POWERnews

  • ‘Largest’ Floating Offshore Wind Farm Comes Online in North Sea

    An installation that at present is considered the world’s largest floating offshore wind farm has produced its first power, providing electricity for oil and gas exploration operations in the North Sea. Hywind Tampen on Nov. 13 began powering Equinor’s drilling at the Gullfaks oil and gas field. The wind farm is located about 87 miles […]

  • U.S., Others Tout $20 Billion Plan to Move Indonesia Away from Coal, Toward Renewables

    The U.S. and other countries have announced a $20 billion financing plan to help Indonesia more quickly shutter the country’s coal-fired power plants and decarbonize its power generation sector. “We’ve built a platform for cooperation that can truly transform Indonesia’s power sector from coal to renewables and support significant economic growth,” U.S. Special Envoy on […]

  • Best of POWER—November 14, 2022

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   November 14, 2022 China Approves Commissioning of Thorium-Powered Reactor China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment gave Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics (SINAP) the green light to commission the experimental 2-MWth thorium-based molten salt reactor (TMSR-LF1) at… U.S. Spent Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing May […]

  • New Gas-Fired Plant Will Nearly Double Guyana’s Power Generation

    Government officials in the small South American country of Guyana have given the go-ahead for construction of a 300-MW natural gas-fired power plant, a facility that would represent a major expansion of the nation’s power generation capacity. Cabinet members on Nov. 10 approved the project, which President Dr. Irfaan Ali has said will help reduce […]

  • Group Readies for Construction of Europe’s Largest Solar Farm

    An independent power producer (IPP) formed earlier this year and backed by a leading global renewable energy investment firm announced it will build what is expected to be the largest solar photovoltaic power plant in Europe. Rezolv Energy on Nov. 4 said it had acquired the rights to build and operate a 1,044-MW solar PV […]

  • POWERnews—Nov. 10, 2022

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   November 10, 2022 Enel Gas-Fired Plant Will Use Rock-Based Energy Storage System Two groups involved in innovation for power generation, including Italy’s largest utility, have teamed to build a rock-based energy storage system to capture excess power at a natural gas-fired power… […]

  • TVA Will Explore Building Utility-Scale Solar on Closed Coal Ash Sites

    The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) will pursue a first-of-its-kind pilot program at the Shawnee Fossil Plant in West Paducah, Kentucky, to determine if closed coal ash sites are suitable for utility-scale solar projects. The self-funded U.S. corporate agency’s board on Nov. 10 unanimously approved a $216 million pilot project to explore repurposing the 1,071-MW coal-fired power […]

  • New Study Finds Electrification Reduces Emissions and Improves Air Quality

    A group of researchers found that “Adopting electric end-use technologies instead of fossil-fueled alternatives, known as electrification, is an important economy-wide decarbonization strategy that also reduces criteria pollutant emissions and improves air quality.” Findings from the study conducted by nine researchers—four from EPRI, four from Ramboll, and one from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory—were published […]

  • Waste Heat-to-Power Capture Pilot Launched in Ontario

    Hamilton, a city in Ontario, Canada, will host a pilot project to demonstrate a new technology designed to capture excess hydrothermal energy from its district heating and cooling plant and convert it into grid-quality power. The pilot hosted by Hamilton Community Enterprises (HCE)—the city’s utility solutions arm— will use Extract Energy’s “Heat Engine,” whose core […]

  • The POWER Interview: A Renewed Shift in Energy Investing

    Companies involved in energy production continually look to maximize their investments, and today are tasked with navigating increasingly volatile energy markets. These companies must choose where and how to compete as the world transitions to a low-carbon future. Where are the best opportunities for investment? How important is seeking out positions that reduce exposure to […]

  • NET Power’s First Allam Cycle 300-MW Gas-Fired Project Will Be Built in Texas

    NET Power, developer of the novel Allam-Fetvedt supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) power cycle, will build its first 300-MW natural gas–fired power plant at an Occidental-hosted site near Odessa, Texas. The “serial number one” project will demonstrate—at utility scale—NET Power’s potentially revolutionary technology, which promises to provide low-cost gas-fired power generation, no atmospheric emissions, no water […]

  • Using Technology to Improve Management of Utilities’ Fleets

    Utility fleet managers faced their share of challenges in recent years. They needed to respond quickly and effectively to emergency situations and rising customer expectations while keeping drivers feeling safe and supported. They also needed to maximize the utilization of vehicles while extending lifecycles and complying with regulations—even as they evolve faster than ever. Like […]

  • U.S. Coal Plant Closures Continue, While China Rapidly Builds More

    A wave of retirements for U.S. coal-fired power plants continues, with the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reporting almost a quarter of the nation’s remaining facilities could be shuttered by the end of 2029. The EIA in its preliminary monthly electric generator inventory report released Nov. 7 said that 23% of the nearly 201 GW of […]

  • Enel Gas-Fired Plant Will Use Rock-Based Energy Storage System

    Two groups involved in innovation for power generation, including Italy’s largest utility, have teamed to build a rock-based energy storage system to capture excess power at a natural gas-fired power plant in Tuscany. Italy’s Enel, along with Israel’s Brenmiller Energy, have said the project aligns with their efforts to test new technologies to increase flexibility […]

  • Egypt, Hosting COP27, Renews Call for Resolution on GERD Hydro Project

    The world’s largest event centered around climate change is shining a spotlight on one of the most-pressing debates in the Arab world—what to do about the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Egypt is the host for this year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP27 (Conference of Parties), in Sharm El Sheikh, running Nov. 6-18. […]

  • China Unveils World’s First Commercial Offshore Wind-Plus-Solar Project

    A pilot project in the waters off China, featuring two floating solar power arrays connected to a transformer on a moored offshore wind turbine, will test the viability of the technology in an area prone to typhoons. China’s government-owned State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC) on Nov. 1 announced it had commissioned the project, calling it […]

  • POWERnews—Nov. 3, 2022

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   November 3, 2022 Six Major Electric Utilities Join Forces to Pursue a Southeastern Hydrogen Hub Marking intent interest from the power sector in hydrogen’s decarbonization potential, six major utilities—Dominion Energy, Duke Energy, Louisville Gas & Electric Co. (LG&E), Kentucky Utilities Co. (KU), […]

  • Chimney Failure Takes Out Unit at Kusile, One of World’s Biggest Coal Plants

    A severe failure on a duct exiting the sulfur dioxide absorber at Unit 1 of Eskom’s massive coal-fired 4.8-GW Kusile power plant, which is under construction in Mpumalanga province, South Africa, has shuttered the 800-MW unit and delayed Unit 2’s return to service. Eskom on Nov. 2 announced the section of the Kusile 1 flue […]

  • How Rural Communities Can Benefit from the Energy Transition

    Economic development can be a challenge for leaders in rural communities. Often, it’s hard to attract businesses to rural areas because the local workforce may not have the skills or numbers required to meet companies’ needs. But opportunities that haven’t been widely available in the past exist today for rural communities due to the energy […]

  • Six Major Electric Utilities Join Forces to Pursue a Southeastern Hydrogen Hub

    Marking intent interest from the power sector in hydrogen’s decarbonization potential, six major utilities—Dominion Energy, Duke Energy, Louisville Gas & Electric Co. (LG&E), Kentucky Utilities Co. (KU), Southern Co., and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)—have announced they will jointly pursue federal financial support for a Southeast Hydrogen Hub. The utilities, along with Battelle, an independent […]

  • TVA, Silicon Ranch, DENSO Move Forward on Four Tennessee Solar Sites

    A supplier of equipment to the e-mobility industry, including electric vehicles (EVs), joined with one of the largest U.S. independent power producers at a groundbreaking for the first of four solar power farms that will provide electricity for the manufacturer’s campus. DENSO, headquartered in Japan and with one of its U.S. manufacturing plants in Maryville, […]

  • FERC: Investors with Utility Board Members are Affiliates

    Building on analysis in its February 2021 Public Citizen, Inc. v. Centerpoint Energy, Inc. opinion, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) recently issued decisions in Evergy Kansas, Inc. (Evergy) and Transalta Energy Marketing (U.S.), Inc. (Transalta) analyzing whether investments that were under 10% of outstanding voting shares, but were paired with appointment of directors that […]

  • Potential Deal Brewing for Second Polish Nuclear Plant Based on South Korean Technology 

    Days after Poland chose Westinghouse to supply its AP1000 technology to the country’s first nuclear plant in Pomerania, northern Poland, the government and two Polish energy firms signed a letter of intent with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) to “push ahead” with development of a second nuclear plant based on APR1400 technology in Pątnów, […]

  • 2022 POWER Top Plant Award Winners

    Coal-fired See our August 2022 issue for stories covering these plants: Osaki Cool Gen, Japan Shanghaimiao Power Plant, China Renewables See our September 2022 issue for stories covering these plants: Bighorn Solar Project, Colorado Boone Dam Hydro Project, Tennessee Energypark Haringvliet, Netherlands Harvey Milk SFO Terminal, California Svartsengi Geothermal Power Plant, Iceland Western Spirit Wind, […]

  • Best of POWER—October 31, 2022

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   October 31, 2022 U.S. Spent Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing May Be Making a Comeback—Here’s Why The Department of Energy (DOE) has ramped up efforts to explore recycling spent nuclear fuel (SNF), or used nuclear fuel (UNF), from the nation’s fleet of light water […]

  • Poland Picks Westinghouse to Build Country’s First Nuclear Reactors

    Poland continues to move forward with its plan to deploy nuclear power, choosing U.S.-based Westinghouse Electric Co. to build the country’s first large-scale nuclear power plant. The decision, announced late Oct. 28 by Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, is seen as a move by Poland to strengthen its relationship with the U.S. and continue moving […]

  • How Utilities Can Solve ‘Time of Use’ Rate Rollout Puzzle in Just Three Steps

    In a constantly plugged-in world, people rely on always available and uninterrupted electricity, now more than ever. While the electric industry has invested significantly to meet customers’ demand on the grid, utilities increasingly turn to their customers to provide reliable, cost-effective grid services with customer-sited distributed energy resources (DERs) like energy storage and demand response. […]

  • POWERnews—Oct. 27, 2022

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   October 27, 2022 Southern Company Cuts Its Cost Forecast for Vogtle Expansion, Provides Update on Project In its third quarter 2022 earnings call presentation, Southern Company reduced its “Total project capital cost forecast” for Vogtle Units 3 and 4 to $10.383 billion […]

  • PacifiCorp, TerraPower Evaluating Deployment of Up to Five Additional Natrium Advanced Reactors

    Regulated utility PacifiCorp has launched a joint study with nuclear technology firm TerraPower to evaluate the feasibility of deploying up to five additional Natrium pool-type sodium fast reactors (SFRs) and integrated energy storage systems at retired coal plant sites in the utility’s service territory by 2035. The joint study “will evaluate, among other things, the […]

  • Southern Company Cuts Its Cost Forecast for Vogtle Expansion, Provides Update on Project

    In its third quarter 2022 earnings call presentation, Southern Company reduced its “Total project capital cost forecast” for Vogtle Units 3 and 4 to $10.383 billion from $10.453 billion, which is what it had reported in the company’s second quarter 2022 earnings call presentation. The company’s cost estimate reduction doesn’t mean that total project costs […]