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Final Interview Questions and Answers To Close The Deal

September 5, 2023

Job interviewing often feels like a marathon. You need to go demonstrate the same level of enthusiasm, commitment, and expertise across several interview rounds. A final interview is what stands between you and the finishing line — the coveted job offer.

What To Expect In A Third Interview Round?

Usually, you can expect several people present at the final interview — the HR person, your direct manager, and the company CEO (or another senior staff member). Though other combinations are possible of course. At this point, most have already reached some conclusions about you. Now they want to determine your cultural fit and/or compare you against another front-runner. So be ready to razzle-dazzle the panel with your personality and professionalism.

Is A Final Interview Just A Formality?

No, in most cases, a final interview isn’t a formality, but rather the last “filter” most employers use to decide on the top contender. Most of the time, at least two candidates make it to the final interview round.…

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.…

More Than 20 Coal-Fired Plants Will Close in Wake of Wastewater Rule

November 29, 2021

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A new wastewater rule authorized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) earlier this year is leading several coal-fired plants to announce closure plans, according to an analysis of state regulatory filings by the Sierra Club.

The group said at least 26 plants in 14 states have said they will stop burning coal, with 21 facilities closing and another five switching to natural gas-fired generation, according to a report published Nov. 22 by the Associated Press. The EPA has said it expects the rule would impact about 75 coal-fired plants across the country.

The EPA in July announced it would reinstate Obama-era regulations on wastewater that were rolled back by the Trump administration. The new wastewater rule requires power plants to clean coal ash and toxic heavy metals such as mercury, arsenic, and selenium from plant wastewater before it is discharged into streams and rivers.

Coal-fired power plants had an October deadline to tell their state regulators how they planned to comply with the rule.…

Southern Will Close More than Half of Coal Fleet

November 9, 2021

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Southern Company, the third-largest power utility in the U.S., said it will close more than half its coal-fired power generation fleet over the next few years as the group moves toward a goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Southern on Nov. 5 said the closures include units at the two largest U.S. coal plants, along with the previously announced retirement of Plant Daniel in Mississippi. Georgia Power, a Southern subsidiary, expects to retire about 3 GW of coal-fired generation in that state, including two of the four units at the 3,450-MW Plant Bowen and one at the 3,500-MW Plant Scherer, the nation’s largest coal plant.

The utility also said a closure would occur at the 1,840-MW Plant Wansley in Georgia.

Southern CEO Tom Fanning in a call Friday with Wall Street analysts said the latest cuts mean the company will have reduced its coal-fired generation capacity by 80% since 2007. Atlanta, Georgia-based Southern at one time operated 66 coal-fired generating units, with capacity of nearly 20,500 MW across the U.S.…

DTE Energy Will Close Belle River Coal Power Plant Two Years Early

October 15, 2021

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Detroit-based DTE Energy said it will cease all coal use at its Belle River Power Plant no later than December 2028, at least two years earlier than the facility’s previously scheduled 2030 end date.

The Belle River Power Plant comprises two electric generating units, each with a maximum gross design generating output of 697 MW. The 2,200-acre site on which it’s located is in China and East China Townships in St. Clair County, Michigan, and is shared with several other units including a few gas-fired peaking combustion turbines and the coal-fired St. Clair Power Plant. The Belle River units were brought online in 1984 and 1985, respectively.

DTE, which serves about 2.2 million electric customers in southeast Michigan, said retiring the facility by 2028 will enable the company to achieve its 50% carbon emissions reduction goal faster than planned and move the company closer to its ultimate goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions. DTE has already retired four of its coal-fired facilities—Marysville, Harbor Beach, Conners Creek, and River Rouge—and plans to retire its Trenton Channel and St.…

On Heels of $2.3B Financial Close, Vineyard Wind Joint Venture Partners Announce Restructuring

September 23, 2021

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The post On Heels of $ 2.3B Financial Close, Vineyard Wind Joint Venture Partners Announce Restructuring appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Partners developing the 800-MW Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind farm have announced they will swap assets jointly owned by their 50/50 Vineyard Wind joint venture to allow each party to focus on its separate expansion within the burgeoning U.S. offshore wind industry once the 800-MW Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind farm is operational.

The Vineyard Wind joint venture is equally held by Connecticut-based AVANGRID subsidiary Avangrid Renewables—a company whose majority (81.5%) shareholder is Spanish renewables giant Iberdrola—and Danish fund management company Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP). Restructuring will enable both companies “to leverage their strengths and expertise to continue to grow the U.S. offshore wind industry” and “better align project timelines with their separate strategic objectives,” the partners said on Sept. 21.

The development is noteworthy given that the partners recently raised $ 2.3 billion of senior debt to finance the construction of the Vineyard Wind 1 project.…