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Evergy to Build Solar Array at Kansas City Coal Power Plant Site

January 9, 2022

Evergy, a Kansas City, Missouri–headquartered energy provider serving about 1.6 million customers in Kansas and Missouri, announced plans on Jan. 5 to build a 10-MW solar array at the company’s Hawthorn power plant.

“Our Hawthorn power plant is a prime location to showcase Kansas City’s commitment to renewable energy and our city’s forward-thinking progress,” said Chuck Caisley, Evergy senior vice president and chief customer officer. “Bringing this renewable energy to Hawthorn will limit the expense by using infrastructure already in place.”

The Hawthorn Generating Station is located in northeast Kansas City, Missouri, and includes a 564-MW coal-fired unit known as Unit 5 and a 225-MW natural gas-fired combined cycle unit known as Unit 6&9. Hawthorn 5 was built in 1969, but after an explosion in February 1999 destroyed the power plant boiler, the unit was substantially rebuilt and returned to service in 2001.

Evergy plans to build the solar array on 67 acres to the northwest of the plant. The site is expected to include more than 22,000 solar panels and be operational in fall 2022.…

NRC Dismisses Application for Oklo Advanced Nuclear Reactor

January 7, 2022

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The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said it has dismissed a license application for one of the first advanced nuclear reactor designs to be considered by the agency.

The NRC on Jan. 6 said it could not make a judgment on the merits of the design of Oklo Inc.’s 1.5-MW advanced fission power system, known as Aurora. The agency in a letter to Oklo about its decision said it needed more information about the technology, though the NRC’s move to dismiss the application without prejudice means Oklo could resubmit an application for the system in the future.

Want to learn more? Go here to read a feature about new advancements in nuclear power technology in POWER’s January 2022 issue.

Oklo, a Silicon Valley company based in Sunnyvale, California, said it expects to respond to the NRC’s move by the end of today. The NRC in a statement Thursday said, “As the application lacks information on key topics, the NRC’s action makes no safety findings regarding the Aurora design.…

Optimism Is Warranted in the Power Industry in 2022 and Beyond

January 4, 2022

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While some sectors of the power industry are struggling to stay relevant, there are many more segments that are thriving. As new technologies are developed and perfected, there is more reason than ever for people in the power industry to be optimistic about the future.

Opportunities are everywhere in the power industry these days. Not only are wind and solar energy seeing explosive growth, but also several other technologies are showing real signs of promise. Battery energy storage systems and microgrids have become mainstream grid components. Advanced nuclear power designs and hydrogen-based energy schemes have progressed beyond concepts and into real brick-and-mortar projects. The worldwide focus on climate change has developers of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies licking their chops, with serious deployment of CCS systems almost assured if the world is to meet goals aligned with the Paris Agreement.

The movement to electrify everything also provides opportunity for power companies having the proper vision to capitalize on the trend.…

Three Nuclear Plants Close in Germany, Final Three to Be Retired in 2022

December 31, 2021

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The end of the year will bring the end of power production for three of Germany’s final six operating nuclear power plants. The 1,410-MW Brokdorf unit in Schleswig-Holstein, the 1,360-MW Grohnde unit in Lower Saxony, and the 1,288-MW Gundremmingen C unit in Bavaria will all be permanently taken off the gird on Dec. 31. That will leave three nuclear reactors in operation in Germany—the 1,335-MW Emsland unit in Lower Saxony, the 1,410-MW Isar 2 unit in Bavaria, and the 1,310-MW Neckarwestheim 2 unit in Baden-Württemberg. All three of the remaining units are slated to close by the end of 2022.

The nuclear phaseout in Germany has been planned for more than a decade. In May 2011, Germany’s then-Chancellor Angela Merkel officially endorsed the idea. Merkel had been a nuclear power supporter and actually overturned a phaseout policy enacted by a previous administration, but after the Fukushima disaster, her position changed. The decision to phaseout nuclear kicked the country’s Energiewende (or energy transition) into high gear.…

What History Tells Us About the Future of Cyber Vulnerabilities in the Power Industry

December 27, 2021

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The power and energy sector is one of the most critical areas of our country’s infrastructure, making it a prime target for cybercriminals increasingly looking for ways to infiltrate and disrupt the sector and ultimately the national grid. In fact, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report in early 2021 that found the grid, and subsequently its distribution systems that carry electricity from transmission systems to end-users, to be growing targets for large-scale, strategic state-sponsored cyber war operations.

This heightened interest and motivation can be attributed to hackers looking for larger ransomware payouts as well as nation states who consider the sector key to crippling the U.S. economy. High-profile attacks like the Colonial Pipeline have given threat actors more motivation to go after critical infrastructure. These groups continue to mature and adopt sophisticated tactics, techniques, and procedures, while industry leaders look to safeguard their critical systems and essential services.

If recent history is any indication of what we can expect in 2022 and beyond, the power and energy sector must prepare for the worst and prioritize their industrial cybersecurity programs accordingly.…

The Case for Lightweight Flame-Resistant Clothing

December 25, 2021

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About six years ago, I was excited and eager to have regular opportunities to get out from behind my computer-aided design (CAD) workstation and visit our utility’s substations, transmission line right of ways (ROWs), and telecom sites throughout our service area in Texas. Most of us engineers and technicians looked forward to these inspections as a chance to escape the confines of our cubicles.

However, for many, the thought of putting on the hot, heavy, and uncomfortable lab coats we were using at the time was extremely unpopular, especially in the Texas heat. It didn’t take long for me to see their point. One engineer who was close to retirement told me, “I don’t even go out in the field anymore, because I’m afraid of having a heat stroke. At my age, it’s a health hazard.” Even though field verification is a necessary part of design-build companies’ best practices, many employees may still be reluctant to wear flame-resistant (FR) clothing to complete the task.…