THE EUROPEAN UNION’S (EU’s) AMBITIOUS plan to rollout smart meters to 80 percent of its 500 million population by 2020 is not going as well as hoped. This article was first published in the January/February 2013 edition of Intelligent Utility magazine. Europe has enjoyed notable success with smart meters. In 2006, Italy became the first … Continue reading
The first law of thermodynamics states energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed from one type of energy to another. The second law of thermodynamics states when an energy transformation is made, some of the energy lost as heat. That is why there can never be a perpetual motion machine and why energy storage … Continue reading
The world’s largest power equipment OEMs and Europe’s leading utilities have joined forces to establish the Brussels-based European Association for Storage of Energy (EASE). EASE is focused on acting as a coherent voice to promote the role of energy storage as key enabling technologies for Europe’s transition towards a sustainable, flexible and stable energy system. … Continue reading
GE has announced a press conference for 11am CET tomorrow (Tuesday) to launch its new structure for the German market, GE Deutschland. A GE blog states the media will be informed about the new structure and its planned investments, goals and projects at its research centre in Garching near Munich. Millicent Media understands the new unit … Continue reading
I’m currently researching a feature about what the major power grid equipment OEMs – ABB, Alstom, GE, Siemens etc. – are offering/developing in terms of energy storage solutions for utility scale applications. Here are a few videos of the current products. ABB’s lithium-ion DynaPeaQ system: (Many thanks to Andy Bartlett of Six Degrees PR for … Continue reading
Britain’s National Audit Office has serious cost-benefit concerns over smart meters The British government’s National Audit Office (NAO) today published a less than glowing report into the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s (DECC) smart meters roll-out. The NAO, an independent Parliamentary body which scrutinizes public spending, highlights a number of concerns about the cost-effectiveness of DECC’s … Continue reading
E.ON CEO Johannes Teyssen says the power industry must face up to the fact that the future is renewables, upgraded ‘smart’ grids and energy storage, and E.ON wants to be in the vanguard. Speaking to the Financial Times, Teyssen suggests that the nuclear phase-out has prompted deep thought at the giant German utility, that perhaps … Continue reading
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