POWERnews

Managing risk is nothing new to utilities. Providing the safe utility services like electricity, water, sewer, and wastewater management that everyone relies upon is hard work. Critical infrastructure assets are prime targets for bad actors looking to use cyberattacks to cause high-impact disruptions. As utilities adopt software-centric, data-driven operations, they will continue to work diligently […]

A group that assesses the effectiveness of actions by the European Union (EU), including how energy initiatives impact the economies of EU member states, said the current goals for EU hydrogen production are “overly ambitious” and not realistic. The European Court of Auditors (ECA) in a report published July 16 said targets to produce as […]

In approving the development of a 2,800-acre wind farm across prime agricultural land in the east of England, the UK Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Ed Miliband, has confirmed what those who understand renewable market dynamics have known all along: That the UK’s energy transition policymaking has been flawed and riven […]

SolarEdge Technologies said it would lay off about 400 workers, including 200 in its home country of Israel, as the company tries to become more financially stable. SolarEdge on July 15 announced the job cuts in a letter to employees. The company, which said it had about 4,600 workers prior to the layoffs, had announced […]

Avangrid said it has started producing power from the first phase of the True North solar project in Texas, an installation the company said is its first solar installation in the state. Avangrid, headquartered in Orange, Connecticut, on July 15 said the solar farm when complete will have 238 MWac (321 MWdc) of generation capacity, […]

Countries active in the offshore wind industry continue to consider steps to counter China’s dominance of the sector. The latest to announce a move is South Korea, where officials recently announced they may work with a global offshore wind industry group in order to better compete with China. Officials have said joining the Global Offshore […]

By now, with the most devastating effects of the pandemic behind us, it’s important to remember the key takeaway—there’s no such thing as “business as usual.” As a result, companies have learned that to be able to thrive are those that quickly adapt to sudden, unforeseen changes is essential. This is especially true for energy and […]

Most people, when they imagine a power plant, picture equipment like smokestacks that stretch hundreds of feet into the sky, massive, spinning turbines and the hum of electric transmission lines that deliver power into the bulk electric grid. As power demand increases beyond current power plant capacities and clean energy goals are accelerated, power generation […]

More than $106.5 billion in large-scale clean energy project investments have been announced in Republican-held congressional districts in the U.S. during the period from August 2022 through June 2024. The figure was released by E2, a national, nonpartisan group of business leaders, investors, and professionals from every sector of the economy who advocate for “smart […]

Higher prices for natural gas across Europe mean some countries, particularly in Eastern Europe, likely will burn more coal for power generation during the upcoming winter season. Coal remains a large part of the energy mix in Germany—the largest energy consumer in Europe—as well as other countries such as Poland, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Romania, […]

A global group that provides quality assurance for the battery energy storage system (BESS) and solar photovoltaic (PV) industries has launched a battery pack review service designed to improve detection and correction of capacity imbalance issues. Sinovoltaics on July 11 said it has launched its BESSential analysis service, offering 100% battery pack review. The service, […]

A global professional services and project management company headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, announced it has been chose to develop the pre-concept design for a nuclear fusion pilot plant (FPP). The pilot, announced by Canada-based Canada-based AtkinsRéalis on July 10 as part of Type One Energy’s FusionDirect program, will be a commercial-scale FPP. It will use […]

EDP Renewables North America (EDPR NA) on July 10 marked the inauguration of Pearl River Solar Park in Scott County, Mississippi. Pearl River has an installed generation capacity of 210 MWp (175 MWac). The project features 400,000 monofacial and bifacial tracking photovoltaic panels, and is EDPR NA’s official entry into Mississippi, the company said Wednesday. […]

Unitil Corp., the largest provider of natural gas in Maine, on July 9 said it has a deal to purchase Bangor Natural Gas Co., which has been the state’s No. 2 provider of the fuel. The Maine Public Utilities Commission, which still must approve the merger, said Unitil has about 27,000 customers in Maine, most […]

Waste from end-of-life solar panels and other solar-related equipment provides an opportunity to recover valuable materials, along with other benefits. The International Renewable Energy Agency said that by 2030, the cumulative value of recoverable raw materials from end-of-life panels alone will be about $450 million worldwide, which the agency said is equivalent to the cost […]

Clearway Energy Group on July 8 said it has closed financing and begun a repowering project for the California-based company’s Cedro Hill wind farm in Webb County, Texas. Clearway said the repowering will boost the wind farm’s generation capacity to 160 MW, from its current 150 MW. Workers will replace the blades and nacelle with […]

Nuclear power has consistently provided about 19% to 20% of total annual U.S. electricity generation since 1990. It provides significant amounts of electricity in many other countries as well. According to data from The World Nuclear Industry Status Report (WNISR), a total of 414 reactors were operating in 32 countries, as of July 1, 2024. […]

Government officials in India have reportedly asked the country’s power companies to spend billions on equipment to support additional coal-fired generation. India is looking for ways to more quickly increase its baseload electricity supply as demand for power increases across the country. Reuters news service on July 3 said the Indian government supports tenders for […]

A major concentrated solar power (CSP) project in China selected Sulzer, a global fluid engineering company, to supply both the hot and the cold molten salts pumps for the installation. The planned 100-MW solar project will feature technology designed to deliver electricity from solar energy 24 hours a day. Molten salts have been used in […]

Over the past week, the offshore wind power sector in the U.S. received two major federal approvals that could add nearly 5 GW to the grid. On July 1, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) approved a construction and operations plan (COP) for  Avangrid’s 791-MW New England Wind 1 project and 1,080-MW New England Wind […]

Next-generation, or “next-gen,” geothermal resources have the potential to increase geothermal power generation in the U.S. by twenty-fold by 2050. Next-gen geothermal concepts use technologies developed by the oil and gas industry to engineer reservoirs for geothermal energy generation, vastly expanding the available resource base. Typically, the term next-gen geothermal refers to enhanced geothermal systems […]

The U.S. Supreme Court on June 28 overturned the Chevron doctrine—a forty-year-old precedent—significantly curtailing the power of federal agencies to interpret ambiguous statutory provisions, even in areas of agency expertise. The landmark 6–3 decision could have far-reaching effects on the power industry, with specific impact on sweeping energy regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) […]

In a strategic move to jumpstart domestic uranium enrichment capacity in the U.S., the Department of Energy (DOE) has launched a request for proposals (RFP) to buy low-enriched uranium (LEU) from domestic suppliers. The RFP will seek LEU through procurement contracts for indefinite quantity and indefinite delivery (IDIQ). It could result in awards of “two […]

Colorado electric cooperative Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association is proposing aid to coal communities in its service territory as part of an unopposed comprehensive settlement of the first phase of  the group’s recent Electric Resource Plan (ERP). The company on June 27 said the filing is an important milestone in the energy transition of the […]

The U.S. Supreme Court in a 5–4 vote blocked enforcement of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) final “Good Neighbor Plan,” a rule intended to significantly cut smog-forming nitrogen oxide (NOx) pollution from power plants and other industrial facilities in 23 states. In the meantime, the applicants, which include the states of Ohio, Indiana, and West […]

Community solar provider Ampion Renewable Energy is partnering with The Wendy’s Company to help Wendy’s restaurants source renewable energy. Nearly 100 company-operated restaurants and nearly 40 franchise restaurants in New York, Illinois, and Massachusetts are now enrolled in Ampion+, a product that helps organizations reduce energy costs and secure Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) that substantiate […]

The power generation industry continues to grapple with a multitude of challenges when it comes to producing more electricity, and to ensure that power is delivered where and when it is needed. There is pressure to integrate more renewable energy resources to help meet net-zero targets and other decarbonization goals. Electrification efforts, notably from the […]

GE Vernova said it has been awarded a contract by National Grid’s upstate New York business to supply and construct two separate 115 kV synchronous condenser sites at the company’s Coffeen and Taylorville substations. GE Vernova on June 26 said it will install three synchronous condenser machines, including Prolec GE generator step-up (GSU) transformers, at […]

Southern Nuclear, a subsidiary of Southern Company and operator of more than 8.2 GW of nuclear power capacity, said it has completed the installation of lead test assemblies with additively manufactured debris-filtering bottom nozzles (AMBN) at Alabama Power’s Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant. The AMBN assemblies are a new technology manufactured by Westinghouse Electric Co. […]

Siemens Energy and GE Vernova each announced the companies would support construction of large combined-cycle power plants in Saudi Arabia as part of that country’s plan to increase its supply of electricity to support a growing population. The gas-fired facilities—Taiba 1 and 2, and Qassim 1 and 2—will be built in the western and central […]