POWER Magazine

This interview with Dr. Fatih Birol, Chief Economist, Director of Global Energy Economics and Executive Director (starting September 2015), International Energy Agency (IEA) was conducted by Global Business Reports in May 2015. It has been edited for style and length and is a web-only supplement to the sponsored report “Power in Turkey” appearing in the [...]The post Dr. Fatih Birol on Global Energy Markets and His Goals for the IEA appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The Japanese Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) approved Kyushu Electric Power Co.’s operational safety programs for Sendai Nuclear Power Station Units 1 and 2 on May 27. The approval is the last of three needed by the company to verify that the plant complies with new regulatory requirements implemented as a result of the Fukushima disaster. [...]The post Only Pre-Service Inspections Remain Before First Nuclear Plant Restarts in Japan appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a state implementation plan (SIP) call action to 36 states directing them to correct specific startup, shutdown, and malfunction provisions in their SIPs to ensure they are fully consistent with the Clean Air Act (CAA). The action comes in response to a petition for rulemaking filed by the [...]The post EPA Takes Action to Eliminate Startup, Shutdown, and Malfunction Emissions Exemptions appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) proposed Clean Power Plan (CPP) will cut power sector CO2 emissions to levels not seen since the 1980s in addition to giving a big boost to renewables at the expense of coal, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said this week. In its “Analysis of the Impacts of the Clean Power [...]The post Clean Power Plan Will Cut CO Emissions to 1980s Levels, Says EIA appeared first on POWER Magazine.

South Mississippi Electric (SME), an electric cooperative that has been Mississippi Power Co.’s (MPC’s) long-time backer in the development of the Kemper energy facility, has pulled out of the project, citing delays in project schedule and increased participation costs as reasons for its withdrawal. The cooperative that generates and transmits electricity for 11 member cooperatives [...]The post Kemper Project Loses Key Power Buyer Due to Delays, High Costs appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz lauded the wind industry’s immense growth since 2008 at the American Wind Energy Association’s (AWEA’s) WINDPOWER 2015 Conference and Exhibition in Orlando, Fla., but he cautioned that more was needed for a long-term low-carbon future. “Wind generation has more than tripled in the U.S. in just six years, exceeding 4.5% of [...]The post Carbon Challenge Will Require More Than Just Renewable Boost, Moniz Says appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Taller wind turbines and longer blades could increase the technical potential for wind deployment in the U.S. by 54%, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said today as he unveiled a new report from the Department of Energy (DOE). The report, “Enabling Wind Power Nationwide,” essentially posits that if advanced turbine concepts with hub heights of 110 [...]The post Energy Dept.: Taller Wind Turbines, Longer Blades Will Make Wind Power Ubiquitous in the U.S. appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Duke Energy announced on May 19 that it will construct a new 650-MW natural gas–fired combined cycle power plant (CCPP) and retire its 375-MW Asheville coal power plant by early 2020. The plan also includes the addition of solar generation at the site as well as construction of a new substation and 40-mile transmission line [...]The post Duke Announces Plan to Retire Asheville Coal Plant, Replace with CCPP appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) on May 14 announced $60 million in funding for 23 new projects to foster new technologies in dry cooling and fusion power. The Advanced Research In Dry cooling (ARID) initiative, one of ARPA-E’s newest projects, will provide $30 million to support 14 project teams developing [...]The post ARPA-E Announces $60 Million in New Funding appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A group of Illinois state lawmakers are proposing legislation to discourage the import of Powder River Basin (PRB) coal into the state, making locally mined coal more appealing to power plants. The coal competitiveness plan being proposed would modify regulations that allow electric utilities to pass through the cost of transportation to customers. According to [...]The post Lawmakers Work to Make PRB Coal Less Attractive in Illinois appeared first on POWER Magazine.

At Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), repeated generation transitions have marked the giant public power utility’s long history, from hydro, to coal, to nuclear. The latest resource plan points to natural gas, along with renewables and energy efficiency, as the basis for the agency’s generating future. At the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), generation transitions are nothing [...]The post Public Power “Big Dog” TVA Takes Fresh Approach to Resource Planning appeared first on POWER Magazine.

“You can’t take a clean source of energy off the table.” That was the conclusion that a panel of four experts came to as they discussed the role that nuclear power should play in the battle to fight climate change. The panelists met on May 14 as part of the 62nd Annual Industry Conference and [...]The post Experts: More Nuclear Power Is Needed appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) and the Eastern Interconnection States Planning Council have released a resource guide to help states overcome institutional barriers and coordinate on Clean Power Plan compliance. The Multistate Coordination Resources for Clean Power Plan Compliance guide—which was funded by the Energy Department—includes a multi-state planning checklist, a legislative [...]The post NARUC Promotes State Coordination for Clean Power Plan Compliance appeared first on POWER Magazine.

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH), the manufacturer of more than 60 of the world’s 81 existing boiling water reactors (BWRs), is making a foray into the pressurized water reactor (PWR) services field. The Wilmington, N.C.–based company announced on May 12 that it has begun offering refueling services to PWR operators. Under a recent agreement, its [...]The post GE Hitachi Enters Pressurized Water Reactor Services Market appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Michigan utility Consumers Energy formally announced on May 11 that it was closing seven of its oldest coal-fired units, which together represent 32% of its coal capacity. The units, representing about 950 MW of total generation, will be shut down by April 2016. Consumers—the state’s largest utility—blamed impending federal air quality regulations in its 2015 [...]The post Consumers Energy Shuttering a Third of Its Coal Fleet appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Siemens AG has completed a company reorganization to respond to the “persistently difficult environment” in the global power generation market. The global technology company, which had around 357,000 employees in 2014, said it would cut 4,500 jobs worldwide as part of efforts to streamline administrative functions. Siemens announced 7,800 jobs cuts earlier this year. Along with [...]The post Siemens Restructures to Bolster Troubled Power and Gas Division appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Biomass combustion should not be an approved compliance method under the Clean Power Plant because burning trees is not carbon neutral, both senators from Massachusetts told the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday. In a letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) said that treating bioenergy as having [...]The post U.S. Senators: Biomass Should Not Be Compliance Method for Clean Power Plan appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A fire in one of the Indian Point nuclear plant main electrical transformers resulted in the forced shutdown of Unit 3 at the facility on May 9. The fire started at 5:50 p.m. local time on Saturday and it was quickly extinguished by an automated sprinkler system, along with the action of trained onsite personnel. [...]The post Fire in Main Transformer Forces Shutdown of Indian Point 3 Nuclear Plant appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A Canadian joint review panel issued an environmental assessment report on May 6 for a deep geologic repository (DGR) for long-term management of low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste (L&ILW), concluding that the project is “not likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects.” Ontario Power Generation (OPG) proposed the DGR, intending to locate the facility at [...]The post DGR Is Preferred Nuclear Waste Solution for Canada, Scary for U.S. appeared first on POWER Magazine.

In the opening move of what is certain to be a long and contentious process, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources (ENR) Committee, introduced a suite of bills covering a broad range of energy issues, from infrastructure to regulatory reform to civil enforcement. Along with several others introduced by [...]The post Murkowski Introduces Array of Energy Bills appeared first on POWER Magazine.

In his May 6 appearance on Comedy Central’s Daily Show, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz addressed both the military and civilian energy issues that the Department of Energy is responsible for. His discussion with host Jon Stewart ranged from the recent negotiations with Iran over that nation’s capability to enrich fissile material to domestic energy [...]The post Sec. Moniz Covers Full Range of Energy Department Work in Daily Show Appearance appeared first on POWER Magazine.

In his May 6 appearance on Comedy Central’s Daily Show, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz addressed both the military and civilian energy issues that the Department of Energy is responsible for. His discussion with host Jon Stewart ranged from the recent negotiations with Iran over that nation’s capability to enrich fissile material to domestic energy [...]The post Sec. Moniz Covers Full Range of Energy Dept. Work in Daily Show Appearance appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Attorneys general from three states—Oklahoma, Texas, and West Virginia—stepped forward on May 5 to present their objections to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) proposed Clean Power Plan. During testimony before the Senate Environmental and Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey presented three specific problems he sees [...]The post Legal Challenges to Clean Power Plan Begin to Take Shape appeared first on POWER Magazine.

California will seek to reduce its greenhouse gases (GHG) by 40% below 1990 levels by 2030, a new executive action by Gov. Edmund Brown Jr. orders. Executive order B-30-15 issued on April 29 comes ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris later this year. California is one of 20 U.S. states (plus the District of [...]The post California Adopts Ambitious 40% by 2030 GHG Reduction Target appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A new bill unveiled on May 6 by Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) champions a general right to neutrality of the interconnection of distributed energy resources (DER) and seeks to establish a set of national parameters for how DERs are governed. The Free Market Energy Act of 2015 would amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act [...]The post Sen. King Introduces Bill to Promote Distributed Energy Interconnection Neutrality appeared first on POWER Magazine.

An interdisciplinary study led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Energy Initiative concludes, among other things, that “state renewable portfolio standard (RPS) requirements should be replaced by a uniform nationwide program.” The report—released on May 5—focuses on the future of solar energy, suggesting that a massive expansion in solar capacity to “multi-terawatt scale” is [...]The post MIT Report: Uniform Nationwide RPS Program Needed appeared first on POWER Magazine.

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Ending several months of speculation, electric vehicle firm Tesla Motors officially moved into the energy storage market on April 30 with the announcement that it would begin marketing two new battery products, the home-based Powerwall and the larger, utility-scale Powerpack. Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled the two batteries at a flashy ceremony at the Tesla [...]The post Tesla Takes Aim at the Grid appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Sometimes overlooked and underappreciated, a power plant condenser can make or break your efficiency and power delivery goals. Understanding how important a role your condenser plays is a good step toward greater heat rate awareness. As part of a university class on power generation systems that I teach, I show my students a Sankey diagram [...]The post Best Practices for Maximizing Condenser Efficiency appeared first on POWER Magazine.

When many older plants were built, steel and cast iron piping were common materials used underground. Although these materials have proven to have long, useful lives, improvements in plastics offer additional alternatives today. An understanding of best practices for inspecting and servicing buried piping will help you keep systems operating as designed. Most, if not [...]The post Underground Piping: Out of Sight, Out of Mind, Until It Leaks appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Advocates for the continued reliance on coal for baseload electricity cheered late last year when North America’s largest power-related carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) facility was commissioned. Since then, that pool of advocates is evaporating as prominent electricity industry decision-makers publicly distance themselves from coal and champion alternatives for a low- or no-carbon future. If [...]The post CCS Development, the Key to Coal Power’s Future, Is Slow appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Given the costs and other concerns about currently available technologies for capturing and storing carbon dioxide from fossil-fueled power plants, interest in new technologies remains high. Here’s a look at some potentially promising approaches that are advancing the technology frontier. Frontiers represent the boundary between the known and the unknown. As researchers attempt to push [...]The post The Carbon Capture and Storage R&D Frontier appeared first on POWER Magazine.

How to give electricity customers who can’t take advantage of rooftop solar access to the sun? Community solar—a shared resource—is a fast-growing segment of the renewable energy market, making solar photovoltaic power more accessible while offering another approach to distributed generation. Mention “solar energy” and the image that probably comes to mind is an array [...]The post Solar Gardens: A Fast-Growing Approach to Photovoltaic Power appeared first on POWER Magazine.

ALLETE Inc., a Minnesota holding company known mostly for its Minnesota Power subsidiary, is making a major strategic transition into the broader world of energy services, exemplified by its recent purchase of U.S. Water Services. At the same time, Minnesota Power, which previously transitioned from hydro to coal, now is shifting to a portfolio of [...]The post ALLETE’s Latest Transition Acknowledges the Water-Energy Nexus appeared first on POWER Magazine.

With plans for a “permanent” solution for storing waste from nuclear power generating plants permanently stalled, some are hoping that an “interim” site can be developed that would enable the removal of spent nuclear fuel from plant sites. Today, Holtec International and two New Mexico counties announced a memorandum of agreement to build such a [...]The post Plan to Store Spent Nuclear Fuel in New Mexico Takes Major Step appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Progress has been slow on finding a permanent disposal solution for spent nuclear fuel in the U.S., but an interim solution seems more palatable to developers in a couple of southwestern states. New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez (R) wrote a letter to U.S. Secretary of Energy Dr. Ernest Moniz on April 11, informing him of [...]The post New Mexico and Texas Locations Interested in Receiving Spent Nuclear Fuel appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Multinational energy giant GDF Suez will henceforth be called “Engie,” a name that reflects the global transition to a decarbonized, renewables-rich, energy-efficient, and digital economy, the company said on April 24. “As the world changes, all energies change with it,” the largest independent power producer in the world said in a statement announcing the rebranding [...]The post GDF Suez Changes Name to Engie appeared first on POWER Magazine.

For Samy Faried, an ABB expert who has spent 15 years analyzing arc flash hazards, a new rule recently finalized by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will save lives. In April 2014, OSHA published its Final Rule for Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution Standards (29 CFR 1910.269 and 1926 Subpart V), which [...]The post Expert: OSHA’s Arc Flash Final Rule Will Save Lives appeared first on POWER Magazine.

If there was one thing that the panelists at Wednesday’s Executive Roundtable at the ELECTRIC POWER 2015 Convention and Exhibition in Rosemont, Ill., agreed on, it was that change—spurred by new regulations, cheap gas, and the spread of distributed generation—is coming to the power sector. Beyond that, the executives of five highly influential power companies—Dynegy, [...]The post Executive Roundtable Discusses Looming Power Sector Changes appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A Japanese court has rejected a petition to halt the restart of two reactors at the Sendai nuclear power plant, putting the country on course again to revive its long-stalled nuclear power sector. The Kagoshima district court in southwest Japan rejected claims by residents that nearby volcanoes pose risks to the Sendai plant, and that [...]The post Japanese Court Clears Sendai Nuclear Reactors for Restart appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects backed by the Department of Energy (DOE) have captured 10 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, the agency said in an announcement highlighting the milestone. The projects contributing to the 10 million tons captured milestone are part of DOE’s Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (RCSP) Initiative and the Industrial Carbon [...]The post DOE Highlights Carbon Capture Milestone appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has approved a final rule to improve coordination of wholesale natural gas and electricity market scheduling in light of the nation’s increased reliance on natural gas generation. FERC’s March 2014 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Order No. 809 proposed changes to nationwide gas scheduling practices, but it gave the [...]The post FERC Issues Final Gas-Electric Coordination Rule appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Implementation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) proposed Clean Power Plan (CPP) could change the use of the U.S. coal-fired generating fleet from baseload to seasonal peaking—and pose grave implications for plant economics and operating feasibility, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) suggests in new special assessment. The new report is the second [...]The post NERC: EPA’s Clean Power Rule Could Transform Coal Power Use appeared first on POWER Magazine.

California’s burgeoning renewable generation sector, given renewed vigor with a proposed increase in its renewables mandate, means it will need robust energy storage capacity going forward, said speakers at a session at the Electric Power Conference and Exhibition April 22 in Rosemont, Ill. Much of that storage capacity may be provided by a mammoth combined [...]The post CAES a Potential Solution to California’s “Duck Curve,” Say Experts appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Investor-owned electric utilities in the U.S. spent $16.9 billion in 2013 to build transmission infrastructure, a report recently released by the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) shows. The ninth annual publication of the EEI’s Transmission Projects: At a Glance highlights a cross-section of more than 170 major transmission projects completed in 2014 or planned over the [...]The post Report: Utilities Are Making Significant Investments in Transmission Infrastructure appeared first on POWER Magazine.

In what could be an industry first, Nebraska’s largest electric utility plans to replace an existing coal-fired boiler with one that uses hydrogen fuel. The Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) said on April 17 that it plans to fuel its Sheldon Station plant in Hallam, Neb., with hydrogen produced by Monolith Materials as a co-product [...]The post NPPD to Convert Coal Boiler to Use Hydrogen Fuel appeared first on POWER Magazine.