Category: Tech Talk

EU-SysFlex Project: Suggests new solutions to address flexibility issues 

EU-SysFlex Project: Suggests new solutions to address flexibility issues 

May 8, 2022 |

The recently concluded EU-SysFlex project aims to address system operation and flexibility challenges associated with EU’s goal of integrating 50 per cent renewables by 2030. Based on demonstrations and trials, the final roadmap contains eight key recommendations or findings, i.e., technical scarcities, required flexibility, financial gaps, market evolution, new operating tools, TSO-DSO coordination, aggregation of decentralised resources, and data management.

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Carbon Capture in the Southeast Asian Market

Carbon Capture in the Southeast Asian Market

May 4, 2022 |

In recent years, Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS) discussions have gained traction in Southeast Asia (SEA). With the technology-intensive nature of CCUS, several countries could provide reference points for the CCUS potential in Asia: China, Japan, and South Korea. All three countries have a long history of technology leadership and energy investments in the region. Their experiences with CCUS can provide a glimpse into the future path of CCUS in SEA.

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Technology trends in forecasting renewable energy generation

Technology trends in forecasting renewable energy generation

May 2, 2022 |

Renewable energy forecasting is critical for integrating variable renewa­b­le energy resources like wind and so­lar power into the grid. Wind and solar power are heavily dependent on weather conditions, and thus their energy generation pa­tt­erns are quite erratic. This creates problems not only for grid operators who must account for these frequent fluctuations in their load management schedul­es, but also for power generators who ha­ve to pay hefty charges for deviation from scheduled energy generation.

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What is Hydrogen and How Does it Fit into a Decarbonized Future?

What is Hydrogen and How Does it Fit into a Decarbonized Future?

Apr 25, 2022 |

Hydrogen provides a way to decarbonize industrial processes that rely on certain chemical feedstocks or agents. Hydrogen can be used in steel and aluminum production — where its chemical reactivity also helps reduce ore into more useable forms — instead of the currently used coking coal or natural gas. In these industrial processes, hydrogen will be consumed directly as a chemical feedstock in the production process or burned to provide the necessary heat for operation.

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Increasing Wind Turbine Waste Will Challenge Nascent Recycling Of Wind Turbine Blades

Increasing Wind Turbine Waste Will Challenge Nascent Recycling Of Wind Turbine Blades

Apr 20, 2022 |

Wind turbine waste from decommissioning parts will increase in the coming decade as wind turbines installed in the early 2000s reach their end-of-life. By the end of 2010, global wind power capacity reached 180GW, more than 10 times that of end-2000. As much as an increase in wind power means well to reduce carbon emissions from the energy sector, markets globally will soon have to deal with wind turbines that have reached their end-of-life.

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Automation Era: Digital solutions set to transform the wind sector

Automation Era: Digital solutions set to transform the wind sector

Apr 12, 2022 |

Digitalisation presents several advantages to wind energy systems in terms of improved safety, greater reliability and accuracy in data collection, spee­dy dissemination of data, lower operatio­nal cos­ts and greater flexibility in undertaking ma­in­tenance activities. The development of digital technologies for operation and ma­in­tenance (O&M) has given rise to new business models in the energy sector due to redu­ced dependence on hu­man interventions.

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Finding the right battery technology for long-duration storage

Finding the right battery technology for long-duration storage

Mar 31, 2022 |

The emergence of iron-based chemistries to solve some of the cost issues of RFBs is expected to improve their commercial feasibility, allowing them to compete with lithium-ion for around half of the stationary storage market by 2030, according to the US Department of Energy’s Energy Stor­age Grand Challenge Market Report 2020. Currently, the preferred electrolyte for flow- batteries is vanadium due to its stability.

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Technology trends in the solar inverter space

Technology trends in the solar inverter space

Mar 16, 2022 |

While central inverters have traditionally been used to convert the direct current (DC) generated by solar power plants, string inverters are now being increasingly dep­loyed across the world. Central inverters differ from string inverters in their ba­sic design. While a central inverter is centrally connected to all solar power mo­dule arrays, a string inverter is a smaller inverter connected to and controlling only a single array or string of solar modules.

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Big data: The energy revolution in US no one is talking about

Big data: The energy revolution in US no one is talking about

Mar 2, 2022 |

The big data revolution is already changing many industries in America. Recently, New York began testing how much value it can create by expanding energy data access. In doing so, New York may be leading a long-anticipated revolution in how utilities, developers, and customers can access, use, and monetize data to unlock more value. As the New York data access proceeding evolves, it serves as an industry case study for regulators, developers, and utilities around the country. 

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Assessing Europe’s Future Flexibility Needs: ENTSO-E releases position paper 

Assessing Europe’s Future Flexibility Needs: ENTSO-E releases position paper 

Feb 28, 2022 |

Under the Fit-for-55 package, the EU-level target for renewable energy is proposed to be increased to at least 40 per cent by 2030 (from 32 per cent previously) along with introduction of sector-specific measures for increasing its contribution to the final energy demand. This indicates the need for an accelerated renewable energy deployment. For instance, the EU will need 451 GW of wind capacity by 2030 (up from about 180 GW in 2021) and will have to double its planned annual capacity addition in the coming years.

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Storing for the Future: Role of CCUS in low carbon development in ASEAN

Storing for the Future: Role of CCUS in low carbon development in ASEAN

Feb 20, 2022 |

In ASEAN, CCUS could be fundamental in helping the region decarbonise   energy   systems   from   coal-based   electricity   generation and in achieving the net-zero target. Some AMS have  expressed  interest  in  deploying  CCUS  technologies  in  their   countries.   However,   none   has   established   specific   measures or an action plan, such as policy support from governments towards the energy transition and low-carbon economy through CCUS development.

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Disruptive clean energy technologies for APAC’s energy security

Disruptive clean energy technologies for APAC’s energy security

Feb 12, 2022 |

Disruptive technologies have emerged in the renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors which have rapidly changed the global energy landscape. Disruptive technology is defined as a technology, which creates a new business model that could disrupt a traditional business model. These disruptions generate a revolution in technology capability, digital transformation, cost, new business model, and change of policy. A number of energy-related technologies have become the game changers of energy demand and supply in APEC region and the world.

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Technology Advancements To Lower Solar Power Costs Over Long Term

Technology Advancements To Lower Solar Power Costs Over Long Term

Jan 5, 2022 |

The cost of solar power has declined significantly over the past decade, with the Levelised Cost of Energy (LCOE) for solar falling from a weighted average of USD378/MWh USD248/MWh in 2010 to USD68.4/MWh in 2019. According to financial advisory and asset management firm Lazard, the LCOE for utility-scale solar power reached USD36/MWh in 2021. The steep decline is the result of several factors including a rapid decline in module costs, increased competition, and economies of scale from significant growth globally.

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Assessing the potential of offshore renewable energy in Africa

Assessing the potential of offshore renewable energy in Africa

Dec 19, 2021 |

How can the ocean contribute renewable energy to the African ‘Blue Economy’, bringing opportunities to millions of Africans and reducing or replacing carbon emissions, and which strategic actions can help it reach this potential? The power quality of offshore renewables is relatively high, being more predictable and less variable than many other renewables. The results indicate that coastal Africa, according to available data, has high technical potential for all offshore renewables, apart from tidal stream power.

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Resource adequacy recommendations for a clean energy grid in the US

Resource adequacy recommendations for a clean energy grid in the US

Dec 5, 2021 |

The controversial topic of resource adequacy (RA) is undergoing fundamental reassessment to function properly with the future resource mix. From a legal standpoint, while FERC’s authority over resource adequacy in the ISO/RTO setting has been construed expansively, the Commission has declined to mandate capacity markets in circumstances where reliability and economic problems have not been demonstrated.

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Advantage Africa: Low cost of producing lithium-ion battery precursors in the DRC

Advantage Africa: Low cost of producing lithium-ion battery precursors in the DRC

Dec 1, 2021 |

The objective of study is to determine the cost of producing lithium-ion battery precursors in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and benchmark the cost to that of the U.S., China and Poland. In addition to the cost, the study assesses the emissions associated with the production of precursors in the DRC for the global electric vehicle market compared with producing them in China and Poland. Building a 10,000 metric-ton precursor facility in the DRC could cost $39 million. This is three times cheaper than what it would cost for a similar plant in the U.S.

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Best Practices for Solar O&M in South Africa

Best Practices for Solar O&M in South Africa

Nov 17, 2021 |

South Africa is Africa’s largest PV market by far and reached GW-scale in 2016. Operation and Maintenance (O&M) has become a standalone segment within the solar industry, and it is widely acknowledged by all stakeholders that highquality O&M services mitigate potential risks, improve the Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE) and Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) prices, and positively impact the return on investment (ROI).

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Application of AI in wind power projects

Application of AI in wind power projects

Nov 8, 2021 |

A high degree of coordination and flexibility is required between the different systems in the power sector value chain as well as in the O&M of individual wind power generation assets. Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a key enabler in this respect, offering a host of benefits from efficient integration of in­termittent wind power into the grid, to enabling automation of various construction and O&M activities, to better grid ma­na­gement.

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Repurposing infrastructure for hydrogen in a net-zero future

Repurposing infrastructure for hydrogen in a net-zero future

Oct 2, 2021 |

Interest in hydrogen is expanding rapidly in transport, power generation, data centers, and other industrial sectors seeking to decarbonize. Hydrogen provides opportunities to decarbonize industries that have historically relied on conventional gas and liquid fuels. It also has one significant advantage: It can repurpose existing infrastructure that might otherwise be rendered obsolete in a zero-emissions future. 

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Innovative Pumped Storage Hydropower configurations and uses

Innovative Pumped Storage Hydropower configurations and uses

Sep 23, 2021 |

Pumped storage hydropower (PSH) operates by storing electricity in the form of gravitational potential energy through pumping water from a lower to an upper reservoir. First built since the end of the 19th  century,  PSH is a mature and proven technology for long-duration energy storage. It has continuously evolved to suit the needs of changing power systems,  providing a suite of power systems flexibility services such as inertia,  frequency control,  voltage regulation, and black-start capability, which are vital to support the growing shares of variable renewable energy in grid systems.

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