POWERnews
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Trends
IAEA: Aging Nuclear Fleet Warrants Reactor Life Extensions, Much More New Capacity
While global nuclear power capacity has remained at a consistent level over the past decade, newly released data from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) suggests that more than two-thirds of the world’s nuclear reactors are more than 30 years old, and nearly a third have been in operation for 40 years. According to the […]
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Nuclear
China Approves 11 New Nuclear Reactors, Including Fourth-Generation Design
State-run China Energy News reported that officials on August 19 approved construction of 11 nuclear reactors across the country, part of a wave of new reactors that could see China surpass both the U.S. and France in terms of operating reactors by the end of the decade. CGN Power Co., a subsidiary of China’s state-owned […]
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Power
Chinese Group Deploying Largest Floating Wind Turbine Platform
A floating wind turbine platform developed by Mingyang Group is now sited at a Chinese offshore wind farm. OceanX, at present the world’s largest single capacity technology of its type, is supporting the 505-MW Yangjiang Mingyang Quingzhou IV project near Guangdong, China. Mingyang on August 19 announced the platform had completed its 191-nautical-mile trip from […]
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Nuclear
Canadian Groups Invest Millions to Support Commercial Fusion Energy
A leading nuclear science and technology group in Canada, along with the investment arm of one of the country’s top banks, said they together would invest about CA$20 million ($14.6 million) to support development of commercial fusion energy. Canadian Nuclear Laboratories and BDC Capital, part of the Business Development Bank of Canada, on August 8 […]
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Renewables
China’s Mingyang Will Install Wind Turbines in Brazil
A major China-based wind turbine manufacturer confirmed it has an agreement with a Brazilian energy company to install its equipment for the first time in Latin America. Mingyang, the largest private wind turbine maker in China, on August 16 said it has “joined forces” with Brazil’s Companhia Paranaense de Energia, a utility better known as […]
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Renewables
Investment Firm Buys Major U.S. Community Solar Provider
A New York-based infrastructure investment fund said it has completed its purchase of a community solar and battery energy storage business in a deal to expand the U.S. community solar market. NOVA Infrastructure on August 16 said its acquisition of UGE International will forge a partnership “with UGE’s veteran management team with the goal of […]
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POWERnews—Aug. 15, 2024
POWER Magazine Jobs White Papers Webinars Events Store August 15, 2024 LS Power Acquiring Renewable Energy Assets in $2.5 Billion Deal A New York-based power and energy infrastructure group will acquire more than 3 GW of operating renewable energy assets, along with another 8 GW of projects under development, from […]
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Renewables
Sage’s First 3-MW Geothermal Power and Energy Storage Project Will Feed ERCOT
Sage Geosystems will build a first-of-its-kind 3-MW geothermal baseload power and energy storage system on land owned by San Miguel Electric Cooperative (SMECI) in Christine, Texas. The company plans to begin operating the project later this year to supply the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) grid. The project will mark the first commercial-scale deployment […]
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Renewables
RWE Signs PPAs With Meta for Power from Solar Farms
U.S. renewable energy major RWE announced the signing of two long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) that will supply electricity to social media company Meta. The deal is for clean energy from two solar farms with combined generation capacity of 374 MW. The solar facilities are RWE’s 274-MW County Run Solar project in Illinois, and the […]
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Interview
The POWER Interview: Using Home Batteries to Support the Grid
The Dell name is synonymous with technology and innovation, so perhaps it’s not surprising that a member of that famous computing family is working to solve the challenge of making electricity more reliable and resilient. The technology is distributed batteries, in this case a battery for the home that supports the power grid during periods […]
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Gas
Myanmar Gas-Fired Plant Shut Down Amid Civil Unrest
Civil unrest in Myanmar has led Singapore-based Sembcorp Industries to at least temporarily shut down operation of the 225-MW Sembcorp Myingyan natural gas-fired power plant in Mandalay. Sembcorp, part of Singapore-based and government-owned Temasek, a global investment company, on August 12 said operations at the Sembcorp Myingyan Independent Power Plant would be suspended until further […]
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News
LS Power Acquiring Renewable Energy Assets in $2.5 Billion Deal
A New York-based power and energy infrastructure group will acquire more than 3 GW of operating renewable energy assets, along with another 8 GW of projects under development, from a Canadian company in a deal valued at up to $2.5 billion. LS Power, headquartered in New York City with offices in New Jersey, Missouri, Texas, […]
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POWERnews—Aug. 8, 2024
POWER Magazine Jobs White Papers Webinars Events Store August 8, 2024 $2.2B for 13 GW of New Transmission Capacity: DOE Unveils Latest Boost for U.S. Grid Modernization The Biden administration will invest $2.2 billion in eight projects under its Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnership (GRIP) program to bolster the nation's […]
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Coal
AES Indiana Switching Last Coal Units to Gas, Adding Solar and Storage
An Indiana electric utility has announced a $1.1 billion investment in that state that includes switching coal-fired units to run on natural gas, along with new solar power and battery energy storage projects. AES Indiana, a subsidiary of AES Corp., and formerly known as Indianapolis Power & Light, on August 8 said it will convert […]
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T&D
Composite Pole Manufacturer Grows Through Acquisition, Boosting Grid Hardening Capabilities for Utilities
Creative Composites Group (CCG), a leading manufacturer of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites, announced that the group has acquired the assets of Schaumburg, Illinois-based Trident Industries (Trident), a manufacturer of ultra-resilient single- and multi-layer composite poles (Figure 1). This marks CCG’s third acquisition in less than two years. Power demand and storm frequencies are increasing, severely […]
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Connected Plant
3 Major Cybersecurity Challenges Facing Critical Infrastructure and OT
Let’s be honest. Operational technology (OT) security issues are expected. Traditional OT systems were designed for specific functional—operational—purposes. Plus, they were designed to last for many decades. The power grid, the water supply, the manufacturing plant floor, these ubiquitous 24/7/365 operations fuel daily activities—and they power as much business as they do hospitals that care […]
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Legal & Regulatory
EPA Rolls Out Label Program to Define ‘Clean’ Construction
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced a plan to implement a new label program that it expects will help federal purchasers and buyers find and choose more climate-friendly construction materials. Under the label program, which stems from “extensive public input,” the EPA will initially focus on asphalt, concrete, glass, and steel products with “lower […]
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T&D
$2.2B for 13 GW of New Transmission Capacity: DOE Unveils Latest Boost for U.S. Grid Modernization
The Biden administration will invest $2.2 billion in eight projects under its Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnership (GRIP) program to bolster the nation’s power grid with nearly 13 GW of new transmission capacity across 18 states. The funding, announced on Aug. 6, marks the second round under the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) GRIP program, a […]
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Sustainability
Fuel Cells: What They Are, How They Work, and Why They’re Important
Fuel cells are not some novel new technology. In fact, most history books credit the invention of the fuel cell to Welsh chemist and physicist William Grove, who, in the late 1830s and early 1840s, conducted experiments proving that electric current could be produced from an electrochemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen over a platinum […]
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Coal
EIA: U.S. Coal Plant Stockpiles at Highest Level in Four Years
Stockpiles of fuel at U.S. coal-fired electric plants are at their highest levels since the start of the pandemic. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on August 5 said coal stockpiles totaled 138 million short tons at the end of May, the most since the early months of 2020 when the start of the COVID-19 […]
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T&D
NYISO Announces Interconnection Enhancements and Improvements
The New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) has launched a new interconnection process with significant improvements and enhancements, crucial for integrating a high volume of new generation facilities onto the grid. NYISO’s “Cluster Study” process and other improvements were developed in collaboration with stakeholders through the NYISO’s governance process in recent years. Collectively, these enhancements […]
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Nuclear
India’s Prototype Fast Breeder Nuclear Reactor Moves Closer to Criticality
India’s Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) will allow the country’s flagship 500-MWe/1,250-MWth prototype fast-breeder reactor (PFBR) in Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu, to approach criticality. The nuclear energy safety watchdog on July 30 granted state-owned Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Ltd. (BHAVINI) permission to embark on the final stage of core loading following assessments, extensive safety reviews, and plant […]
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POWERnews—Aug. 1, 2024
POWER Magazine Jobs White Papers Webinars Events Store August 1, 2024 Another Fourth-Generation Nuclear Reactor Begins Construction in the U.S. Construction of Hermes, Kairos Power’s 35-MWth iterative non-power demonstration molten salt nuclear reactor, has officially kicked off in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The effort marks another major step for the burgeoning advanced… […]
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History
History of Power: TVA’s Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant Turns 50
Browns Ferry Unit 1, the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA’s) first nuclear reactor, turned 50 on Aug. 1, 2024, marking a significant milestone in the iconic plant’s storied history. To commemorate this occasion, POWER is republishing an article, written by Kennedy Maize in 2007, that provides an in-depth look at the history of the 3,954-MW Browns […]
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Renewables
A Refined Approach to Onsite Power Generation
The Pine Bend refinery in Minnesota added a 45-MW solar power array to support the facility’s supply of electricity, reaping the benefits of reduced costs, lower emissions, and more. Owners of commercial and
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International
South Africa Announces Bold Shift to Renewables and Nuclear
Emerging from a historic election that stripped the African National Congress (ANC) party of its majority, South Africa’s new government has indicated it will accelerate the transition to renewable power to
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Legal & Regulatory
EU Mandates Biodiversity Restoration, Setting Up New ‘Green’ Requirements Alongside ‘Clean’ Ones for Power Sector
This June, the European Council formally adopted a first-of-its-kind regulation that sets out to restore at least 20% of the European Union’s (EU’s) land and sea areas by 2030 and all ecosystems in need of
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Trends
POWER Digest [August 2024]
Malaysia Slightly Moves Up Timeframe for Coal Phaseout. Malaysia will halve its coal use by 2035 and phase out coal generation by 2044, slightly earlier than previously anticipated by the country’s National
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Trends
PJM Capacity Auction Prices Surge Over Nine-Fold, Signal Urgent Need for New Power Generation
Prices at PJM Interconnection’s 2025/2026 base residual auction (BRA) spiked to $269.92/MW-day for most resources in the wholesale power market, pointing to a tightening supply-demand balance that could have significant implications for the regional transmission organization (RTO). The 2025/2026 BRA—a competitive capacity auction that procures power supply resources in advance of the delivery year to […]
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Nuclear
Another Fourth-Generation Nuclear Reactor Begins Construction in the U.S.
Construction of Hermes, Kairos Power’s 35-MWth iterative non-power demonstration molten salt nuclear reactor, has officially kicked off in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The effort marks another major step for the burgeoning advanced nuclear industry, which celebrated the groundbreaking of TerraPower’s Kemmerer 1, a pioneering sodium-cooled fast reactor demonstration, in June. Site work and excavation for the Hermes […]