements for equipment and construction related to the massive 9,900-MW Jaitapur project in Maharashtra, the
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O&M
Putting a HALT to Hazardous Hopper Maintenance
Those responsible for the operation or maintenance of thermal plant boilers know there is nothing trivial about hopper ash buildup. At a minimum, plugging can lead to decreased output, unscheduled maintenance
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Connected Plant
Looking to the Cloud for Energy and Power Sector Security
Malware-based attacks against utilities and power plants are increasing six-fold according to a recent federal report. Power plants have become an appealing target because of a lack of detection and monitoring
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Infographics
THE BIG PICTURE [INFOGRAPHIC]: Changing Fleets
The generating fleets owned by some of the largest companies in the U.S. (ranked here by capacity in 2017) have transformed over the past four years, in some cases dramatically, as total revenues fluctuated. Sources: Fidelity Investments (revenue data standardized by S&P Capital IQ); EIA-860 detailed data; SEC 10-K filings, and company websites. —Copy and artwork by Sonal Patel, a […]
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O&M
Advanced Boiler and HRSG Designs Offer Improved Performance
Innovative boiler and heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) designs are improving efficiency, reducing emissions, and lowering maintenance costs. Some well-proven technology, such as circulating fluidized bed
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Technology
Innovative Firefighting Technology Improves Equipment, Personnel Safety
A hybrid fire protection system has the ability to discharge a cloud of hybrid media into protected spaces to extinguish fires without the use of dangerous chemicals. The hybrid cloud is based on cyclonic
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Safety
Operator Qualification and Training for the Power Industry
Skill levels generally differ between plant operator shifts. Further, these differences often cause divides among the shifts that result in unequal divisions of responsibility. Comprehensive, performance-based
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IIOT Power
The 4M Approach to a Connected Plant
Technology is being incorporated into operations and maintenance schemes at an ever-increasing pace. New digital tools are helping optimize assets, improve performance, and reduce overall costs. Big Data Best
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Environmental
Are Energy Companies Practicing Good Product Stewardship?
The Product Stewardship Institute—a consumer advocacy group—defines product stewardship as “the act of minimizing the health, safety, environmental, and social impacts of a product and its packaging
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Renewables
Geothermal Generation Growing by Leaps and Bounds in Kenya
The Geothermal Resources Council, a California-based trade association, said Kenya ranks eighth in the world in geothermal energy production. And the country is poised to add substantially more
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Coal
Chile to Pursue Dramatic Coal Generation Reduction
Chile joined the ranks of nearly two dozen countries that have announced a phaseout or a moratorium of coal generation, pledging not to continue building coal-fired power plants unless they are equipped with
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Gas
Equipment Showcase: Diesel and Gas Generators
Diesel-powered or gas-powered engines are the popular options for those wanting a generator as a prime power or standby, backup power source. A recent report from ResearchAndMarkets.com says the generator
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Nuclear
Accident-Tolerant Fuels Could Be a Boon for Nuclear Industry
Following a planned outage, Unit 1 at the Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant near Baxley in southeastern Georgia returned to service in early March outfitted with first-of-their-kind accident tolerant fuel (ATF)
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Renewables
Disaster Preparedness: The Quest for Transformer Resilience
Though critical to the nation’s power grid, large power transformers are some of the most vulnerable components in the system. Armed with a shared determination for resiliency, government, industry, grid
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Renewables
POWER Digest [April 2018]
China’s Installed Capacity Grows 7.6% in 2017. China’s installed power capacity in 2017 grew 7.6% compared to the end of 2016 and now stands at 1,777 GW—higher than U.S. installed capacity of 1,198 GW as
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Coal
Coal Generation Reaches New High in South Korea
The South Korean government said the country’s coal-fired power generation hit a new high in 2017, helped by three thermal power plants that came online with combined generation capacity of 5.3 GW. The
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O&M
Automated Tools Improve Hydroblasting Productivity and Safety
Just a decade ago, a hydroblasting contractor was considered cutting-edge if he owned a spinning nozzle for his shotgun and a 2-D tank cleaning tool. Now, the next evolution in hydroblasting technologies is
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O&M
Electric Co-op Shines a Light on Rack Selection
Clay Electric Cooperative was determined to dramatically improve its logistics, reliability, and productivity, even before the Florida member-owned utility set out to build a new warehouse to consolidate
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Commentary
Market Barriers Eased for Energy Storage Resources
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) adopted a final rule on February 15 (Order No. 841) that facilitates the direct participation of electric storage resources in centralized markets operated by
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Coal
Gaining Steam: Combined Heat and Power
There are increasing schemes in Europe to use marginally profitable gas-fired power plants to also generate heat for cities, and for good reason. Lausward Power Plant’s Fortuna Unit—POWER’s 2016 Plant of