California utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) said it plans to invest $18 billion toward its wildfire prevention program through 2025 after sustaining major financial losses from fire-related claims over the past few years. PG&E filed for bankruptcy in 2019, and has paid billions of dollars in settlement awards tied to criminal and civil liabilities from wildfires linked to the utility’s electricity transmission infrastructure and […]
The POWER Interview: FREYR Leads Wave of New Battery Manufacturing
Growth in the energy storage market, including the transportation sector, has spurred a ramp-up in global battery manufacturing and investment in new technologies. Passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in the U.S. has brought a flurry of announcements from foreign companies eager to build manufacturing plants in America. FREYR, a Norway-based company, late last year announced it had purchased a site in Coweta County, […]
The Tremendous Potential—and Challenge—of Offshore Wind Energy
Wind turbines must move farther offshore to gain greater efficiency. But the challenges associated with doing so are significant. At the Dutch village of Den Oever, just north of Amsterdam, the A7 motorway extends onto the Afsluitdijk, a 32-kilometer dike that separates IJsselmeer Lake and the North Sea. Near the midway point, approaching the village of Breezanddijk, a veritable forest of near-shore wind turbines emerges […]
TVA, OPG, Synthos Team to Shape Standard Design for BWRX-300 Nuclear Reactors
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Ontario Power Generation (OPG), and Synthos Green Energy (SGE) will collaborate to shape a standard design for GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s (GEH’s) BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR) to speed up the technology’s regulatory acceptance and spur future deployments. The three companies, which have separately begun a regulatory process for potential BWRX-300 project deployments in Canada, Poland, and the U.S., on March […]
Last Energy Secures PPAs for 34 SMR Nuclear Power Plants in Poland and the UK
Last Energy, a U.S.-based micro modular nuclear technology firm and project developer, has secured power purchase agreements (PPAs) for 34 PWR-20 small modular reactor (SMR) units with four industrial partners in the UK and Poland. The deals, which represent a combined $18.9 in power sales, mark “the largest pipeline of new nuclear power plants under development in the world,” Last Energy said. The Washington D.C.-based […]
Japan’s JERA Buying Offshore Wind Developer in $1.7 Billion Deal
Japan’s largest power generation group is moving into renewable energy in a big way, agreeing to a deal to buy Belgium’s biggest player in offshore wind. JERA, a joint venture between Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO) and Chubu Electric Power, on March 22 said it has a definitive agreement with Belgium’s Virya Energy to acquire wind energy developer Parkwind for about $1.7 billion. The […]
New Coal-Fired Unit Operating at Zimbabwe’s Largest Thermal Power Plant
The first of two 300-MW units being built as part of the expansion of a coal-fired generating station in Zimbabwe has come online. The Zimbabwe Power Co. (ZPC) said the unit began sending electricity to the national grid late on March 20. ZPC in a statement said, “Power will be progressively fed into the grid until it reaches 300 MW.” The ZPC said it expects […]
Hot Functional Testing Begins on Unit 4 at Vogtle Nuclear Plant
Georgia Power announced that hot functional testing for Unit 4 at the Vogtle nuclear power plant has begun, as the utility moves closer to bringing both reactors of the two-unit expansion at the facility online. Hot functional testing marks the last series of major tests for Unit 4 prior to the initial loading of fuel for the reactor. Such testing supports verification for the safe […]
GE Will Supply Turbine and More for New Gas-Fired Plant in Greece
A new 840-MW natural gas-fired power plant in Greece will use equipment from General Electric (GE), with GE also providing services for the facility that is expected to come online in 2026. GE on March 20 announced the plant in Alexandroupolis will feature a 9HA.02 gas turbine, an STF-D650 steam turbine, and a W88 generator. Additional equipment includes a triple pressure with reheat heat recovery […]
El Salvador Sets Sights on Joining the ‘Nuclear Power Club’
El Salvador is taking steps to add nuclear power to the country’s energy mix, as the nation of about 6.5 million people looks to diversify its electric power generation fleet. In support of that effort, the government of El Salvador and the Thorium Energy Alliance, a Harvard, Illinois–based non-profit advocacy group that endorses thorium-fueled reactors, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to promote the “El […]