POWERnews

Scientists at SSC RF TRINITI JSC, a subsidiary of Rosatom’s science division, this week announced they have developed a method of disinfecting and sterilizing medical instruments, clothing, equipment, and facilities using mobile devices for the production of concentrated ozone. The action is one of several initiatives undertaken by Rosatom, the Moscow-based Russian state nuclear corporation, […]

POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   April 9, 2020 Featured World’s First HL-Class Gas Turbine Starts Successfully Siemens Energy completed “first fire” at Duke Energy’s Lincoln Combustion Turbine Station near Denver, North Carolina, on April 6. The accomplishment is a major milestone for the world’s first SGT6-9000HL… Power […]

With the growth of distributed energy resources, including rooftop solar, wind turbines, battery energy storage systems, electric vehicles, and demand response technology, distributed energy resource management systems (DERMS) are becoming increasingly important for utilities. Brad Williams, vice president of Industry Strategy with Oracle Utilities was a guest on The POWER Podcast. He touched on a […]

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL’s) latest annual energy flow chart suggests that in 2019, for the second year in a row, wind and solar made up the largest increases in U.S. energy supply, but American consumption of energy fell after a record year in 2018. The national lab’s annual U.S. energy flow chart, or Sankey […]

In the face of widespread disruption driven by economic, regulatory and consumer forces, the energy sector is increasingly adopting digital technologies to transform the industry and bring it into the future. However, this move to modernization can unintentionally expose organizations to a range of new security threats that must be addressed. Digital Transformation—A Move to […]

PJM Interconnection, the nation’s largest regional transmission organization (RTO), is intensifying its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, preparing campuses for worker sequestration and closely coordinating with generators and transmission owners across its system as they grapple with workforce and supply impacts. Although most of PJM’s employees—with the exception of system operators and other essential personnel—are […]

It’s a rite of spring for the U.S. nuclear power industry. Plant operators schedule refueling outages, taking a reactor offline not only to refuel but also to perform repairs or other maintenance, and facility upgrades. It’s a task made more problematic this year, as social distancing and travel restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic […]

The start of a new decade marks a critical moment for utilities. As the pace of change accelerates, industry leaders are facing choices that will determine which companies prosper in the new competitive landscape and which languish as slow-growth commodity businesses. West Monroe’s 2020 Energy and Utilities Outlook provides a guide to planning for a […]

The coronavirus pandemic is altering the power landscape, with utilities and other power generators forced to adjust for load disruptions. Power consumption is changing as commercial and industrial electricity users close their businesses, and load is shifting to the residential sector with workers now settled in home offices, and students practicing remote and distance learning. […]

As part of POWER magazine’s in-depth coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, its editors are curating a list of resources that may provide actionable information helpful to anyone involved in the world’s vast bulk power systems. Please write to editor@powermag.com if you know of additional resources that should be added to this page.  POWER Magazine’s Live […]

Siemens Energy completed “first fire” at Duke Energy’s Lincoln Combustion Turbine Station near Denver, North Carolina, on April 6. The accomplishment is a major milestone for the world’s first SGT6-9000HL gas turbine, confirming the engine and auxiliary systems, including the gas supply, lube oil system, control system, and startup systems, all work as designed. During […]

The U.S. power sector is rallying together to implore state and local governments to treat sector-wide “mission-essential employees” with higher priority and ensure they have top-level access to testing and personal protective equipment (PPE) amid the intensifying COVID-19 pandemic. In a four-page April 2 white paper presumably addressing federal leadership, the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council […]

Federal regulators with oversight over U.S. power matters have issued a series of actions over recent weeks to respond to the potentially devastating impact that COVID-19, the new coronavirus, could have on North American power workforce operations and reliability. POWER will update this post regularly with COVID-19 response news and documents from federal and state […]

Operators of the world’s nuclear reactors are doing more than keeping the lights during the coronavirus pandemic. Along with taking steps to protect their workforce, and having plans in place to keep their facilities running at a time of critical need for power, they also are using nuclear technologies to detect and fight COVID-19. From […]

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management said it continues to work on issuing a permit for a $1 billion solar power project in Nevada, after already missing two deadlines to move the project forward. The proposed 690-MW Gemini solar farm in Nevada is one of the country’s largest proposed solar projects. It would be operated […]

Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Ltd. (MHPS) has begun commissioning T-Point 2, its newest combined cycle power plant validation facility that will eventually host the company’s much-watched autonomous combined cycle power project. The 566-MW facility at Takasago Works in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, will replace the iconic  T-Point facility, which MHPS’s parent company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) completed […]

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on April 2 said it is dispatching a first batch of equipment to more than 40 countries, designed to enable a nuclear-derived technique to rapidly detect the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. The program is part of IAEA’s response to requests for support from its members. “IAEA staff are working […]

Energy companies and equipment suppliers to the power generation industry have been at the forefront of efforts to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. Utilities have suspended shutoffs of services to customers impacted by the economic crisis, and have instituted protocols to maintain proper staffing levels to ensure the reliable delivery of electricity during a time when […]

U.S. renewable energy advocates have warned of industry slowdowns due to the coronavirus pandemic, and decried the lack of support for solar, wind, and other technologies in the recent aid package passed by Congress. It’s a different story in some foreign countries where the federal government has thrown its support behind renewable energy. France’s ecology […]

POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   April 8, 2020 Featured NERC: Power Industry ‘Well-Prepared’ for COVID-19, Aggressively Confronting Pandemic Threats Industry responses to a Level 2 alert on contingency planning issued by the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) early last month suggest the “vast majority” of registered […]

A project to outfit an existing natural gas power plant with a “large-scale” carbon capture facility got its legs on April 2 with the finalization of key investment agreements. Private equity investment firm Starwood Energy Group Global and global investment fund OGCI Climate Investments announced Thursday they had finalized agreements to co-invest in the initial […]

Industry responses to a Level 2 alert on contingency planning issued by the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) early last month suggest the “vast majority” of registered participants in the North American bulk power system are well prepared for the COVID-19 crisis.  NERC, the interconnected bulk power system’s Electric Reliability Organization (ERO), has underscored […]

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) unprecedented temporary policy to relax enforcement of noncompliance with certain environmental rules in response to the COVID-19 pandemic has provoked an impassioned response from industry experts, environmental groups, and from the agency itself. As POWER reported, the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) on March 26 adopted a […]

Southern Co. in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on April 1 said the COVID-19 pandemic “could disrupt or delay construction, testing, supervisory and support activities” at the Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion project in Georgia. The company in the filing said, “It is too early to determine what impact, if any, the […]

It’s well-known that many of the workers and leaders in the energy sector are approaching retirement age, with 25% eligible in the next 5 years and 50% eligible in the next 10 years. With fewer and fewer people filling the talent bench and an industry that’s fighting a negative public perception, the situation is only […]

Constructing a utility-scale solar project requires more than simply buying PV panels and mounting them in a field. It can take years to find the right location, conduct feasibility studies, obtain permits, and align the proverbial stars. A couple of experts, who have managed multiple projects through the process, were guests on The POWER Podcast. […]

Drive one hour south of Birmingham and you will find the not-so-small town of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, county population of more than 207,000. Known as the home of the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa is rich in history, arts, young professionals, rooted families, and famous Southern hospitality. At the heart of this college town is a culture […]

The European Commission in December 2019 announced its new European Green Deal, a set of major policy and legislative proposals that position the EU as the global leader on environmental and climate issues. Since then, the Commission has published a draft EU climate law and is seeking stakeholder input on potential revisions to the Energy […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on March 28 told industry that it is prepared to grant requests from individual nuclear generators for exemptions from work-hour controls specified in its rules to help provide more flexibility to the sector as it grapples with workforce issues related to the COVID-19 public health emergency. The objective of the […]

The two-unit expansion of the Plant Vogtle nuclear power plant in Georgia reached another milestone March 27, with the placement of the Unit 4 containment vessel top head. Friday’s work comes about one year after the Unit 3 containment vessel top was lifted into place. “Placement of the Unit 4 top head is a culmination […]