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IEA: Renewables Will Lead Global Generation in 2025

November 11, 2020

The post IEA: Renewables Will Lead Global Generation in 2025 appeared first on POWER Magazine.

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.”…

Flexible Small-Scale Generation Empowered by Once-Through Boiler Technology

September 15, 2020

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Distributed generation integrated with intermittent renewable generation responds to the growing need for highly flexible small-scale (less than 100 MW) power generation resources. The limiting factor facing plant designers is that the conventional heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) does not enable fast-acting power generation demanded by modern grid systems. John Cockerill Energy’s vertical once-through boilers fill this technology gap—combustion turbines are no longer constrained by the slow thermal performance of a HRSG when quick starts/stops, load following, or transient response to grid disruptions are routine. Also, the modular nature of the once-through boiler reduces installed cost compared to conventional field-erected HRSGs.

Cogeneration, combined cycle, and combined heat and power technologies are commonly used in flexible small-scale power installations of less than 100 MW. Developers of these facilities share the common design goal of maximizing plant operating reliability and efficiency while minimizing the lifecycle cost of plant ownership.…

Coal-Fired Generation Down 30% in U.S., 8% Worldwide

August 14, 2020

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Analysis from a global energy organization said power generation from coal-fired units fell 8.3% in the first half of 2020, with the world’s coal fleet running at less than half its capacity. The drop for U.S. coal generation was more steep, with the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reporting the output from the nation’s coal units was 30% lower this year compared to the first six months of 2019.

The Ember group, a UK-based think tank, said the global drop was in part due to significantly lower demand for power during the coronavirus pandemic, and coal’s share of generation also was eroded by increased production of electricity from renewables such as solar and wind. Investments in renewable energy continue to increase worldwide as wind and solar power have become competitive with fossil fuel-fired generation.

Ember’s global half-year electricity analysis, released August 13, comes at the same time as the EIA’s latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), published Tuesday.…

EIA: Renewables Will Account for Half of Global Power Generation by 2050

October 2, 2019

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The post EIA: Renewables Will Account for Half of Global Power Generation by 2050 appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Solar power is expected to take a larger share of global power generation across the next 30 years, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), as renewable energy continues to be adopted worldwide.

The EIA’s International Energy Outlook 2019 (IEO2019), released Oct. 2, shows 28% of the world’s power came from renewables in 2018, nearly all of that from wind, solar, and hydropower. The EIA forecasts that renewables will account for almost half—49%—of global electricity output by 2050, with solar generation showing the most growth, while hydro grows more slowly.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, International Energy Outlook 2019

Solar and other renewables’ growth is not limited to utilities or government efforts to expand the sector. Several companies are using renewables to power their commercial and industrial operations. Exxon Mobil, the oil giant which recently reported $ 20.8 billion in earnings in 2018, signed a 12-year deal with Danish energy company Ørsted late last year to purchase solar and wind power in West Texas.…

EIA: Gas, Renewables Outpacing Coal for Power Generation

May 11, 2019

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The percentage of coal-fired generation in the U.S. electricity mix will continue to decline, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said May 9, with gas-fired generation accounting for at least 40% of the nation’s power this summer and output from renewables continuing to rise.

EIA’s latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) said coal-fired units will produce only about 25% of the nation’s electricity this summer, as renewables including solar, wind, and hydropower take more market share. EIA said renewables will supply nearly a quarter of the power needed in Western states this summer.

The agency said nuclear power, which supplies about 19% of the nation’s electricity, will continue at that level at least through 2020. EIA forecasts that renewables will produce about 18% of U.S. power this year, rising to about 20% next year. The agency said it expects wind generation will surpass hydropower output this year for the first time, taking over the top spot for renewables.

The EIA report comes two weeks after the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) reported that data shows renewable energy—including hydro, biomass, wind, solar, and geothermal—in April for the first time generated more electricity in the U.S.…

Columbia Nuclear Plant Sets Another Generation Record, Credits Good Performance

January 10, 2019

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Operators of the Columbia Generating Station have set a new generation record at the nuclear plant 12 miles north of Richland, Wash., sending more than 9.7 million MWh to the Pacific Northwest power grid during 2018.

The single 1,207-MW single GE-built Mark-2 boiling water reactor that is owned and operated by Energy Northwest—which comprises 26 public power member utilities across Washington state—has set new generation records five out of the past seven years.

Because the plant consistently surpassed generation records set first in 2012 (9.3 TWh), then in 2014 (9.5 TWh), and again in 2016 (9.6 TWh), the plant was a POWER magazine Top Plant in 2017. The plant won the award also due in part to an operations overhaul that began in 2009, when Columbia suffered a series of scrams that landed it on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC’s) radar, and led it to vastly improve its performance.

A Remarkable Cost of Power

The company said in a Jan.…