DOE

Burns & McDonnell to Jointly Develop Software to Improve Grid Reliability and Resilience

Burns & McDonnell will develop a grid stability awareness system (GSAS), a package of analytical software that will allow utilities to better utilize advanced synchrophasor technology. The joint project with Southern Company is part of a comprehensive program recently announced by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to improve the resilience and reliability of the national power grid. The DOE will partially fund the project with a $1.4 million grant, which will be matched by $1.5 million in additional funding from the project participants.

AREVA Wins Contract from DOE to Develop Enhanced Accident Tolerant Fuel

AREVA Federal Services (AFS), an AREVA subsidiary in the United States, was awarded a contract by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to continue the development of next generation fuel for light water nuclear reactors. This program aims to develop enhanced accident tolerant fuel (EATF), a fuel that is more resistant under severe accident conditions, particularly those involving a loss of cooling. The AREVA-led team, comprising the U.S.

Digest (Sept 2014)

Duke Energy Progress agreed to purchase $1.2 billion in generating assets from North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency; ABB won a $400 million order that would create the first electricity link between Newfoundland and the North American power grid; Siemens Energy secured an order for a total capacity of 36 MW in Germany; NextEra Energy Partners’ Bluewater Wind Energy Center in Ontario began commercial operation; the Department of Energy took the first step toward issuing a $150 million loan guarantee to support construction of the Cape Wind offshore wind project; and others ...

Digest (August 2014)

Florida Power & Light Company partners with PetroQuest Energy to develop natural gas production wells in southeastern Oklahoma; First Solar receives financing approval to build a 141-MW solar power plant in Chile; DTE Energy will deploy Tollgrade’s LightHouse MV smart grid sensors and predictive grid analytics platform within its distribution network in Detroit; US DOE chooses Abengoa, together with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Colorado School of Mines, to develop a new solar storage technology for thermoelectric plants.

Energy Department Offers Conditional Commitment to Cape Wind Offshore Wind Project

The Department of Energy (DOE) took the first step toward issuing a $150 million loan guarantee to support the construction of the Cape Wind offshore wind project with a conditional commitment to Cape Wind Associates. If constructed, the project would be the first commercial-scale offshore wind facility in the U.S., with a capacity of more than 360 MW of clean energy off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

UT Austin Receives $12 Million to Help U.S. Curtail Greenhouse Gas Emissions

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) awarded The University of Texas at Austin a $12 million grant to fund carbon storage research aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The four-year DOE grant will fund a carbon storage research project at the university’s Center for Frontiers of Subsurface Energy Security. This grant is a renewal of the department’s five-year, $15.5 million research grant to the center in 2009.

Abengoa to Develop New Solar-Thermal Storage Technology

Abengoa, together with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Colorado School of Mines (CSM), has been selected by the US Department of Energy (DOE) to develop a new solar storage technology for thermo-electric plants. The program will last for two years and will require an investment of EUR1.3 million by the US Department of Energy.

In the Crosshairs

Protecting substations and transformers after the PG&E Metcalf attack.

The latest fallout from the April 2013 Metcalf incident: the unprecedented assault with high-powered rifles on PG&E’s Metcalf substation, in Silicon Valley, which disabled 17 of 20 large transformers.

Next-Gen Nuclear

Tomorrow’s options for low-carbon baseload generation.

The nuclear renaissance might be postponed, but technologies continue advancing. The next generation of plants will apply innovation for safety, efficiency, and modularity.