coal

LUMBERTON, N.C. (February 9, 2021) — Active Energy Group plc (AEG)  announced it has secured new funding in the amount of $10 million while also converting all existing debt to equity. The new funding and clean balance sheet will allow the company to accelerate development of its revolutionary CoalSwitch production facility in Lumberton, North Carolina. CoalSwitch is […]

The Columbia Energy Center, a two-unit 1,100-MW coal-fired station located in Columbia County, Wisconsin, south of Portage, will be permanently retired by the end of 2024.    Alliant Energy, which co-owns the facility with Wisconsin Public Service Corp. (a subsidiary of WEC Energy Group) and Madison Gas and Electric Co., made the announcement on Feb. […]

The 46th president of the United States has officially been sworn in. During his inauguration address President Joe Biden spoke of unity, empathy, and the challenges Americans must face together. Challenges indeed abound for Biden’s incoming environmental and energy team, including New Mexico congresswoman Deb Haaland as Interior Secretary, former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm as […]

A report from Morgan Stanley, a global wealth management company, said coal-fired power generation is likely to disappear from the U.S. power grid by 2033, largely displaced by renewable energy resources. The report published Feb. 1 said renewable energy such as solar and wind power will provide nearly 40% of U.S. electricity in 2030, and […]

President Biden has signed executive orders designed to move the U.S. to carbon neutrality by midcentury, part of a $2 trillion plan that would overhaul the nation’s electricity and transportation sectors. The president’s plan, outlined Jan. 27, focuses on climate change and includes a White House task force that would direct policies on greenhouse gas […]

WASHINGTON, DC (JANUARY 27, 2021) – Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA), AFL-CIO President James Slevin today released the following statement in reaction to the Biden administration’s executive order establishing the Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization: “Due to powerful economic forces, demand for coal has been down for […]

A report from a major environmental group said that coal-fired power generation will continue to play a large role in U.S. electricity production for at least another 10 years. The Sierra Club report published Jan. 25, based on a review of integrated resource plans (IRPs) from the 50 U.S. utilities most invested in coal-fired and […]

Affiliates of one of South Korea’s largest business conglomerates announced they no longer will provide financial support for coal projects, putting in jeopardy plans to finish a 2,100-MW coal-fired power plant project that has been expected to come online in 2024. The six financial affiliates of the Hanwha Group, during a video conference on Jan. […]

With COVID-19 filling the news throughout 2020, it’s very likely you missed some of the most important developments that occurred in the power sector this year. Here’s a look at some of the highlights and big stories covered by the POWER staff this year. MOX Nuclear Fuel Loaded In January, Russian engineers announced the loading […]

Italy’s Enel is decommissioning one of its coal-fired power plants in Chile two years sooner than originally planned, with the unit’s closure coming two days after the Chile-based unit of a U.S. utility announced it would accelerate the closure of a pair of coal-fired power plants in the country. Enel on Dec. 31 is closing […]

Provinces across China are reportedly grappling with crippling power shortages prompted by a surge in power demand from a stunning ramp up in industrial activity, an especially harsh winter, and tight coal supplies, which may be exacerbated by a ban on Australian coal.  Power shortages have been reported in Zhejiang province, an economic powerhouse in […]

China is the largest manufacturer and installer of solar photovoltaic power systems in the world, and the country appears ready to increase its solar installations based on information contained in the country’s 14th Five-Year Plan (FYP). The plan, covering the period 2021-2025, is being developed and expected to be implemented beginning in March 2021. The […]

Demolition of the Navajo Generating Station, a 2,400-MW coal-fired power plant that generated electricity for several cities in the U.S. Southwest, continued Dec. 18 as explosions brought down the facility’s three large smokestacks. The plant was closed in November 2019. The NGS, located near Page, Arizona, is being demolished by Salt River Project (SRP). The […]

The leader of North Carolina’s agency overseeing environmental issues in that state will be nominated to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), POWER learned on Dec. 17. Michael Regan, 44, who previously worked at EPA and has served with the North Carolina Dept. of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) since 2017, is expected to be nominated […]

Conveyors are among the most dynamic and potentially dangerous areas of equipment at a coal power plant. Even though their safety and performance are critical to the operation’s success, the impact of their contribution to overall efficiency is often unrecognized by management and workers alike. Operational basics of belt conveyor systems are too often a […]

Westminster, CO (Dec. 1, 2020) — Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association would more than double its currently contracted solar and wind resources by 2030, add energy storage, and reduce emissions to help meet the needs of its member electric cooperatives and public power districts, in the “preferred scenario” of its Electric Resource Plan (ERP) filed […]

Over its 50-year history, several rules issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have reshaped the power sector. But for at least a few modern rules, the road has been full of turns. Notes: CAA = Clean Air Act; BSER = best system of emission reduction; CO2 = carbon dioxide; GHG = greenhouse gases; […]

Natural gas-fired generation continues to provide much of the electricity in the UK, but renewable power in total at times has taken the lead spot in the country’s generation mix over the past several months. The country has moved almost entirely away from coal, which a decade ago teamed with natural gas to provide three-quarters […]

By Brad Handler and Morgan Bazilian Nearly 75%  of electricity generated from coal in the U.S. could be produced more cheaply with renewables, strengthening the environmental arguments to accelerate the retirement of coal plants. Yet such transitions to renewable sources have to factor in the costs—incremental, stranded and most pressingly, societal—of shutting down existing plants, […]

A U.S. subsidiary of one of France’s largest providers of solar power has given New Mexico officials more detailed information about the company’s plans for developing a series of solar projects. The installations would help offset the loss of generation from retiring coal-fired power plants in the state, including the San Juan Generating Station (SJGS) […]

Toshiba Corp. and Siemens Energy are the latest major power industry companies to move away from coal. Toshiba on Nov. 11 announced it will stop taking new construction orders for coal-fired power plants, and Siemens on Nov. 10 said it will stop selling turbines for new coal-fired facilities. The two energy giants join General Electric […]

The world’s power generation is about to become even more green, according to a new publication from the International Energy Agency (IEA). The group on Nov. 10 published its “Renewables 2020″ report, and highlighted how generation capacity from both wind and solar will double across the next five years and surpass global generation from both […]

Joe Biden on Nov. 7 clinched the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency, barring Donald Trump’s prospects for a second-term. Almost immediately, reactions from various parts of the power sector streamed in, highlighting possibilities and pitfalls of Biden’s wide-ranging energy and environment agenda.  Energy, and its implications on the environment, figured prominently as […]

Joe Mease and Bryan Benoit, Grant Thornton LLP After serving as a primary source of electrical power generation for the last half-century, bankruptcies throughout the American coal mining industry in 2020 serve as the proverbial canary in the mine for the once dominant black nuggets found across the U.S. from the Appalachians to the Powder River Basin. […]

Coal-fired See our August 2020 issue for stories covering these plants: Caofeidian, Tangshan, China Cenal TES, Karabiga, Turkey GHECO-One, Rayong, Thailand NTPC Khargone, Madhya Pradesh, India Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, China Renewables See our September 2020 issue for stories covering these plants: Hydrostor Goderich A-CAES Facility, Goderich, Ontario, Canada Genale-Dawa III Hydropower Project, Ethiopia, Africa Kokomo […]

Black & Veatch is ending the company’s participation in coal-based power market design and construction, saying it will allow the company to focus on clean energy technologies. The engineering and construction giant’s announcement Oct. 29 comes just more than a month after another major energy company, General Electric, said it would exit the new-build coal […]

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (October 29, 2020) – Today, Alliant Energy (NASDAQ: LNT) introduces the Clean Energy Blueprint for Iowa, a path for accelerating their transition to cleaner energy for customers. The Blueprint outlines the company’s plans to increase the use of renewable resources, including solar power, add more battery storage and build out the connected […]

– 670 MW desulfurization capacity per unit will reduce SO2 and particulates emissions, to aid compliance with EU environmental standards and support Serbia’s quest to join EU – Second FGD system order from Serbia, and third from Western Balkans region YOKOHAMA, Japan, Oct 22, 2020 – (JCN Newswire) – Mitsubishi Power, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi […]

This has been the year from hell for coal-fired power and the coal industry. If current projections hold, coal generation in 2020 will be 21% lower than last year and 62% lower than the 2007 peak. The coal share of the generating mix, which for decades hovered around 50%, will finish the year at 20%, […]

Doubling down on its net-zero efforts, Duke Energy will retire all coal-only units in the Carolinas, multiply its renewable portfolio, and cease emitting methane in its natural gas business by 2030.  The company made the announcements on Oct. 12 at its first environmental, social and governance (ESG) day, a virtual event geared toward its investors. […]