renewables

A leading renewable energy power transmission infrastructure company said it signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with a Canadian group for electricity from a wind farm project in Québec. Pattern Energy Group LP on June 18 announced a 30-year PPA with Hydro-Québec for the latter’s 150-MW Broughton Wind project, located in the municipalities of Saint-Pierre-de-Broughton, […]

Michigan’s major electric utility said it plans to build one of the nation’s largest standalone battery energy storage projects at the site of a retired coal-fired power plant. Detroit-based DTE Energy on June 10 said it would convert part of the closed Trenton Channel power plant into a 220-MW energy storage facility. DTE retired Trenton […]

A new report from two leading energy industry groups said a record 11 GW of new solar power module manufacturing capacity entered service during the first three months of this year, representing the largest quarter of solar manufacturing growth in U.S. history. The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie in their U.S. Solar […]

The state-owned Power Construction Corp. of China has brought a 5-GW solar power plant into commercial operation, with the project taking over as the world’s largest operating photovoltaic (PV) facility. The solar park, which entered service on June 3, is located in a desert area of the northwestern China province of Xinjiang, near the provincial […]

Equinor on June 4 announced its has finalized an agreement with New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) for the renewable power generated by the 810-MW Empire Wind 1 offshore wind project. The deal comes after NYSERDA in February announced that Equinor had been selected as a conditional winner in New York’s fourth […]

In a significant push toward modernizing America’s aging grid infrastructure, the Biden administration, in partnership with 21 states, has launched the Federal-State Modern Grid Deployment Initiative. The measure marks the latest triumph for transmission and distribution (T&D), which has seen “lumpy” progress in recent decades. The initiative unveiled on May 28 essentially seeks to establish […]

Customers are souring on the idea of solar panels and that should spell concern for anyone with a solar business. Some 66% of homeowners in a recent survey shared that cost savings motivated them to install panels on their roofs, but 75% of homeowners with solar panels reported no change or an increase in their […]

A UK- based global research group said continued growth in wind and solar power increased power generation from renewable energy to nearly a third of worldwide electricity output last year. Ember, a think tank headquartered in London, in its “Global Electricity Review 2024” released May 8 wrote that the numbers show a goal to triple […]

IRENA: 70% Global Renewable Deployment Led by Asia in 2023. Global renewable deployment over 2023 reached a total capacity of 3,870 GW—a new record in the power sector, according to the International

There are numerous articles and studies warning of the fragile nature of America’s electric grid. The vulnerabilities will only become more apparent as we continue to undergo a fundamental shift in how

Energy ministers from seven of the world’s largest economies, including the U.S., said they would end the use of “unabated” coal by 2035, but also said countries could extend that deadline if circumstances warrant. The Group of Seven (G7) members, which also include Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Japan and Italy, published a communiqué on […]

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) represents the largest incentive effort for clean energy in U.S. history. Its impact touches multiple sectors, including solar, wind, hydrogen, energy storage, and more. The IRA includes more than 70 investment, production, and excise credits designed to facilitate the transition to cleaner energy production. The legislation promotes advanced manufacturing, and […]

Food waste is an enormous environmental and economic crisis that demands urgent solutions. Each year, an astonishing 1.03 billion tons of food is wasted globally—enough to feed 1.26 billion hungry people. All that wasted food is responsible for a staggering 8% of total greenhouse gas emissions. As the world grapples with these mounting challenges of […]

The Biden administration has unveiled several sweeping actions over the past month aimed at boosting clean energy deployment, enhancing manufacturing jobs, and reducing pollutant emissions across the power sector. The measures—many announced as part of a comprehensive Earth Week agenda on April 25—are notable for their strategic push in an election year, highlighting the administration’s […]

When talking about renewable energy generation, the seasonal nature of these energy sources often raises questions. Will a solar array provide enough power during periods of cloudy weather or during shorter winter days? Can a wind turbine be effective on days with little to no wind? COMMENTARY We know that renewable energy relies on environmental […]

In a time where capacity revenues are pricing lower and many generation owners find that their facilities are not being dispatched for energy on a consistent basis, reliable revenue streams are increasingly important. In addition to selling energy and capacity, many generation facilities collect fixed, monthly payments for the provision of “reactive power,” which are […]

The largest electric power company in Japan announced the spinoff of a new global renewable energy business, and said the venture would be headquartered in London in the UK. JERA, founded in 2015 as a 50-50 joint venture between TEPCO Fuel & Power, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tokyo Electric Power Co., and Chubu Electric […]

Owners and operators of thermal and renewable energy infrastructure are navigating new and emerging risks due to digitization of the grid, an uncertain regulatory landscape, and changing environmental and weather patterns. These factors and others are forcing risk management stakeholders to increase preparation and resilience of their organizations. As digital transformation accelerates in the power […]

In 2002, the government of Saudi Arabia moved to step up the private sector’s role in the kingdom’s economy by opening the production of power and desalinated water. Saudi firms Abunayyan Trading Co., Abdulkadir Al Muhaidib & Sons Co., and MADA Group for Industrial and Commercial Development sensed a tremendous opportunity, forming ACWA Power Projects […]

A Sweden-based renewable energy developer, in partnership with the investment arm of Ingka Group–the biggest IKEA retailer–has been issued a permit for construction of a 5.5-GW offshore wind project that would be built in the Baltic Sea. OX2 AB and Ingka Investments on April 3 said officials in Gotland, Sweden, gave the companies a Natura […]

Enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) have long held promise. New developments suggest dramatic progress may be on the horizon. Can innovation feasibly overcome technical and economic hurdles that have

As power generation embraces digitization, and looks for more reliability and flexibility, the need for advanced instrumentation and control systems grows. Power plant operators know the importance of

India’s state-owned energy company NTPC said the company produced a record amount of electricity on an annual basis over the past fiscal year, with the utility’s coal-fired power stations recording a plant load factor, or capacity utilization, of 77%. NTPC, the former National Thermal Power Corp., in a statement published March 31, said it generated […]

America faces many energy-related challenges going forward, but none is more important than the need to modernize the U.S. electric grid—but right now the permitting process for building out and strengthening America’s power grid is not set up for success. Talk to just about anyone in the energy sector and you’ll hear about projects that […]

The Earth is a tremendous source of power. We’re sitting on a dynamic ball of fire, from which only a few regions have been able to extract energy since the 15th century. In recent decades, geothermal has been heralded as the most promising clean energy option and also a disappointment for the lack of implementation. […]

A major Indiana utility said it’s preparing to switch its remaining coal-fired power plant to burn natural gas. AES Indiana on March 12 said the two coal-burning units at its Petersburg Generating Station, in Pike County in southwestern Indiana about 100 miles west of Louisville, Kentucky, would stop using coal and start using natural gas […]

Officials in the UK said the country will need to build new natural gas-fired power plants beyond 2030 in order to ensure a reliable supply of energy and avoid blackouts. Energy Security Secretary Claire Coutinho on March 12 said gas-fired units able to provide baseload power generation will be needed as a backup to renewable […]

The 2.6-GW Drax Power Station in northeastern England—once Western Europe’s largest coal-fired power plant—is poised to pioneer bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), a negative emissions

The world is undergoing a remarkable energy transition. Clean power systems are in high demand, offering a bright future for hydrogen and renewables. However, energy storage projects that may look promising

Japan’s energy mix is in flux as the country slowly brings idled nuclear reactors online. The 2011 Fukushima disaster upended the nation’s power generation, resulting in more reliance on coal and natural