Black & Veatch

The Optimization and Upgrades (OAU) Division of EthosEnergy is singularly focused on growth. As part of its portfolio of independent service offerings, EthosEnergy OAU offers third-party staffing and operations services for utility and commercial power plants. Among the challenges of meeting its aggressive growth goals, OAU needs to serve all its clients’ plants with equal effectiveness, regardless of generation capacity, infrastructure complexity, and staffing model.

The rise of digital technologies for power plants has moved in fits and starts over the past several years, with some generators quickly embracing digitization of their assets while others are looking to justify potential investments. Suppliers of digital technologies have widely marketed the benefits, but many generators are looking to current end users for […]

The ELECTRIC POWER Conference + Exhibition for two decades has been the place for those in the power generation industry to come together for up-to-date training and continuing education—a place to gain a

Schedule delays and cost overruns can pose problems for complex power plant construction and retrofit projects. Sound planning, accurate modeling, and good communication can lead to successful projects for all

Black & Veatch, a leader in the design and deployment of clean energy-producing microgrids, has been selected by Shell International Exploration & Production Company, Inc. to perform engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) on a new microgrid system at Shell’s Technology Center in Houston. The microgrid will incorporate solar photovoltaic and a natural gas fueled reciprocating […]

Reliability and cybersecurity ranked as the two most important issues currently confronting the electric industry, according to surveys completed by 672 qualified utility, municipal, commercial, and community stakeholders for Black & Veatch’s “2016 Strategic Directions: Electric Industry Report.” It’s not particularly surprising to see reliability rank at the top of the list. “Reliability has always […]

As with many areas in North America and Europe, electricity generation in the Canadian province of Alberta is in transition toward cleaner, more efficient, more water-wise power. According to statistics from

Gas-fired power is hot, at least in North America, and quite a few smaller utilities and generators that have never owned a gas turbine plant have begun looking at building one. For large investor-owned companies with plenty of institutional experience in power plant construction, it may be business as usual, but for smaller firms that […]

Sometimes overlooked and underappreciated, a power plant condenser can make or break your efficiency and power delivery goals. Understanding how important a role your condenser plays is a good step toward greater heat rate awareness. As part of a university class on power generation systems that I teach, I show my students a Sankey diagram […]