coal

An official with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) told a nuclear industry group this week that the agency and Trump administration officials are trying to identify power plants they consider critical to the nation’s grid. The move is seen as part of the White House effort to prop up the struggling U.S. coal and […]

The future of Georgia Power’s 865-MW coal-fired Plant Hammond in Floyd County, Georgia—which recently slashed more than half its workforce—is murky, company officials said August 3. The four-unit facility that began operations in 1954 employed 190 workers in September 2016. Today, according to company officials, the plant only has 41 full-time employees. Georgia Power Regional […]

A coal-fired plant in Colorado needed to further reduce its emissions to comply with more-stringent regulations. The work presented several challenges, and the owner and contractors worked together to complete

The Samcheok Green Power Plant requires less maintenance and is more cost-effective than conventional coal plants, and more environmentally friendly with its use of once-through ultrasupercritical boilers

An internal report from NTPC said an “error in judgment” by plant operators led to an explosion at India’s Feroze Gandhi Unchahar Thermal Power Station last year that resulted in the deaths of 45 workers. Reuters news service on July 23 said it had reviewed a summary of the report on the accident that occurred […]

NRG Energy will not restart its Dunkirk power plant in western New York, with the company on July 11 saying the cost to reconnect the facility to the state’s electric grid prohibits reopening the retired coal-fired plant as a natural gas-fueled facility. David Gaier, an NRG spokesman, told POWER the project’s increased costs, along with needed […]

The Navajo Nation on July 12 said it has identified a potential buyer for the 2,250-MW Navajo Generating Station (NGS) in Arizona, the largest coal-fired power plant in the western U.S. The Navajo Nation Council, in a joint news release with the Navajo Nation’s Office of the President and Vice President, said the Hopi Tribe […]

The Trump administration is moving forward with its effort to replace the Clean Power Plan, with the president set to review a document sent to the White House on July 9. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on July 10 said a new rule, which insiders said would be more favorable to the coal industry, was […]

Scott Pruitt, chosen by President Donald Trump to lead the Environmental Protection Agency despite repeated lawsuits against the agency when he served as Oklahoma’s attorney general, resigned as EPA director July 5. Pruitt had been under scrutiny throughout his EPA tenure for questionable ethical decisions involving his office. Pruitt, who repeatedly said he had done […]

Japan’s government on July 3 approved a new Basic Energy Plan for the country, saying it is committed to increasing the role of renewable resources for power generation while also confirming it wants nuclear power to remain a vital part of the nation’s energy strategy. Japan issues a revised Basic Energy Plan, which outlines the […]

Environmental regulations and a need to reduce its fuel consumption provide the incentive for an Egyptian plant to change its manufacturing process. Energy companies constantly grapple with controlling the

The Trump administration, which is considering subsidizing baseload coal and nuclear power for resiliency and “national security,” is pursuing an “all-of-the-above” energy strategy that emphasizes natural gas exports, said Energy Secretary Rick Perry at the World Gas Conference this week in Washington D.C. In a keynote speech on June 26, Perry described the shale gas […]

About half the world’s power will be generated by wind and solar resources by 2050. Generation from coal will drop more than 70% from today’s levels. That’s according to research from energy analysts published June 19 in the “New Energy Outlook 2018” (NEO) from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). The NEO report outlines information from […]

President Trump wants to provide financial support to struggling coal and nuclear power plants. He’s told the Department of Energy (DOE) to make it happen. But a bipartisan group of lawmakers on Capitol Hill, along with commissioners from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), made it clear June 12 they don’t support federal government intervention […]

A suburban Chicago-based energy company executive on June 7 told Arizona officials his group is putting together a proposal to purchase the Navajo Generating Station (NGS), the largest coal-fired power plant in the western U.S. The plant’s current owners have said they will close the 2,250-MW facility by year-end 2019 unless a buyer is found. […]

The Navajo Generating Station (NGS) in Arizona is scheduled to close by year-end 2019, but intervention by the federal government could keep the West’s largest coal-fired power plant operating. At the same time, more than 300 of the plant’s workers, along with family members, union representatives and tribal leaders, held a rally in Phoenix on […]

Few entities have expressed approval of the Trump administration’s plan that includes a directive for system operators to buy or arrange purchase of energy or capacity from designated “fuel secure” power plants for two years until the Department of Energy (DOE) can address “grid security” challenges. The 41-page draft memo dated May 29—which was presumably authored […]

Reactions from U.S. energy and legal and regulatory groups began pouring in minutes after the White House confirmed on June 1 that President Trump has directed the Department of Energy (DOE) to act immediately to stop the loss of uneconomic coal and nuclear plants.  White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a June 1 […]

NTE Energy on May 21 inaugurated the new Middletown Energy Center in Middletown, Ohio, the latest in a series of natural gas-fired power plants the Florida-based company is developing in Ohio, Texas, and North and South Carolina. NTE touts the 525-MW Middletown combined cycle facility as among the most efficient gas-fired power plants in the […]

A report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) says the financial struggles of U.S. nuclear power plants continue to increase, and it is likely more plants will be faced with early retirement. It’s another acknowledgement of the tough operating environment for nuclear facilities as gas-fired and renewable energy sources continue to grab more power generation […]

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) wants to know whether small-scale, modular coal-fired power plants are feasible. The DOE this week put out a request for information on how to accomplish such projects, following on its announcement earlier this year that it wants to establish funding opportunities for new coal technologies in an effort to […]

An electric cooperative that provides wholesale power and services to customers in 22 counties in western Kentucky has told state regulators it intends to end an operating agreement at a 312-MW coal-fired plant in Henderson, which could lead to the plant’s retirement. Big Rivers Electric on May 1 told the state Public Service Commission (PSC) […]

The operator of the nation’s largest electrical grid on April 30 reiterated its system will remain reliable even with the retirements of substantial generation resources. But PJM Interconnection, whose system covers customers in 13 states, said it will conduct a review of its operations over the next several months “to understand the fuel-supply risks in […]

Germany’s electricity sector faced a renewed, violent shakeup in March as two of its biggest utilities, E.ON and RWE, announced a complex asset exchange that experts said points to the death of the

Those responsible for the operation or maintenance of thermal plant boilers know there is nothing trivial about hopper ash buildup. At a minimum, plugging can lead to decreased output, unscheduled maintenance

It’s not a secret that the North American power mix is changing. Renewable energy and natural gas are picking up market share while coal-fired generation shrinks and nuclear power remains stagnant at best

The growth in power generation from renewable energy sources, along with the continued shift from coal-fired generation to natural gas, is expected to drive the global market for turbines over the next several years, according to a report released by international business analysts Research and Markets. The Dublin, Ireland-based company in an April 25 news […]

CenterPoint Energy, a Houston, Texas-based natural gas and electric utility company with sales and services operations in more than 30 states, on April 23 said it would buy Evansville, Indiana-based Vectren in a deal valued at more than $8 billion, including the assumption of more than $2 billion in Vectren debt. Both companies in statements […]

The Colorado Springs City Council, which also serves as the board for community-owned Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU), approved the settlement of a lawsuit brought against the city’s downtown coal-fired Martin Drake Power Plant, an agreement that in part promises CSU will look at options for 100% of its power to come from renewable sources as […]

Debate continues over a proposed $1.5 billion power plant that would be built in North Bergen, New Jersey, and would send electricity to New York City. The project includes a 1,200-MW combined cycle facility, along with a 6.5-mile 345-kV underground and submarine cable that would go through Bergen County, under the Hudson River, and connect […]