POWERnews
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O&M
Vibration Monitoring Best Practices [PODCAST]
Most large power plants have continuous vibration monitoring systems installed on turbine generators and other critical equipment. The systems have evolved greatly since the 1970s. In this episode of The POWER Podcast, Steve Sabin, SETPOINT product manager for Brüel & Kjær Vibro, offers some tips to get the most out of these systems. He talks […]
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Nuclear
Entergy Gives Palisades Nuclear Plant Five More Years to Run
Entergy Corp. will keep the Palisades nuclear power plant in Covert, Michigan, open until the spring of 2022, owing to a shortfall in recovery granted to Consumers Energy by state regulators. In a bid to actively exit the merchant nuclear power business, investor-owned Entergy had decided to shutter the 798-MW plant by October 1, 2018. […]
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Nuclear
SCANA, Santee Cooper Monetize Settlement Payments from Toshiba to Minimize Risk
SCANA Corp. and Santee Cooper moved to cash in a $2.2 billion settlement with Toshiba—even though it will cost them $171 million—rather than risk collecting guaranty payments from the Japanese conglomerate over the next five years for the unfinished V.C. Summer nuclear expansion. Just days before the utilities decided to abandon the project, Toshiba on […]
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Legal & Regulatory
Westinghouse Asks Court to Stop Cancellation of Vogtle Contract
Westinghouse Electric has asked a New York bankruptcy court to stop Georgia Power from terminating Westinghouse’s contract to continue construction of two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle near Waynesboro, Georgia. Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, in large part due to massive cost overruns from the Vogtle project and the V.C. Summer nuclear […]
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Renewables
EIA: Chinese Coal Use Will Plateau as Renewables Gain
Chinese coal-fired electricity generation is expected to flatten through 2040 as renewables fill the gap caused by increased energy demand, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) International Energy Outlook 2017. According to the study, coal accounted for more than 72% of China’s energy generation in 2015. By 2040, however, coal’s share of generation […]
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Coal
FPL Will Close its Last Coal-fired Plant in Florida
The St. Johns River Power Park in Jacksonville, Florida, will close by early next year after the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) on September 25 approved a plan by the facility’s joint owners to shutter the plant. Florida Power & Light (FPL) spokeswoman Sarah Gatewood in a statement said “This has been a great plant […]
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Nuclear
S.C. AG, State Lawmakers Press for Criminal Investigation of SCANA’s Role in V.C. Summer Nuclear Expansion Collapse
SCANA Corp.’s troubles concerning its decision to abandon the V.C. Summer nuclear expansion intensified again this week after South Carolina’s attorney general’s office and state lawmakers urged state law enforcement to conduct a criminal investigation on how it handled the project. The company said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on […]
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Business
ABB Acquiring GE Electrification Unit in $2.6 Billion Deal
Swiss engineering firm ABB has moved to expand its electrification business, especially in North America, with a $2.6 billion deal to acquire GE Industrial Solutions (GE IS). The move announced September 25 is the latest by GE to refocus its operations under new chief executive John L. Flannery, who replaced long-time GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt […]
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Renewables
Can Angela Merkel, the So-Called “Climate Chancellor,” Hold Germany to Its Greenhouse Targets?
On Sunday, September 24, Germany finalized voting in its 2017 federal elections. Citizens were able to vote by mail ahead of Sunday’s election or they could chose to efficiently breeze through a voting center, make a physical “X” next to, first, the local direct candidate of their choice. And then make a second mark next […]
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Legal & Regulatory
ITC: Imported PV Cells Hurting U.S. Solar Industry
In a unanimous decision, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) on September 22 found that photovoltaic (PV) solar cells being imported into the U.S. are causing “serious injury, or threat of serious injury, to the domestic industry.” The decision comes in a highly contested case filed by bankrupt solar panel manufacturer, Suniva, and SolarWorld. The […]