The US Department of Energy (DOE), through its Loan Programs Office (LPO), has closed a loan guarantee of up to $1.52 billion under the Inflation Reduction Act’s Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment (EIR) program to Holtec Palisades to help finance the restoration and resumption of service of an 800-MW nuclear generating station... Read more →

LiquidPiston, an innovator of efficient internal combustion engine technology and hybrid power systems, has begun testing its 10kW heavy-fueled generator prototype. The genset is powered by LiquidPiston’s 25hp heavy-fueled XTS-210 rotary engine, which itself entered its integrated engine testing phase in April 2024. The company has been awarded more than... Read more →

The US Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) opened an opportunity (DE-FOA-0003415) for up to $112.5 million in funding to advance the commercial readiness of wave energy technologies through open water testing and system validation. This five-year investment will significantly accelerate the design, fabrication, and testing of multiple... Read more →

The US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) recently announced $8.8 million for 11 university-based research and development projects to improve the performance of hydrogen-fueled turbines. The selected projects will develop advanced materials and components that can better manage and withstand the extreme environment... Read more →

Hyliion Holdings has been awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) government contract by the United States Navy. Phase 1 of the award, N241–060, will allow Hyliion to create a preliminary design of a modular generator system that integrates the Navy’s specifications with Hyliion’s KARNO generator technology. The KARNO generator... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) released a report that makes actionable recommendations to address five gaps in the domestic hydropower supply chain. Hydropower makes up about 27% of renewable electricity generation in the United States and is an important component of the nation’s goal of achieving a 100% clean... Read more →

Bloom Energy is now offering the Bloom Energy Server power solution with ~60% electrical efficiency while using 100% hydrogen. Bloom engineers achieved the milestone efficiency at the company’s research and development facility in Fremont, California. Carbon-free hydrogen fuel cell for electricity production enables 24 X 7 clean power in conjunction... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) will award $41 million to 14 projects to develop technologies, Renewables-to-Liquids (RtL), for harnessing renewable energy sources such as wind and solar to produce liquids for sustainable fuels or chemicals that can be transported and stored as easily as carbon-intensive liquids such as gasoline... Read more →

Coal stockpiles at US electric power plants totaled 138 million short tons at the end of May, the most since the first half of 2020 when the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic reduced electricity demand and coal consumption, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). In the United States,... Read more →

The US Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) announced an intent (DE-FOA-0003427) to provide up to $112.5 million in funding to advance the commercial readiness of wave energy technologies through open water testing and system validation. Topic Area 1 leverages wave energy technologies that provide power to distributed... Read more →

Natura Resources, LLC (Natura) is partnering with the Texas Produced Water Consortium (TxPWC) at Texas Tech University to look at the deployment of Natura’s liquid-fueled molten salt reactor (LF-MSR) technology to power the Permian Basin. Dubbed “Fortifying the Future,” this partnership provides an opportunity to deploy Natura’s LF-MSR technology to... Read more →

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects that the United States will generate more electricity from renewables and coal in the second half of this year, as electricity demand and natural gas prices increase. In its July Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), EIA forecasts that natural gas prices will be about... Read more →

Rolls-Royce has started, with a consortium of five companies and research institutes, to develop the necessary technologies for a highly efficient first-of-a-kind hydrogen combustion engine to drive combined heat and power (CHP) systems. Under the Phoenix (Performance Hydrogen Engine for Industrial and X) project, funded by the German Government, the... Read more →

Technology group Wärtsilä launched the world’s first large-scale 100% hydrogen-ready engine power plant. The IEA World Energy Outlook 2023 shows that hydrogen is an essential component of future power systems. According to the report, the pathway to reach net zero emissions by 2050 requires 17 Mt of hydrogen to be... Read more →

The US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) announced six projects selected to receive approximately $9.3 million in federal funding to develop technology solutions to make clean hydrogen a more available and affordable fuel for electricity generation, industrial decarbonization, and transportation. The projects will... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) released the DOE Fusion Energy Strategy 2024. DOE Fusion Energy Strategy 2024 is organized around three pillars: closing the science and technology (S&T) gaps to a commercially relevant fusion pilot plant; preparing the path to sustainable, equitable commercial fusion deployment; and building and leveraging... Read more →

FuelCell Energy and Gyeonggi Green Energy announced that pursuant to a long-term service agreement, GGE has agreed to purchase 42 1.4-megawatt upgraded carbonate fuel cell modules from FuelCell Energy to replace existing fuel cell modules at the Hwaseong Baran Industrial Complex fuel cell power platform, the world’s largest fuel cell... Read more →

Swiss Steel Group is participating in a consortium for renewable energies, the “Initiative EE-Industrie”. This initiative, comprising 19 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Germany, aims to build, operate and utilize wind and photovoltaic plants for self-supply with green electricity. Based on initial forecasts, the consortium will require a total... Read more →

Hydro-Québec, the largest power utility in Canada, and a major player in the global hydropower industry, has joined the Linux Foundation Energy (LF Energy)—the open-source foundation focused on harnessing the power of collaborative software and hardware technologies to accelerate the energy transition—as a General Member. LF Energy members provide funding... Read more →

Used primarily in high-voltage electrical switchgear in electric power grids, sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) is one of the most potent greenhouse gases on Earth. The GWP of SF6 is 24,300 that of CO2, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report (AR6). In the 21st century, atmospheric... Read more →

In California, an increase in power sector greenhouse gas emissions, particularly from in-state generation, in recent years is offsetting progress made in the transportation sector, and threatening the state’s goals overall, according to the 15th annual California Green Innovation Index, released by the nonpartisan nonprofit Next 10 and prepared by... Read more →

Kohler Power Systems, part of Kohler Energy, collaborated with Toyota Motor North America to develop and install a hydrogen fuel cell power generation system at the Klickitat Valley Health hospital in Goldendale, Washington. The fuel cell power system combines Kohler and Toyota technologies to showcase the viability of the zero-emission... Read more →

The Department of Energy (DOE) announced two innovative marine energy projects will receive a combined $6 million to develop a tidal energy research, development, and demonstration pilot site in the United States. In addition, a community-led river current energy research and development project was selected to receive $9.5 million. Tides... Read more →

Rio Tinto has signed Australia’s largest renewable power purchase agreement (PPA) to date to supply its Gladstone operations in Queensland, agreeing to buy the majority of electricity from Windlab’s planned 1.4GW Bungaban wind energy project. The agreement, which follows the announcement last month of a PPA for the Upper Calliope... Read more →

Holtec International announced a new power plant design which melds the benefits of nuclear (high energy density, non-polluting, base load) with those of solar (zero fuel cost, minor regulatory barriers) that is entirely carbon-free and is adaptable for deployment in any country. Called CNSP, an acronym for Combined Nuclear/Solar Plant,... Read more →

Rio Tinto will drive development of Australia’s largest solar power project near Gladstone, after agreeing to buy all electricity from the 1.1GW Upper Calliope Solar Farm to provide renewable power to Rio Tinto’s Gladstone operations. The agreement will bring more renewable power into one of Australia’s most important industrial hubs... Read more →

Tokyo Tech scientists have developed environmentally benign inverse-perovskites with high energy conversion efficiency with potential for practical application as thermoelectric materials (TEMs). Addressing the limitations typically faced with TEMs, such as insufficient energy conversion efficiency and environmental toxicity due to heavy elements, the new TEMs provide a suitable alternative to... Read more →

MAN Energy Solutions and Turkey-based Karpowership have signed a contract for the delivery of a total of 48 dual-fuel engines for Karpowership’s fleet of power plant ships (Powerships). The engine order consists of MAN 18V51/60DF dual-fuel engines with a mechanical output of 20.7 MW each. The main advantage of dual... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced up to $30 million in funding to develop first-wall materials—the materials used for the chamber where fusion reactions occur—that can maintain design performance in a fusion power plant. (DE-FOA-0003240) As fusion energy advances toward commercial deployment, finding materials capable of optimized performance for... Read more →

Lloyd’s Register (LR) is partnering with Zodiac Maritime, HD KSOE and KEPCO E&C in a joint development project for the research and development of nuclear-propelled ship designs, including bulk carriers and containerships, with the parties signing a MOU at Korea’s HD Hyundai Global R&D Center. The move comes as the... Read more →

Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have found that in some parts of the country, compound energy droughts—i.e., when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow, both at the sametime—can last nearly a week. The team published the findings in an open-access paper in the journal Renewable... Read more →

Rio Tinto has approved a new 12.4MW solar farm and 8.8MVa/2.1MWh of battery storage to provide renewable energy for the Amrun bauxite operations near Weipa in Queensland, Australia. The 12.4MW solar farm and battery storage are part of Rio Tinto’s global decarbonization strategy and ongoing efforts to reduce emissions at... Read more →

Hitachi Energy recently unveiled the HyFlex demonstration unit, its Hydrogen Power Generator in Gothenburg, Sweden, in an event held with Hitachi Energy’s technology partner, PowerCell Group. HyFlex is an integrated and scalable plug-and-play generator for temporary or permanent installation, where power grid connections are impractical, and diesel generators are not... Read more →

US coal-related CO2 emissions decreased by 7%, or 68 million metric tons (MMmt), in 2022 relative to 2021, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). This decrease was largely due to an 8% decline in coal-fired power generation because of retiring coal-fired generating capacity. Changes in electricity generation sources... Read more →

Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS) and NuScale Power Corporation (NuScale) have mutually agreed to terminate the Carbon Free Power Project (CFPP). The Carbon Free Power Project (CFPP) was to be the first NuScale Power small modular reactor (SMR) plant to begin operation in the United States near Idaho Falls,... Read more →

US coal exports increased by 5.7 million short tons (MMst) in the 12 months after EU sanctions on coal from Russia went into full effect in August 2022, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). The increase was driven almost exclusively by a 22% jump in U.S coal exports... Read more →

Singapore-based Sembcorp Industries (Sembcorp), IHI Corporation (IHI) and GE Vernova’s Gas Power business have signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to jointly explore the potential retrofitting of Sembcorp’s Sakra power plant in Singapore with ammonia-firing capabilities. This partnership is an extension of an earlier MOU between Sembcorp and IHI... Read more →

Duke Energy will break ground in DeBary, Fla., on the first demonstration project in the United States to create clean energy using an end-to-end system to produce, store and combust 100% green hydrogen. The innovative system is the result of collaboration between Duke Energy, Sargent and Lundy, and GE Vernova... Read more →

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), GTI Energy, GE Vernova (GE) and the USDepartment of Energy celebrated the ribbon-cutting of the Supercritical Transformational Electric Power (STEP) Demo pilot plant. The $155-million, 10-megawatt supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) test facility at SwRI’s headquarters in San Antonio will demonstrate an innovative new method of higher-efficiency,... Read more →

CMB.TECH and DBR are partnering to develop the first dual fuel hydrogen gensets for marine applications. DBR brings its expertise in reliable energy solutions for marine and offshore applications, and CMB.TECH focuses specifically on designing and building large marine and industrial applications that run on hydrogen or green ammonia. In... Read more →

ORNL will lead three new DOE-funded projects designed to bring fusion energy to the grid on a rapid timescale. These three fusion energy projects are aimed directly at the national goal of advancing fusion science and technology and bringing them together to develop and optimize cost-effective fusion energy systems. The... Read more →

The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO) and Office of Electricity (OE) plan to fund (DE-FOA-0003241) research to drive innovation and reduce costs of high-voltage direct current (HVDC) voltage source converter (VSC) transmission systems. HVDC transmission systems are more efficient than traditional alternating current (AC) transmission... Read more →

Electrify America has begun commercial operation of the new 75MW Electrify America Solar Glow 1 solar photovoltaic renewable energy generation project in San Bernardino County, CA, announced last year. Electrify America Solar Glow 1 is the result of a 15-year virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) with developer Terra-Gen. Electrify America... Read more →

Canada-based General Fusion announced a new Magnetized Target Fusion (MTF) machine that will fast-track the company’s technical progress. To be built at the company’s new Richmond, British Columbia headquarters, this machine is designed to achieve fusion conditions of more than 100 million degrees Celsius by 2025, and progress toward scientific... Read more →

LiquidPiston, a developer of efficient engine technology and hybrid power systems, has been awarded an $8.3-million contract by Parsons Corporation to integrate its recently launched high-performance rotary X-Engine, the XTS-210 (earlier post), into a lightweight, compact 10 kW generator set to be field-tested by the Army, delivering unmatched power flexibility... Read more →

The UK government officially launched Great British Nuclear (GBN), an arms-length body operating through a repurposed British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) Ltd to deliver the government’s long-term nuclear program and support the government’s ambition to deliver up to 24GW of nuclear power in the UK by 2050. This could mean nearly... Read more →

bp has been awarded the rights to develop two offshore wind projects in the German tender round, marking its entry into offshore wind in continental Europe. The two North Sea sites, located 130km and 150km offshore in water depths of about 40m, have a total potential generating capacity of 4GW.... Read more →

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has been selected as the core company in charge of the conceptual design of an demonstration fast reactor which the Japanese Government aims to place into operation in the 2040s. MHI will oversee both the conceptual design as well as research and development (R&D) for... Read more →

A power generator demo unit genset, relying on a first use of FuelAdaptive engine technologies patented by ClearFlame Engine Technologies, has successfully progressed through phase one trials. The trial was conducted by Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) in partnership with ClearFlame and Duke Energy. In addition to a series of... Read more →

Lightbridge Corporation, an advanced nuclear fuel technology company, announced that Texas A&M University (TAMU) has been awarded approximately $1,000,000 by the US Department of Energy’s Nuclear Energy University Program R&D Awards to study the deployment of advanced nuclear fuels in Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). The project will be conducted over... Read more →