Solar generates more electricity than coal for 6 months in U.K.
In the six-month period from April to September, solar power generated more electricity than coal in the U.K. for the first time ever. During the period, coal generated 6,342 GWh, comprising 4.7 percent of total demand in the U.K., while solar generated 6,964 GWh, comprising 5.4 percent of demand. Solar generated more electricity than coal for the entire month of May, with coal generating zero percent several days in the month.
World’s largest power plants are hydroelectric facilities
Image courtesy of the EIA | Click to view larger
The world’s nine largest operating power plants are hydroelectric facilities, according to a report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. An estimated 62,500 power plants are operating around the world, with a total installed generating capacity of more than 6,000 gigawatts (GW) in 2015. The nine largest operating power plants in the world by capacity are all hydroelectric power plants. Four of the world’s ten largest power plants are located in China, and all four of those hydroelectric plants began operating in the past 13 years. The world’s largest dam, Three Gorges, is located on the Yangtze River and has a capacity of 22.5 GW. Hydroelectric power is the second-largest source of electricity in China after coal and accounted for 20 percent of the country’s total generation in 2015.
Watts Bar Unit 2 successfully completes tests
The nation’s first new nuclear generation in 20 years has officially entered commercial operation after the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Watts Bar Unit 2 successfully completed an extensive series of power ascension tests and reliably operated at full power for more than three weeks.
Watts Bar Unit 2, near Spring City, Tennessee, has already provided consumers across the Valley with more than 500 million kilowatt/hours of carbon-free energy during testing. It now joins six other operating TVA nuclear units to supply more than one third of the region’s generating capacity, and meeting the electric needs of more than 4.5 million homes.
