POWERnews

TWAICE, a Germany-based provider of battery analytics software, along with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have published a joint study analyzing the root causes of battery energy storage system (BESS) failure incidents. The groups have aggregated data about why battery systems have failed. The report made available […]

A company that supports solar power and battery energy storage systems (BESS) is part of a project that will support a portfolio of community solar projects across the state of New York. Houston, Texas-headquartered Catalyze, which finances, builds, owns, and operates solar and BESS installations, on May 15 said it had secured $100 million in […]

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) and its remote grid program received an honorable mention in the Energy category of Fast Company’s 2024 World Changing Ideas Awards. Winners were announced on May 14, highlighting fresh sustainability initiatives, cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) developments, and other creative projects that are helping mold the world. PG&E is one […]

The market for customizable, scalable, turnkey energy storage solutions continues to evolve, as companies look at providing systems that will work from an individual application level all the way to grid and utility-scale deployment. Kontrolmatik, an Istanbul, Turkey-headquartered systems integrator and global engineering, procurement, and construction leader in power generation, transmission, and distribution, and its […]

A pumped storage project in Kentucky is being touted as a model example of how land that once was the site of a coal mine can be repurposed for a renewable energy installation. The Lewis Ridge Pumped Storage Project, a closed-loop, 287-MW hydropower facility, is being constructed at a site where coal was mined beginning […]

It’s no secret that the U.S. electric power system has undergone a remarkable transition that continues today. Coal-fired generation, which was the leading source of power generation during the 20th century, often providing more than half of the country’s electricity supply, fell to about 16.2% of the mix in 2023. Meanwhile, the U.S. solar market […]

Representatives from the Japanese technology company Asahi Kasei and its partners including the Japanese government recently celebrated the official opening of a new hydrogen pilot plant in Kawasaki, Japan. Asahi Kasei said the trial operation of four 0.8 MW modules at the site (Figure 1) is another milestone toward the realization of a commercial multi-module […]

Anticipation is mounting for the Connected Plant Conference (CPC), POWER and Chemical Engineering’s digitalization event, scheduled to take place next week, May 20–22, 2024, near Houston, Texas. If you are a professional in the power industry, here are 10 reasons you should attend the industry event that is uniquely focused deeply on the practical and business-oriented […]

An independent power producer and a major electric cooperative—both based in Tennessee—have announced an agreement to partner on a utility-scale solar power installation to serve customers in that region. Nashville-based Silicon Ranch, which specializes in solar energy, agrivoltaics, and carbon solutions, is joining with Middle Tennessee Electric (MTE) to support the 110-MW Copeland Solar Farm […]

Grid operator PJM Interconnection has issued a geomagnetic disturbance (GMD) warning after observing “persistent geomagnetically induced current (GIC) at multiple stations” late on Friday.  PJM initially issued a GMD warning on May 10 to generators and transmission operators that an ongoing severe solar storm could affect its system between 1:48 p.m. and 9 p.m. on […]

More than two dozen states and a handful of trade groups filed separate lawsuits in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, challenging parts of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) suite of new final environmental regulations targeting fossil-fired power plants. The challenges respond to the publication in the Federal Register on May 9 […]

California regulators have denied Pacific Gas & Electric’s (PG&E’s) plan to sell a multibillion-dollar stake in the utility’s power generation fleet to a New York-based investment firm. Oakland-based PG&E, which has been seeking to raise money for future operations and to help recover from financial losses due to a series of California wildfires, wanted regulatory […]

British officials said the UK government will invest about £200 million (more than $251 million) for a project to build Europe’s first production facility for high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU). Officials have said the fuel will be needed to supply the coming generation of nuclear power, including advanced nuclear reactors. Britain has said it wants to […]

High-burnup fuel rods, manufactured by GE Vernova’s Nuclear Fuel business, Global Nuclear Fuel (GNF), have been delivered to the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) for examination after commercial operation. The rods completed three full cycles of operation at a U.S. nuclear power plant. “This shipment of these rods is another […]

A UK- based global research group said continued growth in wind and solar power increased power generation from renewable energy to nearly a third of worldwide electricity output last year. Ember, a think tank headquartered in London, in its “Global Electricity Review 2024” released May 8 wrote that the numbers show a goal to triple […]

It’s no secret that power grids around the world need to expand to accommodate more renewable energy and the so-called “electrification of everything.” The latter, of course, refers to the growing trend of using electricity to power various sectors and applications that have traditionally relied on fossil fuels, such as natural gas or petroleum-based products. […]

Enhancements will enable research into the physics of advanced fusion reactors and accelerate the drive to commercial fusion energy. The DIII-D National Fusion Facility has completed a series of important enhancements, providing researchers with several first-of-a-kind tools for controlling and understanding the function of fusion plasmas. These upgrades will further strengthen DIII-D’s standing as one […]

Siemens Energy announced an overhaul of its struggling wind power division on May 8, unveiling plans for a new CEO for its wind turbine business and also saying job cuts would be included in the plan. The news came on a day when the company raised its revenue outlook and also said it needed to […]

GE Vernova has bagged the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA’s) first order as part of a fast-track project to replace the 1.3-GW Kingston Fossil Plant in Tennessee with a 1.5-GW modern complex. The original equipment manufacturer will supply 16 aeroderivative LM6000VELOX dual fuel DLE (dry low emissions) gas turbine and generator packages, which are expected to deliver […]

An executive with the TC Energy, a group that is among the largest operators of natural gas pipelines in North America, said electricity demand from energy-intensive data centers will support an increased need for the fuel in the coming years. Stanley Chapman, executive vice president and COO of Calgary, Alberta-based TC Energy, in a May […]

An Australia-based global metal mining and green energy company has broken ground on a major hydrogen production project in Arizona, part of what the group’s founder said could be several planned clean energy investments in North America. Dr. Andrew Forrest, executive chair and founder of Fortescue, at the May 3 groundbreaking for the Arizona Hydrogen […]

POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   May 2, 2024 Vogtle Unit 4 Achieves Commercial Operation, Now Largest Nuclear Power Plant in the U.S. The road was long and the challenges difficult, but Plant Vogtle is now the largest nuclear power plant in the U.S., as Unit 4 was […]

The U.S. Senate on April 30 passed—by unanimous consent—a bill to ban imports of unirradiated low-enriched uranium (LEU) produced in Russia. The bill now heads to the president’s desk for signature into law. The Senate passed the Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act (H.R. 1042), which the House of Representatives passed (also by unanimous consent) by […]

Louisville Gas and Electric Co. and Kentucky Utilities Co. (LG&E and KU) will replace two aging coal generation units at Mill Creek Generating Station in Kentucky—a combined 600 MW—with a 645-MW GE Vernova hydrogen-ready 7HA.03 gas turbine. GE Vernova announced the order for the heavy-duty gas turbine—the most advanced of its HA-class models—from the two […]

California utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) said the company is nearing a deal to sell power generation assets to KKR, a New York City-based global investment firm that has holdings in several business sectors, including energy and infrastructure. PG&E has been seeking money to pay for wildfire mitigation work across its service territory, and […]

Reliability measures implemented after Winter Storm Uri and Elliott were largely effective at averting distress on the power and natural gas systems during two severe arctic storms that swept across North America in quick succession in January, staff from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the North American Reliability Corp. (NERC) have reported. During […]

Energy ministers from seven of the world’s largest economies, including the U.S., said they would end the use of “unabated” coal by 2035, but also said countries could extend that deadline if circumstances warrant. The Group of Seven (G7) members, which also include Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Japan and Italy, published a communiqué on […]

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) is forming a group of qualified supply chain companies to help ensure the deployment of its BWRX-300 small nuclear modular reactor (SMR). The move comes as power companies vie for components amidst a supply chain strain that has led some sectors to delay critical infrastructure projects and ramped up competition […]

The U.S. government offers certain benefits to renewable energy projects, primarily in the form of tax credits and depreciation. But the reality is that a growing number of tax-equity partnerships are reaching the end of their lifespan, and the sponsors and tax-equity investors in these projects need to be preparing for the future. In fact, […]

The road was long and the challenges difficult, but Plant Vogtle is now the largest nuclear power plant in the U.S., as Unit 4 was declared commercially operational on April 29. With four units now available, Plant Vogtle has the capacity to generate a total of about 4,664 MW of electricity. “The completion of the […]