POWER Magazine

The future of a natural gas-fired power plant planned in northeastern Connecticut is in jeopardy after regional grid operator ISO-New England (ISO-NE) asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for permission to end a capacity contract with the project. Florida-based NTE Energy’s plan to build the 650-MW Killingly Energy Center has been delayed due to […]The post ISO-NE Move Puts New Gas-Fired Plant in Doubt appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Southern Company, the third-largest power utility in the U.S., said it will close more than half its coal-fired power generation fleet over the next few years as the group moves toward a goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Southern on Nov. 5 said the closures include units at the two largest U.S. coal plants, […]The post Southern Will Close More than Half of Coal Fleet appeared first on POWER Magazine.

At least 23 nations, including five notable coal-dependent countries—Indonesia, Vietnam, Poland, South Korea, and Ukraine—made new commitments during the COP26 conference in Scotland on Nov. 4 to phase out unabated coal power. In total, 47 countries supported the “Global Coal to Clean Power Transition Statement” at the international climate talks underway in Glasgow. In the […]The post Indonesia, Vietnam, Poland, S. Korea, Ukraine Commit to Phasing Out Coal Power appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Experts claim power grid infrastructure needs to be upgraded to accommodate the vast amount of renewable energy expected to be added to the system in coming decades. That could require billions of dollars in investments, millions of hours of planning and permitting work, and years of construction in the field. Another option that could help […]The post How to Get Up to 40% More Capacity from Existing Power Grid Transmission Lines appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Solar power has emerged as one of the most promising solutions to the world’s energy problems, enabling countries to find the proper balance between energy security, economic progress, and environmental sustainability. Solar photovoltaic (PV) technology, which began as an experimental method of energy production by Bell Labs in 1954, is now poised to change the […]The post Status of Solar Power Adoption in India from an EPC’s Perspective appeared first on POWER Magazine.

We have all experienced power outages; accidents, alas, do happen. The length of time it takes to restore the power supply always comes to the fore, because in addition to the millions of dollars in potential losses for the industry, a prolonged outage can have social consequences, especially if homes, schools, hospitals, and other vital […]The post Quick-Mounted Lightweight Tower for Emergency Work on Power Lines appeared first on POWER Magazine.

India, a nation heavily reliant on coal power, will set out to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2070, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged in a surprise declaration at the ongoing COP 26 climate summit on Nov. 1. While India’s central government has yet to issue a detailed plan to achieve the necessary carbon […]The post India Sets Net-Zero Goal for 2070, Calls for $1T in Firm Climate Finance Commitments appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Alliant Energy has announced its plan for a solar energy and storage facility at the site of the former Duane Arnold nuclear power plant near Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The project when complete would position Alliant as the largest combined solar and storage operator in the state, and is part of Alliant’s plan to expand its […]The post Large Solar, Storage Project Planned at Former Nuclear Power Site appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Already remarkable for being the world’s second Westinghouse AP1000 reactor to be brought online, Shandong Nuclear Power Co.’s Haiyang nuclear power plant is pioneering two significant aspects of nuclearThe post How an AP1000 Plant Is Changing the Nuclear Power Paradigm Through District Heating, Desalination appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Creating a nuclear power program in a country that is new to the industry requires a lot of work, but it helps to have some experienced support. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) found good partners and put inThe post A Newcomer to Nuclear Power, UAE Has Showcase Facility in Barakah appeared first on POWER Magazine.

China has its sights set on being the world leader when it comes to nuclear power technology. The country has brought its first Hualong One—a third-generation pressurized water reactor—online at the FuqingThe post Nuclear Power Foundation of China’s Future Generation appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Digitalization, driven by big data, the industrial internet of things (IIOT), and even artificial intelligence (AI), has made its mark on the power industry, allowing for greater transparency into operationsThe post A New Frontier: Quantum Computing in the Power Sector appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The use of hydrogen continues to grow as a means of power generation, with companies introducing new technologies at a rapid pace across the globe. Ways2H is among the groups developing new methods of hydrogenThe post New Hydrogen Production Technology? It’s Bananas appeared first on POWER Magazine.

I have long been a supporter of nuclear power. I’ll admit I’m biased, having spent 13 years in the U.S. Navy’s nuclear power program and having worked for several more years in the commercial nuclearThe post Can Nuclear Power Stay Relevant in a World Filled with Renewables? appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Groups involved in the energy market in Ontario, Canada, have joined in a pilot project to simulate a local distribution energy trading market platform, designed to demonstrate improved customer participationThe post Canada Project Highlights Value of DERs appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The power sector has been evolving for years and technology has been instrumental in the change. Today, asset performance management and predictive maintenance tools can help power companies avoid outagesThe post Ensuring Power Grid Health Through Better Asset Management appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Following the European Green Deal, the European Union has set the objective to become climate-neutral by 2050, much like the U.S. and many other countries that joined the Paris Agreement. To meet this goal, greenhouse gas emissions cannot exceed capture and storage, meaning that fossil fuels will unavoidably need to be phased out. In power […]The post Ready for the Energy Transition: Hydrogen Considerations for Combined Cycle Power Plants appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The decarbonization of our global economies is a must to arrest climate change and create a sustainable future for everyone. Yet, the transition off fossil fuels to a more sustainable economic foundation will be rocky. Recent events underscore both the need and the challenge. This year, Europe experienced its warmest summer in history, with almost twice as […]The post Cooperation Needed to Drive Energy Transition appeared first on POWER Magazine.

In another effort to streamline its business, Siemens Energy has moved to relinquish a 35% stake in Voith Hydro, a hydropower-focused joint venture it had long held with German technology company Voith Group. Munich-headquartered Siemens Energy and Heidenheim-headquartered Voith Group announced in separate releases on Oct. 22 that they had reached a mutual agreement to […]The post Siemens Energy Pulls Out of Global Hydropower Joint Venture appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Nuclear power contributes greatly to achieving each of the 17 United Nations (U.N.) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a 24-page report produced through a collaborative effort by a handful of organizations with ties to the nuclear power industry says. Among the issues addressed in the document are how the nuclear industry helps in eliminating hunger, improving […]The post Groups Say Nuclear Power Is Helping Achieve UN Sustainable Development Goals appeared first on POWER Magazine.

American Electric Power (AEP) is shedding its Kentucky-based assets—including its longstanding regulated utility Kentucky Power and transmission business AEP Kentucky Transco—to better position itself to invest in projects that will support a resilient, cleaner energy system. The Columbus, Ohio, headquartered company on Oct. 26 announced it has entered into an agreement for the sale of […]The post AEP Will Shed Kentucky Operations in $2.9B Sale appeared first on POWER Magazine.

In January 2021, a hacker accessed the digital infrastructure controlling the water supply for Oldsmar, a Florida city of 15,000 people. The bad actor attempted to manipulate the city’s water supply, exploiting a vulnerability in the company’s IT-grade remote access software to alter levels of sodium hydroxide in the water supply, raising its concentration to […]The post Implement Cost-Effective, Zero-Trust Remote Operations to Mitigate Cyber Risks and Maintain Operational Resilience appeared first on POWER Magazine.

New York officials have denied permits for NRG Energy’s proposed natural gas-fired power plant upgrade project in Astoria, a decision made after an environmental agency said the plan was “inconsistent” with a state measure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The state’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) on Oct. 27 said the proposed new power plant […]The post New York Officials Deny Permits for Proposed NRG Gas-Fired Plant appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Insiders have long been talking about the energy transition taking place within the power industry. Most of the chatter has revolved around renewable energy, specifically wind and solar power, and the shift from coal- to gas-fired generation in the U.S. However, one expert from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) told POWER that carbon capture […]The post Carbon Capture and Hydrogen: The ‘Most Exciting’ Things in Energy Sector’s Future appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Construction of the 10-MWe Supercritical Transformational Electric Power (STEP) pilot plant, a public-private collaboration to demonstrate and test supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) power generating technology, is making marked progress toward a mid-2022 startup date. Attendees from Experience POWER, HydrogeNext, and the Distributed Energy Conference, three of POWER’s annual in-person events, which took place last week in […]The post The POWER Interview: Pioneering STEP Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Demonstration Readying for 2022 Commissioning appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Georgia Power has again pushed back the in-service dates for two new reactors at the Vogtle nuclear power plant, with Units 3 and 4 now projected to come online in the third quarter of 2022 and the second quarter of 2023, respectively. Georgia Power in an Oct. 21 news release said its needs more time […]The post Vogtle Start Dates Pushed Back Again appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The grid must accommodate more inverter-based generation and adequately handle the bi-directional flow of electricity, but it must also apply alternative grid configurations and coordinate planning and operations across multiple participants and jurisdictions. That’s the vision Michael Pesin, deputy assistant secretary for the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Advanced Grid Research and Development division, outlined in […]The post DOE Envisions Future Grid’s Transformation into a ‘Network’ appeared first on POWER Magazine.

At the Experience POWER conference, held in San Antonio, Texas, this week, POWER’s editorial team conducted several live interviews with industry leaders at its new Editors’ Studio. Here’s a recap of what you might have missed. Executive Editor Aaron Larson talked to Paul Browning, president and CEO of Mitsubishi Power Americas (a company that sponsored the new video offering), […]The post From POWER’s New Editors’ Studio: Business Trends Driving Opportunities, Challenges appeared first on POWER Magazine.

El Paso Electric (EPE) and Mitsubishi Power have signed a joint development agreement (JDA) “creating a collaboration framework to jointly develop projects that will enable EPE to achieve its clean energy goals.” EPE is a regional electric utility providing generation, transmission, and distribution service to approximately 444,300 retail and wholesale customers in a 10,000-square-mile area […]The post Texas-Based Utility Teams Up with Mitsubishi Power to Explore Carbon Reduction Opportunities appeared first on POWER Magazine.

An innovative European Union–funded Arbaflame project is aiming to produce 70,000 tonnes of biomass-based combustibles per year to enable clean power generation. The biomass pellets are made of wood and can be used as a 100% sustainable alternative to coal in power plants to produce carbon-neutral power. Sulzer Chemtech’s separation equipment will play a key […]The post Biomass Pellets Offer a Carbon-Neutral Alternative to Coal appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The chief executive of major India electricity producer Tata Power said his company is prepared to make major investments in renewable energy, primarily solar and also wind power, as the group looks to increase its clean energy portfolio from its present 4 GW to 25 GW by 2030. Praveer Sinha, Tata Power’s CEO and managing […]The post Major India Utility Plans Massive Increase in Renewable Energy appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The seven major organized electricity markets scattered across the U.S. account for roughly two-thirds of all power generated in the country. Most of these markets are made up of Independent System Operators (ISOs) and Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs) that were created more than twenty years ago. The primary mission of the markets is to neutrally […]The post FERC Tackles Modernization of U.S. Power Markets appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Kevin B. Marsh, former CEO of SCANA Corp., was sentenced to two years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud related to the V.C. Summer nuclear expansion project. Marsh is the first defendant in the case to be sentenced as a result of the investigation. However, the U.S. […]The post Former SCANA CEO Will Land in Prison as Result of V.C. Summer Nuclear Project appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Detroit-based DTE Energy said it will cease all coal use at its Belle River Power Plant no later than December 2028, at least two years earlier than the facility’s previously scheduled 2030 end date. The Belle River Power Plant comprises two electric generating units, each with a maximum gross design generating output of 697 MW. […]The post DTE Energy Will Close Belle River Coal Power Plant Two Years Early appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Palo Verde Generating Station, a 4-GW nuclear power plant in Arizona, is gearing up to produce hydrogen from a low-temperature electrolysis (LTE) system, and that hydrogen will then be used to fuel a natural gas–fired power plant owned by Arizona Public Service (APS). The innovative power-to-power demonstration led by PNW Hydrogen is set to receive […]The post Power-to-Power Hydrogen Demonstration Involving Largest U.S. Nuclear Plant Gets Federal Funding appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The Public Service Commission of West Virginia (PSC) approved Appalachian Power Co. (APCo) and Wheeling Power Co.’s (WPCo’s) request to keep the 2,930-MW Amos, 1,320-MW Mountaineer, and 780-MW Mitchell coal-fired power plants operational until at least 2040. APCo and WPCo are electric power subsidiaries of American Electric Power Co. (AEP), which is one of the […]The post West Virginia PSC Approves Continued Operation of Three AEP Coal Power Plants Through 2040 appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Increasing demands on the energy sector are driving a handful of serious workforce challenges. One of the most concerning is an aging workforce with high levels of retirement, colliding with a shortage of skilled workers to fill the gaps. Case in point—the average age of U.S. utility workers is more than 50 years old, several […]The post Addressing a Skilled-Trades Gap in the Energy Sector—and How to Ease the Transition appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A technology leader in the power generation sector officially has a new name today, as the former Hitachi ABB Power Grids is now Hitachi Energy. The rebranding, announced during the summer and taking effect Oct. 13, is the latest move by a joint venture formed in the summer of 2020 when Hitachi and ABB closed […]The post Newly Minted Hitachi Energy Pushing ‘Urgency’ of Clean Power appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Emerson Electric Co. said it will merge its software business with rival Aspen Technology (AspenTech) in an $11 billion deal that will bring together both companies’ expertise in industrial software applications. It’s the latest move by Emerson to support the rapid growth of digitization in the power generation industry. “We saw an attractive opportunity to […]The post Emerson Merging Software Business with AspenTech in $11 Billion Deal appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A subsidiary of one of India’s largest conglomerates announced two deals as part of its plan to invest more than $10 billion in renewable energy assets over the next few years. Reliance New Energy Solar (RNESL), part of Reliance Industries Ltd., on Oct. 10 said it was buying Norwegian-headquartered solar panel maker REC Solar Holdings […]The post India Group Starts on $10 Billion Plan for Solar Power appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The federal government’s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) on Oct. 7 issued a proposed rulemaking to rescind several Trump-era regulatory amendments that limit the scope of environmental reviews completed by federal agencies under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). If finalized, the proposed rule would restore agencies’ discretion to broaden the scope of NEPA reviews. […]The post CEQ Proposes to Restore Impactful NEPA Provisions appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Hydrogene de France (HDF) Energy, an independent power producer and fuel cell manufacturer, has kicked off construction of one of the world’s first multi-megawatt baseload hydrogen power plants. The company says the project in French Guiana, which is being “duplicated” in about 20 countries, will provide 128 MWh of green hydrogen storage. HDF Energy’s $200 […]The post Pioneering 10-MW Baseload Hydrogen Power Plant Breaks Ground in French Guiana appeared first on POWER Magazine.

For the better part of the past decade, utility companies have been more concerned with the potential for outages than cyberattacks, but this has changed over the past several months. The Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack and the remote cyberattack on a Florida water treatment plant put cybersecurity top-of-mind and made it clear hackers can do […]The post Three Things Utility Companies Need to Do to Prevent the Next Cyberattack appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Stricken by a surge in global coal prices and freight costs, several Indian coal power plants are fielding a critical coal supply shortage that has forced some to curtail power. Fearing a power crisis, the Ministry of Power recently directed hydropower generators to defer scheduled maintenance through October. The Ministry of Coal, meanwhile, this week […]The post India’s ‘Unprecedented’ Coal Shortages Paralyzing Power Generation appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Four General Electric (GE) gas turbines have been deployed in California as part of the follow-up to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s emergency order to safeguard the state’s power grid. GE recently announced two of the company’s 30-MW TM2500 aeroderivative turbines have been installed at the Roseville Energy Park in Roseville, with another two installed adjacent to […]The post GE Gas Turbines Installed to Support California Power Supply appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The head of Europe’s largest utility said countries need to put a price on carbon in order to cut emissions of greenhouse gases and meet climate targets. Francesco Starace, CEO of Italy-based Enel, speaking Oct. 5 at the Reuters Impact virtual summit, said the world’s larger economies need to lead on developing strategies and taking […]The post Enel CEO: ‘Please Put Price on Carbon’ appeared first on POWER Magazine.

In December 2020, the U.S. Department of Energy announced a new subcommittee focused on the nation’s electric grid. The Grid Resilience for National Security subcommittee was a response to increasing threats to the country’s expansive electric grid that reliably delivers electricity to power the digital age. Today, those threats are even more relevant than ever […]The post Monitor, Teach, Protect: Three Priorities for Insider Threat Prevention in the Energy Sector appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Consumers today want their utilities to provide an experience like any other service provider, offering the same control and transparency. User-friendly smart meter technology has allowed consumers to play a bigger role in managing their energy usage and cost. But to give customers true command of their energy consumption, the industry needs distributed intelligence technology. […]The post Distributed Intelligence: Empower Consumer Control and Uncover New Possibilities appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Ten years ago, the energy market was based around the conventional, centralized generation of oil and coal plants. It was predictable and formulaic. These staples of yesterday’s energy market are no longer the future of energy generation. Instead, we see a global push toward clean energy with wind and solar power, and companies are accelerating […]The post The New Wave of the Decentralized Energy Market appeared first on POWER Magazine.