POWERnews
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Gas
Mitsubishi Continues Coal-to-Gas Transition in Oklahoma, Also Adds Gas Turbine at Thailand Plant
Mitsubishi Power Americas will install a second 500-MW simple-cycle gas turbine at the Grand River Energy Center in Oklahoma, part of the Grand River Dam Authority’s (GRDA’s) plan to switch the Chouteau-based power plant from coal-fired to natural gas-fired generation. GRDA and Mitsubishi in 2017 replaced one coal-fired unit at the plant with a 500-MW […]
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Hydrogen
U.S. Unveils Seven Regional Hydrogen Hubs, Awards $7B to Kickstart National Hydrogen Network
Seven regional hydrogen hubs spanning Appalachia, California, the Midwest, the Gulf Coast, the American heartland, the Mid-Atlantic, and the Pacific Northwest are poised to receive $7 billion in Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) funding under the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs Program (H2Hubs). The selections, unveiled by the Biden administration on […]
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Sustainability
Five Key Transformations Required to Achieve Net-Zero in the U.S.
During President Biden’s first year in office, his administration published a document titled “The Long-Term Strategy of the United States: Pathways to Net-Zero Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2050.” The document says all viable routes to net-zero involve five key transformations. They are: Decarbonize electricity. Electrify end uses and switch to other clean fuels. Cut energy […]
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POWERnews—Oct. 12, 2023
POWER Magazine Jobs White Papers Webinars Events Store October 12, 2023 ‘Incredible Milestone’ Reached on MARVEL Microreactor Enables Project to Proceed The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) MARVEL microreactor achieved 90% final design, a key step that will allow the project to move forward with preparation for fabrication and construction. […]
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Nuclear
‘Incredible Milestone’ Reached on MARVEL Microreactor Enables Project to Proceed
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) MARVEL microreactor achieved 90% final design, a key step that will allow the project to move forward with preparation for fabrication and construction. “This is an incredible milestone for the Department of Energy,” John Jackson, national technical director for DOE’s Microreactor Program headquartered at Idaho National Laboratory (INL), told […]
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Solar
TVA, Origis Announce Three Solar-Plus-Storage Projects for Mississippi
A renewable energy development group said it has started work on the first of three planned solar-plus-storage projects in Mississippi that will serve both residential and industrial customers. Origis Energy, headquartered in Miami, Florida, on Oct. 11 said the three installations will have total solar power capacity of 550 MW, along with a total of […]
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Gas
GE Vernova Seals Deal for 1.7-GW Combined Cycle Plant in China
GE Vernova’s Gas Power business and Harbin Electric announced that Chinese State Development & Investment Corp. Ltd. (SDIC) Jineng (Zhoushan) Gas Power Generation Co. Ltd. has ordered two GE 9HA.02 gas turbines for a new combined cycle power plant located in the Zhoushan archipelago in Zhejiang province, China. The plant (Figure 1) is expected to […]
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Offshore Wind
First Power Flows from World’s Largest Offshore Wind Farm
The massive Dogger Bank Wind Farm, which will be the world’s largest offshore wind installation when completed, has begun sending power to the UK grid. GE officials on Oct. 10 said the first of the company’s turbines at the site is now operational. Dogger Bank, located about 130 kilometers (81 miles) off the northeast coast […]
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Electrification
Vermont Group Offers Customers Energy Storage to Avoid Blackouts
A Vermont utility has filed a plan with state regulators that would enable the power company to offer more customers battery energy storage to keep the lights on during outages. Green Mountain Power (GMP), which has about 270,000 customers, said it wants to have its plan in place by 2030. GMP on Oct. 9 asked […]
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Gas
Texas Utility Plans to Add New Gas-Fired Generation
A Texas utility that expects to bring another 228 MW of natural gas-fired power generation online in December also plans to begin operating an additional four gas-fired units over the next several years, according to regulatory filings. El Paso Electric (EPE), which provides energy to areas in west Texas and southern New Mexico, plans to […]
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Hydrogen
NiSource Announces Blending Project with Hydrogen, Natural Gas
An Indiana-based utility said it has launched a multi-phase hydrogen blending project, a move that supports one of the first such installations in the U.S. to mix hydrogen and natural gas at precise levels to achieve optimal performance. NiSource said its project uses a blending skid in a controlled setting to mix hydrogen and natural […]
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Nuclear
Bipartisan Support Makes Backing Nuclear Power an Administration-Proof Investment
Maria Korsnick, president and CEO of the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), the policy organization of the nuclear technologies industry, suggested a bipartisan majority in Congress recognizes the importance of nuclear energy and has supported the industry with unprecedented levels of funding. As an example, Korsnick pointed to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provided a $6 […]
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Nuclear
NuScale Gets a Win with SMRs for Data Centers in Ohio and Pennsylvania
Standard Power, a provider of infrastructure as a service to advanced data processing companies, has chosen NuScale Power’s small modular reactor (SMR) technology to power two facilities it plans to develop—one in Ohio and the other in Pennsylvania. ENTRA1 Energy, an independent global energy development and production company, will support Standard Power’s two projects. “We […]
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Coal
Germany Restarts Coal-Fired Generation to Support Winter Power Supply
Government officials in Germany have approved a plan to bring some shuttered coal-fired power plants back online in an effort to avoid energy shortages this winter. Cabinet members on Oct. 4 said they would support putting on-reserve lignite-fired power plants back online from now until the end of March 2024. It’s another move related to […]
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Trends
SRP Shifts from Traditional IRP to ‘Holistic’ Power Planning
Salt River Project (SRP) has become one of the first U.S. utilities to shift from an Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) to an Integrated System Plan (ISP), a “holistic roadmap” that takes into account evolving power system needs, energy affordability, and carbon reduction goals. The pioneering move by the public power entity that provides power and […]
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Electrification
POWER Notebook: New Projects For Energy Storage, Community Solar, Electric Buses; Google Announces PPA
An Arizona utility plans to build a battery energy storage system (BESS) that will help it store more of the region’s abundant solar energy, enabling the power to be used after the sun goes down. Tucson Electric Power (TEP) in early October said it plans to start operating what would be the largest energy storage […]
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O&M
Corrosion Research Leads to Material Improvements and More Reliable Systems
Fossil-fueled power plants are billion-pound investments that businesses (as well as whole nations themselves) around the world can’t afford to simply discard. Yet, the combinations of old plant, new fuels, and new operating conditions lead to corrosion, faults, downtime, and inefficiencies for plant operators and manufacturers. But these kinds of bridging technologies—between the “black” and […]
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Gas
Reducing Carbon Intensity with Renewable Propane
Most propane used in the U.S. today is produced as a byproduct of natural gas processing and crude oil refining, which are not considered “green” technologies. However, renewable propane availability is growing. Renewable propane, like its conventional brother, is commonly made as a byproduct of other fuel production, in its case, often renewable diesel and […]
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Commentary
How to Unleash the Climate Action Potential of the IRA
Throughout this past summer, we have seen some of the highest temperatures on Earth on record, and July was possibly the hottest month in more than a century. Wildfire smoke this year has blanketed the East Coast, marine heat waves have buffeted the Southeast, and Antarctic Sea ice has reached record lows. Washington lawmakers can […]
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IIOT
GAO: EPA Relies on Outdated Systems to Manage Air Quality Data
Two IT air quality data systems that inform the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) regulatory and compliance decisions are outdated, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has suggested. The federal agency must make progress to develop a business case to replace them, it said. The congressional watchdog in a report made public on Sept. 29 […]
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Interview
The POWER Interview: Common Misconceptions About Direct Air Capture
The power industry has always evolved to meet the rising energy demands of communities across the U.S. That demand is now shifting from energy powered by fossil fuels to greener alternatives that can help the world reach its goal of keeping global warming under 1.5C. The latest report from IPCC, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate […]
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Nuclear
UK Shortlists Six Nuclear Designs in SMR Competition, Intends to Award Contract by Summer 2024
Six nuclear designs will advance to the next phase of the UK’s Small Modular Reactor (SMR) competition, a fast-track measure that could result in a government contract within the next 10 months as part of a strategy to deliver operational SMRs by the mid-2030s. EDF, GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH), Holtec Britain, NuScale Power, Rolls Royce SMR, […]
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Trends
Decommissioning Dilemmas: Navigating the End-of-Life Challenges in Clean Energy Sources
Planning, building, operating, or overhauling power plants has long been an emphasis in the power sector—and an important one, given that the creation of new power capacity plays an outsized role in
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Commentary
Equity in Energy: How Community Solar Is Involved
In the U.S., there has always been a direct correlation between the disparity in income and the distribution of renewable resources. Equity in energy refers to fairness in the distribution of energy, benefits, and burdens among different people and communities. It was designed to rectify historical inequalities, recognizing the need to create a fair and […]
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Full Coverage
SPP Set to Become First RTO Straddling Eastern and Western Interconnections
The Southwest Power Pool (SPP) is poised to become the first regional transmission organization (RTO) to provide coordinated operation across the Eastern and Western Interconnections, bridging a historic gap to potentially boost regional reliability, savings, and efficiencies. SPP, which has operated as an RTO since 2004, currently has 110 member companies in its Eastern Interconnection […]
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Wind
California Group Inks Deal for Power from Massive New Mexico Wind Farm
A California company that specializes in providing renewable energy to electricity customers has signed its largest procurement contract. Peninsula Clean Energy (PCE) on September 28 said it will receive 220 MW of wind power from Pattern Energy’s SunZia Wind installation in New Mexico, a 3.5-GW project that at present would be the largest wind onshore […]
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Electrification
Lower-Cost Managed Charging Paves the Way for EV Adoption
It’s no secret that the widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) is pivotal to creating a more sustainable future. Fortunately, consumers are embracing electrification, with reports indicating that EVs will make up nearly 67% of new light-duty vehicle sales and 46% of new medium-duty vehicle sales by 2032. While these reports are promising, the transition […]
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Nuclear
Nucor and Helion Target 2030 for Utility-Scale Fusion Power Plant
Nucor Corp., a manufacturer of steel and steel products, and Helion, a fusion energy company, are collaborating to develop a 500-MW fusion power plant to supply baseload electricity to a steelmaking facility. The companies are working together to set a firm timeline, saying they are “committed to beginning operations as soon as possible with a […]
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Nuclear
Major Engineering Services Contract Launches Poland’s First Nuclear Power Project
Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ), Poland’s designated entity tasked with developing the country’s first nuclear plant in Pomerania, has signed an engineering services contract with a Westinghouse-Bechtel consortium, allowing site-specific work to begin on the AP1000 power plant. The companies announced the “historic” contract on Sept. 27, one week after nuclear technology giant Westinghouse and global […]
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Hydro
Major 2-GW Hydropower Station in Angola Now Fully Online
Officials in Angola announced that the Laúca hydroelectric power station is now fully operational, with Austrian company Andritz wrapping construction of the final 70-MW environmental flow power station at the site on the Kwanza River. Andritz built and installed all the units at the 2,070-MW plant, located on the border between the Angolan provinces of […]