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.

In a bid to enhance the reactor oversight process (ROP), staff at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has recommended the commission change qualitative descriptions for some color labels that signify risk, scale back on the time and scope of some annual inspections at the nation’s nuclear power fleet, as well as increase intervals between inspections. […]The post NRC Staff Recommends Scaling Back Reactor Inspections appeared first on POWER Magazine.

According to the Energy Impact Center, a Washington, D.C.-based research institute focused on deep decarbonization, CO2 emissions “must go net-negative by 2040, globally across all energy sectors” to begin countering climate change. The only way it sees to accomplish this is to “produce energy inexpensive enough to make carbon negative fuels that compete with fossil […]The post Reversing Climate Change with Nuclear Power [PODCAST] appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) on July 16 threw its support behind Georgia Power’s plan to add 2,260 MW of new renewable power generation to the utility’s portfolio, on the same day the PSC signed off on the company’s effort to decommission its long-running coal-fired Plant Hammond. Georgia Power earlier this year submitted a […]The post Regulators Back Georgia Power Plan to Close Coal Units, Add Renewables appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Investments in clean energy projects have hummed along in the past few years, with the growth of renewables worldwide continuing to increase levels of solar, wind, and other resources in the global energy mix. Thomas Byrne has been in the middle of this energy transformation. Byrne, co-founder and CEO of CleanCapital and a graduate of […]The post The POWER Interview: CleanCapital Drives Investments in Clean Energy appeared first on POWER Magazine.

New York City-based LS Power on July 15 said it would end a project to expand its natural gas-fired Troy power plant in Ohio if state lawmakers pass legislation to subsidize the state’s two nuclear power plants. LS Power in a news release Monday said, “Handouts to nuclear plants jeopardize the economics of the other […]The post POWER Notebook: Ohio Gas Plant Project in Jeopardy if Nuclear Bill Passes appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A fully digital nuclear reactor instrumentation and control system (I&C)—the first of its kind in the U.S.—at a Purdue University research reactor in West Lafayette, Indiana, has been licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Upgrades to digitalize Purdue University Reactor Number 1 (PUR 1)—a pool-type12-kWt reactor (that runs at 1 kW) originally built in […]The post Fully Digital Nuclear I&C Upgrade Gets ‘Unprecedented’ NRC License appeared first on POWER Magazine.

In a recent interview, Raul Pereda, president and CEO of PW Power Systems (PWPS), talked to POWER about the company’s long legacy as a gas turbine manufacturer, advancements in technology it has achieved over the past 60 years, and new applications for its turbines within a transitioning energy system. No one can read a history […]The post The POWER Interview: New Directions for Aeroderivative Gas Turbines at PWPS appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Investments in renewable energy projects slowed in the first half of 2019, primarily due to a 39% year-over-year drop in China, the world’s largest renewables market, according to data published July 10 by BloombergNEF (BNEF). BNEF said investments in China dropped to $28.8 billion, the lowest figure for any six-month period since 2013. China is […]The post POWER Notebook: Investment in Renewables Down in 1H2019 appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and members of Congress are looking at legislation concerning research and regulation of energy storage. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who chairs the Energy and Natural Resources committee, on July 9 said there is bipartisan interest in combining a handful of bills on energy storage, dealing with research and development […]The post DOE, Lawmakers Looking at Energy Storage R&D, Funding appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is behind on its proposed revisions to the Obama administration’s effluent limitations guidelines (ELGs) for steam electric power plants. In an e-mail to POWER on July 9, the EPA confirmed that the agency was still “working expeditiously” to complete the proposed rule, and it has yet to submit it to […]The post EPA Delayed on Proposed ELG Revisions for Steam Power Plants appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The Czech government on July 8 gave preliminary approval for Elektrárna Dukovany II, a subsidiary of utility ČEZ, to build at least one new nuclear power unit in the country, along with as many as three more at existing nuclear power plants at Dukovany and Temelín. The country’s Ministry of Industry and Trade made the […]The post Czech Republic Plans to Expand Nuclear Power appeared first on POWER Magazine.

July marks two important milestones that set gas-fired generation on its course to becoming a dominant form of power generation: commercial operation of the world’s first industrial gas turbine in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, in 1939, and commercial operation of the first gas turbine in the U.S. used to generate electric power—a 3.5-MW General Electric (GE) unit […]The post A Brief History of GE Gas Turbines appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Adding carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) to two Xcel coal units in Colorado that are slated to be retired by 2025 would push up the cost of power if compared with replacement with wind/storage hybrids. But CCUS, which generates revenues, would still work out to be cheaper than other alternatives mandated under the company’s […]The post Coal Unit CCUS Retrofits More Economic Than Many Alternatives, NETL Study Suggests appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The price of lithium-ion batteries has plummeted over the past decade. Battery pack prices averaged $1,160 per kWh in 2010, according to BloombergNEF, but they dropped to $176 per kWh last year, and experts suggest they could be less than $100 by 2024. Tony Cooper, general manager of Green Cubes Technology’s Motive division, was a […]The post Lithium-Ion Batteries: Costs Down, Benefits Up [PODCAST] appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Faced with the challenge of making the right moves to accommodate a swiftly changing energy ecosystem, one question draws into sharp focus for generators and the entire power and utilities industry: What will their role become in the years ahead, considering evolving portfolio mixes and changing industry dynamics? Leaders know there’s a very real possibility […]The post How to Position Your Power Company for the Future appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The pairing of wind and solar is emerging as a smart strategy to implement renewable energy sources with better economic feasibility. The pairing of wind and solar power is an advantageous complement; the two benefit each other. The synergistic combination is an emerging trend in renewable energy and power generation as costs drop. The pairing […]The post A Fine Couple They Are (Wind and Solar Power) appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Argentina, the first Latin American country to adopt nuclear power when the Atucha I plant began operation in 1974, has plans to expand its nuclear generation, with Russia and China vying to implement theirThe post China, Russia Looking to Build Nuclear Plants in Argentina appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Japan’s government this June adopted a new energy white paper that suggests the country must rely on a larger share of nuclear and renewables to slash its carbon emissions and meet its target of a 26%The post Japan Will Explore New Avenues for Energy Self-Sufficiency appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Iraq’s $14 billion deal with Siemens to develop power generation projects in the country has grabbed most of the headlines this year, but the country continues to develop power projects with GE, and also inThe post Iraq Developing Solar to Complement GE, Siemens Projects appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Taishan-2 EPR Achieves Criticality. A second EPR unit in China’s Guangdong province attained a sustained chain reaction on May 28, marking another major milestone for Framatome, EDF, and China GeneralThe post POWER Digest [July 2019] appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The worldwide movement toward a clean energy future is barreling ahead. Most clean energy advocates seem to focus on wind and solar power as their resources of choice, and it shows, as the installed capacityThe post The Clean Energy Conundrum appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Ultrasonic nondestructive testing, also known as ultrasonic NDT or simply UT, is a method of characterizing the thickness or internal structure of a test piece using high-frequency sound waves. TheThe post Ultrasonic Testing for the Power Generation Industry appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Chile, a country that relied on coal for about two-fifths of its power generation in 2016, in June announced it would mothball eight coal plants, totaling 23 GW, of its existing 28-plant coal fleet over theThe post Chile Presents a Coal Exit Plan appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Coal power, which has seen a marked decline in the U.S., is necessary for reliability and energy affordability, and sustaining it could boost pollution technology exports and “improve lives while driving down emissions worldwide,” said Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler in a speech last week. Wheeler made the remarks at a 90-minute event […]The post Wheeler: Keeping U.S. Coal Sector Alive Will Benefit ‘International Environmental Protection’ appeared first on POWER Magazine.