renewables
A trial of the UK’s first grid-connected solar streetlight has begun in South Mimms, Hertfordshire, undertaken by Connect Plus, the consortium tasked with upgrading and maintaining the M25. If successful, the SunMast “eco streetlight” could reduce the carbon footprint of street lighting by 120 per cent. SunMast uses a
smart meters
Ongoing disputes in several US states indicate that the battle over smart meters is far from done. Fights are taking place over everything from the health-related safety of smart metering to the actual versus promised benefits of better insights into home energy consumption. Some of these areas of contention are,
smart meters
UK-based G4S Utility Services has been awarded a £500,000 contract to install gas data loggers for Gazprom Global Energy Solutions. These new installations will provide smart metering capability to a number of high street business brand names from the retail and hospitality sectors. G4S Utility Services has installed over
smart meters
A half-million smart meters have been installed across the Australian state of Victoria, and the rollout program has also helped to identify and repair about 3,500 previously existing electrical defects in homes. “In almost all cases this has been the first indication for customers that they have any problems,
green economy
Can a green, smart and sustainable society also be one with a growing economy? The United Nations’ Environment Programme (UNEP) says yes, but concludes it can’t be achieved through the marketplace alone. Numerous other studies in the past have shown that reducing energy consumption, cutting waste and managing resources
Smart Grid
UK grocery chain Sainsbury’s is trying out new technology to monitor one of its stores’ impact on the national electricity grid. The new store in Hythe, Kent, will feature a system that activates a biofuel generator during times of peak demand on the grid. The technology is aimed at
Smart Grid
Landis+Gyr will help the US-based Northwest Lineman College develop a smart-grid training centre at the school’s campus in Oroville, California. The college is building a virtual city in a laboratory environment to provide training for smart meter certification, advanced metering infrastructure and home area networking. The centre will
solar energy
How could energy from solar panels affect a utility’s distribution systems? Georgia Power and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) have launched an 18-month study aimed at answering that question. As part of the study, 50 photovoltaic systems will be installed in seven cities across Georgia, with sites chosen
Smart Grid
A panel considering interoperability issues for the smart grid has come out in favour of a new standard to two-way data communications between utilities and their customers. The governing board of the public-private Smart Grid Interoperability Panel gave its nod to a new “energy usage data model” standard that will
Smart Grid
Power and automation technology group ABB has won a $180 million order to help support the interconnection of the Norwegian and Danish power grids. The underwater link will boost transmission capacity between the mainly hydroelectric-based Norwegian system operated by Statnett and the wind and thermal power-based system operated by Energinet.
water
Siemens will supply more than $1 billion in equipment to Saudi Arabia for a combined cycle power plant with seawater desalination facility. The order is one of the largest ever for Siemens Energy in the Middle East. It was placed by a consortium comprising Al Arrab Contracting Company, Saudi Arabia
Energy
US Energy Secretary Steven Chu’s 2012 budget request for his department reveals a forward-thinking approach toward energy, with proposed spending boosts for smart-grid technology, electric cars and renewables, and cuts for fossil fuel research and development, and hydrogen technologies. But will that sort of philosophy — which undoubtedly takes the
