Greater Gabbard Offshore Wind Farm celebrates its 10-year anniversary of generating clean energy on Wednesday 7 September. All 140 turbines of the joint venture between RWE Renewables (50%) and SSE Renewables (50%) have been operational since September 2012 and in the last 10 years, they generated enough renewable energy to power the equivalent of over 400,000 UK homes each year.  Reduce CO2 emissions Located in the North Sea, around 20km off the coast of Suffolk, the 504MW Greater Gabba...

In an opinion article published by the Financial Times this week, IEA Executive Editor - Fatih Birol rebuts three myths that are circulating about the current global energy crisis, stressing the importance of separating fact from fiction at this perilous time. first fallacy The first fallacy he addresses in the opinion article, which is also available to read in full on LinkedIn, is that Russia is winning the energy battle. Russia may have benefitted from spikes in oil and gas prices tri...

Two professors have called on businesses to invest in technological solutions to tackle their energy costs. ZPN Energy offers just those solutions. Energy optimization Prof David Bailey, of the Business Economics, University of Birmingham, and Prof Phil Tomlinson, Deputy Director of Centre for Governance, Regulation, and Industrial Strategy (CGR&IS), at the University of Bath, have said in an article that businesses need to look at technology as a means to tackl...

On August 15, 2022, the energy storage system of Zhejiang Xiaoshan Power Plant was successfully connected to the grid. This project is the first generation side energy storage project in Zhejiang Province. For the first time in China, a large-scale electrochemical energy storage power station was built independently and coordinated by the existing site of decommissioned generator sets. Energy storage system of Zhejiang Xiaoshan Power Plant The successful operation of the project will greatly...

International Energy Agency’s (IEA) contributions to Indonesia’s G20 Presidency include Net Zero Roadmap for Indonesia and new report on Security of Clean Energy Transitions. IEA Executive Director - Fatih Birol addressed energy ministers from the world’s biggest economies at the G20 Energy Transitions Ministerial Meeting in Bali, Indonesia, where he urged them to prioritize actions to ensure secure, affordable and sustainable energy, in response to the crisis the world curren...

Indonesia has a viable path to reaching its target of net zero emissions by 2060, bringing major benefits to its citizens in the process such as more secure and affordable energy supplies, according to a new IEA report. But key policy reforms and international support will be crucial to the success of the clean energy transition in the world’s fourth most populous country as it enters a new phase of its economic development. IEA’s Energy Sector Roadmap The IEA’s Energy Secto...

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...

Volta Trucks, the pioneering and disruptive full-electric commercial vehicle manufacturer and services provider, has completed a rigorous program of hot weather testing of its full-electric 16-ton Volta Zero. Taking place over six weeks at the purpose-built Nardo Technical Center in Southern Italy, the hot weather testing program was designed to ensure that the Volta Zero will deliver outstanding levels of reliability and durability when series production of customer specification vehicles star...

Volta Trucks, the disruptive full-electric commercial vehicle manufacturer and services provider, and DB Schenker, one of the world’s major logistics service providers and the pioneer in European land transport, have together completed the first test phase of the full-electric Volta Zero in Europe. For the first time, a Design Verification prototype - Volta Zero operated on roads and in real distribution environments in Paris. Volta Zero In 2021, both companies confirmed an intense part...

Volta Trucks, the disruptive full-electric commercial vehicle manufacturer and services provider, has confirmed that the first Volta Zero vehicle has been completed at the company’s contract manufacturing facility in Steyr, Austria. Volta Zero vehicle The landmark vehicle, the first of a series of second-generation ‘Production Verification’ prototypes, will form part of a Pilot Fleet of trucks. These will be loaned to customers for extended periods in late 2022 and early 202...

Volta Trucks, the disruptive full-electric commercial vehicle manufacturer and services provider, has appointed Adam Chassin as its Chief Commercial Officer with immediate effect. Having received nearly €300 million of investment funding to date, and with the first prototype purpose-built full-electric medium-duty trucks for last-mile delivery now being tested by customers, Volta Trucks is poised to supercharge its commercial growth across Europe.  Extensive industry experience ...

South Africa's rapid rooftop solar adoption, with households and businesses installing over 5,400 MW in just a year, has eased pressure on the national grid - leading to the longest load shedding break since January 2022. However, this surge has raised safety concerns, with firefighters reporting that one in six fires they respond to daily involves solar installations. Rooftop solar installations Dr. Andrew Dickson, Engineering Executive at CBI-electric: low voltage, explains the culprits beh...

Though it may go out the window with the next PM appointed, the current UK government is planning to reform the way energy is sold on the wholesale markets, so cheaper renewable energy prices get passed onto consumers. This could well bring about new usage patterns across the board that are similar to those used by people using micro-generation and storage at home. The government consultation announced last week is intended to help tackle the cost of living crisis by passing on the lower c...

RWE Offshore Wind Poland, a subsidiary of RWE Renewables, has chosen UL Solutions, an experienced certifier for its F.E.W. Baltic II offshore wind farm. UL Solutions will certify the design fundamentals of the 350 MW project, which will be built in the Polish Baltic Sea about 55 kilometers from the shore, covering an area of 41 square kilometers, at a water depth of 30–50 meters. Ongoing local content strategy Lukas Prietz, Project Director of the F.E.W. Baltic II Wind Farm Project at...

Major economies sharply increased support for the production and consumption of coal, oil and natural gas, with many countries struggling to balance longstanding pledges to phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies with efforts to protect households from surging energy prices, according to analysis released today by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the International Energy Agency. New OECD and IEA data show that overall government support for fossil fuels in 51 c...

Data is at the heart of modern railway infrastructure. Both freight and passenger trains require robust communications to transfer location data between rolling stock systems, between trains, and between trains and control centers. Furthermore, modern passenger trains are equipped with convenience and entertainment functions such as internet access, information display screens, charging sockets, and vending machines. Wireless standards Due to the variety of these use cases, railway networks u...

Two fast-growing companies are joining forces to accelerate the mobility transition: gridX, the smart grid company recently acquired by E.ON, announced a collaboration with Charge Construct, a holistic charging infrastructure provider based in Ingolstadt, Germany. With the dynamic load management (DLM) solution based on gridX technology, Charge Construct aims to become one of the leading full-service providers for charging infrastructure in Germany and the DACH region. gridX and Charge Constru...

“With the acquisition of Alpha Solar, we are expanding our presence in Poland, one of our focus markets, and are taking a leading market position in solar. The experienced development team joining RWE and the attractive project pipeline are a perfect match with our existing business. RWE is already one of the world's leading renewable energy companies and this transaction underlines our ambition to grow rapidly and sustainably,” said Markus Krebber, CEO of RWE AG. European renewable...

Panasonic Corporation of North America announced a new warranty for customers who purchase a complete solar system consisting of Panasonic solar panels and its EverVolt® 2.0 Energy Storage System (ESS), the newest innovation in its Total Home Energy Solutions portfolio. EverVolt AllGuard All System Warranty  The EverVolt AllGuard All System Warranty is the first warranty from Panasonic to bundle protection for the EverVolt 2.0 ESS with coverage of a solar panel system. It offers...

Even after a legacy of supporting technologies, energy harvesting (the ability to scavenge energy from any source that physics affords us) has only graduated from emerging to emerging. This can be attributed to the drastic reduction in system power budgets resulting from Moore’s law and MEMS.  Can users imagine an entire sensor network, processor, and wireless communication (including a display!) with a system power budget of only a few milliwatts? Users no longer have to. Waste vs....

Is there a growing need to expand the role of public Charge Point Operators (CPO), beyond the obvious? Many analysts believe that as much as 80% of EV charging will be done at home, meaning that only 20% of EV charging will be accessible to corporate/enterprise chargers and/or public chargers. This begs the question, what proportion of that 20% can a single CPO (Charge Point Operator) target, and is that going to be enough to sustain the huge investments that the CPO business model demands? Or...

On July 15, 2022, the ± 360MVar Static Var Compensation (SVC) system supplied by NR, successfully completed various system tests and 72-hour trial operation in the 750kV Shazhou substation in Dunhuang, Gansu Province, and was officially put into operation. The SVC phase II project completed this time, together with the SVC phase I supplied by NR and the controllable shunt reactance(CSR), forms the Flexible AC Transmission Systems (FACTS) with the largest single station regulation capacit...

Is there a growing need to expand the role of public Charge Point Operators (CPO), beyond the obvious? Many analysts believe that as much as 80% of EV charging will be done at home, meaning that only 20% of EV charging will be accessible to corporate/enterprise chargers and/or public chargers. This begs the question, what proportion of that 20% can a single CPO (Charge Point Operator) target, and is that going to be enough to sustain the huge investments that the CPO business model demands? Or...

Household electricity prices are rising ever higher, and more and more end customers are investing in PV systems for self-generation. This means that gigawatts of photovoltaic and battery capacity will be installed in the coming months and years. However, these assets will most likely never make a contribution to the German power system, as their participation in wholesale and system service markets is blocked by regulation. Increased generation and opportunity Costs for balancing power and r...

In December 2021, envelio launched a large-scale rollout of the Intelligent Grid Platform for the Estonian distribution grid operator Elektrilevi. In collaboration with the grid management service provider Enefit Connect OÜ, various grid planning processes are digitized using the Intelligent Grid Platform. Over the course of the project, the entirety of Elektrilevi's medium voltage and low voltage grid (spanning 95 % of Estonia's surface area) is processed as a digital twin in the Intelli...

On July 1, 2022, the Baihetan Jiangsu ±800kV HVDC transmission project (hereinafter referred to as ‘Baijiang project’) of State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) was completed and put into operation. Clean hydropower from Baihetan Hydropower Station will be delivered to Jiangsu continuously, providing a strong guarantee for the power supply of East China Power Grid during the ‘peak summer’ period. Baihetan Hydropower Station The total length of the line is 2080 k...

EU member states have agreed that from 2035 onward, only new cars and vans with zero CO2 emissions will be permitted. Even without this new goal, 65 million electric vehicles (EVs) were expected to be on European roads by 2030, a figure that will double by 2035. If they stick to the EU Commission’s recommendation of having one charging point for every 10 electric cars, a phenomenal ramp-up in EV charging stations is needed to be able to charge these vehicles. With exponentially more...

In recent years, CORE has invested in technologies that continue to help us operate more efficiently, reduce their costs and minimize financial impacts to theur members. Those investments include: They wrapped up installation of Advanced Metering Infrastructure, which replaced more than 165,000 meters throughout their system. Last year CORE avoided at least 50,000 “truck rolls” thanks to AMI. The new meters also helps them identify and more quickly address voltage and other issue...

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a buzzword associated with everything nowadays, from condition-monitoring systems for preventive maintenance to smart, self-powered labels for tracking assets including all commercial and industrial widgets. This piece of content is a concerted effort to separate the wheat from the chaff by identifying terminology and application opportunities to focus on the power perspective of IoT and help understand how a power-centric mindset can be applied at various levels...

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...