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The article announces the winners of the magazine's 2016 Projects of the Year (POTY) awards held at POWER-GEN International in Florida in December 2016 including the Brunswick County Power Station in Virginia, the Eight Flags Energy CHP Plant and the Village of Minster Energy Storage Project.

The article discusses the evolution of the renewable industry of the U.S. while exploring how renewables fit into conventional fossil-fired portfolios and how they affect business models and markets. Tim Light, senior vice president of commercial operations at energy company American Electric Power Co. Inc. (AEP), talks about the robust outlook for renewables throughout 2022. He also outlines several driving factors that inform a decision of the utility to procure renewables.

The article reports construction of a natural gas-fired combined-cycle unit along with the two coal-fired units at the Grand River Energy Center in Chouteau, Oklahoma by Grand River Dam Authority of Oklahoma. According to Charles Barney, Assistant General Manager of Fuel and Generation Projects at Grand River Dam Authority, the unit will be the most efficient facility in the Southwest Power Pool.

The article discusses a roundtable featuring Bob Coward, President-Elect of the American Nuclear Society, Mark Marano, President of Americas and Europe, Middle East and Africa Regions at Westinghouse Electric Co., and David Hughes, President of Projects & Construction at Day & Zimmermann, who talked about the future of nuclear energy in the U.S. and Europe. They discuss their commitment to reduce carbon emission to save the environment by increasing nuclear energy usage.

The article offers information on roundtable conducted on coal-fired power generation in the U.S. including topics like environmental regulations and emission of greenhouse gases; views of Dan Lee, Vice President (VP) of Fossil & Hydro Generation at American Electric Power (AEP) on lack of development in research and development (R&D) sector of coal-fired power generation; and views of Ken Buttery from GE Steam Power Systems on challenges of coal-fired power plants like demand for electricity.

The article discusses the value of the utility-scale energy storage in the current generation ecosystem. It highlights several sources of renewable energy such as wind power and solar power. It also stresses the cost-effectiveness of the energy storage solutions which help reduce the cost of electricity in the industrial facilities and houses.

The article examines how the Chivasso power plant in Italy is utilizing big data and analytics for greater reliability and profit. Topics discussed include the formative history of the energy facility and the deployment of an Asset Performance Management software developed by General Electric for managing the complex data produced during the plant's operation. The installation of sensors for measuring and communicating temperature, vibration, and movement is mentioned.

The article looks at the trends of modern wind turbines considering the development of taller towers and cutting-edge technologies in the U.S. Topics discussed include the establishment of tallest wind turbines such as the proposed tower by MidAmerican Energy in Iowa, the development and improvement of the components of blades, and the aspects of wind farming as complex operation which adopt inclusive and syncretic approach to technology.

The article focuses on the hybridization of power plants. Topics discussed include the shift from coal-fired generation to renewable energy sources, the economic pressures that impede the adoption of emerging technologies, and the cooperative arrangement that govern hybrid facilities wherein several energy sources are harnessed to produce separate but parallel steam paths. Hybridization examples from the Next Generation Solar Energy Center and the Stillwater Hybrid Power Plant are mentioned.

The article discusses the report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) which shows that the amount of power produced with natural gas is expected to surpass generation fueled with coal. It estimates that the natural gas will fuel less than half of the power generation in the U.S. by 2016. According to EIA that power sector is the largest consumer of natural gas in the U.S.

The article focuses on the coal-fired Intermountain Power Project which is located in Delta, Utah which provide electricity to Los Angeles and Southern California. It mentions that the plant was operated by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and considered as the largest coal-fired power plant in the U.S.

The article presents a roundtable discussion on the renewable energy industry in the U.S. Topics discussed include the status of the country's renewable industry such as the wind, solar, and geothermal industries in 2016, the impact of environmental regulations such as the Clean Power Plan (CPP) in the industry, and the impact of the production tax credit in the industry.

The article discusses the POWER-GEN International 2015 conference that was held in Las Vegas, Nevada. Topics discussed include the use of renewable resources to meet the electricity demand in California, the supplementation of thermal power generation to renewable resources, and the importance of reducing water usage due to the growing demand for drinking water.

The article offers information on the U.S. biomass generation industry. Topics include the informality of the biomass generation market due to the materials used by the industry that are not considered as commodities, challenges to the biomass market including the variability of terrain across the country and its dependence on geography, and technologies used for biomass generation including bubbling fluidized bed technology and stoker technology.

The article focuses on the importance of coatings to protect gas turbines from extreme heat. Ramesh Subramanian of Siemens Energy advises power plants to always reduce the thermal conductivity of coating materials. Another challenge facing plants is that different parts of gas turbines require different coating materials that need different application processes. Plants need to ensure that the coating system they select can expand and contract to avoid it from cracking or falling off.

The article reports that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is prepared to make its final ruling on the Clean Power Plan (CPP) of the administration of President Barack Obama. The CPP aims at mitigating the threat posed by carbon dioxide which is the main reason for global warming. According to the EPA, a six percent improvement in heat rate can be achieved on average for existing coal plants.

The article presents an interview with U.S. coal-fired power industry executives David Brozek, Rick Halil, and Jacob Williams. Brozek says that coal continues to be a profitable power generation source for owners. According to Halil, the Clean Power Plan will result in an increase in the levels of renewables and natural gas. Williams says that coal plants are affected by various regulations.

The article focuses on energy storage in an era of renewable resources and explores various energy storage technologies. The topics discussed include the projected growth in worldwide storage capacity and revenue from utility-scale storage batteries from 2014 to 2023, the five main categories of energy storage technologies as of April 2015 that include chemical batteries, compressed air, and pumped storage hydro, and the drivers of and barriers to the growth of the energy storage industry.

The article elaborates on the Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act (CWA) and informs that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized standards for the section in May 2014. Topics include the section mandating measures that would protect fish and other aquatic wildlife impacted by cooling water intake structures (CWIS). Also mentioned are the impact of the EPA's final rule on the U.S. power generation industry as well as fish-friendly water screens such as Hydrolox screens.

The article explains the impact of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) final ruling for the regulation of coal combustion residuals (CCR), or coal ash rule, on coal ash handlers like United Conveyor, Clyde Bergemann and Beumer. It offers a background on the largest fly ash disaster in the U.S. at the Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) Kingston Fossil Plant in 2008. Topics include structural integrity, groundwater monitoring, operating criteria and the future of coal ash handling.

The article discusses the highlights of a roundtable among renewable energy executives in 2015. These include David Blittersdorf, Karl Gawell, Tom Kimbis, Derek Stilwell and Emily Williams. Topics covered include the policies that may affect the renewable energy industry, the potential problems in integrating renewables into existing utilities and the outlook for the market for renewable energy.

The article discusses the risks and benefits from environmental regulations affecting the power generation industry of the U.S. Topics covered include the aim to cut greenhouse gas emissions as well as the launch of clean air policies. Also mentioned is the aim of financiers and capitals to enhance their investments in energy efficient efforts.

The article talks about an energy mandate adapted by California in October 2013 that requires the state's investor-owned electric utilities to buy 1.3. gigawatt of energy storage capacity by the end of 2020. Topics include the role played by the mandate in accelerating the development of battery energy storage technologies, the emergence of lithium ion batteries as the breakout technology in the sector, and companies positioned to take advantage of the emerging market including ABB.

The article focuses on the Columbia Energy Center (CEC) coal-fired power plant located in Pardeeville, Wisconsin. Topics discussed include the low-British thermal unit (BTU) Powder River Basin (PR) coal, the focus of the CEC on emissions standards and environmental regulations, and its air quality control system (AQCS) retrofit project.

The article discusses the relationship between nuclear power and renewable energy with focus on the potential for nuclear power to rightly be considered a form of renewable energy. The challenges facing the nuclear power from the economic pressures of low-cost natural gas and the political and environmental fallout of nuclear disasters are tackled. The author also reflects on the continued role played by nuclear power in an increasingly renewable landscape.

The article discusses low noise turbine blades inspired by owl wings. Topics discussed include DinoTail technology announced by Siemens AG for silent operations of blades, changes in structure of wings to mitigate the noise of airflow, and the views of Stefan Oerlemans, Aeroacoustic at Siemens Wind Power's technology department.

The article discusses the M501J gas turbine of the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA) in Oklahoma. It states that the gas turbine will be installed at the Grand River Energy Center (GREC) of GRDA outside Chouteau, Oklahoma. It mentions that the turbine will allow gas to be used in an Oklahoma turbine to provide clean energy.

The article focuses on the view of Jeff Holmstead, an environmental attorney with Bracewell & Giuliani, on the U.S. Clean Power Plan (CPP) during the POWER-GEN International 2015 mega-session, suggesting that CPP is ultimately illegal. He says that the CCP, which calls for new requirements to cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, will likely be rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court in late 2017 or 2018.

The article talks about the air-cooling technology for engines and turbines. Topics include the air-cooled engines of the Volkswagen Beetle and its upgrade to fluid-cooled systems, air-cooling systems as the preferred cooling system for natural-gas fired turbines and power generation products of General Electrics Power & Water, the difference between air-cooled and steam-cooled turbines, and the air-cooled gas turbines from engineering and energy companies Siemens and Alstrom.

The article discusses the history of natural gas generation. It cites the burning of natural gas by ancient Chinese to desalinate sea water for drinking, and the first commercial use of natural gas in England for lighting houses and streets in 1785 and in Maryland in 1816. It notes the thermal properties of natural gas such as for central heating and large-scale water supplies, for boilers in steam creation for industrial applications, leading to electricity generation in Switzerland in 1939.

The author reflects on the growth in the use of gas-fired power plants and its impact on coal-fired generation. Topics covered include the preference shown for natural gas, the development of hybrid power plants which represent fossil plants that add renewable resources to their facilities and the factors driving the addition of renewable assets like the potential for carbon pricing. Also mentioned is the benefit obtained by renewable technologies from their relationship to fossil plants.