POWERnews
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Best of POWER—August 31, 2020
POWER Magazine Jobs White Papers Webinars Events Store August 31, 2020 Construction Begins on New Gas Plant in Alberta Macquarie Capital and a handful of other development sponsors announced they have successfully closed financing for the C$1.5 billion ($1.2 billion U.S.) Cascade Power Project, a 900-MW combined cycle natural… […]
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Nuclear
NRC Gives Final Approval to NuScale’s SMR Design
NuScale Power said the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has completed its Phase 6 review of the Design Certification Application (DCA) of the company’s small modular nuclear reactor (SMR), and said the company’s SMR is the first such reactor to receive NRC approval of its design. NuScale on August 28 announced that with the DCA […]
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News
Construction Begins on New Gas Plant in Alberta
Macquarie Capital and a handful of other development sponsors announced they have successfully closed financing for the C$1.5 billion ($1.2 billion U.S.) Cascade Power Project, a 900-MW combined cycle natural gas-fired generating plant near Edson, Alberta. The new facility (Figure 1), expected to meet more than 8% of the province’s average demand for power, will […]
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Nuclear
Exelon Makes Plans to Retire Byron and Dresden Nuclear Plants in 2021
In a stunning announcement, Exelon Generation, which operates the largest U.S. fleet of nuclear plants—21 reactors at 12 facilities in Illinois, Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania—said it will retire the Byron and Dresden generating stations next fall for economic reasons. “Although we know in our heads that shutting down the uneconomic Illinois plants is necessary […]
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POWERnews—Aug. 27, 2020
POWER Magazine Jobs White Papers Webinars Events Store August 27, 2020 Analysis Supports Competitive Southeast Power Market A new report from two groups that study energy policy supports the establishment of a fully competitive regional electricity market in the U.S. Southeast, something already being discussed by at… Derecho Damage Results […]
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Nuclear
Versatile Test Reactor Program Selects Bechtel Team for Nuclear Design, Build Phase
Battelle Energy Alliance (BEA), the entity that manages Idaho National Laboratory (INL), has initiated contract negotiations with a team lead by Bechtel National Inc. (BNI) and supported by GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) and Terra Power to back the design and build phase of the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Versatile Test Reactor (VTR). The announcement […]
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News
Gulf Coast Utilities Brace for Monster Hurricane
Utilities along the U.S. Gulf Coast are preparing their response to Hurricane Laura as the massive storm bears down on the Texas and Louisiana coastlines. Entergy Corp., whose territory includes those two states along with Arkansas and Mississippi, on August 26 said it had about 7,400 workers ready to respond to the storm, including 5,300 […]
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O&M
The ELECTRIC POWER Conference and Exhibition Shifts to Virtual and Changes Its Name to Reflect Expanded Content and Experiences
POWER has announced the decision to hold the ELECTRIC POWER Conference and Exhibition virtually, September 28–October 1, 2020, to safely bring the power community together, expand the event, and transition to a new name. HOUSTON, Texas, August 26, 2020 – With the health and safety of all participants and stakeholders as the number one priority, […]
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Nuclear
Derecho Damage Results in Early Retirement of Duane Arnold Nuclear Power Plant
The Duane Arnold Energy Center (DAEC, Figure 1)—a 615-MW nuclear power plant located in Palo, Iowa—will reportedly not restart after high winds caused extensive damage to the station’s cooling towers. The plant owner, NextEra Energy Resources, had planned to retire the unit on Oct. 30, but after assessing damage caused by an Aug. 10 derecho, […]
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Connected Plant
PI System Software-Maker OSIsoft Being Acquired by AVEVA
In a $5 billion deal, engineering and industrial software company AVEVA has agreed to acquire OSIsoft, maker of the PI System, which is a market-leading operational data software solution. “Combining AVEVA and OSIsoft is yet another significant milestone in our journey to achieving the ambitious growth goals that we have set,” Craig Hayman, CEO of […]
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News
Analysis Supports Competitive Southeast Power Market
A new report from two groups that study energy policy supports the establishment of a fully competitive regional electricity market in the U.S. Southeast, something already being discussed by at least two of the region’s largest utilities. The analysis published August 25 from San Francisco, California-based Energy Innovation, and Boulder, Colorado-based Vibrant Clean Energy (VCE), […]
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News
Nine Dead in Hydropower Plant Blaze in India
A major fire at the Srisailam Left Bank Hydel Power Station in India’s Telegana state on August 20 killed nine people and seriously injured three others. There is now a wide-ranging federal investigation into its cause. According to plant owner and operator, Telangana State Power Generation Corp. Ltd. (TSGenco), the tragic accident occurred at about […]
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IIOT
5 Reasons Why You Need to Increase Remote Operations Capacity Today
In February 2020, TIME magazine described the coronavirus pandemic’s workplace implications as “the world’s largest work-from-home experiment.” Today, it’s apparent that it is no longer an experiment, but a new way of working for the foreseeable future. Globally, 70% of people work remotely at least once a week, as every sector from government institutions and […]
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News
Financing Secured for New Gas Plant with GE HA Turbines
Financing has been secured for a new combined cycle natural gas-fired power plant in Illinois, a project expected to begin supplying electricity to the Chicago area in 2023. Competitive Power Ventures (CPV), in partnership with GE Energy Financial Services, Osaka Gas USA, Axium Infrastructure, and Harrison Street, on August 24 said it has reached financial […]
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POWERnews—Aug. 20, 2020
POWER Magazine Jobs White Papers Webinars Events Store August 20, 2020 Barakah Nuclear Plant Now Sending Power to Grid Unit 1 of the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) sent its first electricity to the UAE grid on August 19, according to a statement from… California […]
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News
California Blackouts Bring Calls for Investigation
California’s governor demanded an investigation into the cause of a series of power outages—the first since an energy crisis in 2001—that blacked out parts of the state in recent days. California Independent System Operator (CAISO) has struggled to ensure reliability since Friday, Aug. 14, when, amid triple-digit temperatures, it declared a statewide Stage 2 Emergency, […]
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Commentary
Additional Solutions Needed for California Power Market
Late last week, to manage a potential large-scale power outage driven by triple-digit temperatures, the California Independent Service Operator (CAISO) called on utilities to implement rolling outages across the California grid. The shutdown of three natural gas power plants and a significant decline in available wind power were cited as the primary reasons behind the […]
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Coal
Coal Plants May Get Scrubber Reprieve from Proposed EPA NAAQS Redesignations
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has moved to redesignate four new areas of Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, and Texas as being in attainment of air quality standards for sulfur dioxide (SO2). The proposed actions issued over the past week provide a potential reprieve for several coal power plants, which would have needed costly pollution controls to […]
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Hydrogen
China Will Get ‘Green’ Hydrogen from Siemens-Sourced System
Siemens Energy will provide a hydrogen production system for a fueling station in Beijing, China. The company said it will be the “first megawatt green hydrogen production project in China.” “The decarbonization of the energy systems is a challenge that every country must face. Siemens Energy is the company that can provide its customers with […]
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Nuclear
Barakah Nuclear Plant Now Sending Power to Grid
Unit 1 of the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) sent its first electricity to the UAE grid on August 19, according to a statement from the country’s ambassador to the U.S. The Barakah facility is the first nuclear power plant in the Arab world. The plant became operational about three […]
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News
Solar, Storage Among New Projects in Texas
Several companies have announced new energy projects in Texas, including three utility-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS), and a solar farm that will benefit customers in the western part of the state. The projects were announced August 19. In addition, officials in Houston on Wednesday said they have awarded a contract for a microgrid that […]
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Best of POWER—August 17, 2020
POWER Magazine Jobs White Papers Webinars Events Store August 17, 2020 Innovative Byproduct-Hydrogen Fuel Cell Power Plant Completed The largest industrial hydrogen fuel cell power plant in the world and the first to use only hydrogen recycled from petrochemical manufacturing has been placed in service by Hanwha Energy… South […]
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Distributed Energy
BESS System on Hybrid Microgrid Powers Remote Alaskan Community
The small town of Cordova, Alaska, is located 150 miles southeast of Anchorage, near the picturesque head of the Orca Inlet on the Prince William Sound, at the mouth of the Copper River. It is renowned for its Copper River king and red salmon. Every year, the town transforms into a seafood and fishing powerhouse […]
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Fuel
Coal-Fired Generation Down 30% in U.S., 8% Worldwide
Analysis from a global energy organization said power generation from coal-fired units fell 8.3% in the first half of 2020, with the world’s coal fleet running at less than half its capacity. The drop for U.S. coal generation was more steep, with the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reporting the output from the nation’s coal […]
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News
Clean Energy Adds Jobs, but Pace Is Slow
An analysis of federal labor data for the clean energy sector shows renewable energy and other industries are adding jobs after months of declines brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. But the gains in July were lower than those in June, signaling sectors such as solar, wind, energy storage, energy efficiency, and electric vehicles continue […]
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POWERnews—Aug. 13, 2020
POWER Magazine Jobs White Papers Webinars Events Store August 13, 2020 Innovative Byproduct-Hydrogen Fuel Cell Power Plant Completed The largest industrial hydrogen fuel cell power plant in the world and the first to use only hydrogen recycled from petrochemical manufacturing has been placed in service by Hanwha Energy… Six Investing […]
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Fuel Cells
Innovative Byproduct-Hydrogen Fuel Cell Power Plant Completed
The largest industrial hydrogen fuel cell power plant in the world and the first to use only hydrogen recycled from petrochemical manufacturing has been placed in service by Hanwha Energy at its Daesan Industrial Complex in Seosan, South Korea. The innovative plant uses “recycled hydrogen from petrochemical manufacturing” supplied by the Hanwha Total Petrochemical plant […]
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News
DOE Rolls Out Platform to Assess Integration of Energy Systems at Scale
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has launched the Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems (ARIES) platform to substantially boost national energy research experimental capability and allow the scientific community to explore fundamental challenges related to integrated energy systems at scale. ARIES, which the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado, developed over this […]
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News
Six Investing Trends Reshaping Power and Utilities Sector Despite COVID
Investors in the global power and utilities sector embraced agendas that created long-term value during the first half of this year, as the COVID-19 pandemic roiled the world. Recent activity points to several interesting trends that will likely persist in a post-crisis world and may even accelerate change in the sector, new analyses from global […]
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Hydrogen
Power and Gas Research Giants EPRI and GTI Join Forces to Explore Hydrogen Pathways
The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and the Gas Technology Institute (GTI) are teaming on a notable five-year-long initiative to accelerate development and demonstrate low-carbon technologies that they say are needed to help private companies and governments achieve increasingly ambitious decarbonization goals by 2050. The Low-Carbon Resources Initiative (LCRI), officially launched on Aug. 10, is […]