The POWERGEN International Conference Sessions consist of technical deep dives on sector critical topics, with each stream focusing on a vertical discipline. Presentations may include case studies and/or technical papers, providing subject matter experts and thought leaders with the opportunity to share knowledge and engage in meaningful discussions with counterparts. Sessions will cover topics that are important to personnel tasked with building, operating and maintaining power plants.
Select a conference track:
These sessions are vetted and curated by our advisory committee and in house content team for excellence and thought leadership. The content is presented in a variety of formats including: 60-90 minute technical workshops and seminars, panel discussions, presentations and case studies.
Climate change and the need to find cleaner, carbon free sources of energy are driving many generating decisions. The new administration has made it clear that carbon reduction and attacking climate change are high priorities. Power generators must include current and potentially new climate-led regulations and laws when planning for the future. This track will contain information on regulations, resource planning, carbon credits or taxes, net zero carbon emission goals, as well as carbon capture reduction technologies and solutions.
The generation sector uses many resources and technologies, but digital innovation and data analytics are impacting plant operations and asset management more than most. Machine-to-machine learning and interface, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and other digital technologies are transforming power plants, allowing them to continue to compete as new capacity is added to the generation mix. At the same time, this digital revolution creates issues, including cybersecurity and supply chain security threats. Learn how digitalization is changing the way power plants perform and are operated.
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Gas-fired, coal-fired, and nuclear power plants continue to be the workhorses of the U.S. electricity industry, accounting for about 80 percent of the country’s generating capacity. Although new fuels and new types of power plants are gaining ground, many of these conventional plants still have years of life left in them. To compete, however, conventional power plant owners and operators must manage their assets wisely and optimize operations and maintenance with the latest processes and solutions, as well as with a highly trained and adaptive workforce. This track will focus on gas and steam turbines, boilers, heat recovery steam generators, automation, operations and maintenance, supply chain management, uprates, repowering and plant retirement strategies.
Hydrogen as a fuel for electricity generation, as well as a mechanism for energy storage, is seen by some as the “holy grail” when it comes to decarbonizing and transforming the energy future. It can be used to store, move and deliver energy produced from natural gas, SMR and conventional nuclear power, biomass, wind and solar. New technologies and developments associated with hydrogen are emerging rapidly. Can hydrogen live up to the energy industry’s high expectations? This track will explore the latest trends and technologies on the hottest topic in electricity generation.
The future generation mix will look different than it does now, as utilities plot integrated resource plans to get to net-zero carbon in coming decades. Yet conventional, baseload power, such as gas, nuclear and maybe even some coal, will remain in the mix for some time to provide reliability, resiliency, and efficiency. The energy transformation is rolling forward with or without governmental insights, so utility and independent power generators are carefully planning how they will move into the future. Utility-scale renewables are favored but have challenges in terms of transmission and distribution grid integration. Distributed resources offer the potential for added resiliency to mission critical systems. The 2050 generation portfolios may be carbon free, but how do utilities and IPPs get there? Presenters in this track will discuss their strategies and plans for the future and share their thoughts and visions for the road ahead.
Many industry experts believe that utility-scale energy storage is the real game changer for the 21st Century power sector. The ability to store large amounts of power will help power producers fill the production gaps created by growing amounts of intermittent generation. This popular track will cover software solutions, battery challenges, safety, financing, and its grid balancing attributes.
The POWERGEN and DISTRIBUTECH Leadership Summit track, focused on Destination 2050, was created to provide a platform for energy sector leaders to engage in long-term strategic discussions, focusing on the next 30 years, with the objective of driving forward the energy transition. The Leadership Summit is designed to attract both the electricity generation and delivery audiences and will take place concurrently with both events’ well-established Conference Sessions and Knowledge Hubs, reinforcing the event’s wider content proposition. 