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Bipartisan Legislation Introduced to Boost Advanced Nuclear, Preserve Existing Nuclear

November 23, 2020

The post Bipartisan Legislation Introduced to Boost Advanced Nuclear, Preserve Existing Nuclear appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Legislation introduced on Nov. 17 by a bipartisan group of senators on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) will seek to strengthen the nuclear fuel supply chain, help incentivize commercial deployment of new reactor designs, and create a credit program to preserve existing nuclear reactors at risk of premature shutdown.

The American Nuclear Infrastructure Act (ANIA) of 2020, introduced by U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyoming), EPW chairman, and Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), and Cory Booker (D-New Jersey), follows the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act (NEIMA), which President Trump signed into law in January 2019.

NEIMA, sponsored by the same senators, requires the Nuclear Regulatory (NRC) to develop a rule to license advanced reactors, as well as greater clarity into the process by which the commission develops its budget and recovers its costs through fees.…

Organic Technology New Paradigm for Power

November 19, 2020

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A Florida-based company that touts what it calls a scalable organic energy-based power technology has launched operations in North America, and said it is making its technology available across several markets including for transportation and commercial buildings.

GO-OPV, LLC on Nov. 17 announced its ORENgE organic technology will be used in a 120,000-square-foot commercial property in New York, where ORENgE panel window installation will provide the property’s power over ethernet, along with meeting the UL 924 lighting standard for emergency lighting and power equipment. The company on Tuesday said it also is accelerating a zero-carbon program for large trucks that will provide vehicles with an advanced low-light power technology.

The technology is part of a growing segment of power generation that includes building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV), where photovoltaic modules are integrated into a building. The ORENgE technology, in development since 2012, uses a building’s windows as a power generation source.…

Solar Farms Would Replace New Mexico Coal-Fired Plants

November 17, 2020

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A U.S. subsidiary of one of France’s largest providers of solar power has given New Mexico officials more detailed information about the company’s plans for developing a series of solar projects. The installations would help offset the loss of generation from retiring coal-fired power plants in the state, including the San Juan Generating Station (SJGS) near Farmington.

The 847-MW coal-fired SJGS is scheduled to close in June 2022. Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) earlier this year unveiled a plan using solar-plus-storage to replace the plant’s electricity output. The city of Farmington, meanwhile, has been working with Enchant Energy—a New Mexico company involved in carbon capture and sequestration—on a plan to retrofit the SJGS with carbon-capture technology in order to keep the facility operating. According to Enchant, an ownership agreement between the owners of the SJGS allows the city to acquire the power plant and transfer operations to Enchant.…

How to Plan a Successful Energy Construction Project

November 13, 2020

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These Ten Steps May Help Power Companies Avoid Headaches, Delays, Higher Costs, and Legal Complications

Jacqueline Greenberg Vogt, Esq. and Robert C. Epstein, Esq.

The International Energy Agency projects the rapid growth of renewables, with solar at the center of this new constellation of electricity generation technologies. Hydropower remains the largest renewable source of electricity, but solar is the main driver of growth as it sets new records for deployment each year after 2022, followed by onshore and offshore wind.

Construction projects in the U.S. and throughout the world will be necessary as the pace of change in the electricity sector puts an additional premium on robust grids and other sources of flexibility. Storage plays an increasingly vital role in ensuring the flexible operation of power systems, with India becoming the largest market for utility-scale battery storage, and new construction projects are necessary to support that growth.…

IEA: Renewables Will Lead Global Generation in 2025

November 11, 2020

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The world’s power generation is about to become even more green, according to a new publication from the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The group on Nov. 10 published its “Renewables 2020″ report, and highlighted how generation capacity from both wind and solar will double across the next five years and surpass global generation from both coal and natural gas. The IEA said renewable energy this year is growing at its fastest annual pace in the past six years, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. The agency said the pandemic has in fact hastened the closure of older thermal power generation infrastructure; as an example, American Electric Power this week announced it would shut down nearly half its entire fleet of U.S. coal-fired power plants.

The IEA in the report said “the COVID-19 crisis is hurting—but not halting—global renewable energy growth,” noting that “renewable markets, especially electricity-generating technologies, have already shown their resilience to the crisis.”…

The POWER Interview: Financial Benefits of Energy Storage

November 5, 2020

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The post The POWER Interview: Financial Benefits of Energy Storage appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Speakers at POWER’s recent Distributed Energy Experience were unanimous in their agreement that energy storage is a game-changing technology for the power generation sector. Storage provides for more reliability and resilience, and already is proving its importance to supporting the growth of solar and wind power.

Utilities are incorporating storage into their generation portfolios. It is often featured as part of microgrid configurations, and the business community has discovered the cost-effectiveness of storage in commercial and industrial distributed generation systems.

Abbot Moffat, Director of Business Development / West for Rubicon Professional Services, provided POWER with his insight into energy storage. Rubicon is a team of experienced design and construction experts that works on projects for several industries, including alternative energy, data centers, health care, telecommunications, and power plants.

POWER: What are the financial benefits for a utility to incorporate energy storage into its project portfolio?…