POWER

Although nuclear plant ice condensers are rare—only seven sites throughout the world have them—the theory behind these passive heat sinks is quite novel. In fact, some next-generation plant designers have built upon the concept and incorporated passive accident intervention schemes into their plans. A nuclear plant ice condenser is a passive, static heat sink that […]

To sustain unprecedented economic growth, lift hundreds of millions out of poverty, and attract investment, African countries are taking bold steps to expand electricity infrastructure. Are the continent’s

Building power plants is only the first step to generating success. Running plants efficiently, and consistently improving efficiency as they run, is the path to putting profits on the bottom line. Building

Natural disasters can strike anywhere, and the events of recent years—hurricanes, flooding rains, bomb cyclones—have ramped up the efforts of utilities to prepare for extreme weather. Power companies are

Purse-string holders are pretty easily swayed to approve funding to upgrade transmission and distribution systems following major events like Superstorm Sandy and Hurricane Irene. However, it is becoming

Various schemes are underway in Europe as nations use existing coal-fired power plants to generate electricity without coal as the feedstock. With rising carbon prices, some big utilities are repowering with

All the elements necessary to implement a complete and economical pump monitoring system are now available. It’s simply a matter of assembling the pieces. Within the walls of a thermal generating plant using

The duck curve is named for its resemblance to a duck, with its peaks and valleys highlighting the effect solar production has on the power demanded from thermal generators and hydropower resources throughout

Boiler and burner manufacturers, along with those who supply combustion control systems, work with a variety of industries, providing power generation to commercial, industrial, and residential sites. A 2017

Over the past decade, together with my students and colleagues at Duke University and other academic institutions, I have conducted scientific research and published 13 scientific articles on different aspects

POWER has been reporting for many years on changes taking place in the power generation mix around the globe. Renewable energy, such as wind and solar generation, has been growing steadily in most parts of the

Geothermal energy is a growth business. Several countries, such as Kenya and Indonesia, are rich in geothermal resources, and others such as Chile, Mexico, and the Philippines are looking to rapidly develop

In a bid to tamp down pollution, India’s government in December 2015 notified the country’s coal generators they would need to meet—for the first time—new emissions limits for nitrogen oxides (NOx)

Marking an important milestone in energy storage’s steady charge to become a key element in balancing variability posed by renewables, ACCIONA Energia has received a prototype certificate from DNV GL for a

Electricity is produced by a variety of generating units, each with different lead times and costs to be readied for service, and production costs once brought online. Because electricity is a commodity that

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC’s) recent Order 841, “Electric Storage Participation in Markets Operated by Regional Transmission Organizations [RTOs] and Independent System Operators

A lot of things factor into success at a coal-fired power plant, but leadership and teamwork certainly rank high on the list. Comanche Generating Station has parlayed those two attributes, among others, into a

In early 1882, U.S. industry was still heavily dependent on the water wheel, and many housewives cooked on wood-burning stoves. Power was made where it was used because there was no effective means of transmitting energy long distances. But 1882 was a year of dramatic changes. The world was just beginning to grasp the implications of a new, incredibly versatile […]

The “bomb cyclone,” a winter storm that descended on much of the eastern U.S. from December 27, 2017, to January 8, 2018, renewed the raging debate about resiliency and prompted flashbacks of the “polar vortex,” a similar deep freeze that transpired in January 2014 and was compounded by the loss of 82 GW nationwide for various reasons. […]

Just weeks after the 12th International Renewable Energy Storage Conference (IRES2018) concluded in Düsseldorf, Germany, newly announced figures from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) confirmed that battery storage technologies coupled with rapidly expanding renewables are blunting new fossil fuel investments. BNEF’s 2017 figures show that over $330 billion was invested in renewables with comparative costs […]

The traditional electricity grid is being transformed, as more businesses look to control their costs by producing their own power. A need for reliable backup power, the push for more resiliency in generation

New low prices for offshore wind energy projects in Europe have excited policymakers up and down the East Coast about prospects in the U.S. and emboldened some to finally pull the trigger on long-mooted plans

A sharp surge in new, larger offshore wind installations in Europe throughout 2017 dramatically shows the viability of a technology that has truly come of age. As costs fall and generation capacity increases

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

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

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

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

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

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

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