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The POWER Interview: ‘Dispatchable Power Through Commercial Fusion’

January 19, 2021

The post The POWER Interview: ‘Dispatchable Power Through Commercial Fusion’ appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The goal of economic power generation from fusion has been elusive, but that hasn’t deterred researchers from exploring ways to develop the technology in a way that would support commercial electricity production.

POWER magazine has covered the evolution of fusion research and development for many years, and nuclear experts now think we could be just years—not decades—away from commercial applications.

Michl Binderbauer, CEO of TAE Technologies, is among those working to commercialize fusion. His California-based company, founded in 1998, has explored many concepts related to fusion; some of the company’s technical writings are available here.

Binderbauer recently answered questions from POWER about his company’s work and the challenges of developing a power management strategy to make fusion energy a commercial reality.

POWER: Increased investment into the research and development of fusion energy is driving a more realistic view of the technology as a viable option to provide abundant, reliable electricity.…

NuScale SMR Chosen for UK Wind-Nuclear Hybrid

January 17, 2021

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The post NuScale SMR Chosen for UK Wind-Nuclear Hybrid appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A British company announced it is joining with U.S.-based NuScale Power to develop a hybrid project using wind energy and small modular reactor (SMR) technology to produce power and green hydrogen.

Shearwater Energy, a global energy services company, on Jan. 15 said it and NuScale have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to collaborate on an initial project, which could be sited at the now-decommissioned Wylfa nuclear power station on the island of Anglesey, off the northwestern coast of Wales, although no land agreements have been reached. Shearwater said the project could produce more than 3 million kilograms of green hydrogen annually for use in the UK’s transportation sector.

Shearwater on Friday said that under the MOU, the company and NuScale “will generally explore opportunities for the combined generation of nuclear power based on NuScale’s leading SMR technology, offshore wind energy and hydrogen production at sites in the UK.”…

GE Suing Siemens, Alleging ‘Stolen Trade Secrets’

January 15, 2021

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The post GE Suing Siemens, Alleging ‘Stolen Trade Secrets’ appeared first on POWER Magazine.

General Electric (GE) has filed a lawsuit accusing “willful and malicious misappropriation of GE’s trade secrets” by Siemens Energy, charging that a current Siemens employee “knowingly and surreptitiously” received GE intellectual property, which led to Siemens using the information to improve its own bids for lucrative contracts supplying gas turbines to utilities.

GE in the lawsuit filed Jan. 14 said the alleged stolen trade secrets resulted in GE losing a contract to provide gas turbine units and maintenance services for a project in Virginia, a deal potentially worth as much as $ 340 million. GE said the “trade secrets misappropriated by Siemens are relevant to at least eight other turbine contracts that Siemens unfairly won over GE’s competing bid” across a 16-month period. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, alleges Siemens accrued business gains of “billions of dollars of contracts” with the actions.…

First Turbine Module Delivered for Turkish Nuclear Plant

January 13, 2021

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The post First Turbine Module Delivered for Turkish Nuclear Plant appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Turkey’s first nuclear power plant reached a milestone with delivery of the first steam turbine module for the project, four months ahead of schedule.

GE Steam Power, which is supplying all the major equipment for the plant’s four turbine islands, on Jan. 12 announced it had delivered the module to Atomenergomash, an engineering company and the nuclear power division of Rosatom, Russia’s state-owned nuclear power company.

The Akkuyu nuclear power plant (NPP) is located in Büyükeceli, Mersin Province, in Turkey. The first unit of the $ 20 billion, 4.8-GW project is planned to come online in 2023. Akkuyu will feature four, 1.2-GW VVER (water-water energetic reactor) units from Rosatom; all four reactors are planned to enter service by year-end 2026.

Arabelle Steam Turbine

Each Arabelle steam turbine that will be used in the Akkuyu project includes three modules: the high pressure/intermediate pressure (HIP) module, and two low-pressure modules.…

Final DOE Advanced Reactor Demonstration Awards Announced

January 11, 2021

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The post Final DOE Advanced Reactor Demonstration Awards Announced appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Wrapping up an eventful year for advanced nuclear, the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Nuclear Energy announced $ 20 million in awards for the third of three pathways under its Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP).

The ARDP program, which the DOE officially launched on May 14, will leverage Congressionally appropriated funding to enable actual construction of advanced nuclear reactors over the near-term and mid-term under three pathways. Congress has appropriated $ 250 million for ARDP in Fiscal Year 2021; a total of $ 230 million was appropriated for Fiscal Year 2020 to initiate the program.

In October 2020, the DOE picked TerraPower and X-energy to each receive $ 80 million in initial federal funding to build their two distinct advanced nuclear reactors and begin operating them within seven years. As POWER has reported, both companies are looking at siting their advanced nuclear demonstrations in Washington state. …

The POWER Interview: Evaluating Energy Investments

January 9, 2021

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The post The POWER Interview: Evaluating Energy Investments appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Global upheaval in energy markets has been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, and by ever-changing political winds, with energy investors at times torn between finding the best returns while also considering the impact of climate change.

Many economies depend on fossil fuels, so moves away from coal-fired power and other forms of thermal generation can have large economic consequences. There also have been concerns about maintaining reliable—and resilient—supplies of electricity as baseload power sources are shuttered and retired. Governments setting carbon-neutral and other climate goals must consider the importance of providing reliable power to national, state and provincial, and local regions, while minimizing economic impacts.

Several analysts who have spoken to POWER in the past year have discussed the balancing act facing investors, including many of the world’s largest banks and financial institutions, when it comes to performing fiduciary duties for their clients while at the same time pursuing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategies.…