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Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) CEO Bill Johnson in an exclusive interview with POWER suggested that the power industry continues to face an uncertain future. Johnson said that during his 40-year career, he has seen more change in the last five years than in the previous 35 combined. Several indicators imply that will continue going forward.
According to Johnson, one thing driving change is declining demand for power, which has resulted from efficiency improvements, a shift toward a more-service-oriented economy, and lower population growth, among other things. Johnson said customers are interested in cleaner, more-flexible sources of power and information. The challenge for utilities is to figure out how to integrate new behind-the-meter resources after having focused for so long on big centralized power stations.
Other power industry changes include a shift away from coal-fired generation. Johnson said TVA generated about 60% of its energy from coal 10 years ago, but by the end of the decade that figure will be down to only 20%.…
Concentric Power, a California-based provider of high-efficiency energy modules for onsite refrigeration and electric power generation, recently launched a $ 100 million financing program for cogeneration and microgrid projects.
“We are excited to create a new path forward in energy infrastructure financing and development,” Brian Curtis, founder and CEO of Concentric Power, said in a press release. “The next 20 years will be transformative for how electric power is generated and consumed. Industrial and ag consumers see these shifts coming but would often rather invest capital in their core business rather than in plant utilities. Concentric’s technology strategy and finance program enable customers to utilize third-party financing to roll out sustainable infrastructure.”
Concentric has already developed two significant projects: Taylor Farms in Gonzales, California, and True Leaf Farms in San Juan Bautista, California. Both are large agricultural processing facilities that require several MW of power and refrigeration to operate.
Taylor Farms (Figure 1) installed solar panels and a wind turbine to supply some of its power demand, but it wanted a reliable backup to fill voids when the wind and solar couldn’t provide the processing plant’s needs.…
Cybersecurity threats have increased dramatically as sophisticated, nation-state developed hacking programs have been leaked to the general public. Now, common criminals have high-tech tools at their disposal with the capability to cause serious damage. As such, the power industry must take precautions and upgrade security to keep systems safe. While regulations provide a minimum security standard, companies that aren’t going above and beyond the government’s requirements are likely to be setting themselves up as “low-hanging fruit,” that is, easy targets for hackers.
In this episode of The POWER Podcast, Chris Grove, director of industrial security for Indegy, offers some tips for keeping bad actors out of power plants. Gaining visibility into systems is an important first step. Once companies understand what risks they’re exposed to, getting a broad-based team of both information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) experts involved to develop solutions to mitigate the risks is a logical subsequent step. Investing in good security can pay dividends in the end.…
Siemens claims to be paving the way for the next level of efficiency with the development of its HL-class gas turbine. In June 2017, the company announced it will validate the technology at Duke Energy’s Lincoln County site in North Carolina. Siemens is developing this class in an evolutionary development step derived from its proven SGT-8000H technology.
The advanced Siemens HL-class gas turbines combine a series of new but already tested technologies and design features with the best of past experience—resulting in a technology carrier to the next level of efficiency and performance. The HL-class is currently achieving greater than 63% efficiency with a mid-term goal to reach 65%.
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GE and Exelon announced a multi-year agreement to deploy GE’s portfolio of Predix software solutions across the energy company’s six electric utilities to further enhance reliability and efficient service to its more than 10 million customers. Exelon’s six utilities will use these advanced analytics to further strengthen transmission and delivery systems. POWER Executive Editor Aaron Larson interviewed Brian Hurst, vice president and Chief Analytics Officer for Exelon Utilities; Brian Hoff, head of the Exelon corporate innovation team; Lisa Howard, Exelon’s external communications director; and Ankush Agarwal, director of infrastructure analytics for Exelon Utilities on October 26 during the GE Minds + Machines Conference in San Francisco, California. The group discussed some of the innovative things Exelon is doing with the latest technology.
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