The present invention relates to a thermal vector system for solar concentration plants, in particular for parabolic trough solar concentration plants, both for industrial and domestic use, comprising a solid state thermal vector. A preferred solar concentration plant comprises one or more solar collectors (1), an heat exchanger (3-5), a heat accumulator (2) and a connecting pipe circuit, in which a solid state thermal vector is pushed through said circuit by mechanical means (6).

Systems and methods are provided for combined cycle power generation while reducing or mitigating emissions during power generation. Recycled exhaust gas from a power generation combustion reaction can be separated using a staged complementary swing adsorption process so as to generate a high purity CO2 stream while reducing/minimizing the energy required for the separation and without having to reduce the temperature of the exhaust gas. This can allow for improved energy recovery while also generating high purity streams of carbon dioxide and nitrogen.

Systems and methods for using pressure swing adsorption to separate and/or capture resulting emissions are provided. A stream of recycled exhaust gas is passed into a first swing adsorption reactor comprising a first adsorbent material which adsorbs CO2. An enriched N2 stream is recovered from a forward end of the first swing adsorption reactor. The pressure in the first swing adsorption reactor is reduced. The first swing adsorption reactor is purged with a portion of the first N2 stream recovered from the first swing adsorption reactor. The first purge output is passed to a second swing adsorption reactor comprising a second adsorbent material which adsorbs CO2. A second N2 stream is recovered from the second swing adsorption reactor. The pressure in the second swing adsorption reactor is reduced. The second swing adsorption reactor is purged with a steam purge.

Years ago, the federal government spent $117 million on an experimental "clean coal" power plant in Alaska designed to generate electricity with a minimum of air pollution -- but the project never got up and running.

The Federal Government has applauded a decision by the energy giant, but environmental groups say the move is "risky and irresponsible."

24 July 2019

Cyberattacks are increasingly challenging critical national infrastructure. This paper considers the security by design approach for civil nuclear power plants and analyses areas of risk and opportunities for the nuclear industry.

Chanmin Kim, Michael J. Daniels, Joseph W. Hogan, Christine Choirat, Corwin M. Zigler.

Source: The Annals of Applied Statistics, Volume 13, Number 3, 1927--1956.

Abstract:
Emission control technologies installed on power plants are a key feature of many air pollution regulations in the US. While such regulations are predicated on the presumed relationships between emissions, ambient air pollution and human health, many of these relationships have never been empirically verified. The goal of this paper is to develop new statistical methods to quantify these relationships. We frame this problem as one of mediation analysis to evaluate the extent to which the effect of a particular control technology on ambient pollution is mediated through causal effects on power plant emissions. Since power plants emit various compounds that contribute to ambient pollution, we develop new methods for multiple intermediate variables that are measured contemporaneously, may interact with one another, and may exhibit joint mediating effects. Specifically, we propose new methods leveraging two related frameworks for causal inference in the presence of mediating variables: principal stratification and causal mediation analysis. We define principal effects based on multiple mediators, and also introduce a new decomposition of the total effect of an intervention on ambient pollution into the natural direct effect and natural indirect effects for all combinations of mediators. Both approaches are anchored to the same observed-data models, which we specify with Bayesian nonparametric techniques. We provide assumptions for estimating principal causal effects, then augment these with an additional assumption required for causal mediation analysis. The two analyses, interpreted in tandem, provide the first empirical investigation of the presumed causal pathways that motivate important air quality regulatory policies.

Statkraft announces it has decided to start construction of the 51.6-MW Los Lagos hydropower plant in Chile. The construction is planned to commence in August and completion is scheduled for second half of 2022.

Last week, California’s Glendale Water & Power (GWP) received approval from the Glendale City Council to move forward with a plan to repower the aging Grayson Power Plant with a combination of renewable energy resources, energy storage and a limited amount of thermal generation.

It may be time to start building power plants in Texas again.

Brazil has included four hydropower plants among the projects that will receive support as part of the country's investment partnerships program, called Programa de Parcerias de Investimentos or PPI. 

Kansai Electric Power Co. Inc. announces that the 290-MW Nam Ngiep 1 hydropower plant has begun commercial operations.

Thailand plans to build the world’s largest floating solar farms to power Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy and to boost the country’s share of clean energy.

Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) this week announced plans to build four new solar power plants this year that are expected to begin powering customers in early 2020:

Last week, California’s Glendale Water & Power (GWP) received approval from the Glendale City Council to move forward with a plan to repower the aging Grayson Power Plant with a combination of renewable energy resources, energy storage and a limited amount of thermal generation.

It may be time to start building power plants in Texas again.

This week Autogrid announced that it entered into a partnership with Swell Energy to provide software for managing Swell’s growing fleet of distributed energy resources (DER).

This week, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced that rather than investing in the Haynes, Harbor and Scattergood natural gas power plants to meet the requirements of a 2010 law related to a practice known as once through cooling, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) will phase them out in favor of renewable energy.

Thailand plans to build the world’s largest floating solar farms to power Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy and to boost the country’s share of clean energy.

Last week, California’s Glendale Water & Power (GWP) received approval from the Glendale City Council to move forward with a plan to repower the aging Grayson Power Plant with a combination of renewable energy resources, energy storage and a limited amount of thermal generation.

It may be time to start building power plants in Texas again.

With the potential for disaster at hydropower projects around the world, the lack of organized training programs becomes a prominent consideration in how companies manage their assets.

Germany’s utilities, battered by the country’s shift to wind turbines and solar panels, would be glad to sell you a power plant on the cheap. They’ll even pack it up and ship it to another country.

Beijing, where pollution averaged more than twice China’s national standard last year, will close the last of its four major coal-fired power plants next year.

The government of Argentinian province San Juan signed an agreement with PowerChina earlier this week for financing of the 75-MW El Tambolar hydropower project.

On Nov. 11, Germany-based Aquila Capital announced it has signed an agreement with four Norwegian utility companies -- Statkraft AS, Agder Energi, BKK and Skagerak Energi -- to acquire all shares of Smakraft AS, Norway's largest small-hydro company.  

Test operations are under way at Norte Energia's 11.2-GW Belo Monte hydropower plant, developer Norte Energia said in a statement.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has signed a memorandum agreement with the Southeastern Power Administration, Tennessee Valley Authority and Tennessee Valley Public Power Association, Inc., to perform a variety of work at Corps hydropower projects.

Electricite de France (EDF) and the World Bank are joining with the government of Cameroon to fund the €$1.2 billion (US$1.3 billion), 420-MW Nachtigal hydropower plant.

A Brazilian federal court has suspended an operating license for the 11.2-GW Belo Monte hydroelectric plant, stating that its developers have failed to provide water and sewage services to areas near the project.

Ivanhoe Mines announced today in a press release that the Mwadingusha hydropower plant in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has begun supplying an initial 11 MW of power to the national grid after upgrading and rehabilitating the first of six turbine-generators at the plant.
 

Chile's Schwager Energy and China-based Shenyang Yuanda Commercial & Investment Co. signed a memorandum of understanding on Nov. 3 to build the 3-MW Los Pinos run-of-the-river hydroelectric plant in southern Chile's Lagos region, according to BN Americas.
 

The Philippines Department of Energy (DOE) released a report today saying its US$133.4 million 10.6-MW Pulanai hydropower plant being constructed in the southern province of Bukidnon on the Island of Mindanao, was attacked by armed individuals on Feb. 25.

The partnership between Manitoba Hydro and four First Nations via the Keeyask Hydropower Limited Partnership (KHLP) announced a significant increase in its control budget and a revised commissioning date for the 695-MW Keeyask Generating Station in a statement on March 7.
 

Last week, California’s Glendale Water & Power (GWP) received approval from the Glendale City Council to move forward with a plan to repower the aging Grayson Power Plant with a combination of renewable energy resources, energy storage and a limited amount of thermal generation.

The Obama administration is considering cutting greenhouse-gas emissions from power plants by reaching beyond the plants themselves — an unusual approach that could run afoul of anti-pollution laws.

Germany’s utilities, battered by the country’s shift to wind turbines and solar panels, would be glad to sell you a power plant on the cheap. They’ll even pack it up and ship it to another country.

Beijing, where pollution averaged more than twice China’s national standard last year, will close the last of its four major coal-fired power plants next year.

Australian hydrogen infrastructure developer H2U confirmed today that it will use Baker Hughes NovaLT gas turbine generators at its South Australian Renewable Hydrogen and Ammonia Supply Chain Demonstrator in Port Lincoln.

This week, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced that rather than investing in the Haynes, Harbor and Scattergood natural gas power plants to meet the requirements of a 2010 law related to a practice known as once through cooling, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) will phase them out in favor of renewable energy.

It may be time to start building power plants in Texas again.

The Obama administration is considering cutting greenhouse-gas emissions from power plants by reaching beyond the plants themselves — an unusual approach that could run afoul of anti-pollution laws.

Scotland’s Macallan whisky distillery is set to get most of its heat requirement from a combined heat and power plant part-funded by the government.

Germany’s utilities, battered by the country’s shift to wind turbines and solar panels, would be glad to sell you a power plant on the cheap. They’ll even pack it up and ship it to another country.

Beijing, where pollution averaged more than twice China’s national standard last year, will close the last of its four major coal-fired power plants next year.

Chile's Schwager Energy and China-based Shenyang Yuanda Commercial & Investment Co. signed a memorandum of understanding on Nov. 3 to build the 3-MW Los Pinos run-of-the-river hydroelectric plant in southern Chile's Lagos region, according to BN Americas.
 

Water security and profitability are the Achilles heels of the plan to modernise 60 hydroelectric plants in Mexico, drawn up by the administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Most of them are power plants built more than 50 years ago, so the upgrading plan poses technical and feasibility challenges. López Obrador has insisted on […]

The post Mexico’s Plan to Upgrade Hydropower Plants Faces Hurdles appeared first on Inter Press Service.

A small increase in water temperature near a Japanese nuclear power plant allowed tropical fish to colonise the area, suggesting global warming will drastically alter some marine ecosystems

A new study investigates the impact of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS), the largest international cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gas emissions in the world, on power plant fuel efficiency.