Japan

Japan’s Kansai Electric Power has restarted another reactor at its Takahama nuclear power plant, the 12threactor to be returned to service in that country since the Fukushima disaster in March 2011 led to the idling of Japan’s entire nuclear fleet. Kansai on September 15 said the 826-MW Takahama No. 2, which originally entered service in […]

Indian USC Coal Plant, First Transnational Power Project, Begins Operation. Indian independent power producer Adani Power on July 12 began full commercial operation of the coal-fired 1,600-MW Godda Ultra

GE Vernova’s Gas Power division announced the start of commercial operations for a major natural gas-fired power plant in Chiba, Japan, following completion of equipment upgrades at the facility. The Futtsu Power Plant-Group 4, operated by JERA, Japan’s largest power generation group, features three GE 9HA.01 gas turbines. GE Vernova on August 28 said the […]

A Japanese news service said General Electric (GE) will join with Toshiba to establish a supply chain for equipment that would support Japan’s offshore wind power industry. Nikkei, a Tokyo-based financial and business news outlet, on July 16 reported that the deal is another move by Japanese officials as part of the country’s zero-carbon strategy. […]

Efforts by Japanese nuclear fuel manufacturers to develop accident tolerant fuel (ATF) materials are making progress, and their commercialization is currently expected between 2030 and 2035 after key

KEPCO Wants to Extend Operations of Two Reactors. Japanese utility Kansai Electric Power Co. (KEPCO) in April asked Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) for permission to extend the lifespan of Units 3

TOKYO, March 15, 2023 — Hitachi Astemo, Ltd. (“Hitachi Astemo”) Group company Hitachi Astemo Hanshin, Ltd. (“Hitachi Astemo Hanshin”) has installed and begun operating a solar power generation system at its Sanda Plant in Hyogo Prefecture as part of its efforts to become carbon neutral. As a member of the Hitachi Group, Hitachi Astemo is promoting […]

A California-based group said it has completed the first-ever hydrogen-boron fusion experiments to produce a sustainable fuel for utility-scale fusion power. TAE Technologies on Feb. 28, in a peer-reviewed paper published by the scientific journal Nature Communications, said its research supports the path to providing electricity from nuclear reactors fueled with hydrogen-boron, also known as […]

Japanese power generator JERA has launched commercial operation of the first of three liquefied natural gas (LNG)–fueled 650-MW combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) units that will modernize the Anegasaki Thermal Power Station, a mammoth 3.2-GW, six-unit gas and oil power plant in Chiba Prefecture.  The new Anegasaki Thermal Power Station Unit 1, opened on Feb. […]

The recent shake-up in natural gas markets and their ensuing impact on energy security, and geopolitical tension, dramatically altered the trajectory of global coal-fired generation, sending it soaring to

JERA Co. Inc., Japan’s largest power generation company, announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) “for potential collaboration for the joint project development and sales & purchase of clean ammonia” with CF Industries Holdings Inc., the world’s largest producer of ammonia. Under the MOU, JERA and CF Industries have agreed “to jointly study […]

Ammonia as a fuel can be a crucial pathway to lowering carbon emissions from power generation to near-zero levels Under the MOU, GE and IHI will cooperate to develop a retrofittable, 100% ammonia capable combustion system compatible with GE’s 6F.03, 7F and 9F gas turbines As the second decarbonization MOU exploring synergies to reduce carbon […]

Brazil Formally Restarts Construction of Angra 3 Nuclear Reactor. Eletronuclear, a mixed-ownership subsidiary of Brazilian state-run power group Eletrobras, has resumed construction of Angra 3, a 1.4-GW

Every month, POWER magazine publishes several articles in its Global Monitor section covering topics important to the electric power generation industry. The articles typically feature interesting updates on progress made at notable projects around the world, big policy changes, or promising research and development (R&D) news. Short notes about major contracts are also touched on […]

The Japanese have been hesitant to re-embrace nuclear power following the triple reactor meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in 2011, but there are indications that nuclear power could ramp up again in

The U.S. and other countries have announced a $20 billion financing plan to help Indonesia more quickly shutter the country’s coal-fired power plants and decarbonize its power generation sector. “We’ve built a platform for cooperation that can truly transform Indonesia’s power sector from coal to renewables and support significant economic growth,” U.S. Special Envoy on […]

Japan’s ambitions to install up to 10 GW of offshore wind power by 2030 have made rapid progress over the past month, driven partly by accelerated action to address a supply and demand mismatch. Weeks after

Osaki CoolGen Corp.’s complex three-phase demonstration project in Hiroshima Prefecture seeks to achieve highly efficient coal-fired power generation with near-zero emissions by integrating carbon

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has called for up to nine nuclear plants to be put into operation to mitigate tight supplies expected this winter. The country could meanwhile resume operation of more than 10 thermal power plants to ensure electricity security this summer, he said. Kishida’s comments at a press conference on July 14 […]

The Fukushima Hydrogen Energy Research Field is revitalizing an earthquake-stricken region and providing a remarkable boost to Japan’s ambitions to launch a hydrogen society. While global interest in

German energy giant RWE will in September acquire Vattenfall’s 1.4-GW Magnum combined cycle gas-fired power station, a project in the Netherlands where work is underway to explore converting one of the three

Large-Volume Ammonia Co-Firing Demonstration at JERA Coal Plant to Begin a Year Earlier. Japanese firms JERA—a joint venture between Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) and Chubu Electric—and IHI Corp. on May

A research team at Xidian University in China announced it has successfully tested technology that would enable a space-based solar power plant that could transmit energy to Earth, akin to similar technology earlier announced by NASA and studied by other groups over the past decade. The “Daily Project” team, led by Duan Baoyan of Xidian […]

Natural gas generation’s future hinges on a precarious and exceptionally volatile set of issues that the conflict in Ukraine intensified. Experts from the full natural gas chain shed light on how that

A 7.3-magnitude earthquake caused some deficiencies at two of the three nuclear power plants (NPPs) located in relatively close proximity to the fault, but it did not cause any safety concerns, according to Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA). The quake struck about 60 kilometers off the coast of Japan on March 16 at 2:36 p.m. […]

Japan is furnishing $500 million (59.8 billion yen) to much-watched projects that will develop and demonstrate 100% fuel ammonia combustion technology for gas turbines and 50% co-firing at coal boilers, as part of an effort to build out the nation’s supply chain for fuel ammonia. The country’s national research agency New Energy and Industrial Technology […]

LineVision’s non-contact sensors will monitor power lines from the Mibugawa Hydro plant in Ina City, Nagano Boston, MA (October 6, 2021) – Marubeni Corporation (Marubeni) and LineVision, Inc. (LineVision) announced today that the two companies have entered into a strategic partnership agreement which establishes Marubeni as LineVision’s exclusive technology provider in Japan. The two companies […]

JERA has received the Japanese government’s green light for a pilot project to demonstrate 30% hydrogen co-firing at an existing large-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) thermal power plant by 2025. The project is Japan’s “first initiative to use a large amount of hydrogen as fuel in a large-scale commercial LNG thermal power plant,” the company […]

Shell Energy has started up a 10-MW polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolyzer facility—one of the largest of its kind in the world—to produce green hydrogen at its Energy and Chemicals Park Rheinland refinery in Wesseling, Germany, and it says plans are underway to expand the plant’s capacity to 100 MW.  The startup of the electrolyzer […]

India has one of the world’s most aggressive solar development targets. The country’s leaders have said they want to install 450 GW of renewable power generation capacity by 2030, a figure that would