Ukraine
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Nuclear
War and Nuclear Energy: Risks Are Enormous for Power Industry and World
Nuclear power can be a highly important component of a country’s energy security strategy. This is true for several reasons. Nuclear plants provide consistent baseload power that is not dependent on weather
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International
Russia Hits Ukrainian Power Stations with Christmas Day Attacks
DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, reported power outages across large areas of the country after Russia fired missiles against DTEK power stations in strikes on Christmas day. DTEK said it was the 13th massive attack on Ukrainian energy systems this year, and the 10th to target DTEK power stations. At least one long-time power […]
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Nuclear
U.S. Has Agreement to Help Build SMRs for Ukraine Power Generation
Officials from the U.S. and Ukraine said the countries will partner on building small modular reactors (SMRs) to replace the latter’s coal-fired power generation, with the SMRs used to help Ukraine decarbonize its steel industry. A statement from the U.S. State Dept., released at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Nov. 16, […]
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Cybersecurity
Powering Through Requires Securing the Grid
The U.S. energy sector has a bullseye on its back. Whether it’s nation-state hackers or domestic terrorists, the level of malicious activity directed against the sector has reached an all-time high, and we would do well to heed the threat. As the threat grows, some federal cybersecurity officials and others are sounding alarms about potentially […]
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Nuclear
Nuclear’s Glimmer Ushers in Spate of Lifetime Extensions
Despite its ongoing war with Russia, Ukraine in early November gave state nuclear operator Energoatom the green light to operate Unit 1 of the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant for 10 more years. The approval
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Legal & Regulatory
Bolstering Power Grid Cybersecurity in an Era of Hybrid Threats
Soon after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Russian government-affiliated hackers orchestrated cyberattacks that targeted Ukraine’s electrical grid and energy infrastructure. In early March of last year, one cyberattack successfully disabled a high-voltage transmission station near Kyiv, resulting in a power outage in the capital. Later that month, another cyberattack targeted three regional electric power […]
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Coal
Germany Restarts Coal-Fired Generation to Support Winter Power Supply
Government officials in Germany have approved a plan to bring some shuttered coal-fired power plants back online in an effort to avoid energy shortages this winter. Cabinet members on Oct. 4 said they would support putting on-reserve lignite-fired power plants back online from now until the end of March 2024. It’s another move related to […]
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Commentary
Cyberattack Vulnerabilities of Modern Power Systems
Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) is crucial to contemporary power systems and is widely used in industry and defense. SCADA are computer-based systems that are used to centrally control, monitor, and analyze activities in industries and power systems. This entails real-time communication over a communication network between a central entity and the local controllers […]
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Wind
A Symbol of Courage and Invincibility: DTEK Completes Wind Farm Despite War
When a hostile foreign country invades your homeland, many power projects might fall by the wayside, but for DTEK, providing reliable power to customers and continuing to develop secure energy resources was
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Energy Security
Devastating Ukraine Dam Breach Raises Concerns for Nearby Nuclear Plant
A breach at the Nova Kakhovka Dam stemming from the destruction of the 351-MW hydroelectric power plant in southern Ukraine on June 6 has triggered massive flooding, prompted an environmental crisis, and raised new perils for a nearby nuclear plant on the frontlines of the Russia-Ukraine war. Completed in 1956, the Kakhovka hydropower power plant […]
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Coal
Winter Demand for Coal, Gas Falls Across EU Despite Energy Concerns
An analysis from an energy research group shows European Union (EU) countries burned less coal and natural gas for power generation than in prior years, despite an ongoing energy crisis driven by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A study from Ember, a think-tank based in the UK, said coal-fired generation in the EU dropped 27 TWh […]
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Wind
Ukraine Group Completes First Phase of Wind Farm Despite Ongoing War
Ukrainian energy company DTEK Group said it has finished construction of the first 114 MW of a planned 500-MW wind farm in the country, as DTEK continues to work on energy projects despite the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. The company on March 10 said it is seeking international help to complete the Tyligulska wind […]
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T&D
Ukrainian Workers Fight to Keep Power Available for Critical Infrastructure and War-Stricken Communities
With Russian forces having damaged many power plants and power lines in parts of Ukraine, linemen and plant workers have persevered, repairing and rebuilding equipment and systems needed to keep the lights on and critical facilities in operation. But the job is not easy, and much of the country’s power generation capacity is currently unavailable. […]
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Nuclear
War and Nuclear Power: Stakes Are High for People, Environment, and Industry
John Stevens Cabot Abbott, the 19th century American historian perhaps best known for writing History of Napoleon Bonaparte and History of the Civil War in America , is attributed with the quote, “War is the
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Coal
U.S. Coal Plant Closures Continue, While China Rapidly Builds More
A wave of retirements for U.S. coal-fired power plants continues, with the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reporting almost a quarter of the nation’s remaining facilities could be shuttered by the end of 2029. The EIA in its preliminary monthly electric generator inventory report released Nov. 7 said that 23% of the nearly 201 GW of […]
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O&M
Ukraine Grid Operator Issues Call for Help, Needs Equipment to Keep Lights On
DTEK, a diversified energy company that generates and distributes electricity in Ukraine, issued a call to “Western partners” for the immediate supply of various pieces of electrical equipment to restore power in its service territory. Russian missile attacks on DTEK energy facilities on Oct. 18 killed at least one employee and injured at least seven […]
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Energy Security
Switzerland Secures 250-MW GE Gas Power Temporary Power Plant For Crucial Winter Reserve
The Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) will install 250 MW of temporary reserve power—via eight trailer-mounted GE Gas Power TM2500 mobile aeroderivative gas turbine units—to secure critical power supplies this winter. GE Gas Power said the units, which will be located at GE’s Manufacturing Center in Birr, in the Swiss canton of Aargau, near […]
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Nuclear
IAEA Embarks on Unprecedented Mission to Inspect Nuclear Power Plant in Ukrainian ‘War Zone’
An expert team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has arrived in Kyiv and is readying to inspect Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) for damage from weeks of shelling. The development marks a significant breakthrough for the agency, which has for the past month pleaded with Russia and Ukraine to allow it to […]
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T&D
Operating Energy Systems in a War-Torn Country: DTEK Prepares for Winter
While much of the world lives life as usual, DTEK—the largest private investor in Ukraine’s energy sector—is focused on providing reliable service amidst war and uncertainty. “Today, the major topic for us is to provide stability in durations of electricity sector in Ukraine and also do everything possible to prepare for winter season,” DTEK CEO […]
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Nuclear
Germany Mulls Postponing Nuclear Exit
Germany’s government is weighing how the closure of the country’s last three nuclear power plants in December 2022 will affect its grid this upcoming winter as the country scrambles to secure sufficient energy supplies amid a decline in Russian gas deliveries. A formal decision on whether or not to keep Isar 2, Emsland, and Neckarwestheim […]
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Nuclear
IAEA: Shelling at Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Plant Raises ‘Real Risk’ of Nuclear Disaster
(Updated): The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is growing increasingly alarmed by military action at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant, warning that artillery shelling at the plant site on Aug. 5 underlines a “very real risk of a nuclear disaster.” IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi in a statement on Aug. 6 said new information about […]
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Trends
Europe May Need Temporary Coal, Oil Power Increase to Ready for ’Hard’ Winter, IEA Warns
European leaders should minimize gas use in the power sector and temporarily ramp up coal- and oil-fired generation while accelerating low-carbon sources to guard against energy market turmoil that has grown “especially perilous,” the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on July 18. “I’m particularly concerned about the months ahead,” wrote IEA Executive […]
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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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Commentary
Energy Security = National Security: How the West Needs to Reindustrialize, Rethink Energy Policy
The current geopolitical crisis spurred by the Russian invasion of Ukraine should provide a rude awakening in the West to our misguided and flawed policies toward energy development by government and major
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Legal & Regulatory
UK Leans Heavily on Nuclear in Bold New Energy Strategy
A long-awaited energy strategy published by the UK government on April 6 lays out bold commitments that tackle Great Britain’s multi-pronged challenges, including achieving net-zero carbon emissions while
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Gas
Gas Power Outlook: Volatility and Viability
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
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Gas
U.S. Agrees to Ramp Up LNG Exports to Europe, Actively Reduce Natural Gas Demand
The Biden administration and the European Commission launched a multi-pronged effort that will dramatically ramp up U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to the European Union (EU) but also reduce overall natural gas demand in the U.S. and EU through “accelerated market deployment” of clean energy measures. The measures are part of strategic energy cooperation […]
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Nuclear
Eight of 15 Ukrainian Reactors Remain in Operation After Three Weeks of War
Ukraine’s nuclear regulator informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on March 16 that eight of the country’s 15 nuclear reactors were in operation despite the ongoing Russian invasion. Of the four sites with operational units, two of six at Zaporizhzhya, three of four at Rivne, one of two at Khmelnytskyy, and two of three […]
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Press Releases
EDP mobilizes teams and resources to tackle the humanitarian emergency in Ukraine
MARCH 15, 2022 — EDP Renewables (EDP) is mobilizing resources and teams in various geographies to put in place a package of measures in response to the humanitarian emergency driven by the conflict in Ukraine. In the immediate term, the aid is addressed to different organizations that are in the front line of support for […]
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Nuclear
Pressure on U.S. Nuclear Power Could Mount if Sanctions Imposed on Russian Uranium
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and ensuing sanctions may have a limited immediate impact on the U.S. nuclear industry, despite its reliance on uranium imports. Potential implications over the longer term, however, require urgent action, officials from the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) said. NEI CEO and President Maria Korsnick told reporters at the ongoing CERAWeek by […]