Electrical Industry News for June 2024

Due to unprecedented increases in international energy market prices and their impact on wholesale gas prices, Electric Ireland on 1st September 2022 has announced plans to increase residential electricity bills by 26.7 percent and gas bills by 37.5 percent with effect from 1st October 2022. The increases equate to €37.20 per month on the average residential electricity bill and €42.99 per month on the average residential gas bill, based on the estimated annual bill as defined by the...

Electric Ireland Rewards is a way of saying thank users to customers. Electric Ireland is excited to announce it is re-launching the Rewards program with new and exclusive offers users can experience.  With the launch, customers will be able to enjoy:  Always on rewards – Offers that are always available. Green partner of the month – See which green partner they have picked for this month to showcase sustainability.  Seasonal offers – Limited-time offer...

If users invested in infrastructure to make the home fully electric, well done! They have taken a major step in reducing carbon emissions which means a greener planet for us all.   Making the switch to an all-electric home means users may have noticed an increase in the electricity bill. This is completely normal. Having electricity as the sole energy source will naturally increase the bill. But Electric Ireland is here to help customers take control of their energy usage b...

Decarbonization goals in the energy sector are causing a rapid surge in electricity demand. In the EU, demand will increase, on average, by 1.8% each year over the next decade. electric cars A whopping 40-50 million heat pumps and 50-70 million electric cars are expected to be added to the grid within that time frame. This makes the modernization and expansion of the electricity distribution grid one of the biggest challenges the EU faces. According to Eurelectric, it’s...

According to a survey by Delta-EE of over 1,000 Europeans, self-consumption optimization is the most attractive value stream in the Home Energy Management (HEM) field for end users. And it will experience the highest growth in the next five years. The study also showed that annual sales in the HEM and appliance optimization markets in Europe will grow by 6-fold this decade and be implemented in 10 million homes by 2030. What are the driving factors behind this? Well, 90% of respondents...

In 2021, Russia provided Germany with 55% of its natural gas imports, 35% of its oil imports and 50% of its hard coal imports. The war in Ukraine is causing a monumental shift in the country’s energy landscape, with increasing pressure to become independent of these fossil fuel imports. Gas is a key component for many industrial processes  – it keeps half of Germany’s 41.5 million households warm and accounted for 15.3% of German electricity generation last year...

In the eyes of software engineer Robin Meindersma, software shouldn’t be seen as an execution task, but rather a creative process. Successful software can, after all, best be built with the right culture and the right people—not code monkeys. To Robin’s frustration, however, this view is not yet widely held across the industry. Here is his journey of how he discovered and developed a passion for agile software development, and found an employer that aligns with his views. Con...

Climate change is the greatest challenge facing this and future generations. According to the UN, it is the 'defining crisis of our time'. It is changing the environment, economies, and people’s lives in many different ways across the world. April 22, 2022, marks Earth Day, a day to show support for environmental protection. What is Earth Day? Earth Day started in 1970, bringing together separate environmentalist groups across America against pollution, deforestation, and animal extinct...

Uniting the previously separated sectors of mobility and energy through the electrification of transport is an exciting yet daunting task. Electric vehicle grid integration – interconnecting electric cars with the power grid – presents many challenges, but also many opportunities for enabling smarter, more holistic energy management in homes, businesses and across entire cities. Network voltage deviations There will be 130 million EVs on European roads by 2035. A study by Eur...

Everyone wants to play their part in reducing carbon emissions to help protect the planet. Reducing energy in the home is a great way to start. Collectively, if everyone works together to make small changes, this will not only have a positive impact on the environment but also energy bills. Electric Ireland has put together energy-saving tips in the home that are easy to follow. Lighting  Most users are aware that LED lighting is available, but did they know that LED lightbulbs are 85% m...

Electric Ireland will support customers on their low carbon journey with the Microgeneration Support Scheme, as announced by the Irish Government on December 21, 2021. Microgeneration, such as solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, enables customers to generate their own renewable energy to reduce their carbon footprint, as well as reduce electricity bills. Electric Ireland will be inviting customers to sign up to the Electric Ireland Micro-Generation Support Scheme in 2022, with more details being an...

Since the launch of Electric Ireland’s Home Electric+ smart meter price plans, they've helped thousands of customers see their electricity in a whole new light. Their Home Electric+ price plans will help customers to get the most out of everything that their smart meter has to offer. These smart meters are packed with new features designed to help customers manage their energy and save on bills like never before.  Using real-time monitors for energy use and wireless communication with Ele...

In 2021, gridX realized, probably more than in any year before it, that the energy industry is facing huge disruption, but also enormous opportunities. To survive in the dramatically changing landscape, stakeholders in the industry (and across many intertwined industries) have to shift focus, adapt business models, and adopt new technologies. No challenge, however, is greater than the need to decarbonize. Three-quarters of global emissions The energy industry has undergone more change in the...

If rising prices for oil and gas, combined with COP26 sounding the “death knell for carbon” weren’t already enough for fossil-fuel-based companies, a new survey has found that 56% of those working in oil and gas want to pursue jobs in renewable energy in the coming years.  Energy companies such as Shell, BP and a range of smaller firms cut tens of thousands of jobs in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic as they tightened budgets. Now, even as energy demand recovers, many co...

There are three different options when it comes to load management. These vary in complexity and bring different costs and benefits.  Unmanaged One could argue that this option should not even make the list but as it is a common setup gridX has included it: no management. Here, the charging infrastructure is always given the load it requests. This means all charging points can charge with full power at all times. Sounds great? Well, there's a catch. There is no overload protection so hig...

Greta Thunberg’s summary of COP26 was rather short and to the point: 'blah, blah, blah'. Beyond the empty words and promises, they try to dig a little deeper to see what was achieved at the latest Conference of the Parties and where the biggest areas for improvement lie. The 15-day Glasgow climate change summit brought together 40,000 government representatives, negotiators, businesses and citizens, with the aim of ramping up international efforts to tackle global warming. It was dubbed t...

As the adoption of electric cars proliferates throughout Europe, electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions are entering the next phase of development. Beyond building a widespread network of charging stations, and ensuring they are supplied with green energy, ongoing innovation in the area of smart charging solutions is vital to alleviate persistent concerns and truly advance the mobility transition.  EV Readiness Client Survey In Germany, new EV registrations have increased by a factor o...

This year, the winter 2021/22 season opened with anything but a warm welcome: record high gas prices, increased demand, extreme weather events and unplanned outages are just a few of the elements that will categorize the coming cold season. They may not have dragons or nine noble families fighting for the iron throne, but, ladies and gentleman, there is no doubt that winter is coming. Gas market chaos has driven prices 280% higher than usual this year. On October 5 Europe’s benchmark nat...

Digitalization is crucial for the renewable energy transition. Yet it also arouses a number of challenges for establishing, and maintaining, secure power systems. To power a city the size of Hamburg, one single coal power plant suffices – with renewables, more than 500 wind turbines are required. More dynamic challenges Connected systems are needed to enhance flexibility in real time and provide incentives This growing number of producers, which also tend to be more intermittent, make...

Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) is the key to smooth communication between an Electric Vehicle Charging Station (EVCS) and the Charging Station Management System (CSMS). They deep dive into the importance of protocols and promoting open standards. There is no shortage of acronyms in energy and mobility, so they certainly don’t blame anyone for mixing up with the multitude of terms. OCPP is a communication protocol that facilitates the exchange of information between EV chargers and thei...

By doing digital simulations of a smart district, the team determined that using an energy management system based on Xenon could limit peaks by up to 34% and reduce costs by up to 7%. SmartQuart is the first real laboratory of the energy transition in Germany. Three separate energy-optimized quarters or smart districts will be interconnected digitally via a single Smart-Hub with a multi-energy design, meaning they will incorporate heat, electricity and hydrogen. Through a consortium of 11 par...

The concept could not be simpler: they have something the neighbor needs. Company sells it to them and they are both better off. While simple, this concept was, up until recently, foreign to the energy sector. The options were to either consume their own energy or feed it into the grid. So-called energy communities could bring the revolution that is needed to normalize sharing in energy. In theory, an energy community is a collective of participants that are energy consumers and/or producers. I...

Electric vehicles (EVs) are highly effective at reducing carbon emissions for transportation purposes. In fact, a recent study from the International Council on Clean Transportation found that the lifecycle emissions of a compact electric car are almost 70% lower than its gasoline-powered counterpart, a figure that should climb to nearly 80% by 2030 due to a constantly improving electricity mix. Beyond this, however, electric cars also hold a lot of potential as bidirectional EVs by e...

When it comes to enabling the energy transition, one of the first major challenges was establishing the necessary incentives to increase the capacity for renewable energy. Although this is far from over, the increasing penetration of renewable energy is on the right path and has achieved a steady level of momentum.  photovoltaic capacity In Germany, for example, the Renewable Energy Act (EEG) stipulates that photovoltaic capacity should almost double from 52GW in 2021 to 100GW by 2...

When talking about the transition of global energy markets towards a more sustainable and decarbonized value chain, sector coupling has become the new buzzword. In general, it refers to the intertwining of traditionally separated energy sectors.  But the term has also been increasingly adopted as a synonym for the continuing electrification of fossil-fuel-reliant energy market segments. While this is clearly a prerequisite for achieving a carbon-neutral power supply, the challenges must st...

The energy industry is in a period of drastic change. To become climate neutral by 2050, the energy sector must undergo a massive shift by switching to more sustainable renewable energy sources and furthering electrification.  On top of the need to decarbonize, the industry is also becoming increasingly decentralized as a greater number of diverse energy sources interact, bi-directional power flows become standard and renewable energy is generated closer to where it is used. energy-consum...

At Electric Ireland, they understand these are difficult times for their customers. One of their most frequently asked questions from customers is how to know if their bill is accurate.  There are supports in place to help with understanding energy bills and ensuring they are accurate. Most of these involve submitting own meter reading, and Electric Ireland have made it simpler than ever to submit their read in a way that suits them best. Why is there a need to submit meter reading? If t...

Time-of-use (ToU) tariffs have been around for decades. Originally introduced to incentivize energy consumption at night to level demand, they have recently experienced a boost in popularity. They allow energy providers to shift demand and shave peaks while enabling consumers to save on their energy bill. "ToU tariffs are time-varying tariffs that incentivize load adjustment, either manual or automated. This allows customers to save on energy expenses while benefiting the system. Demand-side fl...

Sustainability. Energy. Technology. Rather than perceiving these as three distinct fields – as traditional energy systems often do – they must be seen as interwoven and interdependent. These outdated systems based on fossil fuels and linear value chains are no longer sufficient in dealing with the monumental threat of climate change. The energy industry therefore requires a mindset shift to embrace more innovative and holistic approaches. global greenhouse gas emissions The...

In cooperation with E.ON and the University of Duisburg Essen, the smart grid company gridX has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) system that optimizes charging processes in conjunction with dynamic load management based on historical charging data, energy quantities, and vehicle idle times. gridX already equipped an office location of the Essen-based E.ON Group with dynamic load management last year, which is now being taken to the next level with the help of artificial intelligence....