Retrospective report on Powergen 2009, Las Vegas

General Impressions:

Record attendance at over 18,000 attendees with 27 countries represented.  Attendees are there to spend 1 to 2 days walking the exhibits looking for services and new industry trends.  Compared to most conferences where the attendees are forced to walk through the exhibit hall to get lunch and breaks.

Lots of startup and commissioning opportunities. Startup, commissioning, and independent verification recognized as important and vital to project success. 

There was a separate Nuclear Power section which was much much smaller and appeared to be very lightly attended. 

State of the industry:

-Smart grid getting $138M grant for Vegas.  General trend for smart grid improvement.
-Energy efficiency is one of the keys for reducing energy use and CO2.  How can industry integrate commissioning and other services to help industry realize efficiency gains?
-Once International and US sets a “price” for CO2 emissions the stage will be set for carbon capture and for increased likelihood of Nuclear and renewables.
-Waxman Markey legislation passed house and is onto the Senate.  Huge implications for reductions and energy usage.
-A global pact between US, India, China, and others which agrees on a path forward will be required to bring carbon and emission limits to a reality.
-Natural gas plants have a 25% load factor.   Why only 25%?  Turns out it is utilization of those assets. -Biomass was mentioned as the next big project area.