POWER Magazine

The post POWER Digest—September 2019 appeared first on POWER Magazine.Kenya Launches Africa’s Largest Wind Farm. Kenya in July began operating the 310-MW Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP) facility, which the government said is Africa’s largest wind power farm. The LTWP projectThe post POWER Digest—September 2019 appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The post Heavy Hauling: Moving 300-Ton Gas Engines from Europe to Michigan appeared first on POWER Magazine.Two new power plants in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (U.P.) came online earlier this year, supplying power for customers of Upper Michigan Energy Resources Corp. (UMERC), a subsidiary of WEC Energy Group. WECThe post Heavy Hauling: Moving 300-Ton Gas Engines from Europe to Michigan appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The post Nigeria Enlists Siemens to Help Shore Up Power Grid appeared first on POWER Magazine.Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has an ambitious plan to rebuild the country’s power grid, as his government tries to jump-start the slow pace of growth in Africa’s largest economy. Buhari and SiemensThe post Nigeria Enlists Siemens to Help Shore Up Power Grid appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on Aug. 28 announced its Sierra Front Field Office in the Carson City District in Nevada approved the use of BLM land that will serve the proposed Dodge Flat Solar Energy Center (DFSEC), a 200-MW alternating current photovoltaic (PV) solar energy project near Wadsworth, Nevada, in Washoe County, […]The post BLM Backs 200-MW Solar Project in Northern Nevada appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A first-of-its-kind project spearheaded by Exelon, the nation’s largest nuclear power generator, and Norwegian firm Nel Hydrogen could demonstrate an integrated hydrogen production, storage, and utilization facility at an existing nuclear plant site. If the project comes to fruition, it could shed light on a new and potentially lucrative revenue stream for existing nuclear power […]The post Exelon Is Exploring Nuclear Power Plant Hydrogen Production appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The power grid is changing across the U.S. More distributed energy resources are being added every day. That brings challenges for power utilities, but also opportunities. John Di Stasio, president of the Large Public Power Council (LPPC), which represents 27 of the largest locally governed and operated not-for-profit electric systems in the U.S., was a […]The post Large Public Power Systems Are Evolving [PODCAST] appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Mexico is preparing to import more U.S. natural gas to supply the country’s gas-fired power plants and industrial facilities after the Mexican government reached a deal that will allow several stalled pipeline projects to be completed. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez-Obrador on Aug. 27 said his administration’s deal with Canadian pipeline operator TC Energy; IEnova, […]The post Pipeline Deal Means More U.S. Natural Gas for Mexico Power Plants appeared first on POWER Magazine.

German officials on Aug. 28 approved a plan to spend as much as €40 billion ($44.4 billion) over the next 20 years on projects designed to lessen the impact of the country’s complete move away from coal-fired power generation. Peter Altmaier, the country’s economy minister, said the money will become available after lawmakers pass legislation […]The post Germany Announces $44.4 Billion Plan to Lessen Impact of Coal Plant Closures appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The names of bulk power system entities that violate federal critical infrastructure cybersecurity reliability standards—along with identification of standards violated and penalties assessed—may soon be routinely disclosed under changes proposed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the North American Reliability Corp. (NERC). The proposed changes, which FERC and NERC outlined in an Aug. […]The post FERC, NERC Want to Disclose Names, Penalties for Cybersecurity Reliability Violations appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Organizations operating within a mission-critical environment must adopt appropriate technology to mitigate potentially life-threatening problems. As we acknowledge National Preparedness Month this September, we need to remember what is important to electric power customers. They expect to be kept safe, to be heard, and to receive realistic estimated restoration times—especially when a power line is […]The post Hope for the Blue Sky, Plan for the Storm appeared first on POWER Magazine.

“I hate to see things going out along party lines,” Cheryl LaFleur, outgoing commissioner of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), told POWER during an exclusive interview. “During my 35 years of watching FERC, that has not been the pattern.” During the early years of the Obama administration, “we didn’t think of ourselves as [partisan],” […]The post FERC’s LaFleur Decries Partisanship and Politicization appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Vistra Energy will shutter four coal-fired power plants—a total 2 GW—as required by Illinois’ recently revised Multi-Pollutant Standard (MPS) rule, but CEO Curtis Morgan noted the move was “inevitable” due to the changing regulatory environment and unfavorable economic conditions in the MISO market. The company on Aug. 21 said it will close the 54-year-old 915-MW […]The post Vistra May Close 2 GW of Illinois Coal Power By Year’s End appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The list of 181 CEOs who earlier this week moved to publicly degrade shareholder value in a bid to redefine the “purpose of a corporation” includes several chief executives from power companies. The Aug. 19 statement issued by the Business Roundtable, an association of CEOs “to promote a thriving U.S. economy and expanded opportunity for […]The post Power Sector CEOs Join Top Execs in Redefining Corporate Purpose appeared first on POWER Magazine.

New guidance issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Aug. 20 to help states prepare for the second implementation period of the federal regional haze program puts emphasis on “discretion and flexibilities” they can use to comply with long-standing mandates to protect visibility in federal areas. While it is not binding, the EPA’s […]The post EPA’s Final Regional Haze Guidance Highlights State Discretion, Flexibility appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The president of a company developing two new natural gas-fired power plants in Ohio said he is ending a project for a third plant there after lawmakers passed legislation to help two struggling nuclear generation facilities in the state. Bill Siderewicz, who leads Massachusetts-based Clean Energy Future LLC, on August 20 in a statement said […]The post Developer Blasts Ohio Nuclear Deal, Pulls Plug on Gas Plant Project appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The Farmington, New Mexico, city council on Aug. 15 unanimously approved a deal to transfer 95% of the ownership interest of the coal-fired San Juan Generating Station (SJGS) to Enchant Energy, a company run by executives of a New York-based hedge fund that wants to utilize what it calls “state-of-the-art environmental technology” to capture carbon […]The post City Backs Deal for CCS Technology to Save New Mexico Coal Plant appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has awarded a Dh1.437 billion ($391 million) construction contract for a 250-MW hydropower project in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a project considered a first of its kind for the Gulf region. The Hatta hydroelectric power plant will use water stored in an upper reservoir at the Hatta […]The post Group Will Build ‘First of its Kind’ Pumped-Storage Project in Dubai appeared first on POWER Magazine.

San Antonio-based Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) said on Aug. 12 it will get $3 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and another $760,658 from an assortment of industry giants to design a large-scale flameless pressurized oxy-fuel combustion pilot plant. The announcement is a major boost for the promising, but yet unproven technology, that […]The post SwRI to Design Flameless, Low-Emission Coal Combustion Pilot appeared first on POWER Magazine.

GSE Systems said it has delivered and commissioned three additional full-scope simulators for Southern Nuclear’s new Operations Training Centers. The simulators are for the Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant, and the Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant. Simulators provide efficient hands-on learning for power plant operators. While power plants of […]The post Southern Nuclear Adds New Power Plant Simulators appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Xcel Energy’s effort to purchase a 760-MW natural gas combined cycle facility in Mankato, Minnesota, from Southern Power, a wholesale energy provider and subsidiary of Southern Company, is meeting resistance from two state agencies. The Minnesota Department of Commerce (DOC) and the Minnesota Office of the Attorney General (OAG) recommended the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission […]The post State Agencies Object to Xcel Energy, Southern Power Deal appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A coalition of 22 states and seven local governments on Aug. 13 filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over its Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule, which the Trump administration finalized in June to replace the Obama administration’s legacy Clean Power Plan (CPP). Separately, 10 public interest groups filed a petition on Aug. […]The post 22 States, Environmental Groups Mount Legal Challenges to EPA ACE Rule appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The developers of a multibillion-dollar wind farm off the Massachusetts coast said August 12 they would continue with the project, despite the federal government delaying an environmental impact statement needed for the offshore facility. Vineyard Wind, a joint venture of Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners of Denmark and Oregon’s Avangrid Renewables, on Monday in a statement said […]The post Feds Delay Environmental Permit for Vineyard Wind Project appeared first on POWER Magazine.

FirstEnergy Solutions (FES) said it will close the Bruce Mansfield power plant in Pennsylvania in November, two years ahead of the previously scheduled closure for the facility’s remaining coal-fired unit. FES in a statement August 9 cited a “lack of economic viability in current market conditions” for the decision to shutter the 830-MW Unit 3, […]The post FES Will Close Mansfield Coal Plant Early appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The Department of Energy (DOE) officially launched development of its Versatile Test Reactor (VTR), a fast reactor that will foster experiments with much higher neutron energy and flux compared to the nation’s existing 35 research reactors to develop advanced nuclear fuel for future nuclear power plants in the U.S. The facility, it says, is necessary […]The post DOE Speeds Up Development of Experimental Fast Reactor, Sustain Flagging U.S. Nuclear Sector appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Today’s heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) are suffering reliability problems, mainly because they’re being operated in the cycling mode instead of the baseload mode for which they were designed. The good news is HRSG suppliers are adapting to the market demands and are designing the next generation of HRSGs to have cycling-friendly—also called fast-start—features. One […]The post Next-Generation HRSGs Start Fast and Reduce Emissions appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Renewable energy and battery storage are hot topics in the U.S. today. Lawmakers throughout the country debated various new energy policies during the 2019 legislative session. Nevada is among the states leading the way forward. Several new laws were passed in the state that will affect power companies and consumers for years to come. Curt […]The post How Nevada Is Leading the Renewable Energy and Battery Storage Charge [PODCAST] appeared first on POWER Magazine.

California utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) has asked the judge overseeing its bankruptcy case to support restructured deals with some of the utility’s power suppliers in an effort to reduce the price PG&E pays for those companies’ electricity. The fate of $42 billion worth of long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) is a key component […]The post PG&E Asks Bankruptcy Judge to Back Restructured Power Deals appeared first on POWER Magazine.

German utility RWE on August 1 announced it will close its last coal-fired power plant in the UK. The closure of the Aberthaw B power station in south Wales, scheduled by the end of March 2020, means just four coal plants will be operating in the UK. The plant originally was scheduled to be shuttered […]The post RWE Will Close Wales Plant, Leaving UK With Four Operating Coal Units appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Discussions about fossil-fueled power capacity are typically centered on coal and natural gas. The former is seeing a marked decline amid climate concerns, and the latter is seeing unprecedented growth, owing to relatively low prices. Seemingly forgotten, but still a major source of power, are plants fired with petroleum liquids. In 2017, according to the […]The post THE BIG PICTURE: A Spotlight on Oil-Fired Power appeared first on POWER Magazine.

VW Chooses MHPS to Modernize Cogen Plant. Volkswagen AG (VW) in early July said it chose Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Europe (MHPS Europe) to build a gas-and-steam power plant in Wolfsburg, as part of theThe post POWER Digest [August 2019] appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Economic pressures coupled with new and proposed regulations to reduce air emissions and regulate cooling water use and the management and disposal of coal combustion residuals (CCRs) continue to drive theThe post The Power of a ‘Green’ Decommissioning, Remediation, and Redevelopment Plan appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE), known for its wind turbines used in both large onshore and offshore projects, in June began operation of an electric thermal energy storage (ETES) system in GermanyThe post Volcanic Rock Offers New Take on Energy Storage appeared first on POWER Magazine.

An innovative nuclear wastewater treatment approach that could provide a cost-effective alternative to fixed-column ion-exchange plants is poised to enter the nuclear market. Atkins, a company thatThe post Novel Nuclear Wastewater Treatment Ready for Market appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The world’s nuclear sector is struggling to stay economically afloat amid a deluge of renewables and natural gas power, and reinvigorating it will require operational flexibility from new or existingThe post How Nuclear Hybrids Could Redefine the Industry’s Future appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The numbers tell the story of how the addition of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology helped an iconic New Mexico coal-fired plant reduce its emissions, keeping the plant in operation and continuingThe post SCR Project Upgrades Two Units at Four Corners appeared first on POWER Magazine.

I was recently reviewing a report issued last year by BMI Research, a Fitch Group company. The Megatrends 2050 Special Report , as it is called, suggests there are three main trends that will transform theThe post Electric Power Trends and Opportunities appeared first on POWER Magazine.

An arc flash is the explosive energy released when an electrical fault causes an arc. This rapid release of energy causes excessive temperatures in addition to air and metal in the path of the arc expandingThe post Applying IEEE 1584 in Power Generation Facilities appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A new report released July 31 details continued growth in global energy storage, driven by lower costs for lithium-ion batteries. Research company BloombergNEF (BNEF) in its latest forecast published Wednesday said energy storage installations worldwide will grow across the next two decades, from the 9 GW/17 GWh of capacity deployed as of last year, to […]The post Investments in Energy Storage Grow as Battery Costs Fall appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A team that reviewed Southern Nuclear Company’s (SNC’s) April 2019 Vogtle Units 3 and 4 Re-baseline of Forecast Schedule and Cost said it believes the working schedule predicated on commercial operation dates of May 23, 2021, and May 23, 2022, for the respective units, is unachievable. Furthermore, the reviewers said the regulatory-approved schedule from the […]The post Vogtle Nuclear Expansion Unlikely to Meet Aggressive Schedule Deadline appeared first on POWER Magazine.

On July 29, 1949, at 2:15 p.m., General Electric’s (GE’s) first gas turbine at the Belle Isle Station in Oklahoma City began delivering power to Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co.’s distribution system. The 3.5-MW GE Frame 3 machine reportedly had an efficiency of about 17%. Since the Belle Isle machine (Figure 1) started up seventy […]The post The POWER Interview: What Drove the Gas Turbine Technology Leap at GE Over the Past 70 Years appeared first on POWER Magazine.

NuScale Power, Rolls-Royce, and China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC)—three companies working on different small modular reactor (SMR) technology—recently announced positive developments for their respective designs. NRC Makes Progress on NuScale Design Review Portland, Oregon-based NuScale said on July 22 that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) completed the second and third phases of its SMR […]The post Positive Developments for Small Modular Reactors appeared first on POWER Magazine.

BHP and Mitsubishi Development Pty (MDP) in late June signed a memorandum of understanding for joint research, development, and deployment of greenhouse gas emissions reduction technologies in several countries, including projects with battery storage, solar, and carbon capture and storage (CCS). The agreement, signed in Tokyo, Japan, on June 20, also calls for research into […]The post BHP, Mitsubishi Partner on Emissions Reduction Technologies appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Nuclear power advocates suggest there are many benefits associated with nuclear energy. They point to high-paying jobs; billions of dollars in economic activity for plant-hosting communities; and secure, reliable, baseload electricity. But the most-important benefit of nuclear power may be that it emits no greenhouse gases, and therefore does not contribute to climate change. According […]The post Worried About Climate Change? Save Nuclear Plants [PODCAST] appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) on July 24 said it will decommission its Fukushima Daini nuclear station. The plant is located just south of the larger Fukushima Daiichi plant, site of a meltdown in March 2011 after an earthquake and tsunami heavily damaged the Daiichi facility. The four reactors at Daini automatically shut down after […]The post TEPCO Says It Will Decommission Second Fukushima Nuclear Plant appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Venture capital investments in battery storage companies and projects rose significantly year-over-year through the first six months of 2019, according to a report from Mercom Capital Group. That level of activity is consistent with the growth in energy storage noted by speakers on July 24 at the Storage Week Plus conference in San Francisco, California. […]The post Investments in Storage Grow as Project Costs Come Down appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Ohio’s Gov. Mike DeWine (R) on July 23 quickly signed a controversial nuclear subsidy bill that narrowly passed the state’s House of Representatives on Tuesday, making Ohio the fifth state in the nation to prop up nuclear power. Lawmakers passed H.B. 6 with a 51–38 vote Tuesday. The bill passed the state Senate on July […]The post Ohio Enacts Controversial Bill to Subsidize Nuclear, Coal, and Slash Renewable Standard appeared first on POWER Magazine.

GE Renewable Energy’s mammoth offshore wind 12-MW Haliade-X turbine is on track for an accelerated commercial launch in 2021, the company said as it unveiled the turbine’s first manufactured components on July 22. Haliade-X features a 220-meter (m) rotor and a 107-m blade designed by GE subsidiary LM Wind Power. The turbine design also includes […]The post GE Is Speeding Massive Offshore Wind Turbine to Market appeared first on POWER Magazine.

JEA, the electric utility in Jacksonville, Florida, has been decommissioning the St. Johns River Power Park over the past year. A third implosion as part of the decommissioning occurred July 19, as a 640-foot-tall stack and two steam generating boilers were demolished. Friday’s work followed similar implosions in June 2018, when the plant’s two, 464-foot-tall […]The post Watch Stack Come Down at Florida Power Plant appeared first on POWER Magazine.

New York on July 18 enacted the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), law that requires the state to produce 100% of its power from renewables and nuclear by 2040. The legislation includes agreements to build two offshore wind projects worth a combined 1.7 GW by 2025, the single largest renewable energy procurement in […]The post New York Enacts 100% Clean Energy Law, Secures 1.7 GW of Offshore Wind appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A federal judge in Ohio on July 18 approved American Electric Power’s (AEP’s) plan to close Unit 1 of its two-unit, 2,600-MW coal-fired Rockport Plant in Indiana. The modified consent decree approved by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio on Thursday is the latest chapter in a long-running dispute among AEP, […]The post AEP Will Close 1,300-MW Indiana Coal Unit appeared first on POWER Magazine.