While the conference and exposition officially begin on Tuesday, February 21, enthusiastic attendees from all over the globe flew in early to take in a tour of the Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) Gardenia Innovation and Operations Center followed by a tour of the 740MW Cane Island Power Park.

Visit POWERGEN International in Orlando, Florida, 21-23 Feb 2023

Grid-edge R&D

OUC’s facility is where the municipal utility tests pre-commercialized or newly commercialized technology and includes a floating solar array, a vehicle-to-grid bi-directional charger, a 50-kW DC fast charger (soon to be upgraded to 120 kW), several Level 2 EV chargers, a 10-kW/40-kWh vanadium redox flow battery and two underground 8-kW/32-kWh flywheels.

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POWERGEN International begins: Some noteworthy sessions this week
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“We want to make sure we understand how they work, their operational characteristics and build new business cases around them before we put them in a position where they could be affecting our customers,” explained Rubin York, one of the three OUC engineers leading the tour.

In addition, OUC is testing a site controller that can operate the system in three main modes: PV smoothing, demand mitigation, which performs autonomous peak shaving, and contingency mode, which collects the assets into a microgrid.

“That is only possible thanks to these flywheels,” said York.

They go through a grid-forming bi-directional inverter which, in contingency mode, assess the frequency and voltage of the buildings and meters and disconnects the EV chargers, the PV inverter (per the IEEE standard), and any other load until the flywheels can output a good 60 hertz, 480-volt AC signal, said York. Once the flywheel generation is firm, OUC can slowly bring the loads back up and charge the EVs.

York also showed off the Cloud Impact Mapping System (CIMS), an in-house developed system that was designed to predict the ramp rate of solar PV as clouds come over and depart the solar PV. Should the technology scale, it could prove to be useful to electric utilities in Florida that are relying on a large amount of solar PV generation because Florida generally experiences a large amount of clouds.

“The goal is to build an array of these all around our territory, build a central repository, and have them effectively ‘hand off’ cloud systems to one another,” said York.

The OUC Gardenia site is also host to a rooftop solar array with bifacial solar panels and a solar parking canopy, which covers the parking lots for the facility.

Exceptional availability

After a quick bus ride and lunch, attendees toured the 740-MW Cane Island Power Park, which was available more than 90% of the time in 2021 and won an award for its exceptional availability.

Unit 3 of the park ran for nine months with no trips said Ken Rutter, COO of the Florida Municipal Power Authority (FMPA), which owns the plant. He added that the unit ran through Hurricane Ian and supplied power to customers who were able to accept it.

The POWERGEN group was split into four smaller groups and taken all throughout the park, viewing each generating unit, one turbine (that was not currently operating), condensers, cooling towers, the control center, and more. Rutter encouraged attendees to ask their tour guides anything at all – and they certainly took him up on that offer.

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The dozens of power and utility professionals who make up the POWERGEN advisory committee have worked tirelessly for months to put together a compelling conference program.

The show program includes eight educational tracks: Decarbonization, Planning for the Electric Future, Nuclear’s Small Revolution, Unlocking Hydrogen’s Power Potential, The Evolving Power Plant, Energy Storage Deployments, Environmental and Emission Controls and Optimizing Plant Performance.  

These topics lead the conversation for how generators can evolve into cleaner and more sustainable sources as we set our sights on 2050.

Here are some sessions to note during the next few days:

• On Tuesday, Feb. 21, Black & Veatch will highlight a two-year study on the impacts of cycling and low-load generation on performance, heat rate, reliability and availability at combined cycle power plants. Some of the most intriguing findings from this study will be shared for the first time.
• Also that day, DTE Energy and MapEx will discuss a hybrid analytics solution that combines machine learning, advanced pattern recognition software with a physics-based heat balance “digital twin” solution to monitor and improve the performance and reliability of a combined heat and power (CHP) plant in Michigan.
• As energy storage systems are growing at an unprecedented pace, a panel including experts from Burns & McDonnell, UL and American Fire Technologies will address current codes and standards, as well as recent changes that all installers in the U.S. must adhere to before installing a system. 
• On Wednesday, Feb. 22, don’t miss a panel of experts who will address carbon capture, pipeline transport and geologic storage and their relevance to the power industry. The esteemed panel includes José Figueroa and Mark McKoy with the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), Richard Esposito with Southern Company and Bob Slettehaugh with Kiewit.
• As part of our hydrogen track, Jeff Goldmeer of GE will provide a view of the environmental concerns, as well as potential solutions to prevent NOx emission increases as hydrogen is introduced in greater quantities as a fuel in gas turbines.
• Make sure not to miss a panel from Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and NuScale about the latter’s first small modular reactor (SMR) nuclear plant to begin operation in the U.S. The plant will deploy six, 77 MW modules to generate 462 MW of electricity. INL will provide a technical overview of the SMR design features and how they address traditional concerns in the deployment previous reactors.

Before the conference sessions begin and the exhibit hall opens, the Keynote on the morning of Feb. 21 will feature remarks by best-selling author and megatrends expert, Andrew Winston; Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Nuscale Power, Dr. José Reyes; SVP and CEO Duke Energy Florida and Midwest, Alex Glenn; and COO of OUC, Jan Aspuru.

The Keynote address is open to all attendees and exhibitors.

The post POWERGEN International begins: Some noteworthy sessions this week appeared first on Power Engineering International.

“The Clarion Cares mission is to collaborate with the industries we serve and together give back to global and local communities which host and are touched by our live events.”

Clarion Events’ internal teams are working with multiple charities to find the right fit for each of their portfolios and events and plan to roll out partnerships for each in 2023 and beyond. Clarion Events’ energy portfolio is the first to find a deep connection to a partner for this new corporate Clarion Cares initiative with two events taking place this February – DISTRIBUTECH International® and POWERGEN International®.

Russian shelling of Ukraine power plants disrupts power supply

“We are pleased to announce our partnership and support of Energize Ukraine through Clarion Cares. Together with the energy communities engaged with DISTRIBUTECH and POWERGEN, we strive to help collect and contribute with monetary donations and electrical equipment through the global coalition by the Ukrainian World Congress,” said Desiree Hanson, Executive Vice President of Clarion Events, Inc.

Energize Ukraine is a global initiative to immediately help the Ukrainian people rebuild their energy infrastructure which has been destroyed by Russia’s ruthless and massive missile attacks that have damaged over 40% of Ukraine’s infrastructure.

“The support of Clarion Cares and the energy community is urgent, and we thank Clarion Events for their generosity and compassion,” added Paul Grod, President of the Ukrainian World Congress. “Average Ukrainian citizens are without electricity, heat, and water. Temperatures are well below freezing. Seniors are trapped in their apartments as elevators are not operational. People will die if we do not help Ukraine immediately rebuild its electricity infrastructure.”

A kiosk for Energize Ukraine donations will be available at DISTRIBUTECH International®, which will be held in San Diego, California, February 7-9, and at POWERGEN International®, which will be held in Orlando, Florida, February 21-23. Additionally, DISTRIBUTECH will host a Special Briefing: Update on the Ukraine Electric Grid on February 8 during the event.

By donating funds, the Ukrainian World Congress will be able to fund the delivery of donated equipment or the purchase of new or used equipment to the areas of Ukraine that are most in need and have experienced the most devastating destruction. Learn more about the equipment needed and donate at energizeukraine.com.

Clarion Events will be announcing additional Clarion Cares partners and local support efforts later this year. For updates and to learn more about Clarion Cares, visit us.clarionevents.com/clarioncares.

The post Clarion Events launches initiative to support Ukraine citizens appeared first on Power Engineering International.

Registration is now live. Sign up here!
Monday, February 20, 2023
9:30 am – 3:00 pm
Participation Cost: $90

The full-day tour begins with a visit to Orlando Utilities Commission’s Gardenia Innovations and Operations Center, home to utility’s grid integration lab. The microgrid is a test site for multiple renewable energy technologies that can be deployed throughout OUC’s grid. Attendees will get an up-close view of the microgrid project, which includes a 64 kW floating solar array, vehicle-to-grid and conventional EV charging stations and energy storage technology like Vanadium Redox Flow batteries, flywheels and hydrogen. This stop will also include information about OUC’s floating solar roadmap and hydrogen research project with the U.S. Department of Energy.

After lunch, attendees will tour Cane Island Power Park, which is jointly owned by the Florida Municipal Power Agency and Kissimmee Utility Authority. The natural gas-fired plant has one simple cycle and three combined-cycle units that produce 740 MW of energy and operate above industry standards for reliability and efficiency. Attendees will tour the simple and combined-cycle units, the water lab, control room and more. Come see why Cane Island has been recognized as a top performing plant!

Participants are asked to wear long pants, closed toed shoes, and bring a photo ID. Transportation and lunch will be provided. Make sure to register by February 15, 2023. Registration is limited to the first 30 attendees, so reserve your spot today!

Full schedule:

The post POWERGEN International: Tech tours return with microgrid and gas plant visits appeared first on Power Engineering International.

POWERGEN International got underway on Monday, 23 May, at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas with a series of pre-conference utility university classes.

These 4- or 8-hour courses were designed for in-depth education about the electricity industry and included courses on industrial control systems, project management, and diversity, equity and inclusion for electric utilities.

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The first day also included keynote addresses by U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm and former Secretary of Energy Rick Perry.

Perry’s message in support of fossil fuels and nuclear energy would have landed well with part of the audience, but others may have been surprised that he railed so hard against “so-called experts”.

Perry’s remarks contrasted with those by the current US Energy Secretary, Jennifer Grandholm, who was at pains to point out how much the current administration is supporting renewable energy and nuclear as well as the Energy Earth Shots aimed at boosting emerging technologies like long-duration energy storage.

POWERGEN International Day 2 featured breakfast roundtables on topics like cogeneration, the future of coal, microgrids and more.

Other highlights included NextEra and Exelon taking part in a panel discussion on “Priming the Utility Workforce to Improve Operations and Outage Planning” as part of the Optimising Plant Performance.

Also, Mitsubishi Power’s Hari Gopalakrishnan demonstrated models at POWERGEN to compare system costs of battery and hydrogen-based projects.

Gopalakrishnan demonstrated Mitsubishi Power modeling of a 1.5GW decarbonised system in the southern U.S. during the year 2045. But the company also models systems in other parts of the country with different renewable profiles. Mitsubishi Power then incorporates the modeling results into implementing projects on the ground.

In addition, the Day 2 keynote featured futurist Nancy Giordano, who offers her vision on the changing nature of work in the post-pandemic world.

The third and final day of POWERGEN International 2022 featured 14 conference sessions, ranging from a technical presentation about optimising the performance of a heat recovery steam generator to a high level look at where the energy industry is now, and where it will be in 10 years.

Initiate in the news

And finally, Amperon, Rapid Water Technologies and Resilient Power were chosen as winners in the 2022 Initiate! Competition at the co-located POWERGEN International and DISTRIBUTECH International events.

32 startups participated in the competition this year, with technologies focused on microgrids, drones, EVs and more. Duke Energy was the title sponsor for Initiate!

Learn more about POWERGEN International or plan your visit for 2023 in Orlando, Florida.

The post POWERGEN International highlights – Trailblazing energy innovation from Dallas appeared first on Power Engineering International.

When asked why this is such an important topic to cover at this time, Mel Montes, diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging business lead for Clarion Events, pointed out: “It’s important now because of where the world is now.”

What’s more, companies may be hiring a D&I champion and expecting them to pave the way to inclusion. However, to ensure the true diversity of background, experience, thought and ability a company needs, the entire organisation must commit to fostering the sense of belonging at all levels.

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These are just two important points driven home by speakers in the Powered by Diversity Luncheon at DISTRIBUTECH International and POWERGEN International. This programme, sponsored by S&C, featured a dynamic discussion of the situation, best practices, and the need to prioritise DE&I throughout the energy industry.

As Scott Trapp, vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion at Oncor Electric Delivery Company, succinctly put it, “We all really and truly want to belong.” Diversity helps build an organisation that has a variety of viewpoints best-suited to create innovative solutions and meet customers’ needs.

And beyond that, ensuring that sense of belonging is vital to current and future staffing needs across the industry. “Employee expectations of employers are changing,” pointed out Felicia Kohlenberger, chief human resources officer for S&C Electric Company. Employees aren’t necessarily looking at every job as a lifelong career, and they won’t hesitate to look elsewhere if they don’t feel they belong.

At the same time, employers are discovering that a diverse talent pool doesn’t necessarily lead to a hire, which Pamela Culpepper, co-founder of Have Her Back LLC referred to as “minding the gap.” Trapp echoed this sentiment in the practice companies may have of showing one “face” of the company during hiring fairs and to prospective employees, when in reality the company looks very different. He said organisations much “make sure you give a true representation of the company you are.”

Looking forward to future work on this important focus, S&C spoke of next year’s luncheon and announced they will be presenting a new Powered by Diversity award at DISTRIBUTECH International in 2023.

The post Ensuring true workplace diversity in the energy industry: It takes a village appeared first on Power Engineering International.

Perry’s message in support of fossil fuels and nuclear energy would have landed well with part of the audience, but others may have been surprised that he railed so hard against “so-called experts” while telling the audience that future generations would thank authorities if they were “truthful” with us about the realities of the net-zero targets.

Perry’s remarks contrasted with those by the current US Energy Secretary, Jennifer Grandholm, who was at pains to point out how much the current administration is supporting renewable energy and nuclear as well as the Energy Earth Shots aimed at boosting emerging technologies like long-duration energy storage.

Grandholm described the US energy grid as a great achievement of the 20^th century but said it “was not prepared for the risks and threats of the 21^st Century.” She said that greater robustness would be achieved by rolling out more home-grown renewables.

Watch: POWERGEN International 2022 Day 2 recap
POWERGEN International 2022 gets under way in Dallas

The keynote in Dallas began with some predications from Tom Deitrich, CEO of Itron, including the claim that we will see tremendous growth in the type of “edge intelligence” that will provide a fuller understanding of how the grid is functioning second by second and the central processing of this data will signal actions to be taken by grid operators. “The grid of the future will be very different – a living, breathing, agile thing,” said Deitrich.

Jim Greer, COO of Oncor, the largest electric delivery utility in Texas, paid tribute to the importance of the event taking place in Dallas this week, arguing that the technologies being discussed and innovations being revealed this week would likely become the staple technologies in ten years’ time.

Report by Nigel Blackaby, content director, Enlit Europe

The post Past and present US energy chiefs at odds over net-zero targets appeared first on Power Engineering International.

Giordano offers deeper insight into the topic as part of her keynote presentation during the upcoming DISTRIBUTECH/POWERGEN International events in Dallas, May 23-25. Giordano speaks at 1:00 pm on May 24.

We don’t have to look very hard to see headlines about companies changing their work-from-home policies. As workers got used to working from home offices over the past two years many found they enjoyed not going into an office every day.

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Citing benefits like improved work-life balance, equal attention in video meetings, decreased carbon footprints because they drive less, it’s clear to many companies that instilling at least some work-from-home options will be necessary to retain good workers.

But what does that mean for the power and electric utility industry? Many of the jobs that are done by those who help power our lives must be done onsite or in the field. How can utilities respond to the demands of new workers who want a better work experience?

That’s the topic of the DISTRIBUTECH/POWERGEN International keynote.

Giordano offered Power Grid International editor Jenn Runyon a sneak peak of her talk (below). Take a minute to watch and then join the showlater this month in Dallas to hear her in person.

The post Futurist to address the changing nature of work as DTECH and POWERGEN convene in Dallas appeared first on Power Engineering International.

We are extremely grateful that our partners in Dallas approached us with the dates available in May that could accommodate our events and allow us to deliver against our promise of providing value to all customers.

As you can imagine this decision did not come easily and we have put thoughtful consideration into our next steps. With the recent surge in COVID-19 cases, we have had open and honest discussions with our exhibitors, sponsors, speakers, and attendees over the past few days.

At this time many companies still have travel bans in place that are impacting their decision to travel to events. We respect those health and safety decisions being made and are confident that delaying the event until May will deliver an environment where people feel safe to reconnect face-to-face and business can be done.

Updated Event Schedule:

• Monday, May 23: Conference Sessions, Exhibit Hall Open, Opening Reception.
• Tuesday, May 24:  Conference Sessions, Exhibit Hall Open, Leadership Summit, Power Play Networking Reception.
• Wednesday, May 25: Conference Sessions, Exhibit Hall Open, Leadership Summit.

With these events being just around the corner, we recognize the impact and wanted to notify you as soon as possible so you could take care of planning on your end. For those registered and/or exhibiting at the event we have sent separate communications outlining additional information. We will continue to communicate with you directly and update any changes to the event program on our websites.

We hope that the new dates will work well with your schedule and you’ll be able to join us in May!

Thank you again for your patience and understanding. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at info@distributech.com.

Best, 
The DISTRIBUTECH International Team

The post POWERGEN International postponed until May 2022 appeared first on Power Engineering International.

For the first time, POWERGEN International will be co-located with DISTRIBUTECH International,à‚ the leading annual transmission and distribution event.à‚ 

“It’s clear that the future electricity generation mix is changing, but exactly how it will look is still unclear. Electricity industry executives are faced with the monumental task of balancing today’s energy needs while moving to tomorrow’s goal of net zero carbon emissions. Electric utilities and power generators must keep current assets running while integrating to the future generation mix of renewables, energy storage and more,” said Teresa Hansen, VP of Content for Clarion Energy. “This year’s Destination 2050 Conference Program will feature leaders from electric utilities and power generation companies who will present their strategies on turning aspirations into reality.”

The partnership with GHC will enhance the event’s coverage of Hydrogen and Decarbonization while the partnerships with CESA and EGSA will enhance coverage of energy storage and on-site power, all coming together to strengthen the generation mix to support the future of electricity. In addition, Epicenter will support the Initiate program, which fosters innovation from energy start-ups around the world. POWERGEN will offer member companies exposure to a broad range of energy education, including participation in the event’s content program through thought leadership, speaking opportunities and peer-to-peer discussion platforms. EGSA will also host a pavilion on the show floor featuring vendors and suppliers involved in on-site power.

“Power utilities are getting it from both sides and are under no illusion that the journey to a cleaner 2050 will be easy. They must ensure power resiliency and low cost and respond to both public and government demand for carbon reduction and more intermittent renewables on the system,” said Stephanie Kolodziej, Portfolio Director at Clarion Energy. “With support from CESA, EGSA, Epicenter and GHC, this year’s POWERGEN International will encompass blue-sky ideas from leaders from electric utilities and power generation companies on what the electricity industry will look like in the future and the best way to prepare for that future.”

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About California Energy Storage Alliance (CESA):

CESA is the definitive voice of energy storage in California. At 100+ members strong, CESA is committed to advancing the role of energy storage in the electric power sector. CESA is a 501c(6) membership-based advocacy group. CESA is technology and business model-neutral and is supported solely by the contributions and coordinated activities of its members. Learn more at cesa.org.

About Electrical Generating Systems Association (EGSA):

EGSA is the world’s largest organization exclusively dedicated to On-Site Power Generation. The Association is comprised of over 750 companiesࢀ”Manufacturers, Distributor/Dealers, Contractors/Integrators, Manufacturer’s Representatives, Consulting & Specifying Engineers, Service firms, End-Users and othersࢀ”throughout the U.S. and around the world that make, sell, distribute and use On-Site Power generation technology and equipment. Learn more at egsa.org.

About Epicenter:

Epicenter believes in Innovation with Impact. Epicenter is all about the community consisting of more than 4000 company builders, entrepreneurs, change makers and rising stars of the tech scene. The Epicenter ecosystem prosper and members connect through its many community events and activities. Learn more at weareepicenter.com.

About Green Hydrogen Coalition (GHC): 

Founded in 2019, the GHC is an educational non-profit organization. The GHC focuses on building top-down momentum for scalable green hydrogen projects that leverage multi-sector opportunities to simultaneously scale supply and demand. The work of the GHC is supported by annual charitable donations. Learn more at ghcoalition.org.

About POWERGEN International: 

POWERGEN International is the world’s largest power generation event and the only US face to face experience to discuss in-depth the challenges faced by all energy stakeholders in this ever-changing, complex industry. Visit powergen.com for more information.

Organized by Clarion Energy, which is part of Clarion Events. With over 30 events that cover the oil, gas, power and energy sectors, Clarion Energy is one of Clarion’s largest portfolios. Learn more here: clarion-energy.com

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