POWER Magazine

NextEra Energy on May 21 said it would acquire several assets from Southern Co., including Southern’s ownership interest in two natural gas-fired power plants in Florida, in a deal valued at about $6.5 billion. Southern in a statement Monday said the sale would help the company reduce debt, which has dogged Southern as its subsidiary […]The post Cash-Starved Southern Sells Florida Assets to NextEra appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Wind power capacity in the U.S., whose explosive growth has tripled since 2008—even overtaking hydropower to become the nation’s largest source of renewable electricity—could face a period of stagnation once the production tax credit (PTC) is phased out in 2021. Analysts at WINDPOWER 2018 in Chicago last week called the period between 2021 and 2026 […]The post Wind Power Faces a Post-PTC ‘Valley of Death’ appeared first on POWER Magazine.

In early 1882, U.S. industry was still heavily dependent on the water wheel, and many housewives cooked on wood-burning stoves. Power was made where it was used because there was no effective means of transmitting energy long distances. But 1882 was a year of dramatic changes. The world was just beginning to grasp the implications of a new, incredibly versatile […]The post From the Pages of POWER Magazine: #TBT #ThrowbackThursdays appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Cybersecurity threats are outpacing the energy sector’s “best defenses,” and costs of preventing and responding to cyber incidents are straining company efforts to protect critical infrastructure, the Department of Energy (DOE) warned as it released a comprehensive five-year cybersecurity strategy for the industry. The Multiyear Plan for Energy Sector Cybersecurity, dated March 2018 but which […]The post DOE Lays Out How Power Sector Could Win the Cybersecurity Battle appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Finding the best place to sample heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) tubes isn’t as hard as finding a needle in a haystack (but it’s like that). Ask most HRSG users where they take their routine tube samples for monitoring under-deposit corrosion in the high-pressure evaporator, and they’ll tell you, “first row, because it’s the hottest […]The post The Best Place to Sample HRSG Tubes appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Drawing on decades of gas turbine experience, GE’s Power Services business announced on May 16 that it is expanding its cross-fleet service offerings to a broader portion of the F-class market, including Siemens’ SGT6-5000F and SGT-800 models, and Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems’ (MHPS’s) 501F technology. “GE is proven as one of the technology leaders and […]The post GE Sets Sights on MHPS and Siemens Customers appeared first on POWER Magazine.

GE will buy Alstom’s stakes in three energy joint ventures (JVs) the companies formed when GE acquired Alstom’s energy business nearly three years ago. Alstom and GE on May 4 signed an agreement that essentially sets out a plan for Alstom to exercise put options on JVs it formed with GE pertaining to their renewables […]The post GE Will Take on Alstom Stakes in Energy Joint Ventures for $3.2B appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Unit 4 of Japan’s Ohi nuclear power plant is online again, the eighth reactor in the country to resume service after the Fukushima disaster in 2011. Japan idled all 50 of its remaining nuclear units after the incident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, which occurred when a 9.0-magnitude earthquake in March 2011 caused a massive […]The post Eighth Reactor Restarts in Japan, Seven Years After Fukushima appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) says the financial struggles of U.S. nuclear power plants continue to increase, and it is likely more plants will be faced with early retirement. It’s another acknowledgement of the tough operating environment for nuclear facilities as gas-fired and renewable energy sources continue to grab more power generation […]The post Report Says More Nuclear Plants in Financial Trouble appeared first on POWER Magazine.

It’s been nearly 50 years since Alaska’s only nuclear power plant was in service. Nonetheless, the site has continued to be a hub of activity off and on over the years; the steam plant that was served by the nuclear reactor remains online, today powered by diesel. And since 2003, the facility has been home […]The post Alaska’s Only Nuclear Plant Will Be Decommissioned appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) wants to know whether small-scale, modular coal-fired power plants are feasible. The DOE this week put out a request for information on how to accomplish such projects, following on its announcement earlier this year that it wants to establish funding opportunities for new coal technologies in an effort to […]The post DOE Set to Support Small Modular Coal Units appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Florida regulators have given the green light to a pair of new natural gas-fired power plants that will add nearly 1,700 MW of generation capacity in the state, and a Florida-based energy project developer has announced a 1,000-MW gas-fired facility project in South Carolina. The Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) on May 8 gave approval […]The post New Gas-Fired Plants Planned in Florida, South Carolina appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA’s) latest report on the nation’s power generation inventory expects 32 GW of new capacity will enter commercial service this year, the most in at least at decade. And for the first time in five years, renewable energy sources will not make up the majority of that new generation. Nearly […]The post Gas-Fired Generation Will Top 2018 Capacity Additions appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Siemens, one of the world’s largest turbine manufacturers, said it plans to temporarily shut its Power & Gas (PG) division operations worldwide in an effort to cut costs. The Germany-based energy giant in a May 7 news release said, “The shutdowns are part of a comprehensive package of measures, which also includes issues such as […]The post Siemens Plans Temporary Shutdown of Power & Gas Division appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A report from Barclays Plc said Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) received more than half of all global orders for gas-fueled turbines in the first quarter of 2018, the company’s best-ever performance in a market that has seen traditional gas turbine manufacturers struggle in recent months. The market report from the London, UK-based multinational investment […]The post MHPS Tops GE, Siemens in Gas Turbine Market appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) over the past two weeks has made a string of funding announcements, including nearly a half-billion dollars of new investment in power-related initiatives. The funding backs advancements in cybersecurity, advanced nuclear, solar, bioenergy, fuel cells, geothermal, and energy storage. $25 Million for Cybersecurity.On April 16, the DOE’s Office of […]The post DOE Steps Up Investments into Electric Generation Technology Research appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Despite the recent retirement of “blackstart” units, grid operators have sufficient resources to quickly restore systems in the event of widespread outages, suggests a new report by staff at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC). The report—“FERC-NERC-Regional Entity Joint Review of Restoration and Recovery Plans”—released May […]The post Sufficient Blackstart Capability Exists on Grid, Say NERC, FERC appeared first on POWER Magazine.

All-Energy 2018 Glasgow, the UK’s largest renewable and low-carbon energy exhibition and conference, began on May 2 having broken a record even before the doors opened. For the first time in the show’s history, four government ministers were scheduled to speak with Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon MSP, delivering the keynote in the opening plenary […]The post Commitment to Cutting-Edge Renewable Energy Solutions on Display in Scotland appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued an official timeline for rulemaking that would potentially revise the Obama administration’s 2015 effluent limitations guidelines and standards (ELGs) for steam electric power plants. In its May 2-released Final 2016 Effluent Guidelines Program Plan, the EPA said it will potentially revise the stringent Best Available Technology (BAT) effluent […]The post EPA Sets Schedule for Potential ELG Rule Revision appeared first on POWER Magazine.

An electric cooperative that provides wholesale power and services to customers in 22 counties in western Kentucky has told state regulators it intends to end an operating agreement at a 312-MW coal-fired plant in Henderson, which could lead to the plant’s retirement. Big Rivers Electric on May 1 told the state Public Service Commission (PSC) […]The post Kentucky Coal Plant’s Future in Doubt appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Dominion Energy plans to build eight new natural gas-fired power plants and speed the pace of its renewable energy efforts, according to the utility’s integrated resource plan (IRP) filed with Virginia regulators on May 1. The company also said its future plans focus on regulations on carbon emissions in part because Virginia is considering joining the […]The post More Gas, Renewables in Dominion’s Future appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A three-year-long initiative spearheaded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in collaboration with industry has yielded a blueprint that establishes best operational and safety practices and recommended technologies for flying commercial drones beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS). As part of the FAA’s 2015-chartered Pathfinder Initiative, the agency partnered with three private companies to […]The post FAA Initiative Highlights Best Practices for Flying Drones BVLOS appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The operator of the nation’s largest electrical grid on April 30 reiterated its system will remain reliable even with the retirements of substantial generation resources. But PJM Interconnection, whose system covers customers in 13 states, said it will conduct a review of its operations over the next several months “to understand the fuel-supply risks in […]The post PJM Says Grid Reliable, but Will Analyze Resilience appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The “bomb cyclone,” a winter storm that descended on much of the eastern U.S. from December 27, 2017, to January 8, 2018, renewed the raging debate about resiliency and prompted flashbacks of the “polar vortex,” a similar deep freeze that transpired in January 2014 and was compounded by the loss of 82 GW nationwide for various reasons. […]The post THE BIG PICTURE: A Cold Comparison appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Just weeks after the 12th International Renewable Energy Storage Conference (IRES2018) concluded in Düsseldorf, Germany, newly announced figures from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) confirmed that battery storage technologies coupled with rapidly expanding renewables are blunting new fossil fuel investments. BNEF’s 2017 figures show that over $330 billion was invested in renewables with comparative costs […]The post Renewable Energy Storage Takes Off in Europe appeared first on POWER Magazine.

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 22 million people—including nearly all power plant workers—are exposed to potentially damaging noise at work each year in the U.S. HearingThe post Basics of Sound and Noise Propagation appeared first on POWER Magazine.

New low prices for offshore wind energy projects in Europe have excited policymakers up and down the East Coast about prospects in the U.S. and emboldened some to finally pull the trigger on long-mooted plansThe post Offshore Wind May Finally Be Here (Really) appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A continuous emissions monitoring system (CEMS) is required in the U.S. under Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations to continuously collect, record, and report emissions data. CEMS are used toThe post Equipment Showcase – Continuous Emissions Monitoring Systems appeared first on POWER Magazine.

As data volume, variety, and velocity continue to accelerate, power plant operators increasingly encounter situations where 2-D desktop data visualization is insufficient to convey context for advancedThe post Immersive Visual Environments, Advanced Analytics Drive Operational Optimization appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The more I review the Yucca Mountain political boondoggle, the more I am convinced the stalemate will have to be resolved through a grassroots public campaign. At the outset of the Yucca startup, theThe post The Nuclear Waste Impasse Can Only Be Resolved by the Public appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The traditional electricity grid is being transformed, as more businesses look to control their costs by producing their own power. A need for reliable backup power, the push for more resiliency in generationThe post Distributed Gas Generation: Big Power in Small(er) Packages appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A sharp surge in new, larger offshore wind installations in Europe throughout 2017 dramatically shows the viability of a technology that has truly come of age. As costs fall and generation capacity increasesThe post Offshore Wind Has Taken Off in Europe appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) on April 30 updated its summer 2018 planning reserve margin to 11% based on resource updates, but it warned that the regional grid serving most of Texas could still suffer rotating outages under extreme conditions. In its final Seasonal Assessment of Resource Adequacy (SARA) report for the upcoming […]The post ERCOT: Summer Rotating Outages in Texas Still a Possibility appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Despite pleas by environmental groups for more time to review recent dumps of groundwater monitoring data from power companies, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is forging ahead to finalize a proposed overhaul of the Obama administration’s 2015 final Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) rule. The EPA’s 45-day comment period for the agency’s March 1 proposed rule, […]The post EPA Rampaging on Coal Ash Rule Despite Groundwater Concerns appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Nevada law has included net metering provisions for more than 20 years. Net metering is an arrangement that allows energy generated by a customer’s leased or purchased solar system to offset monthly power bills. It also permits excess energy supplied to the grid to earn credits, which are then automatically applied to future billing periods […]The post Net Metering and Time-Variant Rates Drive Solar Power and Energy Storage Growth [PODCAST] appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The POWER Podcast Archive: Net Metering and Time-Variant Rates Drive Solar Power and Energy Storage Growth http://www.powermag.com/net-metering-and-time-variant-rates-drive-solar-power-and-energy-storage-growth-podcast/ Distributed Energy Systems Are Reliable Solutions http://www.powermag.com/distributed-energy-systems-are-reliable-solutions-podcast/ Power Industry Continues to Face Uncertainty and Change http://www.powermag.com/power-industry-continues-to-face-uncertainty-and-change/ Resource Diversification a Key for TVA http://www.powermag.com/resource-diversification-a-key-for-tva/ Watts Bar 2: The Long and Winding Road to Completion http://www.powermag.com/watts-bar-2-the-long-and-winding-road-to-completion-podcast/ Cogeneration Solution Serves Processing […]The post The POWER Podcast appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A joint venture of two Japanese energy companies reportedly plans to invest $935 million on U.S. power generation projects. Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) and Chubu Electric Power, through their JERA joint venture, would make the investment by 2030, according to Asian news reports. AsiaElec reported that JERA currently has about 3,000 MW of generation in […]The post Japanese JV Will Invest $935M in U.S. Power Projects appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Waypoint Leasing, a global firm that claims to be the world’s largest independent helicopter leasing company, has identified offshore wind farms as a growth opportunity for the helicopter market. Although still a small market, offshore wind power is expected to grow in coming years. According to WindEurope, a Brussels, Belgium-based wind industry advocacy group, a […]The post Helicopter Market Encouraged by Growth in Offshore Wind Farms appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The growth in power generation from renewable energy sources, along with the continued shift from coal-fired generation to natural gas, is expected to drive the global market for turbines over the next several years, according to a report released by international business analysts Research and Markets. The Dublin, Ireland-based company in an April 25 news […]The post Report: Technology, Renewables Will Grow Turbine Market appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is taking steps to more quickly enable flights of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) beyond visual line of the operator’s sight (BVLOS), though no changes are planned to a rule that governs visual line of sight in aircraft operations. The agency that is responsible for the safety of civil aviation under […]The post On the Horizon: Utility Drone Flights Beyond Visual Line of Sight appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Future regulatory actions issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will treat biomass from managed forests as carbon neutral when used for energy production at stationary sources, an agency policy statement declares. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, who revealed the policy statement on April 23 during a meeting with Georgia forestry leaders, also said the […]The post EPA Declares Forest Biomass Is ‘Carbon Neutral’ appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Lawmakers, industry, and government entities, including the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), this week released a string of measures responding to mounting cybersecurity attacks by state-sponsored actors. A Revised Cybersecurity Framework On April 16, the Commerce Department’s NIST, a federal standards laboratory, released an updated version of […]The post Alarming Increase in Cybersecurity Threats Prompts Spate of Government Action appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Russian state-sponsored cyber actors are exploiting routers and other network infrastructure devices worldwide to conduct man-in-the-middle attacks that specifically target critical infrastructure providers and other sectors, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the FBI, and the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) warned in a new joint technical alert. In the U.S. Computer Emergency […]The post Russian Cyber Actors Preying on Network Devices, Authorities Warn appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A report released this week by The Brattle Group says that if four nuclear power plants in Ohio and Pennsylvania are allowed to retire early it will cause “substantially higher emissions of CO2 and other pollutants” and that there will be “a significant increase in electricity prices” not only in the two states, but also […]The post Costs and Emissions Will Increase If Nuclear Plants Close appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The Colorado Springs City Council, which also serves as the board for community-owned Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU), approved the settlement of a lawsuit brought against the city’s downtown coal-fired Martin Drake Power Plant, an agreement that in part promises CSU will look at options for 100% of its power to come from renewable sources as […]The post Utility Reaches Settlement in Emissions Lawsuit appeared first on POWER Magazine.

More and more people are finding distributed energy solutions are the answer for their power resource challenges. Distributed energy comes in many forms. Renewables such as solar and wind are top-of-mind when most people think of distributed resources, but natural gas-fired generation is often a good fit too, because it adds reliability to the system […]The post Distributed Energy Systems Are Reliable Solutions [PODCAST] appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A study from an economic, financial, and strategy consulting group says the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a multi-state program designed to cap emissions from power plants in the northeastern U.S., has generated $4 billion in net economic activity even as it has increased electricity prices in the region. The report from the Analysis Group, […]The post Group Says RGGI Has Generated $4 Billion in Economic Activity appeared first on POWER Magazine.

New Jersey’s Assembly and Senate in separate actions on April 12 passed bills to ensure continued operation of PSEG’s Salem and Hope Creek nuclear power plants. Lawmakers also passed bills to modify the state’s renewable portfolio standards and for support of a pilot offshore wind farm. Legislation (S-2313/A-3724) directing the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) […]The post New Jersey Legislature Backs Nuclear Subsidies appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The nation’s paramount nuclear power trade group has launched a wide-ranging strategy to help generators stay profitable in tight markets, the head of the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) told Wall Street analysts on April 12. In an address broadcast on Facebook, Maria Korsnick, NEI president and CEO, said that nuclear plants that operate in competitive […]The post Under Competitive Pressure, Nuclear Industry Doing All It Can, NEI Head Says appeared first on POWER Magazine.