Darrell Proctor is a data analyst and communications professional with years of writing, editing, and analytical experience in the energy sector. He has been part of Pulitzer Prize-winning teams and has more than three decades of management expertise, leading teams in both newsrooms and boardrooms. He's a sought-after speaker and analyst on topics across the spectrum of power generation, energy infrastructure, financial aspects of the industry, and more.
A battery energy storage system (BESS) described as the largest deployed to date in the European Union (EU) has been commissioned in Bulgaria. Officials with the country’s Ministry of Energy said the 124-MW/496.2-MWh BESS, also the largest in the Balkans, supports the stability of Bulgaria’s power grid along with its transition to the use of more renewable energy resources.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has confirmed it is drafting a plan to eliminate all limits on greenhouse gases (GHG) from coal- and natural gas-fired power plants. The EPA on May 24 said a new rule on emissions would be published after interagency review.
The only commercial nuclear power plant in the U.S. Pacific Northwest is set for a $700-million upgrade that would add nearly 200 MW of generation capacity. The Columbia Generating Station in Richland, Washington, with a current capacity of 1,207 MW, will undergo an extended power uprate that will be done during the plant’s next three biennial spring refueling outages in 2027, 2029, and 2031.
Government officials in Estonia announced the country will initiate a spatial planning process and an environmental impact assessment for construction of the country’s first nuclear power plant.
The Kerrville (Texas) Public Utility Board has selected MAN Energy Solutions to supply six 18V51/60G gas engines for a new 124-MW power plant. The facility, which will be built adjacent to the existing 51-MW Sky Global Power One in Colorado County, Texas, will leverage the site’s existing power transmission infrastructure. It will be designed as a peaker plant that will support the power grid during periods of high demand for electricity.
Technology group Wärtsilä will supply power generation equipment for a new 30-MW power plant being set up on Victoria Island in Lagos by Victoria Island Power Ltd. (VIPL), a Nigerian independent power producer. Wärtsilä, acting as the engineering, procurement, and construction lead for the project, also will operate and maintain the power plant for a period of five years.
AES Corp. announced the company has entered into two long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) to support tech company Meta’s data centers. The deal announced May 21 is for 650 MW of generation from solar projects that AES is bringing online in Texas and Kansas, serving the Southwest Power Pool market.
Construction of the Empire Wind offshore wind power project is restarting after the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) said an order to stop work on the installation has been lifted. The Trump administration, which has been vocal in its disdain for the U.S. offshore wind industry, last month had called for the project to be stopped.
Global mining giant Rio Tinto said it will invest $1.2 billion to modernize a hydroelectric power plant in Quebec, Canada. The company on May 15 said the project is part of its bid to secure future aluminum production in the Canadian province. The money will pay for upgrades to the Isle-Maligne hydropower plant, which was commissioned in 1926 in Alma, Quebec.
Project manager Bechtel said construction of the 1.3-GW Mammoth Solar facility in Indiana is moving forward, with the company on May 16 saying the project “kicked its construction activities into a higher gear this month.”
Microgrids have proven their role in enhancing the reliability, resilience, and sustainability of the modern power system. Kirk Edelman, CEO of SolMicroGrid, provided POWER with several lists detailing the technologies behind microgrids, the companies that can benefit from deployment, and the services the systems can provide for their end-users.
POWER Magazine Why POWER? Gas Power Jobs White Papers Webinars Events Store May 14, 2025 NRG Buying LS Power Gas-Fired Plants in $12-Billion Deal NRG Energy announced it would acquire 18 natural gas-fired power plants with 13 GW of generation capacity as part of a $12-billion cash-and-stock deal with […]
NRG Energy announced it would acquire 18 natural gas-fired power plants with 13 GW of generation capacity as part of a $12-billion cash-and-stock deal with LS Power.
Houston, Texas-based NRG on May 12 said the deal, expected to close in the first quarter of 2026, would double the group’s overall generation capacity portfolio to 25 GW. The gas-fired plants are located in the U.S. Northeast and Texas, the company said Monday.
State-owned Coal India Limited (CIL) has announced plans to invest about $3 billion to build as much as 4.5 GW of renewable energy generation capacity. The memorandum of understanding, signed May 7 with major ammonia producer AM Green, is expected to significantly increase India’s green hydrogen and ammonia production capabilities.
A nuclear power project developer said it has a deal with Google, with the technology company agreeing to commit funding for at least three projects that each would have 600 MW of generation capacity. Elementl Power, founded in 2022 and based in Greer, South Carolina, on May 7 said Google would help the company move toward its goal of bringing more than 10 GW of nuclear power capacity online by 2035.
A group of attorneys general from 17 states, along with the District of Columbia, is suing the Trump administration over the president’s move to suspend leasing and permitting of new U.S. wind energy projects.
EDP Renewables North America (EDPR NA) has inaugurated the company’s 200-MW Scarlet II Solar Energy Park, in Fresno County, California. Scarlet II follows EDPR NA’s Scarlet I Solar Energy Park—a 200-MW solar farm with and 40 MW/160 MWh of battery energy storage system (BESS)—which achieved commercial operation in 2024.
Abundance Energy, sonnen, and Energywell Technology Licensing on May 6 said they will work together on development of behind-the-meter, battery-enabled VPPs. The program is designed to support retail energy customers of Texas-based Abundance Energy, while also providing support for the state’s power grid.
Energy experts think solar power still has a bright future, even as challenges impact the industry. Power generation from solar photovoltaic (PV) technology has increased dramatically over the past few years thanks to the need for less-costly power, and for cleaner forms of energy.
Government officials in Germany are supporting development of a nuclear fusion pilot plant. Officials have said they want nuclear fusion to be a priority of the country’s energy agenda, barely two years after the country decommissioned its last three operating nuclear power plants in April 2023 at the direction of then-chancellor Angela Merkel.
Major German BESS Project Closes Financing. Energy transition bank NORD/LB announced it has closed an €87 million ($94 million) financing package with Nofar Energy for construction of a 104.5-MW/209-MWh
Electrification is about offsetting energy coming directly from fossil fuels with electrons. And it’s a key strategy to support decarbonization across sectors. Depending on the generation mix providing the electrons, the amount of decarbonization may vary. But wherever a customer has electrified their energy usage, they stand to benefit from future deployments of clean generation resources.
Alliant Energy said a 200-MW solar facility in Linn County, Iowa, was recently brought online. The Pleasant Creek Solar installation—renamed after being known as Duane Arnold Solar during development and construction—is the largest solar power installation built to date in the state. Pleasant Creek Solar joins two other solar projects—Creston and Wever, which began operating […]
GE Vernova will install new equipment at a power plant in Iraq, its first use of the company’s upgraded AGP XPAND technology. The latest version is an evolution of GE Vernova’s Advanced Gas Path (AGP) system introduced more than a decade ago on the company’s 9E.03 fleet to boost gas turbine capacity.
Want to learn more about geothermal energy? POWER has published a series of articles related to geothermal power, ranging from the importance of geothermal as a power generation resource, to technologies supporting the development of geothermal.
U.S. production of coal has continued to decline since peaking in 2008, according to a report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The EIA–on the same day earlier this month when President Trump signed an executive order designed to increase U.S. coal production and coal-fired power generation—released data showing the U.S. produced 578 million short tons (MMst) of coal in 2023, or less than half of the amount produced in 2008.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright on April 22 announced the release of the third loan disbursement to Holtec for the reopening of the Palisades Nuclear Plant in Michigan.
A new report from GlobalData, a data and analytics group, projects global nuclear power capacity will hit 494 GW by 2035. The group said capacity gains will be tied to advancements in deployments of small modular reactors (SMRs), along with the continuing worldwide shift to cleaner forms of energy.
POWER Magazine Jobs White Papers Webinars Events Store April 21, 2025 Plug Power Group Commissions Hydrogen Liquefaction Plant in Louisiana Hidrogenii, a joint venture between Plug Power and Olin Corp., said it has commissioned a 15 metric-ton-per-day (TPD) hydrogen liquefaction plant in St. Gabriel, Louisiana. Plug Power on April 17 […]
Hidrogenii, a joint venture between Plug Power and Olin Corp., said it has commissioned a 15 metric-ton-per-day (TPD) hydrogen liquefaction plant in St. Gabriel, Louisiana. Plug Power on April 17 said the facility is among the largest electrolytic hydrogen liquefaction plants in North America.