coal

Temperatures in the UK recently soared into the high 80s, increasing demand for cooling across Britain and prompting energy company National Grid to call for a restart of a coal-fired power station. Uniper, the German-based energy group, on June 12 said National Grid called for Uniper’s Ratcliffe-on-Soar coal-fired power plant in Nottinghamshire to begin supplying […]

Washington, D.C. (June 6, 2023) – America’s Power President and CEO Michelle Bloodworth issued the following statement regarding today’s House subcommittee hearing on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed Clean Power Plan 2.0.  The proposal imposes new carbon regulations on coal- and gas-fired power plants which provide 60% of the nation’s electricity:  “For the second […]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has unveiled new greenhouse gas (GHG) standards for the nation’s power plants, moving to require both existing and new facilities to capture emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) for the first time. The rule announced May 11, if implemented, would mean coal- and natural gas-fired power plants would have to […]

May 4, 2023 — Valmet announced it will convert Helen Ltd’s coal-fired district heat boiler to bubbling fluidized bed (BFB) combustion to enable wood pellet firing at the Salmisaari ‘A’ power plant in Helsinki, Finland. The conversion promotes the company’s goal of phasing out coal and at the same time strengthens the construction of a […]

An analysis from an energy research group shows European Union (EU) countries burned less coal and natural gas for power generation than in prior years, despite an ongoing energy crisis driven by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A study from Ember, a think-tank based in the UK, said coal-fired generation in the EU dropped 27 TWh […]

A long-delayed nuclear power plant in Finland has begun producing electricity, ready to provide energy to a region in need of the facility’s output in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The 1.6-GW Olkiluoto 3 nuclear reactor, which is now the largest reactor in Europe, began a regular production schedule on April 16, according […]

A proposed rule unveiled by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on April 5 could considerably tighten the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) for power plants, with specific repercussions for coal- and oil-fired generation. The proposed rule seeks to significantly update the 2012–finalized National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Coal- and Oil-Fired […]

The first of two 300-MW units being built as part of the expansion of a coal-fired generating station in Zimbabwe has come online. The Zimbabwe Power Co. (ZPC) said the unit began sending electricity to the national grid late on March 20. ZPC in a statement said, “Power will be progressively fed into the grid […]

Washington, D.C. – America’s Power President and CEO Michelle Bloodworth issued the following statement on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Ozone Transport Rule (also known as the Good Neighbor Rule): “We are reviewing the final Ozone Transport Rule to determine whether EPA has addressed the concerns that we and many others raised that more coal […]

ATHENS, Ohio (March 2, 2023) – The Department of Energy (DOE) announced it has funded six research and development projects that will repurpose domestic coal resources for high-value graphitic products and carbon-metal composites that can be employed in clean energy technologies. Ohio University’s Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Environment was awarded two of the […]

A new report from a two global energy research groups found that China last year approved its most new coal-fired power generation projects since 2015. The report from the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) and Global Energy Monitor (GEM) shows the Chinese government approved permits for 106 GW of new coal-fired […]

Washington, D.C. – A new report , “Operation of the U.S. Power Generation Fleet During Winter Storm Elliott,” analyzes the performance of traditional power sources and renewable energy during the December 2022 storm that brought record-setting low temperatures and high electricity demand to most of the country. Coal, natural gas, and fuel oil provided 94 […]

Indonesia’s efforts to decarbonize the country’s power generation sector took a major step on Feb. 22 as the government launched the first phase of mandatory carbon trading for coal-fired power plants. Officials in the capital of Jakarta have said they want to increase electricity production from renewable energy resources and achieve net-zero carbon emissions by […]

The president and CEO of Florida Power & Light (FPL) announced he will step down from his role as leader of the utility. Eric Silagy, who became FPL’s president in 2011 and was named CEO in 2014, on Jan. 25 said he will move into a transitional role with the utility next month. Silagy, 57, […]

A Utah-based company is developing a pumped hydro energy storage project in the heart of coal country, one of several renewable energy deployments being sited in Wyoming in an effort to diversify that state’s energy and power portfolio. Officials with the 900-MW Seminoe Pumped Storage Project, being developed by rPlus Hydro, part of rPlus Energies, […]

Bangladesh is set to increase the coal-based power generation capacity to ensure supply security at a time when many other countries are focussing on the development of renewables and cut dependency on thermal power to achieve climate goals. The country’s move to expand coal power comes as challenges remain for renewables development, including inadequate grid […]

The largest municipally-owned electric and gas utility in the U.S. will close its remaining coal-fired power units by 2030. The board of trustees for San Antonio, Texas-based CPS Energy on Jan. 23 voted 4-1 to approve a plan to shutter the last two coal-burning units at the J.K. Spruce power plant. The plan, known as […]

A lobbying group for China’s power generation sector said the country will add about 70 GW of fossil fuel-powered capacity this year, even as renewable energy is set to provide more than half of China’s electricity production in 2023. The China Electricity Council in a report published Jan. 19 said the 70 GW of new […]

Workers at the W.H. Sammis coal-fired power plant have been notified that a mass layoff will begin “sometime between March 14, 2023, and April 14, 2023.” The announcement was made public through a letter Energy Harbor Corp., owner of the plant, sent to the Ohio Department of Job & Family Services, as required under the […]

January 9, 2023 — Valmet will deliver boiler conversions and emission reduction solutions for Veolia Group’s Hungarian subsidiary CHP-Invest Kft at its power plant in Oroszlány, Hungary. The order includes the conversion of two coal-fired boilers to bubbling fluidized bed combustion to enable the boilers to run mainly on biomass fuel. The order is included […]

A six-month-long project to demolish the last coal-fired unit at Lakeland Electric’s C.D. McIntosh Power Plant in Lakeland, Florida, reached a milestone on Jan. 14 with the implosion of the facility’s 260-foot stack and 90-foot selective catalytic reduction unit (video below). Unit 3 at McIntosh, the plant’s last operating coal-fired unit, was closed in 2021, […]

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has approved retirement of the Cumberland coal-fired power plant, with officials on Jan. 10 saying the utility will replace one of the plant’s two units with a 1,450-MW natural gas-fired combined cycle facility at the site. The TVA has held public meetings over the past few years amid much discussion […]

The Australian affiliate of energy giant Shell said it has acquired the development rights for a major battery energy storage project in that country. The new facility is at a site that formerly housed eight coal-fired generation units. Shell Energy Australia on Jan. 10 said it will build, own, and operate the planned 500-MW/1,000-MWh Wallerawang […]

Several executives in the power generation space weighed in for POWER’s recent report on supply chain issues in the sector. Sourcing of equipment also was a hot topic in POWER’s 2023 forecast for the industry. It’s no surprise. The power sector is not exempt from the problems that have impacted business and industry worldwide, from […]

A massive, multibillion-dollar renewable and fossil-fuel energy project is underway in China. The installation, being built by China Three Gorges (CTG), includes wind, solar, energy storage and coal-fired power generation. Ground was broken for the first pilot of the Kubuqi Base project in Dalate Banner, Ordos, Inner Mongolia on Dec. 28, 2022, according to Chinese […]

Every month, POWER magazine publishes several articles in its Global Monitor section covering topics important to the electric power generation industry. The articles typically feature interesting updates on progress made at notable projects around the world, big policy changes, or promising research and development (R&D) news. Short notes about major contracts are also touched on […]

America’s Power Statement on The North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s 2022 Long-Term Reliability Assessment Washington, D.C. – America’s Power president and CEO Michelle Bloodworth issued the following statement in response to the release of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s 2022 Long-Term Reliability Assessment: “We commend the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) for issuing […]

Power generators are exploring how they can retrofit coal-fired power plants to enable co-firing with ammonia, part of their strategy to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2). The latest project to look at the concept is led by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), which on Dec.  7 announced it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) […]

Coal is the most polluting of all fossil fuels. When burned, it emits greenhouse gases, causes acid rain, and pollutes the environment. With all of the talk about hydropower, nuclear energy, as well as biofuels, one might be forgiven for assuming that filthy coal is on its way out. But that is not the fact […]

VGB, the international association of energy plant operators, has just released a new standard VGB-S-150-29-2021-10 for fuel particle fineness measurement that includes the laser-based EUcoalsizer (ECM) mobile system developed by combustion specialists of German EUtech Scientific Engineering GmbH. The standard extents the ISO Standard 9931 and recommends to apply the ECM mobile system in combination […]