POWER

Although Peru has been one of the best-performing economies worldwide over the last decade, its energy sector is still small in absolute numbers. Consumption levels per capita are low, even by Latin American standards, and demand growth is highly dependent on new mining investments. Successive governments have kept energy prices low; and regional interconnection, which […]

A combination of spent fuel pools reaching capacity, security concerns, and mostly nonexistent policies regarding long-term consolidated storage of nuclear waste is making dry cask storage the only way forward for most nations with nuclear power reactors. Around the world, demand for dry cask storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel (SNF) is on the rise. […]

The world’s ocean energy sector, which has over the past few years seen its share of developmental ebbs and flows, suffered a major storm this November after Siemens Energy said it would sell its tidal power arm and Pelamis Wave Power separately failed to raise needed funds to continue development. Siemens in February 2012, with […]

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires certain incidents to be recorded and reported, which generates a set of statistics that many companies use to gauge safety performance. However, other metrics may be better predictors. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires all employers with more than 10 employees, and whose establishments are not […]

On Nov. 14 at Los Angeles Air Force Base, California (L.A. AFB), U.S. Air Force officials unveiled the Department of Defense’s (DOD’s) first nontactical vehicle fleet composed entirely of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs). Actual rollout of the 42-vehicle fleet happened prior to the official ceremony, Christina Greer of the base’s Public Affairs office told POWER, […]

American Electric Power, one of the premier generating utilities in the U.S., is caught between a deregulated rock—wholesale competitive capacity markets that don’t, in the company’s opinion, value solid equipment over ephemeral demand response—and a regulatory hard place of increasing federal government rules that devalue on-the-ground coal-fired generation. Add the competitive challenge of cheap natural […]

Most readers will receive this issue while they are experiencing Northern Hemisphere winter, with its colder temperatures and higher energy bills, so it’s fitting that several articles address efficiency. You’ll find discussions of combined heat and power (CHP) as well as a refresher on the various ways to enhance thermal unit efficiency and thereby improve […]

An increasing supply of low-cost higher-chlorine coal is prompting many U.S. generators to give the fuel serious consideration in spite of its reputation for causing corrosion. Though corrosion can be a consideration, it’s not always caused simply by the fuel switch. Understanding the various chemical interactions, as well as operational and emissions pros and cons, […]

The world will fall short of the goal of providing universal sustainable electricity access by 2030 set by the United Nations and World Bank without “immediate concerted action” by governments, industry, and the international community, according to a survey of utilities around the world conducted by the Global Electricity Initiative (GEI). The GEI is a […]

Proposed U.S. standards for reducing carbon emissions from existing coal-fired power plants rely heavily upon generation-side efficiency improvements. Fuel, operations, and plant design all affect the overall efficiency of a plant, as well as its carbon emissions. This review of the fundamentals of coal plant efficiency, frequent problems that reduce efficiency, and some solutions for […]

An unnamed power company and the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) have partnered to test a concept proven to work at a small scale that applies pulsed electron beam technology to slash coal plant nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide (NOx) emissions. The concept (Figure 3) essentially involves directing electron beams from a cathode into the […]

Thomas H. Adams The American Coal Ash Association (ACAA) welcomed the publication on Dec. 19 of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Final Rule regulating coal ash disposal as a “non-hazardous”

Germany Approves Plan to Slash Carbon Emissions. Germany’s cabinet on Dec. 3 approved a new policy package to meet ambitious targets that would reduce the nation’s carbon emissions at least 40% by 2020 compared to 1990 levels. The plan proposes that 22 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions will be saved by power plants, […]

The long-drawn-out political impasse on Australia’s review of its Renewable Energy Target (RET) has generators reeling from what they say are “constant policy changes and distortions from successive interference by governments.” Australia’s RET, which has been in operation since 2001, was increased in 2010 to require that about 20% of the nation’s then-projected demand in […]

Nuclear power station water storage tanks, located above ground or underground, are constructed of aluminum, stainless steel, or carbon steel. All have naturally occurring electro-chemical processes that can eventually deteriorate the metal, resulting in leaks. Defects that develop on the underside of tank floors are particularly difficult to detect and measure. The Nuclear Energy Institute […]

One oft-cited roadblock to widespread adoption of plug-in electric vehicles (PEV) is a lack of charging infrastructure, commonly referred to as electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE), or charging stations. While Tesla is well known for designing electric vehicles that can travel more than 250 miles on a single charge, most PEVs can only travel 60 […]

Combining electric power production with use of steam for heating, cooling, and industrial processes is an old idea that had a brief boom in the U.S., kicking off the rise of non-utility generation. Since then, combined heat and power, or cogeneration, has become a niche market player. What happened? In the late 1990s, the University […]

Despite its efficiency and environmental benefits, combined heat and power (CHP) generation has languished at around 10% of worldwide capacity for more than a decade. But a global review shows growth in some sectors and promising new technology on the way. The statistics are both eye-opening and somewhat depressing. Globally, according to the International Energy […]

As it struggles to grow its economy while improving air quality in urban areas, China is updating its energy delivery infrastructure. A key part of that plan is switching from coal-fired to gas-fired combined heat and power plants. To push efficiency even further, some plants are turning to synchronous clutches. The developed world has done […]

The threats to power industry operations—and the reliable supply of power that we all depend upon for daily life—are no longer theoretical. A roughly 250% spike in reported industrial control system incidents over the past four years demonstrates that regulations alone will not protect power infrastructure. Everyone who works in this industry needs to develop […]

One of the persistent challenges for power sector cybersecurity is integrating operational and information technology teams and functions, especially when they include remote or third-party systems. A new military-grade security approach provides industrial control system security without compromising ease of daily operations. What do power generating companies have in common with The Boeing Co.? The […]

Much has been made recently of Mexico’s energy sector reforms, and because those reforms are still in being implemented, it can be useful to compare their progress with the outcome of previous reforms in Latin America. (A condensed version of this material appears in the January 2015 print issue of POWER: “Can Mexico’s Electricity Reform […]

As the global electric power industry continues to develop clean, high-quality energy capacity for sustainable development, the position of small hydropower has changed. In the past few decades, small hydropower development in China has experienced positive momentum, but there are still problems to be solved. To solve these problems, various relationships within the small hydropower […]

In 2013 the Mexican government passed historic reforms that eliminated the state’s monopoly on the energy sector in an effort to attract private investment. In the electricity sector, reform was sold on the

The rate of introduction of new gas turbine products has accelerated, and the speed of change creates challenges for engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractors who are also coping with a

Water and energy are intimately linked. Water is necessary for the production, distribution, and use of energy. Energy is needed for the withdrawal and delivery of water. The two are inseparable. Several

In mid-November, members of the POWER Generating Company Advisory Team responded via email to the following set of questions. Their comments have been edited for style. POWER: What changes in your fleet’s

The urge to merge, a key feature of the power industry for the past 20 years or so, showed no signs of slowing in 2014. Major players sought to beef up their asset portfolios and diversify their generating

Almost a year ago, workers began pouring concrete for the basemat of the first small modular reactor (SMR) in the western hemisphere. Despite the hype over SMRs in the U.S., with hundreds of millions of