Alcatel-Lucent helping energy suppliers in supply chain management

Alcatel-Lucent is working with a number of major energy suppliers on delivering smart grids.

The focus is on networks that provide enhanced visibility of energy flows, more granular control of energy, pro-active real-time monitoring and enabling rapid and accurate reaction to disruption of supply when it occurs.

According to the company, the move to a distributed generation of supply was being encouraged by increased regulatory emphasis for renewable energy. Changing patterns in energy demand also are fostering the movement, it pointed out.

It added that this is happening against a background of less flexible infrastructure, in an industry where pipelines and supply networks lifecycles are measured in decades, while rapid changes in communications and IT are happening in months.

"Smart grids, or intelligent energy networks, are all about maximising asset efficiencies and control right down to the individual consumer. The goal is to increase efficient energy use and better manage supply to meet demand," said Francois Loubry, VP of Energy in Alcatel-Lucent's Services business.

It is also focusing research and development resources into new methods of energy distribution that address the major environmental issues facing the world.

Tampa Electric launches Demand Response programme for commercial customers

Tampa Electric has received approval from Florida Public Service Commission (FPSC) to expand its Energy Planner pilot programme to all new qualified customers.

According to the company, Energy Planner allows customers to make energy consumption decisions based on near real-time energy prices by using a programmable "smart" thermostat provided by the company at no charge. Customers participating in the pilot study saved an average of one month's worth of electricity over the course of a year.

In all, Tampa Electric has added 12 new energy efficiency programmes to its roster; the company also made improvements to several longtime programmes.

Other new programmes include a Low Income programme, where qualified customers can receive a number of items geared toward increasing their home's energy efficiency.

The company has also launched a new programme for commercial customers. Known as Demand Response, the programme will pay incentives to participating commercial customers when they conserve energy at times of peak demand.

Tampa Electric has also filed a revised fuel forecast with the FPSC. Due to lower projections for 2008 and 2009 natural gas prices and the company's team members' ongoing efforts to maximise the availability of its coal-fired generating units, the bill for a residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity is now projected to be almost $11 less than originally expected.

The company now expects that it will be $133 million under-recovered by year-end, compared with its original September filing projection of $209 million. The company did not seek a surcharge this year to address the under-recovery. Instead, it intends to address it through its 2009 fuel charge.

Starting in January 2009, the bill for a 1,000-kWh per month residential customer would be $128.44, compared with the original projection of $139.25. This does not reflect the company's recently announced plans to request an increase to its base rates and service charges. If approved, the base rate increase would result in an additional increase of $10, effective in May 2009.

Beacon Power tests its first megawatt of flywheel energy storage

Beacon Power Corporation has built and tested an integrated matrix of ten high-power flywheels that operated together to absorb and supply a full megawatt of electricity.

The system, located in Beacon's Tyngsboro Mass. headquarters, will be the first of up to five megawatts of flywheel-based regulation capability that will be produced this year and commercially deployed to generate revenues from the provision of regulation services.

Until now, Beacon had been building and running individual flywheels in preparation for its first full megawatt implementation. Based on internal testing of an integrated matrix of ten flywheels, the company says its one-megawatt Smart Energy Matrix can ramp up and down to absorb and supply a full megawatt of power.

Bill Capp, president and CEO, Beacon Power said, "We've proven that a matrix of our Smart Energy 25 flywheels, together with associated electronics, software and other components, can store and release a megawatt of electricity."

Beacon will begin system testing in conjunction with ISO New England, during which time the flywheel matrix will respond to actual ISO test signals to absorb and supply power. This plan will allow the company to meet its schedule to interconnect live to the grid and to begin performing frequency regulation services under an ISO New England Alternative Technologies Pilot Program scheduled to start on November 18th.

The ISO New England Alternative Technologies Pilot Program, which was announced last month, will provide revenue for regulation services until permanent market rules have been developed. This process is expected to take approximately 18 months.

DOE to develop solar power storage and heat transfer projects

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced 15 new projects, for up to approximately $67.6 million, to facilitate the development of lower-cost energy storage for concentrating solar power technology.

These projects support President Bush's Solar America Initiative, which aims to make solar energy cost-competitive with conventional forms of electricity by 2015.

Selected projects are expected to promote DOE's goal of reducing the cost of CSP electricity from 13-16 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) today with no storage to 8-11 cents/kWh with six hours of storage by 2015, and to less than seven cents/kWh with 12-17 hours of storage by 2020.

The department shared selections for negotiations of award under the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), Advanced Heat Transfer Fluids and Novel Thermal Storage Concepts for Concentrating Solar Power Generation.

DOE Acting Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy John Mizroch said, "These projects will not only spur innovation in concentrating solar power technology, but they will help meet the President's goal of making clean and renewable solar power commercially viable by 2015."

Proposals were selected from the following categories: Advanced heat transfer fluids research and development (R&D); Thermal energy storage R&D; and, Thermal energy storage near-term demonstration.

For more information, click here: http://www.energy.gov/news/6562.htm

Assessing the potential of nanoscopic meadows in driving electric cars

A report has highlighted that nanoscale meadows of grass and flowers could hold the key to increasing the amount of energy that can be stored in ultracapacitors, devices tipped to replace batteries in high-demand applications like electric cars.

The approach adopoted by Hao Zhang at the Research Institute of Chemical Defence in Beijing, China, and colleagues at Peking University is as follows: It is being said that this purpose can be served by creating nanoscale meadows of fuzzy flowers of manganese oxide (MnO), a material with a much greater capacity for ions than activated carbon.

The usually resistant MnO can be charged up to attract the ions it can store so well, and consequently the nano-meadow performs 10 times better than MnO alone. The nanomeadow's complex structure is resistant to the mechanical degradation that reduces the performance of ultracapacitors over time. The energy capacity of the new device drops by just three percent after 20,000 charge and discharge cycles, better than other high-capacity designs.

According to NewScientist.com, Mike Barnes at the University of Manchester, UK, says this is an interesting approach to improving ultracapacitor performance. But he points out that that a design ready for market needs to be even more resistant to physical degradation. In vehicles, ultracapacitors are charged during braking, which might happen about 60 times per hour in urban situations.

Evaluating the role of IT tools in automatic electric meter installation

smartelectricnews.com Special

Consumers are being proactively approached for the activation of programmes, in which they control electric consumption costs any time from their homes.

One such initiative was recently taken in Sweden, where Telvent completed the automatic electric meter installation for Vattenfall.

During the “Amrelva” project installation phase, Telvent acted as the main meter supplier by providing 600,000 of the 850,000 total meters, and allowed Vattenfall to bill all of its clients through remote reading of electric consumption. This real-time technology offers a benefit like reduction in billing errors, apart from increasing customer satisfaction.

Utilities like Vattenfall intend to transform their power grid by making electrical distribution more efficient, economical and secure, in addition to, in this particular case, permitting the electric company to comply with Swedish legislation requirements aimed at reducing energy consumption through performance and demand response.

The operational and maintenance phase, also managed by Telvent since 2006, is to be completed by 2011, with a six-year extension option.

Commenting on projects where consumers control consumption costs, Ignacio Gonzalez-Dominguez, Executive Vice President of Telvent’s Energy division told smartelectricnews.com that the technology exists today to make these programmes a reality.

The industry now has the tools, expertise, solution suites and finally experienced integrators to execute small pilots or large deployments such as Vattenfall’s AMI programme including 600,000 smart meters, communication and data infrastructure.

“Utilities will respond to customer demand for options and flexibility as consumers of electricity. Utility investors will demand the robust and stable distribution grids to deliver their product. And customers will become proficient in managing usage that can lead to efficient utilisation of exiting power distribution assets,” said Gonzalez-Dominguez.

On challenges in shaping up the project, Gonzalez-Dominguez referred to project management and IT tools as the main considerations.

“(It is significant) to have the right partners with clear and effective communications with the overall system integrator and the customer,” said Gonzalez-Dominguez. During the project, Telvent implemented very intensive control, weekly detailed reporting and regular meetings through all stages of the project, looking for ways to improve and quickly mitigating problems in the roll-out plan.

The IT tools in place to track, report and execute the plan, are equally important.

“In a large project like this, with so much material involved, so much customer data to manage and dispatch, it is mandatory to have the IT tools minimise the possibility of human error in the process. For example, the technicians were dispatched with PDAs used to electronically communicate a clear sequence of instructions to follow at each installation site. All this information was sent to the installer as a final outcome of the different work flows generated by utility and system integrator systems, and customer information. The up-front development of these interfaces has been an important part of the project’s success,” said Gonzalez-Dominguez.

Telvent also highlighted that it is very important to define clean-up procedures, check lists and field technician commentary to facilitate early detection of potential problems during the rollout phase while the technicians are still in the field. With a comprehensive set of clean-up routines and the PDA tools to support the installation, the company was able to avoid costly delays and additional field visits that can destroy the deployment plan.

Specifically, on factors taken into consideration while installation, Gonzalez-Dominguez said the two main factors contemplated in the project were: roll-out & logistics and system performance.

In the first one, rollout and logistics, of critical importance is the pre-planning in each geographical zone where the meters were to be installed. This planning demanded accurate customer data, specific installer work orders and route plans, equipment, specific meter types and tools needed to efficiently execute the plans in a timely fashion.

The second critical consideration, system performance and design had to insure a reliable network capable of automatic communication and detection of all meters as they came on line. During the roll-out phases of the project, Telvent’s applications monitored the system in parallel with operations to optimise data flow, ensure integrity and most importantly to validate and confirm performance targets were being met.

“Today, the system is achieving performance levels exceeding 99.70 percent,” said Gonzalez-Dominguez.

When planning a large AMI deployment, it is important to understand the need to define a very precise set of installation routines and related system support.

“Once those routines are defined and validated and the system is ready to accept the remote meter data, the attention must shift to thorough training of the installers and verification of the entire process in a pilot phase. An important milestone is created from the pilot to verify the system and process and make modifications before going into massive rollout,” said Gonzalez-Dominguez.

The AMI network management system plays a key role, with a single interface allowing operators to monitor progress, field devices as they are commissioned and overall system performance on a real-time basis for each geographical area. A powerful AMI management platform and its integration with other utility systems will be key to a successful and uneventful installation.

Work flows between both the work order management and meter data management systems is critical in feeding the overall AMI network management system with validated and high quality data in real-time, according to Telvent.


Intelligent Demand Response for Electricity Summit 2009 is scheduled to be held in Amsterdam on 28-29 January.

For more information, click here: www.smartelectricnews.com/demand08

Or

Contact:
Abbie Badcock ,
Smart Electric News,
abbie@smartelectricnews.com

Hitachi and Carina to jointly provide utility information solutions over GPON

In a collaboration expected to result in new revenue sources for utility companies, Hitachi Telecom (USA) is partnering with Carina Technology to provide utility information solutions over gigabit passive optical network (GPON).

The two companies are to offer the complementary advantages of reduced operational expense and increased revenue potential to utility companies that provide FTTP services using GPON technology. This combination can be achieved via:

- Operational savings through the real-time ability to read customers’ electric meters automatically, manage in-home devices for efficient management, manage pre-paid electricity service, and conduct peak demand power management functions over the FTTP infrastructure.
- Revenue generation from triple-play services, including video, data and voice and other applications that can be transported by the GPON network.

In this application, the CarinaPoint Ethernet Metering Device (EMD), which is connected to the Hitachi AMN1220 GPON system’s Optical Network Terminal (ONT) via Ethernet, resides in a collar base mounted between the residential electric socket and the electric meter at the customer’s premises. The CarinaPoint EMD is connected to the Hitachi AMN1220 GPON system’s Optical Network Terminal (ONT) via Ethernet.

Meter and management data is exchanged in real-time via the GPON network between the meter and the utility’s information systems. The AMN1220 ONT can also be powered externally from the CarinaPoint collar base, which reduces FTTP installation cost and speeds deployment.

In the context of efficient energy solutions, Carina emphasised that broadband will be essential for utilities to provide the sophisticated distribution and management capabilities.

Jay Newkirk, chief executive officer, Carina said, “Because of the bandwidth capability of FTTH, we can bring this sophisticated digital grid to life today rather than 5-10 years from now.”

Echelon ready for full-scale roll-out of its NES System in Germany

Echelon Corporation is ready for the first full-scale roll-out of its Networked Energy Services (NES) System in Germany.

The public utility of Hassfurt awarded the contract to Echelon’s NES value-added reseller partner EVB Energie AG to provide all of its approximately 10,000 customers with an advanced metering infrastructure over the next three years.

Germany recently proposed a new energy law requiring all new and remodeled homes to be equipped with smart meters by 2010 to promote energy conservation and efficiency.

EVB Energie AG highlighted that for the public utility of Hassfurt, smart metering is not only a digital metering system, but an instrument for process optimisation and customer relationship management.

“The management of Stadtwerk Hassfurt sees this instrument as an enabler of a new business segment. Only by using innovative technologies will medium-sized utility companies be able to survive in the German energy market,” said Johannes Alte-Teigeler, chairman, EVB Energie AG.

The NES advanced metering infrastructure from Echelon comprises integrated, advanced electronic electricity meters accessed via a web services based network operating system over an IP networking infrastructure.

Multiple NES meters can share a single IP connection through the use of Echelon’s power line networking technology. This drives down the per-point connection cost and enables the system to easily and cost-effectively incorporate new wide area networking technologies over the life of the system.

The system’s open interfaces allow the system to be cost-effectively expanded, adapted, and customised in ways unlike any competing system, shared the company.

NCSU chosen to lead smart-grid project

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has chosen N. C. State University (NCSU) to lead a $28.5 million research initiative to transform the nation’s century-old power transmission system into a smart grid network.

The center will be known as the NSF Engineering Research Center for Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management Systems (FREEDM Systems). It will work to develop “smart grid” technology that can store and distribute alternative energy. The technology developed at this center will distribute renewable energy on a large scale, helping to build a society based on green energy.

The Center will partner with universities, industry and national laboratories in 28 states and nine countries. It will be supported by a five-year, $18.5 million grant from NSF, with another $10 million in institutional support and industry membership fees. More than 65 utilities, electrical equipment manufacturers, alternative energy companies and “other established and emerging firms” have agreed to join the partnership, NCSU says.

“The unique vision of this (center) to enable the smooth inclusion of renewable energy sources into the power grid in a ‘plug-and-play’ mode will provide the knowledge and technology platforms the country needs to help reduce our dependency on fossil fuels,” NSF Deputy Division Director Lynn Preston said in a statement.

Alex Huang, N.C. State’s Progress Energy professor of electrical and computer engineering, will be the center’s director.

Plug Power to integrate Maxwell’s ultracapacitors into its fuel cell systems

Plug Power Inc. has selected Maxwell’s Boostcap ultracapacitors to enhance performance and energy management in its line of GenDrive power units.

The company, an integrator of fuel cell-based power solutions for zero-emission material handling vehicles, has finalised a purchase order for Maxwell’s Boostcap MC2600 2,600-farad ultracapacitor cells.

According to Maxwell, the combination of technologies is another example of the synergy between hydrogen fuel cells’ extended energy output and ultracapacitors’ short duration burst power capabilities.

Andy Marsh, president and chief executive officer, Plug Power Inc. said that GenDrive power units provide a high-efficiency, low-maintenance “drop-in” replacement for lead-acid battery packs in electric lift trucks. The GenDrive system delivers enhanced productivity by eliminating the downtime associated with the changing and charging of lead-acid batteries.

On decision to integrate Maxwell’s ultracapacitors into its fuel cell systems, Marsh said ultracapacitors’ burst power capabilities for lifting, as well as regenerative braking for energy recuperation and longer operating life make them an ideal complement to hydrogen fuel cells in this application.

PowerGenix signs deal with PowerEagle

PowerGenix has entered into a supply agreement with PowerEagle, a manufacturer of electric bicycles in China.

Under the agreement, PowerGenix will supply its nickel-zinc (NiZn) cells for pack fabrication into the entire product line offered by Veloteq, PowerEagle’s North American sales and distribution partner, beginning in 2009.

Veloteq acknowledged that PowerGenix’s NiZn batteries will enable the company “to achieve optimum performance while reducing power system size and weight.”

For its part, Veloteq investigated both nickel metal-hydride and lithium-ion technologies, but found that under deep discharge conditions only PowerGenix’s NiZn provided the high storage capacity that its power systems require while meeting Veloteq’s safety and reliability mandates.

As per the information available, PowerGenix’s power systems will be featured in both Veloteq’s “power-on-demand” models, powered exclusively by the electric motor, as well as “power-assist” models that require manual pedaling assisted by the electric motor.

PowerGenix batteries will also be incorporated in future product developments including an electric motorcycle that complies with National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) standards.

PowerGenix’s batteries will allow Veloteq to increase the power output and range of their bikes while still achieving battery pack weight savings of 60 percent.

By providing more power and runtime in a smaller and lighter form factor, PowerGenix’s NiZn batteries allow ebike users to travel 40 miles on a single charge costing as little as three cents, five to six times less expensive compared with lead-acid batteries. In addition, charge time is cut down 75 percent to about 1 to 2 hours, providing enhanced mobility and longer travel ranges for ebike commuters, stated the company.

Europe’s largest PV energy storage development project initiated

A new Franco-German project, focusing on the development of a new concept in energy conversion and storage for grid connected photovoltaic (PV) systems, has been launched.

The project, titled SOLION, has been initiated by Saft, Conergy and Tenesol.

SOLION has been recognised by the Eureka/Eurogia and Tenerrdis programmes, and is supported by the French Ministry of Economy Finance and Employment (DGE) and the German Ministry of Environment (BMU). A German utility (E-ON), three German research institutes (ISEA, ISET & ZSW) and one French research institute (INES -CEA) are associated with this project.

The project will introduce large lithium-ion batteries into PV systems on the largest scale ever tested in Europe.

The objective is to develop an integrated energy kit able to be produced on an industrial scale for decentralised on-grid, residential PV systems.

The 75 systems will be deployed in Germany and France. These trials will validate the performance of the system, its economic viability, the added value of energy storage in an on-grid PV system and the benefits for stakeholders.

Storage will enable solar energy to be "time shifted" to periods of peak demand or when there is no sun in order to allow self consumption or grid support. As of now, grid-connected PV systems, without energy storage, are directly fed in.

Altair gears up for 1MW battery-based energy storage demonstrator

Altair Nanotechnologies has completed the 500th full depth cycle of a lithium titanate battery developed for the US Navy.

The company termed the development as a significant milestone, as it stated that by getting associated with a large-scale operation like a Navy destroyer, Altair’s battery technology is proving its worth. Plus, this collaboration also paves the way for a “safe, less costly, and environmentally sustainable substitute for turbines that use increasingly costly imported oil.”

The “Mark 0, Characterization Module” allows the Navy to test and better understand the unique properties of Altair batteries. For example, capacity tests show that the battery has lost only about one percent of total capacity. It is anticipated that early next year, Altair will deliver a 1MW battery-based energy storage demonstrator.

Referring to the launch of a new battery backup system, Terry M. Copeland, chief executive officer, Altair said: “Given the number of ships to which Altair’s technology could be applied, this electrical storage and rapid power delivery system could reduce the Navy’s consumption of fuel by tens of millions of gallons each year. Once proven, our technology could be used by, not only the US Navy, but commercial and foreign buyers.”

With an Altair battery installed as an uninterruptible power supply (UPS), a vessel could avoid the cost of keeping the backup generator online. If there is a problem with the primary generator, the battery would provide enough power to get a second unit up and online.

Altair’s $2.5 million contract is funded as part of a $3.5 million United States Navy programme that includes independent product testing by the Navy. Additional funding of $5 million has been approved by Congress for FY 2008.

Scottish hydro power untapped: study

A study has highlighted that there is enough untapped hydro potential to power nearly 600,000 homes in Scotland.

It shows there are still 657MW of financially viable hydro electricity schemes to exploit. That is about half the amount of hydro capacity already installed in Scotland. The study says there are 1019 financially viable schemes and a total of 128 new dams would be required.

The study, carried out on behalf of the Scottish Government to assist the Hydro Sub Group of the Forum for Renewable Energy Development in Scotland (FHSG), recommends that immediate attention should be paid to speeding up the application process for hydro-electric schemes. At present, applications for projects bigger than one megawatt are dealt with by ministers and smaller ones by local authorities.

“While we are unlikely to see much in the way of further large-scale developments, it is clear there is huge untapped potential – and a sustainable and profitable future in smaller and micro hydro schemes. Each scheme would have to be assessed on its own merits, but if we can turn the tap on to new hydro power we can tackle climate change and continue to stimulate economic growth,” said Energy Minister Jim Mather.

Sites with capacities of more than 1MW totalled 176, and the total capacity possible being almost 313MW. Six of the sites were in the 5MW-10MW range (total capacity 36.2MW) and 170 in the 1MW-5MW band (total capacity 276.6MW). The study identified 300 financially viable sites with capacities in the 500kW-1MW range (total capacity 193.2MW), and 543 sites with capacities below 500kW (total capacity 151MW).

Scotland has 1380MW of installed hydro capacity, excluding pumped storage, a further 104MW under construction, just over 5MW with consent to build and 16.1MW in planning. A further 27.2MW is in the scoping stage.

ADDRESS research programme gains momentum

Researchers at the University of Manchester and RLtec are getting associated with a £12.4 million project backed by the European Commission, looking at the use of smart electricity grids.

The development, reported by New Energy Focus, referred to ADDRESS research programme, which also includes EDF’s London-based transmission subsidiary EDF Energy Networks Ltd.

London-based technology company RLtec is privately owned and has received investment from the Low Carbon Accelerator fund.

For its part, the European Commission recently shared plans for four-year ADDRESS research programme.

The project, Active distribution networks with full integration of demand and distributed energy resources (ADDRESS), will deliver a comprehensive commercial and technical framework for the development of active demand in the smart grids of the future. energy-enviro.fi reported that European project aims to develop smart electricity grids that will give consumers for the first time the ability to actively participate in energy delivery, choosing when they consume their energy as well as giving them the opportunity to supply energy into the energy grid.

The ADDRESS includes 25 partners from 11 European countries spanning the entire electricity supply chain, qualified research and development bodies and manufacturers. Their efforts will be coordinated by ENEL Distribution. The project is expected to last for four years and cost EUR 16 million, of which EUR 9 million is being provided by the EU. It runs parallel to the vision of the European SmartGrids Technology Platform.

Trilliant gets $40m equity financing

Trilliant Incorporated has closed a $40 million equity investment to accelerate its growth and market expansion globally.

The company stated that this investment represents one of the largest investments to date in an independent smart grid technology provider. Trilliant, a provider of Smart Grid communication infrastructure, secured the investment from an affiliate of MissionPoint Capital Partners and zouk ventures.

Bill Vogel, CEO, Trilliant said his company has a very ambitious goal and the new investment definitely accelerates the same.

“We intend to be the leading provider of advanced Smart Grid solutions globally, helping utilities upgrade and modernise their network infrastructure and expand their energy management capabilities with best-in-class, flexible, robust solutions and service,” said Vogel.

To its credit, Trilliant has now delivered more than 750,000 intelligent devices with integrated communications supporting advanced metering, demand response and other Smart Grid applications.

The deal underlines VC’s growing appetite for companies working on technologies to improve large power grids. As per the information available, at least half a dozen other smart grid funding deals have been struck this year in a boom in government support for technologies that improve power grid monitoring and management. Other funding deals are a $23m investment in BPL Global, a smart grid rival, led by Morgan Stanley, and a $17.4m investment in Silver Spring Networks, a networking company focused on power grids.

PGE considers new demand-response options

Portland General Electric (PGE), a vertically integrated electric utility, is looking for new demand-response options.

PGE, which serves approximately 813,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in Oregon, has issued a request for proposals (RFP) to prospective third-party providers to supply capacity that could help PGE manage its load during periods of peak power demand by organising qualifying customers to temporarily reduce their use of electricity.

The utility, which has been working on finding ways to partner with its customers to help meet the demand for electricity in its service territory, is targeting demand response programmes, which are designed to be activated on short notice to reduce the demand for electricity during times of stress on the grid.

The RFP calls for proposals for 50 megawatts (MW) of demand response peak capacity, with a deadline of October 29, 2008 for capacity available by December 2009.

On the new initiative, Joe Barra, director of customer energy resources, PGE said, “We see this as a way to help meet our customers’ need for reliable electricity, manage power costs, and reduce our impact on the environment.”

Customers who participate in demand response programmes typically receive some sort of incentive for reducing load on the system, while the utility benefits by having access to power at a lower cost than might be available on the wholesale market during peak periods.

Recently, while sharing its second quarter results, Peggy Fowler, CEO and president, PGE said that the utility is moving forward with its new smart-metering technology. Approximately 16,000 new meters are being installed as part of the project’s six-month systems testing phase, with the remaining meters to be installed by the end of 2010. PGE expects the smart-metering project to provide improved services as well as operational efficiencies and cost savings.

PGE’s net income for the six months ended June 30, 2008, was $67 million.

US healthcare organisation to eliminate lead-acid batteries

Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota have decided to replace the lead acid batteries used for back-up power in the hospitals’ data center.

The traditional battery backup system is being replaced by an environmentally-safe flywheel system will be used.

The children’s healthcare organisation, which is the seventh largest in the US, has decided to go ahead with VYCON’s VDC flywheel backup system. The VYCON flywheel UPS system has been in operation since April of this year.

Serving as Minnesota’s children’s hospital since 1924, the health care organisation has 332 staffed beds at its two hospital campuses in St. Paul and Minneapolis.

On being part of Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota green initiatives, VYCON’s chief marketing officer, Frank DeLattre said the flywheel UPS is superior to batteries in that it is a highly reliable protection system in the event of a power failure, and it does not contain any toxic elements.

The VDC units can replace traditional UPS batteries or work in tandem with batteries to provide instantaneous on demand power.

New England Power Pool to create pilot programme for energy storage

New England Power Pool (NEPOOL), the group of electric utilities, generators, and service providers within the ISO New England region, has unanimously chosen a pilot programme for alternative technologies, including energy storage, to provide regulation service.

According to Beacon Power Corporation, the programme’s schedule would allow service providers to be paid as early as mid-November. Beacon Power is currently building flywheel-based energy storage systems in Tyngsboro and intends to participate.

The “Alternative Technologies Regulation Pilot Program” allows for up to 13 megawatts of alternative technologies to be connected to the grid by various suppliers to provide regulation services.

Beacon Power, which is the only company that has yet publicly announced its participation, plans to connect up to five megawatts of energy storage adjacent to the company’s headquarters, beginning later this year.

Referring to the pilot programme, Bill Capp, Beacon Power president and CEO said, “Not only does Beacon intend to participate under the programme’s guidelines, we will also be able to earn revenue from the regulation services we provide.”

In early August, ISO New England and NEPOOL jointly submitted market rules to establish the programme to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for approval. FERC’s decision is expected within 60 days.

PSEG to tap market potential of CAES

PSEG Global has joined hands with energy storage specialist Dr. Michael Nakhamkin for a new joint venture.

The JV, called Energy Storage and Power LLC (ES&P), will exclusively market, licence, support the development and supervise project execution of the second generation of Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) technology.

Roy Daniel has been appointed as the chief executive officer to lead the venture.

Nakhamkin, who led the design and technical implementation of North America’s only CAES plant in McIntosh, Alabama, will be the chief technology officer.

Nakhamkin felt that the timing is right technically, environmentally and economically for a large-scale deployment of ES&P’s CAES technology.

“PSEG has the expertise and financial resources to bring this technology out of the development stage and into the deployment stage,” he said.

According to PSEG, the second-generation CAES technology offers following features:

· Greater scalability and a lower capital cost per megawatt-hour of power storage relative to other power storage technologies;
· A rapid power response rate, which is critical to enhancing grid stability and compensating for the intermittency of renewable energy resources such as wind and solar;
· The ability to arbitrage the difference between off-peak and on-peak power prices, a difference that has been increasing over time; and
· The use of proven, multi-source, standard components applied in a novel configuration resulting in lower capital cost with established processes and procedures.

According to redorbit.com, PSEG has committed $20 million over three years to the venture, and the amount could go higher.