EDF
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Top Plant
Flamanville 3: Europe’s Hard-Won Nuclear Milestone
Flamanville 3 synchronized to the French grid in December 2024 after a prolonged, hard-fought build—an achievement that reflects years of technical recovery, regulatory rigor, and lessons now shaping
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Trends
Two More UK AGR Nuclear Plants Get Further Lifetime Extensions
EDF will extend the lifetimes of two UK nuclear power plants—Heysham 1 in Lancashire and Hartlepool in Teesside—by an additional 12 months to March 2028 in a bid to secure the country’s energy security as it faces a looming nuclear capacity cliff and heightened reliance on imported gas. The French-owned utility confirmed that 1.2-GW Heysham 1 in […]
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Renewables
Nearly 5 GW of New Offshore Wind Power Approved for the U.S. Northeast
Over the past week, the offshore wind power sector in the U.S. received two major federal approvals that could add nearly 5 GW to the grid. On July 1, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) approved a construction and operations plan (COP) for Avangrid’s 791-MW New England Wind 1 project and 1,080-MW New England Wind […]
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News and Notes
UK Nuclear Recap: Major Funding for GEH’s SMR and Sizewell C as Hinkley Point C Suffers New Hefty Delays
Over the past week, the UK government stepped up its nuclear agenda, doling out a £33.6 million grant under its Future Nuclear Enabling Fund to support GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH)’s BWRX-300 while also announcing a substantial £1.3 billion investment in the proposed 3.2-GW Sizewell C nuclear project. The developments, aimed at potentially tripling the […]
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News and Notes
POWER Digest [January 2024]
Azerbaijan’s First Utility-Scale Solar Project Online. Officials in Azerbaijan in November announced the country’s first and largest utility-scale solar photovoltaic power plant is now operating. The
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Nuclear
UK Shortlists Six Nuclear Designs in SMR Competition, Intends to Award Contract by Summer 2024
Six nuclear designs will advance to the next phase of the UK’s Small Modular Reactor (SMR) competition, a fast-track measure that could result in a government contract within the next 10 months as part of a strategy to deliver operational SMRs by the mid-2030s. EDF, GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH), Holtec Britain, NuScale Power, Rolls Royce SMR, […]
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Nuclear
France Chooses Site for Two New EPR Nuclear Units
Officials in France have announced the existing Bugey nuclear power station near Lyon will be the site of two new EPR reactors. The government of President Emmanuel Macron last year said the country could add more than a dozen new reactors to the country’s energy mix over the next several years. Agnès Pannier-Runacher, the minister […]
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Coal
UK Won’t Keep Contingency Coal-Fired Units Online
The UK’s national grid operator has said that the country will not utilize coal-fired power generation even if needed this coming winter, issuing a statement on June 28 that said operators of possible contingency plants will not have them ready for service. The National Grid Electricity Systems Operator (ESO) earlier this month in its early […]
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Trends
POWER Digest [May 2023]
European Grid Operator Secures 22 GW of HVDC Projects. European transmission system operator (TSO) TenneT will lead a charge to install 11 2-GW high-voltage direct current (HVDC) systems by 2031. A long-term
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Nuclear
Energy Crisis Deepens as Nuclear Reactors Remain Offline in France
Major French utility Electricite de France SA (EDF) said it will again extend maintenance outages at some of its nuclear reactors by several months, meaning France will continue to import power and putting more strain on the country’s supply of electricity. EDF has returned some nuclear units to service in the past several weeks, but […]
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Nuclear
Three Nuclear Giants Will Vie for Czech Republic’s Dukovany Expansion
Competition for a new unit of up to 1.2 GW at the Czech Republic’s Dukovany nuclear power plant site has stepped up, with France’s EDF, South Korea’s Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), and a Westinghouse-Bechtel team submitting initial bids, Czech utility ČEZ, said on Nov. 30. Elektrárna Dukovany II, a. s. (EDU II), a […]
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Trends
European Energy Crisis Prompts Utility Takeovers in Germany, France
With winter fast approaching, and the dreaded effects of extreme natural gas price levels and volatility looming, together with unprecedented uncertainty of fuel supply, governments in Germany and France have
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Nuclear
UK Throws Support Behind Sizewell C Nuclear Plant Construction
The UK government has given the go-ahead for construction of the Sizewell C nuclear power plant in southeast England, which officials have called an important project for the country to meet its net-zero climate goals. Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng on July 20 confirmed the government’s support, saying UK officials consider it a major infrastructure project […]
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Nuclear
France Set to Take Over Major Power Producer Amid Energy Crisis
The French government is prepared to take full control of EDF, one of the world’s largest producers of electricity, as the energy group struggles with increasing debt due to problems with its current and future nuclear power fleet. Élisabeth Borne, who took over as France’s prime minister in May, in her first state-of-the-nation speech to […]
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Nuclear
France’s NUWARD SMR Will Be Test Case for European Early Joint Nuclear Regulatory Review
The French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN), the Czech State Office for Nuclear Safety (SUJB), and Finland’s Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) have picked France’s NUWARD small modular reactor (SMR) design as a test case for an early joint regulatory review for SMRs. The development marks a notable step by European regulators to align practices in a […]
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Press Releases
Jacobs Supports UK’s Drive for Clean Energy with Power Plant Life Extension Program
Work safeguards future of emission-free electricity generation DALLAS – Jacobs (NYSE:J) was selected alongside General Electric and Westinghouse Electric Company LLC to support preliminary phase life extension work at the Sizewell B nuclear power station in Suffolk, United Kingdom. EDF, operator of Sizewell B, is leading a Long-Term Operation (LTO) program aimed at extending the […]
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News
GE Confirms Sale of Lucrative Nuclear Steam Turbine Segment to EDF
GE has signed an exclusive agreement with EDF Group, an entity majority held by the French government, to sell the equipment segment and some services that make up Steam Power’s nuclear-serving steam turbine business—part of a portfolio that GE adopted during its 2015 merger with French equipment giant Alstom. The American technology conglomerate confirmed it signed […]
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Nuclear
Framatome signs contract to provide field instrumentation to Hinkley Point C
August 25, 2020 – Framatome signed a contract with Hinkley Point C to supply conventional field instrumentation for the two U.K. EPRs under construction at the nuclear power station located in Somerset, England. Approximately 10,000 instruments will monitor and measure temperature, flow, pressure and level under all operating conditions. “With this contract, we are expanding […]
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Nuclear
Last Reactor at Oldest French Nuclear Plant Going Offline
The last operating reactor at France’s oldest nuclear power plant is scheduled to shut down June 30, some 43 years after the plant entered commercial operation. The French government, though, on June 27 ruled out further full closures of nuclear plants, according to Reuters, which cited sources in the country’s energy ministry. France had said […]
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Nuclear
Top 6 Nuclear Power Achievements of 2019
The past year has been filled with firsts for the nuclear power industry. Three power plants sporting first-of-a-kind reactors entered commercial operation, while the first U.S. AP1000 nuclear project reached key milestones on its path to completion. Furthermore, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) granted the first early site permit for a utility to construct […]
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Hydro
Hydropower Industry Launches Major International Project to Demonstrate Flexibility
In a new attempt to secure a concrete role for the international hydropower industry within the decarbonization movement, several utilities, equipment manufacturers, universities, research centers, and consultancies have scaffolded to demonstrate how modern hydropower plants can provide flexibility to markets that are increasingly inundated by variable generation like wind and solar. On Dec. 10, the […]
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Nuclear
EDF Will Bail on Three Nuclear Plants, Exelon Holds the Bag
Exelon Generation said EDF Group—a French integrated electricity company—is exercising a put option to sell its 49.99% interest in the R.E. Ginna, Nine Mile Point, and Calvert Cliffs nuclear energy facilities. The two companies will now begin negotiations for Exelon to acquire full ownership of the plants. EDF’s involvement in the facilities was through the […]
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Nuclear
EDF and Bilfinger close in on Project Agreement for Hinkley Point C
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 […]
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History
A Brief History of GE Gas Turbines
July marks two important milestones that set gas-fired generation on its course to becoming a dominant form of power generation: commercial operation of the world’s first industrial gas turbine in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, in 1939, and commercial operation of the first gas turbine in the U.S. used to generate electric power—a 3.5-MW General Electric (GE) unit […]
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Nuclear
Long-Delayed EPR Nuclear Plants Face Further Holdups
Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO), owner of the Olkiluoto 3 EPR (European Pressurized Water Reactor) nuclear unit that is under construction in Finland, has said fuel will not be loaded in the reactor before the end of August, while it awaits completion of a schedule review being conducted by the construction consortium. Meanwhile, EDF, which is […]
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Nuclear
Vogtle 2 Installs World’s First Full Accident-Tolerant Fuel Assemblies
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 […]
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News
Flexible Operation of Nuclear Power Plants Ramps Up
A widespread misconception persists that nuclear plants can only function as inflexible baseload sources of power—and it’s hurting prospects for the nuclear sector’s role in the world’s future power
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News
POWER Digest [March 2019]
The Distribution System Is Newest Energy Transition Frontier in Europe. The European power sector is urging member states and regulators within the European Union (EU) to speed up development of
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News
Financial and Gas Turbine Blade Troubles Plague GE Power
GE Power’s financials spun out further on a dismal trajectory during the fourth quarter of 2018, plagued by slack market demand for products and services, technical glitches of a flagship gas turbine model, and poor project execution. Despite a series of divestments and corporate reshuffles, including of leadership, for the 12 months that ended on […]
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Infographics
THE BIG PICTURE: World’s Biggest Power Companies
In 2017, the 10 largest power companies, ranked by their installed generation capacity, owned 18% of total global installed capacity, while the next-largest 15 owned around 10%—meaning that the top 25 companies own nearly 30% of global installed power generation capacity, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Chinese companies account for more than one-eighth of global installed […]