POWER

The world’s first floating wind turbine array could be installed offshore of northeast Scotland by 2017 if a project recently unveiled by Kincardine Offshore Windfarm Ltd. proceeds as planned. The joint project between Pilot Offshore Renewables and the construction giant Atkins entails the installation of eight turbines on semi-submersible platforms about 8 miles off the […]

Last year, the U.S. exported nearly twice the amount of wood pellets it sent overseas in 2012—and almost all of it went to Europe for heat and power needs. This trend has gained momentum since 2009, when the European Commission (EC) enacted its 2020 climate and energy package, and will possibly continue in the long […]

Chile Banks on Renewable Capacity Expansion, Energy Efficiency. Chile in mid-May released a $650 million investment plan to reduce energy costs and promote non-hydro renewable energy development for the country that imports about 60% of its primary energy resources. The plan calls for a 30% cut in marginal power costs on Chile’s central grid, which […]

One of the world’s first grid-scale iron-chromium redox flow batteries was interconnected this May to the distribution grid. The EnerVault Turlock, which its developer EnerVault says is a 250-kW, 1-MWh battery grid-scale energy storage system, will be charged by a 150-kW dual-axis tracking solar photovoltaic system in an almond orchard in California’s Central Valley, will […]

The most contentious (though not necessarily the most expensive) proposed environmental regulation to hit the power industry in this century was released by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on June 2. The most immediate consequence was an increase in the volume of email. The Big One As I write this column a week after the […]

China, the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases (GHGs) could limit its total carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions for the first time, possibly starting in 2016. He Jiankun, chairman of China’s Advisory Committee on Climate Change, reportedly told conference attendees in Beijing in June—one day after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed rules to slash carbon […]

South Africa’s critical power situation has been the subject of much talk and speculation since 2008, when the country experienced its first electricity crisis after enjoying a surplus of cheap electrcity since the 1980’s. Download the report.

On August 14, 2003, large parts of the Northeast and Midwest of the U.S. and the Canadian province of Ontario experienced one of the largest blackouts in history: 61,000 MW of electric load were lost

With the growing need for operational flexibility across the power industry, the combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) fleet is increasingly being subjected to load-following and cyclic operation. This change in

There is no hotter market in power generation than gas. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the U.S. is projected to add just under 60 GW of new generating capacity between 2013 and 2017

Everyone, it seems. From Bloomberg Businessweek to Rolling Stone, from ELECTRIC POWER (EP) to Platts Global Power Markets conferences, this spring everyone was talking about climate change. The topic is no

With the gas-fired power sector in continual flux, blessed by plentiful gas supplies but faced with uncertain fuel costs and competition from intermittent renewable generation, plant owners must make

Construction of China’s first high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTR) demonstration plant kicked off this April after pouring of concrete for the basemat of the Generation IV reactor was completed. Though

All power plants must continually strive to control operating expenses, but it is particularly important for coal-fired facilities to cut costs these days to stay competitive while meeting ever-more-stringent

New rules adopted by the European Commission (EC) in April will gradually phase out renewable energy subsidies that currently bolster the European Union’s (EU’s) €48-billion-a-year clean energy

All states were not created equal, particularly when it comes to indigenous reserves of fossil fuels. North Dakota is experiencing a boom in oil production, which has increased almost 10-fold since 2005, and

Australia Releases Emissions Reduction Fund White Paper. Australia’s Ministry of Environment on April 24 released its Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) White Paper, formally setting out the final design of the

It is an exciting time to be a part of the energy industry. New technology is being developed in almost every sector of the business. The coal industry is working on carbon capture and storage solutions

The interlinkages between water and energy are complex and run deep, warns a United Nations (UN) World Water Development water and energy–themed report released this March. As global water demand (in terms

Todd Hillman As hurricane season begins this year, utilities across the Gulf Coast will have a new partner as they work to keep the lights on after extreme weather events. Starting in late 2013, the

The New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) this April replaced its 44-year-old primary power control center with a state-of-the-art facility in Rensselaer County that is outfitted with digital monitoring

Forty years ago, musical genius Paul Simon outlined “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover.” In New Orleans in early April at the ELECTRIC POWER Conference, Mike Firstenberg of Waterfall Security Solutions laid out

The share of non-hydro renewables in total U.S. power generation shot up to 6.5% in 2013 from 2.4% in 2003, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The past five years alone have been

With 4.4 million customers and nearly 46 GW of generating capacity, Atlanta-based Southern Co. has doubled the size of its supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system in the past three years and

We all know someone who either is, or was, in the military. In fact, many utility industry professionals were once in the military themselves. Personnel learn many valuable lessons in the armed forces

Brazil’s Belo Monte hydropower project includes a complex of dams, numerous dikes, and a series of canals supplying two different power stations with water. With a rated capacity of 11,233 MW, it will be the

Climate change is changing the odds of extreme weather events, Entergy’s Rod West told the audience at the opening keynote session of ELECTRIC POWER 2014. West, who serves as Entergy’s executive vice

After two years of work, about a dozen conferences and meetings, and multiple rounds of comments, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) announced on Mar. 20 that it was ready to begin the process of

On May 16, 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is scheduled to release its long-delayed final 316(b) rule for existing facilities. The rule—which was supposed to have been issued Apr. 17 after