POWERnews

  • POWERnews—Nov. 24, 2021

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   November 24, 2021 More Than 20 Coal-Fired Plants Will Close in Wake of Wastewater Rule A new wastewater rule authorized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) earlier this year is leading several coal-fired plants to announce closure plans, according to an […]

  • California 3,200-MWh CAES Project Proposed for Grid Stability After Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant Retires

    Hydrostor, developer of a 400-MW, 8-hour long-duration advanced compressed air energy storage (A-CAES) facility, has filed an application for certification (AFC) with the California Energy Commission (CEC) for its first project in the state, envisioning its commercial operation as early as 2026. If the 3,200-MWh Pecho Energy Storage Center is built as planned in San […]

  • Could Fusion Energy Transform the Power Industry By 2035?

    Fusion occurs when two atoms slam together to form a heavier atom, such as when two hydrogen atoms fuse to form one helium atom. A tremendous amount of energy is released in the process. This is the same process that powers the sun. In the sun’s core, where temperatures reach 15,000,000C, hydrogen atoms are in […]

  • More Than 20 Coal-Fired Plants Will Close in Wake of Wastewater Rule

    A new wastewater rule authorized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) earlier this year is leading several coal-fired plants to announce closure plans, according to an analysis of state regulatory filings by the Sierra Club. The group said at least 26 plants in 14 states have said they will stop burning coal, with 21 […]

  • Portugal’s Last Coal Power Plant Shuts Down, Fourth Country in Europe to Stop Burning Coal

    The 628-MW Pego power station was shut down on Nov. 20, 10 days ahead of schedule, marking the end of coal-fired power generation in Portugal. The country joins Belgium, Austria, and Sweden, as the fourth European nation to discontinue the use of coal. “Portugal is the perfect example of how once a country commits to […]

  • EY Research Highlights New Opportunities for Utilities

    Demand for electricity from the residential sector rose during the first several months of the global coronavirus pandemic, as workers stayed home and students studied remotely. Researchers, using data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), said the second quarter of 2020 saw a 10% rise in residential electricity usage compared to the same months […]

  • Southern Joining Bill Gates-Backed Group on New Reactor Project

    Major U.S. utility Southern Co. said it has agreed to design and build an advanced demonstration nuclear reactor at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) using technology developed by TerraPower, the Bill Gates-backed company that earlier this week announced it would site a new Natrium nuclear reactor demonstration project in Wyoming. Southern in a Nov. 18 news […]

  • POWERnews—Nov. 18, 2021

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   November 18, 2021 NERC Issues Grim Outlook for Bulk Power System Winter Reliability The North American Electric Corp. (NERC) is warning that the bulk of the central U.S.—a region that stretches from the Great Lakes into southern Texas—may face critical power shortages […]

  • NERC Issues Grim Outlook for Bulk Power System Winter Reliability

    The North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) is warning that much of the central U.S.—a region that stretches from the Great Lakes into southern Texas—may face critical power deficiencies during extreme winter weather conditions over the next three months. Natural gas supply disruptions and low hydropower conditions could also imperil power reliability in New England […]

  • $2.6 Billion Committed to New Solar Projects in Texas, California

    A company that invests in clean energy projects to serve customers interested in low-carbon sources of electricity announced it has closed eight separate deals, representing a total of $2.6 billion in financing commitments for construction and operation of six late-stage solar energy projects with 2.2 GW of generation capacity in California and Texas. Intersect Power […]

  • Breakthrough: NET Power’s Allam Cycle Test Facility Delivers First Power to ERCOT Grid

    NET Power, developer of the novel Allam-Fetvedt supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) power cycle, says its 50-MWth test facility in La Porte, Texas, delivered power to the grid overnight on Nov. 16. The achievement marks a major milestone for the potentially revolutionary technology for which several commercial power plants are already under development. NET Power, a business venture […]

  • FPL and SDG&E Win Awards for Outstanding Reliability

    PA Consulting recognized Florida Power & Light (FPL) and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) as co-recipients of the global consultancy’s National Reliability Award. The prestigious award is presented to “the utility that showcases a focus on customer service, technology deployment, operational successes, and data and analytics.” It’s only the second time in the award’s […]

  • New Solar Technology Promises Improved Performance, Cost Savings

    A new type of solar photovoltaic (PV) cell is closer to widespread commercialization after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office awarded Solar Inventions a patent for its Configurable Current Cells, or C3, technology. Solar Inventions on Nov. 17 announced that with the U.S. recognition in place, it will be moving toward finalizing pending patents for […]

  • Coal Plant Site Unveiled for 500-MW Natrium Advanced Nuclear Pilot

    A site at PacifiCorp’s retiring 600-MW coal and gas–fired Naughton Power Plant in Kemmerer, Wyoming, will house the Natrium demonstration, a pioneering commercial-scale 500-MW project that will pair a 345-MW sodium-cooled fast reactor with a molten salt-based energy storage system. Project stakeholders on Nov. 16 unveiled the site for the federally backed demonstration, which will validate […]

  • The Middle Ground: The Role of CCS After COP26

    We hear calls for the “elimination of fossil fuels” as the primary solution to climate change, those calls coming from investors, institutions, governments—and from many world leaders and others gathered at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland. COMMENTARY As we begin to experience the outcome of recent energy policies that focus on the buildout of renewables capacity, […]

  • Best of POWER—November 15, 2021

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   November 15, 2021 How an AP1000 Plant Is Changing the Nuclear Power Paradigm Through District Heating, Desalination Already remarkable for being the world’s second Westinghouse AP1000 reactor to be brought online, Shandong Nuclear Power Co.’s Haiyang nuclear power plant is pioneering two […]

  • Group Forecasts Massive Increase in Energy Storage by 2030

    Global installations of energy storage systems will experience rapid growth this decade, resulting by the end of 2030 in gigawatt capacity more than 20 times larger than the amount online at the end of 2020. That’s according to a forecast from research company BloombergNEF (BNEF), which in a report released Nov. 15 said the huge […]

  • POWERnews—Nov. 11, 2021

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   November 11, 2021 GE Splitting Into Three Companies, Will Spin Off Energy Group General Electric (GE) has announced plans to split into three separate companies, breaking up into publicly traded groups for its energy, healthcare, and aviation divisions. The company on Nov. […]

  • Industry’s First Complete Accident-Tolerant Nuclear Assembly in Operation at Calvert Cliffs

    The first complete accident-tolerant fuel (ATF) assembly is now operational at Exelon’s Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant Unit 2 in Maryland, bringing an industry-led quest to accelerate commercialization of the new nuclear technology closer to fruition. Inserted during the plant’s recent spring refueling outage, the lead fuel assembly (LFA) features a Framatome PROtect fuel design […]

  • Major EV Charging Hub Set Near New York City

    A site touted as the largest electric vehicle (EV) charging hub in the U.S. is taking shape at an industrial park in New Jersey, just minutes from New York City. Power Edison, a New Jersey-based developer and provider of utility-scale mobile energy storage solutions, has partnered with Hugo Neu Realty Management and others to deploy […]

  • Veterans Support Construction of New Texas Solar Farm

    A new solar power project in Texas has entered commercial operation, with military veterans a major part of the facility’s construction workforce. The 163-MW Elm Branch solar farm, operating in part under a power contract between L3Harris Technologies and Lightsource bp, featured an apprenticeship program led by McCarthy Building Companies, the project’s EPC contractor, and […]

  • Trust in Utilities at All-Time High; How Can Companies Capitalize?

    We cannot begin to count the number of unsung heroes that have come out of this pandemic. From frontline healthcare workers to grocery store clerks, package carriers, manufacturers, and all the other essential workers who stayed on the job, often at the risk of their own health, to enable our lives to go on with […]

  • EV Charging Café Gives Gas Station New Life

    The Biden administration has a goal to make half of all new vehicles sold by 2030 zero-emission. Washington and California plan to ban sales of new gas-powered cars by 2030 and 2035, respectively. The surge in electric vehicle (EV) sales is not only an issue for automakers. Gas filling stations also face a brutal reality […]

  • GE Splitting Into Three Companies, Will Spin Off Energy Group

    General Electric (GE) has announced plans to split into three separate companies, breaking up into publicly traded groups for its energy, healthcare, and aviation divisions. The company on Nov. 9 said the GE Power, GE Renewable Energy, and GE Digital groups will be combined into one business, with the company pursuing a tax-free spin-off of […]

  • Dominion Estimates $10B Installation Cost for 2.6-GW Virginia Offshore Wind Farm

    Dominion Energy is revving up its efforts to build the 2.6-GW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) commercial project before 2027 to meet state requirements, it said in a detailed filing for the $9.8 billion project submitted to the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) on Nov. 5.  CVOW, which will be sited on a federal lease […]

  • ISO-NE Move Puts New Gas-Fired Plant in Doubt

    The future of a natural gas-fired power plant planned in northeastern Connecticut is in jeopardy after regional grid operator ISO-New England (ISO-NE) asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for permission to end a capacity contract with the project. Florida-based NTE Energy’s plan to build the 650-MW Killingly Energy Center has been delayed due to […]

  • Southern Will Close More than Half of Coal Fleet

    Southern Company, the third-largest power utility in the U.S., said it will close more than half its coal-fired power generation fleet over the next few years as the group moves toward a goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Southern on Nov. 5 said the closures include units at the two largest U.S. coal plants, […]

  • POWERnews—Nov. 4. 2021

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   November 4, 2021 Indonesia, Vietnam, Poland, S. Korea, Ukraine Commit to Phasing Out Coal Power At least 23 nations, including five notable coal-dependent countries—Indonesia, Vietnam, Poland, South Korea, and Ukraine—made new commitments to phase out unbated coal power at the COP26 conference […]

  • Indonesia, Vietnam, Poland, S. Korea, Ukraine Commit to Phasing Out Coal Power

    At least 23 nations, including five notable coal-dependent countries—Indonesia, Vietnam, Poland, South Korea, and Ukraine—made new commitments during the COP26 conference in Scotland on Nov. 4 to phase out unabated coal power. In total, 47 countries supported the “Global Coal to Clean Power Transition Statement” at the international climate talks underway in Glasgow. In the […]

  • How to Get Up to 40% More Capacity from Existing Power Grid Transmission Lines

    Experts claim power grid infrastructure needs to be upgraded to accommodate the vast amount of renewable energy expected to be added to the system in coming decades. That could require billions of dollars in investments, millions of hours of planning and permitting work, and years of construction in the field. Another option that could help […]