Japan to compensate for dam water release into prefectural rivers
The land ministry will establish a system of compensating for losses stemming from water release from dams in rivers managed by prefectural governments as a pre-emptive measure to minimize damage from torrential rains, sources have said. The plan, similar to an existing one for water ...
The move would help reduce Japan's reliance on nonrenewable power sources.
First fires, now heat: Millions of Californians back in the dark with rolling blackouts
First, it was the prospect of wildfires that took down large swaths of California’s power grid. Now, it’s the worst heat wave in 70 years. Climate change is contributing to increasingly extreme weather in California. Less than a year ago, millions of people were plunged ...
Japan's industry ministry reviewing power line rules to bolster renewable energy
Under the current rules, distribution of electricity generated by coal-fired thermal power is prioritized and limited capacity makes adding renewable sources difficult.
Beginning of the end for megadam projects in China as solar and wind power rise
It’s the beginning of the end for the era of megadam building in China. China Three Gorges Corp. on Monday turned on the first set of generators at the massive Wudongde hydropower plant, deep in the mountains of Yunnan province. About 170 kilometers (106 miles) ...
Hitachi ends acquisition of ABB's power grids business and plans expansion
Electronics and machinery giant Hitachi Ltd. has completed the acquisition of a power grids company carved out from Swiss heavy machinery maker ABB Ltd. Hitachi said Wednesday it spent $6.85 billion, or ¥740 billion, to buy an 80.1 percent stake in the power grids company, ...
Tepco plans ¥2 trillion green power push by 2030
The spending plans are among the most ambitious from Japanese utilities, which lag global peers in shifting away from fossil fuels.
University of Tokyo team tests wave power generator in Kanagawa
A team of the University of Tokyo's Institute of Industrial Science and other organizations have begun testing a wave power generator at a fishing port in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture. The equipment can generate electricity efficiently as it uses not only incoming waves but those bouncing ...
Power-use patterns reveal secrets of world's new lockdown lifestyle
Life in lockdown means getting up late, staying up till midnight and slacking off in the afternoons. That’s what power market data show in Europe in the places where restrictions on activity have led to a widespread shift in daily routines of hundreds of millions ...
Sumitomo Mitsui and Mizuho to end lending for new coal-fired plants
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. said Thursday it would no longer lend to new coal-fired power plants from May 1, a day after peer Mizuho Financial Group Inc. said it would stop financing new power projects involving the fossil fuel. The policy change comes as ...
Faced with power shortfalls, demands for greener energy and drought threats to hydropower, a growing range of African nations are considering a shift to an unexpected power source — nuclear energy. South Africa has the continent's only commercial nuclear power plant. But according to the ...
Modi’s call to switch off lights en masse to prompt blackouts in India
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for Indians to switch off their lights Sunday evening for nine minutes and instead use candles to "challenge the darkness” of the coronavirus outbreak will mean blackouts for some citizens as utilities take steps to safeguard their equipment. Modi asked ...
