DOE
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Commentary
Could the Nation’s Coal Plant Sites Help Drive a Clean Energy Transition?
The nation’s coal power plant sites that helped build the U.S. economy during the country’s electrification could play a huge role once again in helping the nation transition to clean energy. A new U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) study finds that hundreds of coal power plant sites across the country could be converted to nuclear power plant […]
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Nuclear
Michigan Governor Urges DOE to Support Palisades Nuclear Plant’s Reopening
Michigan’s governor has asked the Department of Energy (DOE) to support Holtec International’s efforts to “save” the 800-MW Palisades nuclear power plant, marking a potential turnaround for the facility in Southwest Michigan, which was taken offline for the final time on May 20, 2022, after 50 years of operation. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s in a […]
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Geothermal
DOE’s Latest Energy Earthshot Will Tackle Technical, Economic Challenges for Enhanced Geothermal Systems
The Department of Energy’s (DOE)’s latest Energy Earthshot will seek to cut the cost of enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) to $45/MWh by 2035, an ambitious goal that would shave current EGS costs by 90%. The DOE’s latest Energy Earthshot—part of a 2021-research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) initiative it launched to accelerate breakthroughs for emerging technologies—will […]
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Power
Biden Administration Targets Industrial Decarbonization Through Electrification, Low-Carbon Fuels, CCUS
The Biden administration has laid out a comprehensive roadmap to help five energy-intensive manufacturing sectors reduce their fuel- and power-related carbon emissions and achieve net-zero by 2050. The pathways proposed for the iron and steel, cement and concrete, food and beverage, chemical manufacturing, and petroleum refining sectors may have substantial implications for future power demand. […]
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Nuclear
You’ve Heard of Offshore Wind; Now, Offshore Nuclear Is a Thing
CORE POWER announced that it and its partners, the MIT Energy Initiative and the Idaho National Laboratory, were granted funding by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Nuclear Energy University Program (NEUP) for a three-year study into the development of offshore floating nuclear power generation in the U.S. “It is an important step forward for […]
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Gas
DOE Backs Carbon Capture Development at Two Major Gas-Fired Power Plants
Two major U.S. gas power plants will be part of the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) efforts to develop carbon capture technologies capable of capturing at least 95% of carbon dioxide. The agency’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) on Aug. 26 announced $31 million in funding for 10 projects. While many of the […]
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Hybrid Power
Report Notes Continued Growth of Hybrid Power Plants
Hybrid power plants continue to be deployed across the U.S., with almost 300 such facilities (all with 1 MW or more of generation capacity) operating at the end of last year. An August 2022 report from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, based on research funded by the U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) and […]
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Nuclear
Spent Nuclear Fuel: A Valuable Resource—Not a Waste
Did you know that more than 90% of the potential energy that exists in fuel rods when they’re loaded into commercial nuclear reactors still remains in the fuel after five years of operation? Well, that’s
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Legal & Regulatory
DOE Grants California’s Request to Revise Civil Nuclear Credit Program Eligibility, Extends Deadline
The Department of Energy (DOE) has revised eligibility criteria for the first-award cycle of its $6 billion Civil Nuclear Credit (CNC) program and extended its application period to Sept. 6, 2022. The action responds to a request for adjustments from the California governor’s office to better address Pacific Gas & Electric’s (PG&E’s) 2,240-MW Diablo Canyon […]
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Nuclear
Rick Perry Believes in Nuclear Power—Is He onto Something or on Something?
Rick Perry, the former governor of Texas (2000–2015) and former U.S. Energy Secretary (2017–2019), who has more recently been in the news because of his support for legalizing psychedelic drugs, including
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Legal & Regulatory
Carbon Management Tax Policies Are Required to Achieve Net-Zero by 2050
President Biden signed the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) into law late last year, cementing his administration’s support for carbon management technologies and their essential role
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Geothermal
Large-Scale Enhanced Geothermal System Trial Successfully Completed
A federally backed effort to advance enhanced geothermal system (EGS) technologies in Utah marked a significant milestone with successful completion of its first large-scale 10-day stimulation in a deep-deviated well. The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Utah Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy (FORGE), which is sited near the town of Milford on the western […]
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Legal & Regulatory
The Regulatory Structures or Economic Opportunities that are Driving—or Hindering—Building Electrification
Although the electricity generation and transportation sectors account for a far greater share of greenhouse gas emissions than the residential and commercial building sector, policy makers are targeting building electrification as a means for making a significant contribution to economy-wide emission reductions. Federal, state, and local governments are using various policy levers toward this goal, […]
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Hydrogen
Massive Utah Hydrogen Storage Project Garners Finalized $504M DOE Loan Guarantee
The Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) first official loan guarantee for a new clean energy technology project since 2014 will go to the Advanced Clean Energy Storage 1 project in Utah—one of the world’s largest renewable hydrogen energy projects. The DOE on June 8 announced it closed on the $504.4 million loan guarantee for the first […]
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Interview
DOE Q&A: Assistant Secretary Dr. Kathryn Huff Discusses Top Priorities for Nuclear Energy
The U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) on June 8 shared an interview with Dr. Kathryn Huff, the DOE’s new assistant secretary for nuclear energy. Huff was confirmed by the Senate earlier this month and takes over a $1.7 billion research and development portfolio for the Office of Nuclear Energy (NE). Prior to her confirmation, she served […]
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Solar
Biden Pausing Solar Tariffs, Pushes for U.S. Production
The White House is moving to support the solar power industry, including U.S. manufacturing of solar panels and other equipment, by pausing tariffs on imported solar panels from four Southeast Asian countries. The 24-month moratorium announced June 6 will exist while U.S. officials continue to look at the practices of Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam, […]
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Hydrogen
DOE Awards GE Two Projects to Test Hydrogen Combustion
General Electric (GE) has been awarded two projects from the U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) as it continues to develop and test equipment and systems needed for hydrogen combustion in gas turbines. GE on May 25 announced the proposals, which were selected by DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, are worth more than […]
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Nuclear
DOE’s Decision to Build Versatile Test Reactor Coming Soon
(Updated—May 19, 2022): The Department of Energy (DOE) is poised to decide whether it will build the 300-MWth Versatile Test Reactor (VTR), a fast neutron national user facility that could provide the nuclear industry with a much-needed high-performance testing capability for advanced reactors and existing commercial reactors. The DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) on […]
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Legal & Regulatory
Administration, NRC, Nuclear Industry Look Ahead to Uncertain Territory
The Biden administration is fully behind development of new nuclear power technology. It is encouraging the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to look at “new approaches to regulation” as advanced
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Nuclear
Green Light for Project Pele, Defense Department’s Mobile Nuclear Microreactor Demonstration
The Department of Defense (DOD) will push forward on Project Pele, a much-watched mobile microreactor prototype, and demonstrate its full operation for a minimum of three years at an Idaho National Laboratory (INL) site. The DOD’s Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO) on April 15 formally released a record of decision (ROD) to proceed with the program, […]
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Cybersecurity
Goldman Sachs Stake in Fortress Underscores Supply Chain Cybersecurity Priority
A Goldman Sachs private equity business is taking a stake in critical industry cybersecurity firm Fortress Information Security. The $125 million investment underscores a heightened awareness of supply chain vulnerabilities within the investor community. Fortress, which announced the investment from Goldman Sachs Asset Management Private Equity on April 19, said it also highlights a wider […]
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Press Releases
DOE Launches $84 Million Program to Demonstrate Enhanced Geothermal Energy Systems
WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 19, 2022) — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today issued a request for information (RFI) to support $84 million in enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) pilot demonstration projects included in President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The legislation authorizes DOE to support four competitively selected pilot projects that demonstrate EGS in different types […]
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Nuclear
DOE Poised to Issue Guidance Document for Civil Nuclear Credit Program
The Department of Energy (DOE) will next week kick off its much-watched $6 billion Civil Nuclear Credit (CNC) program to bolster the existing U.S. nuclear fleet by issuing a guidance document that will set down criteria for a combined certification and a sealed bid auction process. The agency said in an April 6 update the […]
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Hydrogen
GTI Advancing Next-Generation Hydrogen Energy Storage Technology
Funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will allow research organization GTI and its partners to proceed to the next phase of a project exploring how stored hydrogen can be used for load-following to improve the capacity factor of a natural gas combined cycle power plant. The project is exploring a system that could […]
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Press Releases
DOE Project Highlights Advantages of Hybrid Energy Storage
ENERGY SECURITY, ECONOMIC SAVINGS, LOWER EMISSIONS (Palo Alto, California—March 28, 2022) Confronted with accelerated timelines to dramatically reduce carbon by 2030 while maintaining reliability during seasonal and extreme weather events, a new study for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) offers electricity providers a rapid and feasible path: hybridize long-duration thermal […]
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Nuclear
DOE Funds New Program to Recycle Used Nuclear Fuel, GE Conducting Innovative Related Research
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced this week that it would provide up to $48 million for a new Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) program that could substantially reduce the disposal impact of used nuclear fuel (UNF). The program, dubbed CURIE (Converting UNF Radioisotopes Into Energy), is intended to support “a comprehensive national strategy […]
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Hydro
CPS Energy Exploring Novel Geomechanical Pumped Storage Technology
Texas-based CPS Energy, the largest municipally owned electric and natural gas company in the U.S., has entered into a 15-year commercial agreement to explore installing up to 15 MW of geomechanical pumped storage (GPS). The agreement will kick off with a pioneering 1-MW project that will pump water into drilled wells and store it under […]
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Press Releases
American Nuclear Society warns advanced reactors face ‘significant deployment delays’ unless DOE accelerates HALEU availability program
The American Nuclear Society (ANS) warned the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) that the continued unavailability of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel within the United States is risking “significant deployment delays” of advanced reactors. In a February 14th letter, ANS President Steven Nesbit and ANS Executive Director and CEO Craig Piercy urged the DOE to expedite the creation of a HALEU availability […]
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Electric Vehicles
U.S. Details $5 Billion Plan for EV Charging Network
The promise of a nationwide network of charging stations to serve drivers of electric vehicles (EVs) received a major boost on Feb. 10, with two federal agencies announcing nearly $5 billion has been earmarked to support such infrastructure. The U.S. Departments of Energy and Transportation said the money will be made available under the new […]
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Press Releases
Cormetech Selected to Optimize Point Source Capture to Decarbonize the Natural Gas Power and Industrial Sectors Using Carbon Capture
CHARLOTTE, N.C.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $45 million in funding for 12 projects to advance point-source carbon capture and storage technologies that can capture at least 95% of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions generated from natural gas power and industrial facilities that produce commodities like cement and steel. CORMETECH, Inc. (Charlotte, NC) has been […]