Archived Utility Notes
Published in 2013
Permanent URLHow to Make Demand Response Make Sense
by sarah battaglia
So you have decided to enroll your facility in a demand response program. You understand that your organization will be protecting the electric grid from blackouts and brownouts during times of high demand, and you are aware of the revenue your organization will earn from this program. The only thing left to do is to work with your demand response provider and develop a successful reduction strategy to implement during an emergency event. continued…
first published week of: 07/01/2013
Permanent URLHow wind and solar broke the world’s electricity markets
by giles parkinson
p>Late last year, RenewEconomy wrote an analysis entitled the energy markets are broken. We were pilloried by some for exaggeration and being overly dramatic. But we simply drew on insight from the experts, and now they are quite open about the problem: the world’s energy markets do need to be redesigned, otherwise they cannot cope with the impact of wind and solar.
The International Energy Agency, in its recent special update of progress on climate policies, noted that liberaliZed energy markets (such as Australia’s) should be able to encourage a “significant decarbonization” of the energy mix. The problem was that these markets – created to support incumbent, centralized fossil fuel generators, were not suited to deliver the sort of energy transformation that was needed to meet climate change targets.
Part of the problem is that the current “energy” markets are designed to allow base-load fossil fuel generation to trundle through at relatively low cost – but no environmental accounting. When demand rises, more expensive peaking plant generation is brought in, with prices rising for all generators. This has underpinned much of the revenues and profits for the incumbents.
(This problem is best illustrated in France, where the government actively encouraged households to consume more electricity to justify the massive investment in nuclear. Now that efficiency is becoming a focus as it approaches the time to replace that capacity, it is no longer looking like such a smart idea). continued…
first published week of: 07/08/2013
Permanent URLMany efforts to smooth out the variability of renewable energy sources — such as wind and solar power — have focused on batteries, which could fill gaps lasting hours or days.
But MIT’s Charles Forsberg has come up with a much more ambitious idea: He proposes marrying a nuclear powerplant with another energy system, which he argues could add up to much more than the sum of its parts. Forsberg, a research scientist in MIT’s Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, describes the proposals in a paper published in the November issue of the journal Energy Policy.
Now may be just the time for such new approaches, Forsberg says. “As long as you had inexpensive fossil fuels available for electricity demand, there was no reason to think about it,” he says. But now, with the need to address climate change, curb greenhouse gas emissions, and secure greater energy independence, creative new ideas are at a premium. continued…
first published week of: 11/11/2013
Permanent URLIEEE delivers five standards for Smart Grids
IEEE, the world's largest professional organization advancing technology for humanity, has announced updates to four standards and a new standards-development project that provide new communications and operational capabilities needed for smart grid worldwide. The new standards activities are among the latest smart grid contributions to come from the IEEE Standards Association(IEEE-SA), which has a portfolio of 100standards and standards in development pertaining to this vitally important industry.
"IEEE is continually updating its standards and developing new standards to address the needs of utilities around the world as they integrate new technologies and upgrade their systems to meet current and future operational and service objectives for smart grids," said BillAsh, strategic program manager, IEEESA."These latest IEEE standards activities underscore the importance for new standards to support the growth and evolution of the smart grid industry globally."
The latest IEEE smart grid standards include:
Details Here
first published week of: 01/14/2013
Permanent URLInformation on Safety Concerns with the Uranium Processing Facility
summary of gao report gao-14-79r
The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (Safety Board) has raised concerns with the National Nuclear Security Administration's (NNSA) plans to construct the Uranium Processing Facility (UPF), and NNSA has taken steps to address many of these concerns. Specifically:
- In 2009, NNSA--a separately organized agency within the Department of Energy (DOE)--decided to expedite the construction of the UPF by combining two major project milestones, deviating from the process established by DOE orders and standards for developing a key interim safety document, and instead developed alternative safety documentation. The interim safety document is to identify the potential accidents and hazards associated with the facility's operations and the controls employed to mitigate or prevent their impact. In 2010, the Safety Board, an independent executive branch agency that assesses safety conditions at DOE defense nuclear facilities, raised concerns about this approach, and a subsequent independent project review recommended that NNSA follow the safety document development process established by DOE orders and standards. NNSA then took action in 2011 to follow the established process, and Safety Board officials stated that NNSA's corrective actions addressed many of their concerns.
- As part of its ongoing oversight, in June 2013 the Safety Board had identified 15 specific safety concerns with the UPF's design, and NNSA has agreed to take action to address 14 of these concerns. Safety Board staff and NNSA officials agreed that none of the 15 concerns should prevent the UPF from reaching its next project management milestone in 2015 as scheduled. In addition, on August 26, 2013, the Safety Board sent NNSA a project letter that identified 12 additional specific safety concerns and NNSA officials said they are currently reviewing the Safety Board's letter and preparing a response.
- The Safety Board raised general concerns with NNSA's plans to defer the installation of some uranium processing capabilities into the UPF at a later date and after the UPF is operational. NNSA currently plans to install some uranium processing capabilities into the UPF in phases, after the building's exterior, support systems, and some processing capabilities have been completed. However, NNSA officials said that the agency does not plan to complete final design and safety work for the deferred capabilities until after the initial phase of the UPF is operational. Safety Board staff stated that this project execution strategy introduces safety-related risks that will challenge the project's ability to integrate safety into the design. In addition, Safety Board staff stated that performing a major modification to an operating nuclear facility can present safety issues if not carefully planned and executed. In response, NNSA officials have said that the UPF project team will need to conduct and document additional safety analyses to ensure that such modifications meet DOE's safety requirements.
continued…
first published week of: 10/28/2013
Permanent URLIs there hope for true smart grid interoperability? Experts respond
by smartgridnews.com
The smart grid industry has been slow to value and adopt true interoperability. By this stage in their evolution, industries such as networking, telecommunications and cable TV had multiple organizations and multiple events devoted to interoperability. Those industries grew much faster as a result, since interoperability unlocks markets and unleashes innovation.
By contrast, the smart grid sector has had only one lonely interoperability champion. And that only because of government funding. But now the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel (SGIP) has transitioned to the private sector.
The SGIP's theme is “accelerate, accelerate, accelerate.” A robust catalog of standards is the best tool to encourage grid modernization.
There is a universal need across the industry for applications from different manufacturers to be able to work with one another. But we don't have much visibility into the grid. This shows the need for more sensors and more control capabilities. continued…
first published week of: 09/30/2013
Permanent URLIsrael Announces Plans for 121 MW Solar Power Station in the Negev Desert
by josh marks
Israel is blessed with abundant sunshine and has long been a pioneer in solar energy. With construction starting in early 2014 on a 121 Megawatt solar power station, the country will be taking a big step in achieving its goal of producing 10 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. The Ashalim power plant will be located in the Negev desert near Kibbutz Ashalim south of the city of Be’er Sheva, and when it’s completed in 2016 it will be the biggest solar power station in Israel with enough capacity to power 40,000 homes. The new solar station is being developed by Megalim Solar Power — a joint venture between U.S.-based solar power company Brightsource Energy and French power and transport company Alstom. continued…
first published week of: 10/28/2013
Permanent URLit Just Got Easier for Businesses to Divorce their Utilities
by smart grid news
SolarCity has unveiled an energy storage system for businesses. The system includes software that determines when to charge and when to discharge so as to minimize the utility bill. They use batteries from sister company Tesla motors.
Although SolarCity has previously teamed batteries with rooftop solar, the new DemandLogic systems are meant for peak shaving. They will make the most sense in California, Massachusetts, Connecticut and other parts of the country where utilities apply “demand charges” during peak periods. SolarCity’s storage system minimizes the amount of electricity that organizations need from the grid during peak periods, reducing exposure to demand charges.
Unlike demand response programs, DemandLogic requires no change in operations or cutbacks in power use. The system is fully automated and, on its own, analyzes an organization’s energy use to design a charging and discharging cycle.
The systems are available with no upfront cost through 10-year service agreements. SolarCity promises businesses will save more on energy than they pay each month for the storage service. continued…
first published week of: 12/16/2013
Permanent URLIt’s All About the Infrastructure!
by michael a. marullo, editor in chief, utility horizons quarterly
Just as our inaugural issue was being launched last November, I had the opportunity to attend a unique kind of global infrastructure conference
The event is hosted annually by one of the world’s leading engineering software suppliers and was attended by company representatives and individuals from virtually every aspect of infrastructure design, engineering and development. This gathering is the epitome of infrastructure diversity with the award winners chosen from nominations submitted by more than 250 organizations in 39 countries.
…About halfway through the awards, I got to thinking about the bigger picture of where all of this infrastructure investment was going as it relates to automation and vice-versa. At that point, it suddenlycrystallized for me, and I wrote this note on the back of a napkin: “It’s all about Infrastructure!”
On a related note, for the past couple of years I’ve been preaching the theory that automation, as we’ve known it for the past four decades, is going to change dramatically in the next one. The essence of my theory goes like this: continued…
first published week of: 04/22/2013
Permanent URLJapan Atomic Power takes rare step of selling uranium to pay off loans
A Japanese nuclear power company has taken the rare step of selling some of its uranium, apparently to help repay loans amid its faltering business conditions, according to sources.
Japan Atomic Power Co. apparently needs to secure money to repay loans due in April amid uncertainty over when it can resume operating its three idled reactors.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. is considering taking similar action as it continues to face funding difficulties following the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 complex, the sources said.
Details Here
first published week of: 02/25/2013
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