DOE

Geothermal energy has been around forever, used as a heating source across the world. Today it has surfaced as another renewable resource, with advancements in drilling technology bringing down costs and opening new areas to development. In conjunction with the feature article on geothermal in the May 2019 issue of POWER, we sought opinions from […]

Nuclear power in the U.S. and globally has battled headwinds in recent years, and not just from the growth of other power generation resources such as solar, wind, and natural gas. Problems in the U.S. nuclear sector, such as construction delays and cost overruns at the Vogtle site in Georgia, the cancellation of the V.C. […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on April 12 announced investments for the Coal FIRST (Flexible, Innovative, Resilient, Small, and Transformative) initiative, which aims to develop coal plants of the future that will provide secure, stable, reliable power with near zero emissions. “Coal is an abundant, affordable, resilient, and reliable energy source that, through […]

The world’s first complete advanced nuclear fuel test assemblies containing accident-tolerant fuel (ATF) have been installed at Southern Co.’s Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant’s Unit 2 in Georgia.  Nuclear giant Framatome delivered four GAIA lead fuel assemblies containing enhanced ATF (EATF), including both pellets and cladding, to the plant owned by Georgia Power in […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) unveiled a slate of measures to help U.S. hydropower thrive as costs for wind and solar plummet. Measures will include a roadmap to identify hydro’s value in a future grid, and a first-of-its-kind prize designed to encourage innovative and faster pumped storage construction techniques. In her opening speech at Waterpower […]

Demand growth for natural gas for power generation may have slowed in the U.S., as renewable resources continue to take market share. With U.S. production continuing to hit record highs, and new gas-fired

The Department of Energy (DOE) is funding a project that would prepare Westinghouse’s 25-MWe eVinci micro-reactor for nuclear demonstration readiness by 2022.  The agency on March 27 said it will provide $12.9 million of the estimated $28.6 million Westinghouse needs for a project to prepare the micro-reactor for a demonstration, including for design, analysis, licensing […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 22, 2019) – The U.S. Department of Energy has announced $36 million in awards for 18 projects as part of the High Intensity Thermal Exchange through Materials and Manufacturing Processes (HITEMMP) program, as well as the final OPEN+ Cohort, High Temperature Devices. These project teams seek to develop new approaches and technologies for the […]

One of the oldest energy efficiency ideas—combined heat and power—is prospering in the U.S. and looks promising elsewhere as the world searches for low-cost energy by increasing efficiency while lowering

U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry on February 28 said nuclear power and the use of clean coal technology are the way to combat climate change and reduce emissions from the energy sector. Perry, speaking at a joint press conference in Washington, D.C., with Fatih Birol, director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), said, “We believe […]

Carol Holahan, counsel in Foley Hoag’s Energy & Cleantech practice, was a guest on The POWER Podcast. Holahan advises large regional generators and other participants in the wholesale and retail competitive electricity markets on policy initiatives, changing environmental regulations, decommissioning and sale of plants, and matters pending before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). During […]

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) want to explore how federal and state authorities could incentivize cybersecurity and physical security in the power and natural gas sectors. The agencies issued a notice on Feb. 4 announcing they would jointly hold a technical conference on Thursday, March 28, 2019, from […]

The threat to power grid resilience and reliability due to the continued retirement of coal-fired power plants has generated calls for immediate action. A severe weather event such as the “bomb cyclone” or

Power generators continue to expand their use of digital technologies. Data analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning are all part of a rapid transformation in how utilities are improving the

Hydroelectric power doesn’t get much attention in today’s discussions of how to generate electricity, particularly in a world looking to boost renewable technologies such as wind and solar. But the oldest

January 31, 2019 — The Department of Energy has awarded four Virginia Tech researchers a $1.8 million grant to reduce the stress renewable energy sources put on the U.S. power grid. The Virginia Tech Center for Power Electronics Systems (CPES) and the Power and Energy Center (PEC) will partner with Siemens to tackle this challenge. […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Jan. 23, 2019) — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced up to $38 million in federal funding for cost-shared research and development (R&D) projects enhancing technologies that improve the overall performance, reliability, and flexibility of the nation’s existing coal-fired power plant fleet. Coal is vital to the Nation’s energy security and provides […]

To propel interest and bolster development of advanced nuclear reactor designs, the Department of Energy (DOE) will demonstrate—by October 2020—the production of high assay low enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel in a first-of-its-kind $115 million project at the agency’s uranium enrichment facility in Piketon, Ohio.  HALEU is nuclear fuel that is enriched to a higher degree […]

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) wants to use two of 12 modules at the NuScale small modular reactor (SMR) plant that Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems intends to build at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL).  One module will be used strictly for research, development, and demonstration activities under the newly launched Joint Use Modular […]

Fifteen notable industry groups have urged Congressional leaders to act on the federal used nuclear fuel program, noting no progress on the Yucca Mountain repository license application and consolidated interim storage is “untenable.” The broad coalition of labor unions, state public service commissioners, clean energy organizations, and energy trade associations told U.S. House and Senate […]

Average wind turbine capacity, rotor diameter, and hub height increased in 2017, continuing a long-term trend. One reason that wind producers choose bigger turbines is to optimize wind power project cost and performance, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Source: U.S. DOE, 2017 Wind Technologies Market Report, […]

A newly introduced Senate bill aims to make federal loan guarantees available for new high-efficiency, low-emissions (HELE) coal power plants in the U.S. Although it spearheads considerable research and development initiatives to advance coal technology, the nation’s pipeline of coal builds remains virtually vacant, and it now lags painfully behind Asia and Europe in demonstration […]

Battelle Energy Alliance—the management and operating contractor for the Idaho National Laboratory (INL)—selected GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s (GEH’s) PRISM technology to support the U.S. Department of Energy’s Versatile Test Reactor (VTR) program. The VTR program is expected to accelerate the development of fuels and materials for U.S. advanced reactors, utilizing fast neutron spectrum technology. Rather […]

State-imposed standards and financial incentives such as those used to spur widespread adoption of renewables technologies offer a promising model to address challenges to commercialize small modular reactors (SMRs), says a report by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Nuclear Energy. But to make a meaningful impact, nearly $10 billion in incentives will […]

A wireless charging breakthrough demonstrated by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) marks a leap toward allowing electric vehicles (EVs) to conveniently recharge within the same period that it typically takes to fill-up at a gas station. Researchers at the national laboratory at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, in October said they […]

The Office of Fossil Energy (FE) in the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) this week said it will fund research and development (R&D) efforts “that will advance first-of-a-kind coal generation technologies.” The FE on November 13 said its Coal FIRST (Flexible, Innovative, Resilient, Small, Transformative) program “will develop the coal plant of the future needed […]

WILMINGTON, North Carolina (November 13, 2018) —GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) and its PRISM technology have been selected by Battelle Energy Alliance (BEA) to support the U.S. Department of Energy’s Versatile Test Reactor (VTR) program which seeks to utilize fast neutron spectrum technology to support accelerated development of fuels and materials for U.S. advanced reactors. The […]

A Tennessee businessman now has until the end of November to finalize a two-year-old purchase agreement for the unfinished Bellefonte nuclear power plant in Alabama. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), which began building the plant in 1974 but ended construction in 1988 amid a downturn in the nuclear power industry, on November 9 said it […]

Framatome and Savannah River Remediation (SRR) successfully completed repair work on a high-level waste evaporator (3H) at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina. By designing and using customized components and a specialized inspection and repair technique, Framatome’s team safely cleaned, welded and sealed a contained leak from the […]

Fuel delivery systems in PJM Interconnection’s vast footprint can generally withstand an extended period of stress and remain reliable, though extreme scenarios could impact the grid, the nation’s largest system operator concluded in a high-profile study.  PJM, whose system covers 13 states and 65 million people, launched the study this May as the federal government, […]