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Coal Shipments to Power Sector at Lowest Level in 14 Years

May 16, 2021

The post Coal Shipments to Power Sector at Lowest Level in 14 Years appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Shipments of coal to U.S. power plants in 2020 fell 22% year-over-year, according to data released May 13 by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The agency said the U.S. power sector received 428 million short tons (MMst) of coal last year, the lowest amount since the EIA began publishing shipment data in 2007.

The EIA said the COVID-19 pandemic was partly to blame for the drop, as demand for electricity fell nationwide. The agency in April reported that U.S. energy consumption in 2020 fell 7% year-over-year, which it said “marked the largest annual decrease in U.S. energy consumption in both percentage and absolute terms in our consumption data series that dates back to 1949.”

Thursday’s report also pointed to the ongoing decline of U.S. coal-fired power generation; federal data shows about 9.5 GW of coal-fired generation was shuttered nationwide last year, the fourth-highest total since 2009.…

Offshore Milestone as Feds Back Vineyard Wind Project

May 12, 2021

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The post Offshore Milestone as Feds Back Vineyard Wind Project appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The first large-scale offshore wind farm in the U.S. has received the go-ahead from the federal government, with industry insiders saying the milestone decision is likely to spur more rapid development of the nation’s offshore wind projects.

The Vineyard Wind installation, an 800-MW project that will use GE’s Haliade-X turbines, on May 11 received the Record of Decision (ROD) from the U.S. Dept. of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). The ROD is the last major step in the federal review process for Vineyard Wind, a joint venture of Avangrid Renewables, a subsidiary of AVANGRID, and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP).

“Today’s Record of Decision is not about the start of a single project, but the launch of a new industry,” said Vineyard Wind CEO Lars T. Pedersen in a statement. “Receiving this final major federal approval means the jobs, economic benefits and clean energy revolution associated with the Vineyard Wind 1 project can finally come to fruition.”…

How Artificial Intelligence Is Improving the Energy Efficiency of Buildings

May 10, 2021

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The post How Artificial Intelligence Is Improving the Energy Efficiency of Buildings appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A lot of energy is consumed by buildings. In fact, the Alliance to Save Energy, a nonprofit energy efficiency advocacy group, says buildings account for about 40% of all U.S. energy consumption and a similar proportion of greenhouse gas emissions. Some estimates suggest about 45% of the energy used in commercial buildings is consumed by heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, of which, as much as 30% is often wasted.

Most power companies these days have energy efficiency programs that help customers identify waste and implement energy-saving measures, but there are also non-utility providers working on solutions. Montreal, Canada–based BrainBox AI is one of them. It’s using artificial intelligence (AI) to significantly reduce energy consumption in buildings.

“We’ve developed an autonomous artificial intelligence technology that applies to commercial buildings in order to render their heating and cooling needs, which is typically the single largest consumer of energy in a building, and to make those much more efficient and certainly much more flexible to outside demands and occupant demands,” Sam Ramadori, president of BrainBox AI, said as a guest on The POWER Podcast.…

TVA, Kairos Partner to Deploy Molten Salt Nuclear Reactor Demonstration

May 8, 2021

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In a notable, dedicated effort by a major U.S. utility to boost the development of an advanced reactor technology, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and Kairos Power, developer of a novel fluoride salt-cooled, high-temperature nuclear reactor, on May 6 said they will team to demonstrate Kairos’ Hermes test reactor at the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

As part of their agreement, TVA will provide engineering, operations, and licensing support to help California-based Kairos Power deploy its “low-power” demonstration reactor. According to Kairos, Hermes is a 50-MWth test reactor that will integrate the Kairos Power Fluoride Salt-Cooled High-Temperature Reactor (KP-FHR) as part of a cost- and risk-reduction–focused development pathway that ultimately envisions commercial deployment of a 140-MWe “KP-X” plant.

“Kairos Power’s singular objective for deploying the Hermes Reactor is to demonstrate the capability to deliver an advanced reactor at the costs necessary to make nuclear power the most affordable source of dispatchable electricity in the United States,” it said on Thursday.…

Rediscovering Fire: Advancements in Gas Turbine Combustion

May 4, 2021

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The post Rediscovering Fire: Advancements in Gas Turbine Combustion appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Gas power market drivers and a quest for relevance in future decarbonized systems are driving fundamental shifts in gas turbine combustion design approaches.

Combustion lies at the heart of gas turbine technology. It provides the core function of adding heat, through a controlled burn of large amounts of fuel and air, to a gas turbine’s conversion of chemical energy into mechanical energy and, for power generating turbines, electrical energy. In concept, a combustor essentially comprises a fuel injector and a wall to contain the flame. But far from simplistic, the process must achieve a delicate balance of equivalence ratio between the fuel and available oxygen; flame stability; and operational stability to support acceleration and operation of the gas turbine over the entire load of the machine.

Developers have attempted to refine this complex dance for decades, as John Gülen, a fellow at Bechtel Infrastructure & Power Corp. and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the author of several books profiling the evolution and status of gas turbine technology, told POWER.…