efficiency

A showcase of winners of POWER magazine’s highest accolade over the past decade (2017 to 2006). If you think your plant or project compares to these winners, submit a nomination form for the 2017 Plant of the Year or Top Plant awards to POWER‘s editors before the April 13 deadline. POWER magazine, which turned 135 years old this year, […]

Chubu Electric’s Nishi-Nagoya power plant Block-1 in Japan, a plant powered by three GE 7HA turbines and Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions steam turbine and generator technology, is officially the world’s most efficient combined-cycle power plant, according to Guinness World Records.  The entity that collects and showcases ultimate record-breaking facts highlighted the plant’s achievement of […]

Power plants are designed to operate at their highest efficiency. However, once a plant goes into operation, real life takes over and design outcomes are not always realized, which can seriously hurt a plant’s profitability. That’s why improving plant performance and getting back to design conditions should be every operator’s objective. This quiz is designed to test […]

GE Power said its 9HA.02 gas turbine reached a new milestone by exceeding 64% efficiency in combined cycle power plants. The company attributes at least part of the achievement to advances in additive manufacturing (3-D printing). “The HA is our most advanced gas turbine technology, and we’ve never stopped pushing the boundaries of what it […]

Fuel, operations, and plant design all affect the overall efficiency of a plant. This quiz is designed to test your knowledge of heat rate and efficiency fundamentals. Create your own user feedback survey To learn more about coal plant efficiency, frequent problems that reduce efficiency, and some solutions for improving operation and reducing generation costs, read “Understanding Coal […]

Coal proponents and climate skeptics often cite China’s current and future reliance on coal power to bolster talking points. What is little discussed is the recent, massive transformation of China’s vast

A comparison of coal power plant fleets from China, the European Union (EU), Japan, and the U.S. by the International Energy Agency’s (IEA’s) Clean Coal Centre yields surprising insights into efforts these

New technology is being used throughout the power industry to improve plant efficiency, predict trouble with degrading equipment, forecast weather trends, and train workers. A recent conference hosted by POWER

Cyclic operating conditions can be problematic for many coal-fired power plants that were designed to run as baseload units. Implementing a combustion and boiler performance management program can help ensure

GE’s Powering Efficiency COE Combines the Expertise of Power Services, Steam Power Systems, Power Digital Solutions, the Global Research Center and Global Growth Organization Project in India Highlights GE’s Global Powering Efficiency COE Mission to Boost Efficiency and Reduce Emissions of Existing Coal-Fired Power Plants BADEN, SWITZERLAND—March 6, 2017—GE (NYSE: GE) today announced its new […]

Although it’s not widely publicized, a majority of the energy used to generate electricity is wasted in the form of heat discharged to the environment. For better or worse, that’s just the way a typical thermal power plant works. Fuel, such as coal, biomass, natural gas, or uranium (in the case of nuclear plants), is […]

GE supports the Ministry of Electricity’s efforts to complete the maintenance and upgrade power plants before the summer of 2016 GE completes the upgrades at the Banha power plant, increasing output up to 7% GE (NYSE: GE) today announced that it has completed the upgrade of the Banha power plant, located at the Qalyubia Governorate, […]

The Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) authority to issue loan guarantees officially received a $1 billion boost, which will be split between its Advanced Fossil Energy Projects solicitation and Renewable Energy and Efficient Energy Projects solicitation.  The agency has finalized the additional loan guarantee authority that President Obama announced in August. It means that more loan […]

The U.S. and China on Tuesday finalized a memorandum of understanding that will allow them to jointly advance carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) and other clean coal technologies for commercial use.  The agreement between the Department of Energy (DOE) and China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) was set up on Aug. 26 during the U.S.–China […]

Most readers will receive this issue while they are experiencing Northern Hemisphere winter, with its colder temperatures and higher energy bills, so it’s fitting that several articles address efficiency. You’ll find discussions of combined heat and power (CHP) as well as a refresher on the various ways to enhance thermal unit efficiency and thereby improve […]

Plant engineers at Eskom’s Majuba Power Station in South Africa have been continuously looking for ways to improve efficiency and reliability. The six-unit, 4,000-MW, supercritical coal-fired plant was experiencing an efficiency decrease of 5% to 7%, which plant engineers determined was caused by poor performance of the actuators on their condensate level control valves (CLCVs). […]