Tag Archives: Utilities

Imagining the Supergrid: HVDC Loops for High Penetration of Renewable Energy | The Energy Collective

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The piecemeal way that the grid is being reinforced today is not compatible with a future supergrid incorporating renewable energy sources. This post examines an alternative layout for new HVDC connections for a future supergrid.

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

The case for a supergrid is very sensibly made by several organizations, …

GW must be transmitted thousands of km) so that the aggregate reliability of wind and solar are greatly improved, because generators in different weather regions can share capacity.

Since weather systems are typically ~ 2500 km (~1500 miles) across, the supergrid does not begin to fulfill its potential until it is quite large, after many billions of dollars have been invested.

This factor is very much holding up practical movement towards a supergrid, and what we are currently getting instead is a patchwork of transmission upgrades that are economically inefficient point-to-point connections that will not later fit in as components of a future supergrid. …

See on theenergycollective.com

Alliance Pipeline partners with GE to turn waste heat into energy

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Whitecourt project is a first for the Calgary-based pipeline company

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

 The Whitecourt Recovered Energy Project captures exhaust heat from Alliance’s compressor stations northwest of Edmonton. The heat is transferred into a closed loop system and powers one of three 40,000-horsepower gas turbines at the site. The power system creates 14 megawatts of baseload electricity. It is expected to be tied into the provincial power grid in May 2013.

See on www.albertaoilmagazine.com

Waste Heat to Energy Firm to Buy Landfill for $9m – Waste Management World

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Largo, Florida based GDT Tek, a specialist in the use of the use of the Organic Rankin Cycle principal to generate electricity has entered into an agreement in principal to purchase 100% of a landfill gas to energy company.

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

According to the company its system has been proven through a long-term five year installation at a San Jose, California landfill, where waste heat captured from the generator’s engine exhaust and cooling systems is used to generate electricity which is then sold to the grid.

“This acquisition once completed will allow GDT Tek to install our Phoenix units at the landfill location and increase revenue by up to 20%,” explained Bo Linton, President of GDT Tek.

See on www.waste-management-world.com

Altairnano Lithium Titanate Energy Storage System Commissioned at Vestas Wind Farm

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Altair Nanotechnologies, Inc. has commissioned a 1.2 megawatt ALTI-ESS lithium-titanate battery system at a Danish wind farm supplied by Vestas Wind Systems A/S , a global leader in wind power. The demonstration …

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

For Altairnano, entering Vestas’ demonstration program is an opportunity to spotlight its energy storage solutions and demonstrate the ALTI-ESS’s superior power, cycle life, and system performance. Altairnano recognizes the global importance of renewable energy and the value that advanced energy storage can supply to companies like Vestas.

“Lithium titanate-based energy storage can contribute significantly to the integration of wind power, especially in the area of power system stabilization,” said Alexander Lee, chief executive officer of Altairnano. “We are confident that our work with Vestas will further validate the benefits of energy storage for wind power operators and utilities.”

See on finance.yahoo.com

The Most Important Man in Energy Storage? Try Archimedes – Forbes

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A growing number of energy storage start-ups are promoting the idea that the most economical, most expedient ways to store power revolves around harnessing the four elements of the ancient world: earth, air, water and fire.

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

Energy Cache, for instance, is developing a system that resembles a ski lift for gravel. Gravel is ferried uphill during the day by a series of buckets, and then dropped during peak power hours. The system essentially provides the drop in elevation nature left out.

An Energy Cache system could be erected at a large number of abandoned mining sites, where there is plenty of gravel and an existing grid connection,  […] Along with the physics, the company is analyzing algorithms to ensure smooth power deliver on demand for the power grid. …

See on www.forbes.com

GTM Research Names Top 150 Vendors in Smart Grid Across 12 Market Segments : Greentech Media

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The Networked Grid 150 report is the strategic compendium on the vendor and technology landscape for today’s smart grid utility.

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

… the report ranks the top vendors within each of the following market segments: Advanced Metering Infrastructure, Building Area Networks, Consulting & Integration, Demand Response, Electric Vehicle Infrastructure, Energy Storage, Field Area Networks, Home Area Networks, Networking & Management, Soft Grid, Security, Transmission & Distribution, and Wide Area Network Communications.

See on www.greentechmedia.com

Boulder’s Smart Grid Leaves Citizens in the Dark : Greentech Media

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Utilities have to engage with consumers and businesses to make the smart grid work.

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

“I had a smart meter, but I didn’t even know I had a smart meter,” said Dick.

Dick and a team of CU engineers are working on exactly this problem: how to inform people about their electricity use. The team is creating an online system called “EMPIRE” — EMpowering People In Reducing Energy consumption.  […]

Huston said that because Boulder’s smart grid was one of the first in the country, some of the technologies it used, such as fiber optic communication technology, turned out to be less ideal than hoped. The new two-way communication technology, installing smart meters for less than a quarter of the population and other features almost doubled the project’s cost within a year after it began. As of October 2012, the total costs were pushing $45 million.

See on www.greentechmedia.com

Breakthrough in energy storage

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Engineers have developed a redox flow battery that reaches stack power up to 25 kW with a cell size of 0.5 square meters – eight times larger than the previous A4-sized systems.

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

A new design has allowed them to produce stacks up to 0.5 square meters in size. This is eight times larger than the cells in previous systems, and results in power up to 25 kW. The prototype has an efficiency of up to 80 percent, and can take a load of up to 500 amps of current.

See on www.pacetoday.com.au

New Zero-Down, No-Risk Energy Efficiency Investment Fund Aims To Unlock $150 Billion In Savings

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Double your money, create more than 1 million jobs and make a big dent in US carbon and greenhouse gas emissions – that’s what could be realized if the US were to double energy productivity by 2030, according to the Alliance Commission on National…

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

Looking to spur energy-efficiency gains across the US, CalCEF and Metrus Energy on March 13 launched a new financial intermediary service that could unlock the doors to a projected $150 billion in energy-efficiency savings by providing “otherwise hard-to-get financing for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).”

Added CalCEF managing director Paul Frankel:  “The Efficiency Resource Fund is a trail-blazing investment vehicle that taps a massive, underserved market opportunity.  We’re enabling a whole class of projects that would otherwise not be completed, while at the same time delivering not just savings for customers but also attractive returns for impact investors and generating capacity for utilities.”

See on cleantechnica.com

Stanford researchers map out an alternative energy future for New York

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A study, co-authored by Stanford researcher Mark Z. Jacobson, outlines a path to statewide renewable energy conversion, and away from natural gas and imported fuel.

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

The study is the first to develop a plan to fulfill all of a state’s transportation, electric power, industry, and heating and cooling energy needs with renewable energy, and to calculate the number of new devices and jobs created, amount of land and ocean areas required, and policies needed for such an infrastructure change. It also provides new calculations of air pollution mortality and morbidity impacts and costs based on multiple years of air quality data.

To ensure grid reliability, the plan outlines several methods to match renewable energy supply with demand and to smooth out the variability of WWS resources. These include a grid management system to shift times of demand to better match with timing of power supply, and “over-sizing” peak generation capacity to minimize times when available power is less than demand.

The study’s authors are developing similar plans for other states, including California and Washington. They took no funding from any interest group, company or government agency for this study.

See on news.stanford.edu