construction

Soon after COVID-19 first broke into the public consciousness in early 2020, panic filled the streets. I’ll be honest, I was nervous. The U.S. stock market plummeted roughly 35% over the course of about a

Former Westinghouse Electric Co. Senior Vice President Jeffrey A. Benjamin was charged with 16 felony counts, including conspiracy, wire fraud, securities fraud, and causing a publicly traded company to keep a false record, for his part in failing to truthfully report information regarding construction of new nuclear units at the V.C. Summer nuclear plant in […]

Tom Fanning, CEO of Southern Company, reported during the company’s earnings call on July 29 that hot functional testing (HFT) had been completed on Vogtle Unit 3, and that the “next and final major milestone” is fuel load. “We project fuel load to occur sometime near year-end 2021 or early in 2022,” he said. The […]

Extreme weather forces Boldt to build wind towers at night (APPLETON, Wis.) July 27, 2021 – Most construction crews build on urban or suburban sites and transport equipment on existing roads, but in the world of wind farms, extreme conditions are the norm. For the Boldt Company, neither wind nor weather, nor dark of night […]

Engineering experts and financial consultants involved with oversight of the two-unit expansion of the Vogtle nuclear power plant in Georgia said the project’s startup now likely will be delayed until the summer of 2022. They also said the project faces more cost overruns. In testimony filed June 7 with the Georgia Public Service Commission, the […]

Implementing sound prequalification processes has proven to be a winning strategy for successful power industry projects. Formal preconstruction phases have increasingly been employed to control costs for

The solar power industry continues to see growth in distributed generation installations from residential to commercial projects, particularly as people take more control of powering their properties to increase their electricity reliability, and to control their energy costs. An important part of that process involves a rooftop solar installation’s onsite survey. There is currently a […]

Concrete is an integral part of any construction project, whether you are building roads, a a ground floor in your private home, or a power plant. This is because concrete is very durable, but it can be susceptible to fractures as subsoil frosts and thaws, if it shifts, or if tree roots press upward on […]

Owners must manage capital projects well to keep costs under control and ensure a high-quality product is delivered on time. Good communication, sound procedures and processes, and high-tech tools can help

Larger changes in the power industry are shaking up the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) business in the U.S. and abroad. Experts explain how the industry is fielding business impacts

These Ten Steps May Help Power Companies Avoid Headaches, Delays, Higher Costs, and Legal Complications Jacqueline Greenberg Vogt, Esq. and Robert C. Epstein, Esq. The International Energy Agency projects the rapid growth of renewables, with solar at the center of this new constellation of electricity generation technologies. Hydropower remains the largest renewable source of electricity, […]

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 […]

This is the last of a three-part series on technology in construction. In the May issue, Part I focused on predicting and adapting to change. Part II—in the July issue—examined choosing and implementing

Building a new nuclear power plant is challenging. Nuclear construction projects always seem to be behind schedule and over budget. Even in the late 1960s and early 1970s—arguably nuclear power’s

In Part I of this three-part series, which was published in the May 2020 issue of POWER and titled “Technology in Construction: Predicting and Adapting to Change,” recent trends in technology adoption

“We still expect to meet the November regulatory-approved in-service dates for both Units 3 and 4,” Southern Company CEO Tom Fanning said during the company’s first quarter earnings call on April 30. The in-service dates he was referring to are November 2021 and November 2022 for Units 3 and 4, respectively, at the Vogtle nuclear […]

This is Part I in a series that identifies technology trends in the construction industry, and offers expert advice on how companies can prepare for changes that lie ahead. Predicting how technology will

Finland’s Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK), which regulates the nation’s nuclear power industry, completed a scheduled inspection of RAOS Project via Skype due to quarantine and travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. RAOS Project is a subsidiary of Rusatom Energo International, a division of Russia’s state atomic energy corporation Rosatom. RAOS Project is […]

The COVID-19 outbreak and efforts to halt the spread of the virus are having a real impact at the Vogtle nuclear expansion construction site, but project starts elsewhere were robust in March. Cutting Workforce Due to COVID-19 On April 15, Georgia Power announced in an 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that […]

Activities are second phase of a multi-year plant maintenance project. B&W previously contracted to supply boiler equipment and other plant components. AKRON, Ohio–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE: BW) (B&W) announced today that its subsidiary, Babcock & Wilcox Construction Co., LLC (BWCC), has been awarded a project valued at more than $65 million to […]

ROCKVILLE, Md.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Argan, Inc. (NYSE: AGX) (“Argan” or the “Company”) announced today that in late February 2020 its wholly owned subsidiary, Gemma Power Systems (”Gemma”), entered into an engineering, procurement and construction (“EPC”) services contract with ESC Brooke County Power I, LLC to construct Brooke County Power, a 920 MW natural gas-fired power plant, in […]

(AKRON, Ohio – January 16, 2020) – Babcock & Wilcox Construction Co., LLC (BWCC), a subsidiary of Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises, Inc. (B&W) (NYSE: BW), has been awarded a contract for more than $5 million to install retrofit boiler equipment at a U.S. coal-fired power plant. BWCC’s project scope includes the removal and installation of […]

The long-overdue Olkiluoto 3 nuclear power plant (NPP) in Finland has been delayed again, but nuclear projects in Russia, Canada, and Iran achieved important milestones in November. New Novovoronezh Unit Enters Commercial Operation Rosatom announced on Nov. 1 that Unit 2 at the Novovoronezh Nuclear Power Plant II entered commercial operation 30 days ahead of […]

HOUSTON, TX (November 2019) — Van Beest has moved to a new office and distribution center in Houston in July 2019 to support the industry leading availability, quality and introducing new products to the North American markets. “The new office and distribution center allows Van Beest to stock five times the amount of inventory than […]

EDF previously selected Bilfinger as preferred bidder to deliver NSSS and fabrication of BOP Bilfinger continues with preparation work based on existing framework contract French energy company EDF (Électricité de France) has re-affirmed to Bilfinger its aspiration to award NSSS (Nuclear Steam Supply System) and the fabrication elements of BOP (Balance of Plant) contracts to […]

The final major module needed to construct Vogtle Units 3 and 4—the only new commercial nuclear power units currently under construction in the U.S.—has arrived at the site near Waynesboro, Georgia. That means all 1,485 major modules have been manufactured and safely delivered to the project. Georgia Power announced the milestone in a press release […]

“The world’s nuclear plants continue to perform excellently,” Agneta Rising, director general of the World Nuclear Association, wrote in the preface to the recently released World Nuclear Performance Report 2019. Yet, if the nuclear industry is to reach its “Harmony” goal, which is for nuclear generation to supply 25% of the world’s electricity before 2050, […]

Every company invested in our nation’s clean energy transition is aware that 2019 is the last year that solar energy can take advantage of the 30% Investment Tax Credit (ITC) under Internal Revenue Code

A group of project managers and engineers overcame a host of challenges to help an iconic Minnesota power plant complete its switch from coal-fired power to natural gas. Converting a coal-fired power plant to

Successfully operating a power plant or other industrial facility depends on many things, including the vendors who supply equipment for construction of the facility, along with those who provide the materials