World Energy Discussion

Harvesting Ocean Energy

2009-04-19T21:19:00.001+01:00

Energy can be harvested from the oceans in five basic ways, with a multitude of variations.

1. Tides - Potential energy contained in tides can be harnessed by building barrage or other forms of construction across an estuary.
2. Waves - Kinetic and potential energy in ocean waves can be harnessed using modular technologies.
3. Tidal or marine currents - Kinetic energy in tidal (marine) currents can be harnessed using modular systems.
4. Temperature gradients - Thermal energy due to the temperature gradient between the sea surface and deepwater can be harnessed using different Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) processes.
5. Salinity gradients - At the mouth of rivers where fresh water mixes with salt water, energy associated with the salinity gradient can be harnessed using pressure-retarded reverse osmosis process and associated conversion technologies.

High-tech Technology in the Solar Thermal Industry

2009-04-07T21:35:00.003+01:00

The solar thermal industry has used low-tech technology until relatively recently and been largely concerned with small domestic and building applications for heating space or water, or cooking by solar power. However, the solar thermal industry is now taking a more sophisticated direction and progressing to higher-tech solar power applications involving relatively large electricity generation projects in a number of countries. Some of these solar power electricity generation schemes have been in existence for a number of years on a trial basis.

Solar cooling, although still a very small application with around 80 solar cooling systems in the world, is making rapid strides.

Solar thermal collectors are divided into three categories, according to temperature, with low, medium, or high temperature collectors. Low temperature collectors are flat plates generally used to heat swimming pools directly. Medium-temperature collectors are also usually flat plates and are used directly for creating hot water for residential and commercial use. High temperature collectors concentrate sunlight using mirrors or lenses and are generally used for electric power production. These are known as CSP (concentrating solar power) units. In use described as ‘direct’ the solar energy or heat is used to heat water or buildings, or for factory process, and not transformed into electricity.

Wind Energy Industry Brought Surprises in 2008

2009-03-16T09:51:00.004Z

2008 turned out to be a year of surprises in the wind energy industry. Global wind energy installed capacity was 94 GW by the end of 2007 and was estimated that it would reach 120 GW by the end of 2008. It has been doubling every three years during the last decade. The extraordinary growth in 2008 was due to unexpected increases (estimated) of 7 GW in China and 7.5 GW in the USA. It was not unexpected that these two countries did well but the scale of their growth was surprising. These two surges altered the global distribution of wind power, taking the US from 17.9% in 2007 to 20.2% in 2008 and China from 6.3% to 10.7%.

Global growth had slowed to 24% in 2006 but rose to 28% in 2007 and remained at that level in 2008.

The annual global wind market value in 2007 totalled €25 billion ($37 billion), an increase of 39% on €18 billion ($23 billion) in 2006 (in current values). Prices rose from $1.03 million per megawatt in 2005 to $1.21 million in 2006 and $1.26 million in 2007. The price rise was driven partly by the increase in demand but also by the increase in the price of raw materials, especially cold steel, which rose by 58% between 2005 and late 2008.

A Snapshot of Ocean Technology in 2009

2009-03-03T21:53:00.002Z

Today, more than 25 countries are involved in developing relevant conversion technologies for harnessing ocean renewable resources for electricity generation and/or other purposes, such as desalination, heating for aquaculture and other uses.

Over 300 wave and tidal devices have been suggested up to the present time, but very few of these are in an advanced state of development. One technology, Pelamis, is leading in terms of development with a medium sized grid-connected scheme being installed in Portuguese waters now.

Ocean energy is mostly in an experimental stage and apart from the 40 year old tidal barrage at La Rance in France, the first ocean energy projects are now being installed and about to be commercialised.

The market is poised for expansion and is expected to grow to 1 GW of installed capacity at an annual market size of $500 million by 2015, but these figures are very broad. Investment to date in the ocean power market has been just over $500 million since 2001, which is relatively small compared to other renewable energy market segments. More than $2 billion will be invested to build commercial ocean wave power farms by 2015. Another $2 billion will go towards research and development globally over the next six years.

Solar Thermal Technology

2009-02-22T13:35:00.003Z

Solar thermal is a relatively new technology which has already shown enormous promise. It is a larger energy source than is commonly perceived and currently provides about half the energy generated from wind power and more than geothermal, solar photovolatics and ocean energy combined. At the end of 2007 there was 93,000 MW of wind power, 148,000 MW of solar thermal collectors for water heating and building heating or cooling installed, but only 414 MW of high temperature solar thermal collector generating capacity and about 8,000 MW of solar PV capacity.

With few environmental impacts and a big resource, solar thermal energy offers an opportunity to the sunniest countries of the world, comparable to that currently benefiting European nations with the windiest shorelines.

Solar thermal power uses direct sunlight, so it must be sited in regions with high direct solar radiation. Among the most promising areas of the world are the South-Western United States, Central and South America, Africa, the Middle East, the Mediterranean countries of Europe, Iran, Pakistan and the desert regions of India, the former Soviet Union, China and Australia.

In contrast, solar photovoltaic cells use both direct and indirect, diffuse solar radiation and they are suitable in areas with indirect, diffuse solar conditions, such as many north European regions and is more effective in cold conditions.

In many regions of the world, one square kilometre of land is enough to generate as much as 100-200 GWh of electricity per year using solar thermal technology. This is equivalent to the annual production of a 50 MW conventional coal or gas-fired power plant.

Electricity Supply Industry in Sweden

2008-10-29T18:06:00.002Z

Liberalisation and deregulation of the Swedish electricity market have been achieved ahead of target and by July 2000 all customers with access to the high voltage grid had free choice. The market has now been opened 100%.

The wholesale electricity market is considered competitive, as Swedish power generation is part of the regional Nordic market (which also includes Denmark, Finland and Norway). The electricity retail market exhibits higher than average switching rates.

Sweden is a member of Nordel, the Organisation for Electric Power Co-operation in Nordic Countries, a common electricity market which provides a market place for spot deliveries on a daily basis, as well as a market for financial contracts. As a resuIt, Sweden has 9 interconnections with Norway, 6 with Denmark, 5 with Finland and one newly completed with Germany. The connection with Germany is via the Baltic cable. This enterprise was established to place a 250 km DC cable with a capacity of 600 MW between Sweden and Germany.

Gas Meters Installed Base and Demand

2008-07-27T19:47:00.003+01:00

There are 396 million gas meters in the world today with annual demand rising to an estimated 34.9 million in 2012. Accompanying this figure is a large number of refurbished meters, which have been verified, recalibrated, and used for replacement. Refurbishment of meters may increase if European countries follow in the footsteps of Germany, where new metrology regulations have removed the age limit and have increased the amount of refurbishment taking place in that country.

Unlike electricity and water, piped gas is not available in every country. Most of the piped gas is natural gas although there is still some city gas manufactured from coal or oil and some LPG is delivered by pipeline, mainly to industrial consumers.

Even within regions there are wide variations in the penetration of gas. For example, in northern Europe, Germany is the second largest gas consumer after the United Kingdom. However, the Scandinavian countries are small users of gas because of the use of coal in Denmark and hydropower in the other three countries, and increasingly nuclear, despite Norway being the largest gas producer in Europe and one of the largest in the world.

With global demand for LPG rising to 34.9 million meters in 2012, annual growth will be 4.0%. There will be variations in the growth rates in different regions of the world due to significant domination by a number of major markets. Growth of 8.7% in China, as the country converts from city gas to natural gas and the government promotes the use of gas as a clean fuel, extensive expansion of gasification in Russia, and continued growth in the USA at 5.5% will lift the world average, compensating for slower growth in other countries.

In value terms, the world market will grow to US$1.6 billion in 2012. The main growth will be in Asia, which will increase from US$439 million in 2007 to US$516 million, and Europe, which will grow from US$335 million to US$384 million. North America will increase from US$286 million to US$374 million.

The United States and Japan are the two largest markets for gas meters (with Japan including LPG meters). The US market is forecast to grow at an annual rate of 5.5% from 5.6 million meters in 2007 to 7.3 million in 2012. Gas meter growth will reflect surges in household growth and increasing AMR deployment. To date, the largest AMR installations in North America have been in the electricity utility sector; however, the gas utility sector is now expected to start gaining momentum.

Japan will grow by 1.4% from 5.2 million (piped natural gas and LPG) to 5.6 million meters in 2012. Growth will be considerably higher if installation of a new residential ultrasonic meter is not restricted to replacement of existing mechanical meters.

Growth in Europe will be the slowest, increasing at 2.8%. In the CIS, the intensive gasification of new regions of Russia will lead to growth of 4.4%, with slower growth in the other republics. According to industry reports, the market in Germany is in decline since metrology changes now permit gas meters to remain in service after 24 years, as long as they meet verification requirements.

China is the third largest gas meter market in the world with 29 million consumers and is poised to overtake Japan to become the second largest by 2010. The government’s decision to develop the natural gas market and to increase its share in primary energy holds significant challenges for local gas distribution companies, which are accustomed to distributing manufactured gas. The majority of Chinese cities have traditionally been supplied with manufactured gas, and there is now a need for a nationwide standardised approach to gas conversion. The largest single gas distribution company in Shanghai has 3.37 million customers.

The number of cities using natural gas has been predicted to increase to 270 in 2010 but this may be optimistic. India is still a small market for gas meters but will grow very fast in the next few years as new distribution networks for residential supply come into service. Demand for gas has grown by 6.5% annually and was expected to reach a rate of 13% in 2005. Two distribution companies (GCGL and MGL) have 450,000 customers between them, and Gail, the national natural gas transmission utility, has formed a number of distribution partnerships to expand distribution to 15 cities. The growth of customers and meters is estimated to be at least 15% per year.

ESIs of the US, Canada and Australia

2008-07-17T12:37:00.003+01:00

The Electricity Supply Industries of the United States, Canada, and Australia are similar in many ways. All three are large federally constituted countries, with a combination of federal and state or provincial legislation and control. The federal governments generally establish broad policies and then it is the responsibility of the state or provincial government to implement these.

The Electricity Supply Industry in the USA is predominantly investor-owned, so privatisation has not been a pressing issue. There are some large federal and state-owned utilities, and a large number of municipally-owned distribution companies, many of them small.

Electricity Market Deregulation has had a mixed history in the US. Partly because of the disaster in California a number of states have put electricity market deregulation plans on hold. Among the 24 states that have enacted electricity deregulation plans, results are mixed and some of these are now delaying implementation or even reversing the process. Rising prices, spiralling demand and limited supply in some areas have raised questions about the viability of electricity market deregulation.

Pennsylvania’s deregulation experiment, enacted in 1998, has been a success and is cited as a model for electricity market deregulation. The story is very different in California, which in 1996 became one of the first states to enact an electricity restructuring plan. Not long after the plan went into effect, price increases began to erode public support for deregulation. Criticism of deregulation intensified in the summer of 2000, when limited power supplies and increasing demand caused the wholesale price of power to soar throughout the state and in some areas the retail price of power fluctuated directly with the wholesale market, causing electric bills to double. The problem intensified in the winter of 2000/01, as the state's electric utilities faced a financial crisis and consumers were met with electricity shortages and skyrocketing prices.

Canada and Australia are very mixed markets. Both countries have a number of large, vertically integrated Crown or State / Province owned companies which dominate the regional industry. They also have many privately-owned companies in some states. Market deregulation in Canada was first introduced in the province of Alberta and Ontario followed later. Ontario has been much influenced by events in California and in response to price rises after deregulation the government imposed retail price caps. The other provinces of Canada are all watching the situation and biding their time. Electricity market developments in Australia have been largely dependent on geography.

The restructuring of the Australian Electricity Supply Industry has now been proceeding for 14 years since the Electricity Supply Industry itself set up an industry reform working group during 1990. Originally, in some Australian states (e.g. Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania) the four Electricity Supply Industry functions were carried out within a single, vertically-integrated, monopoly business. In other states (e.g. New South Wales and Queensland) generation and transmission were contained in a single monopoly business, while distribution and retail supply were carried out by a number of businesses, each with a monopoly franchise covering a specified geographical area within the state. A major objective of Electricity Supply Industry restructuring in Australia has been to unbundle the four Electricity Supply Industry functions into separate businesses. Several competing generation businesses have been established in each state, as has a single monopoly transmission business, while the geographical monopoly franchises for distribution have been retained in each state. In some states, the number of franchises, and therefore of distribution businesses, has been reduced.

A vigorous wholesale market, the National Electricity Market (NEM) has been established and operates in the interconnected states of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, the Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania. Western Australia and Northern territories will always be excluded because of the lack of interconnections and the vast distances covered.

Electricity Deregulation in the CIS states

2008-07-09T19:18:00.002+01:00

A large gulf existed between the mode of operation of the energy sector in the CIS states and the former Eastern European countries before the collapse of the central economies, and the new market oriented systems being introduced now. It is difficult to over emphasise the extent of the change in the culture which has to be overcome. In some cases utility services were provided free and not even costed properly, even for management purposes. While this was the case in the former countries of Eastern Europe it was even more so in the old Soviet Union republics and it is not easy to change.

There has been some electricity market deregulation in Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Moldova and a considerable amount in the Ukraine. Russia is now well into restructuring of the electricity sector and this is scheduled for completion by the end of 2008. This has involved the dismemberment and reorganisation of the huge assets of ROA UES and the regional energos, and the creation of a totally new market oriented system with separate companies. Foreign investors are already entering the Russian electricity market and buying stakes in some of the large new companies.

Wholesale electricity markets have been opened in Georgia, Kazakhstan, Russia and the Ukraine but there has not yet been any opening of retail markets. This has been delayed by the long standing subsidisation of retail markets for residential users and the need to approach this in stages.

Meters - a Global Snapshot

2008-07-02T10:04:00.003+01:00

There are an estimated 2.7 billion meters in the world. These consist of 1,583 million electricity meters, 396 million gas meters and 736 million water meters. The three sectors have quite different patterns of usage.

Every country has an electrical supply and almost universally every electricity point has a utility meter or a sub-meter, although there are a very few cases where electricity is not metered, such as in some agricultural areas of India. Gas is nearly always metered but the number of countries with piped gas supply is much smaller because there may be no indigenous gas supplies or the cost of constructing a pipeline is disproportionate to the potential consumption. In some countries water supply is not metered for domestic connections but paid for out of a standing charge.

Annual demand for meters in 2007 was 221 million meters, consisting of 122 million electricity meters, 28 million gas meters and 71 million water meters.

Demand has started to fluctuate from year to year because of the increase in large contracts for solid state or advanced meters. These contracts inflate demand in the course of their duration and then depress it when they are complete and there is a reduced need for replacement of aged meters.

Growth in market volume will be 3.0% a year for electricity meters, 4.3% for gas meters and 4.3% for water meters. In value terms, demand will rise from $7.1 billion in 2007 to $8.8 billion in 2012 (in 2007 $).

Over half of the world’s meter demand is in Asia, and this region is dominated by China. Asia Pacific accounts for 59.5% of all meter demand, Europe accounts for 13.3% and North America for 13.7%.

Transmission & Distribution Industry 2006-2007 in a Snapshot

2008-06-02T08:33:00.004+01:00

The years 2006 and 2007 were significant for the world transmission & distribution industry and it may well be that in the future they will be seen as milestones in the industry’s history. Two important things happened. Firstly, the transmission and distribution industry is dominated by a handful of large companies, each of which has a strong presence in the mature, traditional markets in the industrialised countries. Investment in the transmission & distribution segment of the electrical industry has been sluggish for some years because of new and increasing competitive cost pressures due to electricity market liberalisation. The industrialised countries are all faced with the problem of aging infrastructural assets to some degree or another, and this reached such a point that late in 2005 operators and regulators changed tack and higher levels of capital expenditure investment were sanctioned, on average rising 24% to 30% and to be continued for some years. At the same time, for different reasons, there has been a huge surge in authorised transmission & distribution investment in China and promise of more in India. The transmission and distribution industry leaders have long been present in China but are now intensifying their efforts there and some are even talking about a shift in the centre of gravity of their activities from Europe and the US to China.

US Electricity Market Liberalisation

2008-05-19T15:30:00.003+01:00

Market liberalisation and privatisation is a highly politicised matter. In the US it is reported that the drive for electricity deregulation was led by seven groups, each of which advocated changes to the system to provide the greatest benefit to their members. These groups have spent a combined $50 million lobbying lawmakers, probably more, according to their own reports to Congress. On the other“side”, an activist opposition industry has been spawned, with institutes and organisations opposing the electricity deregulation process, often funded by socio-political interests such as public sector labour unions. These have a strong interest in retaining institutions which tolerate over-manning and pay wages above the private sector. Much of the rhetoric of these bodies is highly partisan and often starts with outright condemnation, followed by a manipulation of facts or distortions to justify the position. Some of these organisations use highly emotive terminology and language in putting their view across. One notable feature of the rhetoric is the repeated demonisation of the World Bank, the IMF and other institutions which have it in their mandate to aid developing countries and are proponents of electricity market liberalisation. In reaching a balanced evaluation of the success or failure of the electricity market liberalisation process it is important to see through these manipulations and to establish facts, to help identify what works and what does not.

Progress of Electricity Market Deregulation in Europe

2008-05-11T20:35:00.003+01:00

In February 2006, the European Commission published a report in which it analysed and criticised progress toward energy liberalisation in the EU and in which it named specific aspects of electricity and gas compliance with EU Directives. This also applied to the ten Accession States. The problems are not just the result of incomplete implementation of the existing 2003 Directives, but also the result of built-in structural and regulatory problems not yet addressed. Even in member states where the current legislation is being fully implemented, problems remain to be solved.

In May 2006 three announcements gave the commission report extra credence and threw the European energy sector into confusion. The reliability of Russian gas supplies, which account for a large proportion of European imports, has been called into question for some time and in 2006 Russia cut off Ukrainian supplies in retaliation for Ukraine’s pro-western stance in elections. Fears were reinforced by belligerent threats from Gazprom, warning European governments not to oppose its ambitions to enter the downstream gas sector in Europe. It is increasingly apparent that President Putin is prepared to use Russian energy as a weapon for political purposes.

In 2006 the European energy market was disrupted as the Emissions Trading Scheme was thrown into turmoil by the disclosure that most member states had issued too many carbon credits at the start of the year, resulting in serious imbalances between countries. The third dramatic announcement which came on May 18, 2006 was that EU anti-trust investigators had used powers to search 20 offices of E.ON, RWE, Gaz de France, ENI, Distrigas and Fluxys of Belgium and OMV of Austria. This third event has been influential in announcements by the Commission in September 2007 aimed at curbing the abuses perpetrated by some major operators.

The European energy sector is at a crossroads, with ever increasing demand and some uncertainties about supply. A number of European countries will require large scale replacement of generating capacity in the next decade, as either generating assets reach the end of their life or because policy decisions have been taken to phase out coal or nuclear plants. Germany is phasing out nuclear and the UK had planned to phase out both, although nuclear now looks set to be rebuilt and coal is enjoying a renaissance. In neither country is the future clear. The UK government, in particular, is avoiding the issue and says the market will decide and some observers predict an energy crisis in ten years in the UK because of this lack of preparation. In this climate of opinion, market liberalisation does not get a good press and after a “bedding in” period some governments and institutions are now questioning the success of market liberalisation in the energy sector. It was widely acknowledged when the concept was launched that it was impossible to foresee all the outcomes, and many countries have designed liberalisation schemes including the successful parts of practice in other countries, or of different components of other schemes. With some experience under our collective belt, there is now empirical data to assess the results and there are different points of view on its success.

Global Electricity Market Deregulation

2008-04-30T13:00:00.002+01:00

Deregulation and privatisation in the electricity sector is now reaching a stage around the world when it is possible to discern some patterns and factors emerging, based on experience rather than hypothesis about what ought to happen. Some outcomes have been good but some have been bad, notably in North America, and electricity market liberalisation has advocates and critics.

The momentum towards liberalisation of the electricity supply industry continues around the world but it proceeds at varying paces. As a region, only the EU is moving systematically in a co-ordinated manner, while other markets are developing new structures on an individual country basis. In February 2006 the European Commission published a critical report drawing attention to a number of aspects in which progress towards electricity market liberalisation is considered unsatisfactory.

The countries of the EU, with the United Kingdom and Scandinavia at the forefront, have been leaders in creating the sea change which liberalisation of the energy markets is bringing. In July 2007 the final stage was reached for most EU countries in which electricity markets have been fully opened to all customers. A number of countries have negotiated ‘derogations’ in which they have delayed or reduced the scope of the change, due to special circumstances in their markets. One of the main reasons for this is the small size of a market, which only justifies the existence of one generator or very few, thus making competition unfeasible. In practice there are many imperfections in the new European structure, due either to original structural conditions or failures in implementing new rules. The EU Commission has been monitoring progress and is implementing new rules. It may be many years before the optimum situation is reached.

Transmission and Distribution - A Global Snapshot

2008-04-24T17:24:00.000+01:00

In China, the State Council authorised a huge expansion of capital expenditure in transmission and distribution in the 11th Five-Year Development Plan (2006-10), but for quite a different reason from Europe and North America. The transmission and distribution system is not reaching the end of its life in China, there is simply not enough of it. For the last fifty years China has spent 80% of investment in the electrical sector on generation and only 20% on transmission and distribution, following the Soviet style ideology which gives primacy to heavy industry, in this case power generation. The sudden addition, partly unexpected and unplanned, of 200 GW to Chinese generating capacity in 2006 and 2007 used up any gains that had already been made in transmission and distribution capacity. The Chinese authorities were forced to accept that it is not enough just to produce more electricity, it also has to be transported to the users. The result has been the allocation of $153 billion to be invested in transmission and distribution in China between 2006 and 2010.

India is starting to follow suite with increased capital expenditure in transmission and distribution as well as generation, on a smaller scale than China but still significantly.

The internationalisation which started in Europe and the Nordic regions is now being replicated in other regions of the world. Perhaps the most notable example of this is the Med Ring which has created a circle around the Mediterranean, linking the Middle Eastern countries with North Africa, from Morocco to Spain to the western European networks and on the eastern side through Sudel to south eastern Europe. This will eventually be linked across the Sahara to the various new Power Pools in Central, East and West Africa, right down to South Africa.

Surge in the Transmission and Distribution Industry

2008-04-14T22:48:00.002+01:00

Recent times have revealed a surge in the global transmission and distribution market and I predict that the market will remain strong for up to five years. The electricity utilities report a significant expansion of their capital expenditure budgets, some doubling 2005/6 levels for a five year period. The transmission and distribution equipment suppliers have reported considerable growth in the last two years.

Two exceptional factors account for this optimistic outlook for the transmission and distribution industry. In the industrialised countries with mature electrical systems, liberalisation of markets has put pressure on margins and the competitive environment has constrained costs. The electricity utilities have been unwilling to invest in the regulated segments of the electricity industry and have channelled money to the more speculative unregulated segments where profits are to be made. At the same time, regulators have exerted pressure to keep costs down in the interests of the consumer. Operators have been able to keep systems running with sophisticated asset management techniques, avoiding replacement costs. However, a series of embarrassing outages through out the industrialised world in recent years has served a warning that aging systems, many of them 40 years old, cannot soldier on forever. Most of the industrialised countries have announced large increases in capital expenditure budgets.

Advances in the Japanese Gas Meter Market

2008-04-01T14:54:00.002+01:00

The Japanese gas sector is evenly split between piped natural gas and LPG. The LPG is delivered from dealers to consumers by tanker or in cylinders. Both are metered with intelligent domestic microcomputer-controlled diaphragm gas Micom meters, which have safety warning devices on them.

Gas utilities in Japan introduced Micom meters in 1983 in order to reduce potential fire accidents. Micom meters have a safety function that interrupts gas supply automatically in an emergency such as an earthquake, as well as a metering function. Installation of Micom meters has reached almost 100%, now that gas utilities are obliged by law to take responsibility for safety functions. The number of gas accidents has been dramatically reduced with the widespread use of Micom meters.

Increasing numbers of Micom meters for both piped gas and LPG have AMR capability, in the latter case this enables the dealer to refill the storage tank with LPG or to deliver new cylinders.
LPG is delivered to large consumers by pipeline.

There are major developments in residential metering in Japan as a new residential ultrasonic gas meter designed by a Tokyo Gas led consortium, together with Osaka Gas and Toho Gas comes to market this year. The meter is being manufactured by Yazaki Corporation, Toyo Gas Meter Co. and Aichi Tokei Denki Co. Ltd, and two electronics manufacturers, Matsushita Electric Industrial and the Toshiba Corporation. The ultrasonic gas meter is an electronic gas metering device designed for domestic use. The measuring principle is the same as that of a standard ultrasonic meter and the structure is very simple, having no moving mechanical parts. The meter has increased functionality, including AMR and added value-services to the consumer.

Tokyo Gas Co. Ltd., started a pilot level introduction of the ultrasonic gas meter and its commercial application in July 2005 and the new meter will come into use in 2008. The new meter has almost identical performance for both natural gas and LPG.

Advanced Metering - a Growing Trend

2008-03-25T13:46:00.002Z

The meter industry is poised for the most important technological development since the introduction of the Ferraris induction meter over a century ago. Replacement of electromechanical meters with basic solid state meters has already started. This trend has now been overtaken by a development which has been brewing for several years but in the last 12 to 18 months has taken a significant step forward to reality. This is the introduction of advanced or intelligent metering, with which energy providers and consumers communicate with each other. Advanced metering offers benefits such as, planning for lower energy consumption, demand management to reduce peak load, lower supplier costs, lower consumer bills, fewer GHG emissions, better service to the consumers, additional services for customers. Recent studies record modest cost benefit savings from 0% to 20%, with an average of 5% to 10%. But take note, the global stock of electromechanical meters is carried on utility books at installation value of some $20 billion, with a 20-30 year straight-line depreciation. For any utility, the write-off of this large asset would involve a huge accounting loss. Replacement is likely to be
phased over many years.

Fundamental Changes in the Gas Meter Market

2008-03-12T13:27:00.003Z

The meter market is at a point of fundamental change with the introduction of intelligent metering. This has immediate consequences for new meters but it also has long term implications for the gas meter market because of the different service lives of mechanical and solid state gas meters. In this time of change and development the gas meter industry continues to attract investment capital. The gas meter suppliers have seized this opportunity and the global leaders have reinvented themselves with impressive speed. The 'big three' gas meter companies - Elster, Itron/Actaris, Bayard/Landis & Gyr/Enermet - form a $5 billion trio. They have consolidated further, acquiring technology and data management companies. They are no longer just gas meter vendors, they are providers of systems technology. They not only offer measurement devices but also the means to engineer demand and manage energy. The gas meter market is continuously unfurling new dimensions.

Coal sector of South Africa

2008-02-29T16:23:00.003Z

Coal is the primary fuel produced and consumed in South Africa and is one of the country's largest sources of foreign exchange. Coal reserves constitute 5.4% of the world’s reserves, all hard coal, with no lignite.

The coal mining sector has become the second largest component of the South African mining sector with annual coal sales higher than gold.

The country's coal reserves are mainly bituminous, with a relatively high ash content of about 45%, and low sulphur content of about 1%. South Africa's recoverable coal reserves, estimated at 54.6 billion short tons (Bst), are the world's seventh largest, representing approximately 5% of the world reserves.

South Africa’s hard coal is classified as so-called ‘Gondwana’ coal, comparatively rich in ash and must be prepared, at least for exporting. This coal has limited, if any, coking properties and to that extent, is low to medium volatile at 16–29%. It is relatively (<>

Africa has been organised by landowner mining, that is, mining rights have remained with the owner of the land. State control merely took the form of a statutory approval procedure and mining supervision, so that no royalty had to be paid to the state. Wide areas of land are owned by big mining companies, and this is also true of the country’s coal deposits. In the meantime, the government is aiming at profound change in this sector. The government and mining companies recently agreed a new draft on mining laws under which, all of the country’s natural resources are transferred to state ownership. Present and future mining companies must re-apply for their mining rights, the issue of which is to be associated with statutory stipulations; deposits which are not exploited at present or whose short-term exploitation has not been applied for by the landowner can now be granted to other interested parties.

The idea is to remove the frequently occurring decade-old blockage of unused natural resources on the part of landowners, and to provide fresh mining and employment.

There are 11 coalfields in all, extending across 19 regions from the border with Botswana in the Northern Province, via the provinces Gauteng, Mpumalanga, and Freestate, to KwaZulu-Natal in the Southeast, with 83% of the reserves concentrated in the mining areas of Witbank, Highveld, Vereeniging/Sasolburg, Ermelo and Waterberg. While the first four mining areas are relatively close to the coast of the Indian Ocean, namely, just under 600 km by rail; the distance from the Waterberg area, located at the Botswana border, doubles to 1,120 km.

Among the chief mining regions are Witbank, Highveld, Vereeniging/Sasolburg, Ermelo and Waterberg, areas with a current 98% share in total output. In 2001, the total 77 collieries operated 66 underground mines and 37 opencast pits. They mined 54% or 124 Mt of total underground output and 46% or 104 Mt in surface operations. The opencast pits reach depths down to 60 m, with maximum of five seams, though only two–three are usually suitable for dragline operations, which account for two-thirds of opencast pit output. Truck and shovel mining, by contrast, is mainly used in the multi-seam mining area of Waterberg. Deposit sections whose mining in opencast pits is uneconomical are often exploited in underground mines. The flat seams lend themselves to extraction at depths of hardly more than 200 m.

The mining technique deployed here is board and pillar, which accounts for over 90% of underground mine production, while long walling is only used in exceptional cases. In board and pillar operations, coal extraction is dominated by the continuous miner, but mechanised drilling and blasting, too, are still used occasionally.

Introduction to Solar Photovoltaics

2008-02-08T13:47:00.003Z

Solar energy is usually divided into two categories, although they can be employed together in solar installations.

Solar thermal energy is generated from heat and employs heat directly to heat water, the ambient temperature in buildings, or steam to power electricity generators.

Solar photovoltaic electricity is generated from light, employing photovoltaic modules or cells, which convert sunlight into electricity using cells with semi conductors.

Solar thermal technologies use the sun’s heat. They include non-grid solar thermal technologies; water heating systems, solar cookers, solar drying applications and solar thermal building designs. These technologies help to conserve energy in heating and cooling applications. Solar thermal devices use direct heat from the sun, concentrating it to produce heat at useful temperatures. As with many other advances in the energy sector, modern solar thermal industry began with the oil embargo of 1973-1974 and was strengthened with the second embargo in 1979. In the early 1980’s, a 354 MW solar power plant was built in the Mojave Desert, in California. The heat contained in solar rays, concentrated by reflecting troughs and raised to 400^oC, produces steam that runs a conventional power generator. When the sun is not shining, the plant switches to natural gas. The latest generation of this type of plant incorporates new engineering solutions and new scientific principles such as non-imaging optics, which makes it possible to build much more efficient concentrators at lower costs. Solar thermal technology has many applications both for grid-connected power generation, in isolated locations where grid connected electricity is not viable, and in domestic and commercial situations.

Solar photovoltaics or solar PV are solid-state semiconductor devices that convert light directly into electricity. Solar PV’s are mostly made of silicon with traces of other elements and are closely related to transistors, LEDs and other electronic devices. The electricity is direct current but can be converted to alternating current or stored for later use.

Bell Telephone researchers discovered the PV cell in 1954 when examining the sensitivity of a properly prepared silicon wafer to sunlight. From the late 1950s, PVs were used to power US space satellites, which generated commercial applications for PV technology. The simplest PV systems power many of the small calculators and watches in everyday use. More complex systems provide electricity in off-grid applications and generate electricity for the grids.

Advanced technology is required to manufacture PV cells and modules, but the cells themselves are simple to use. PV modules are usually low-voltage DC devices with no moving or wearing parts, although arrays of PV modules can be wired for higher voltages. Once installed, a PV array does not require much maintenance except for an occasional cleaning, and even that is not imperative. Most PV systems contain storage batteries, which require some water and maintenance similar to that required by the battery in a car.

A solar cell consists of layers of semiconductor materials with different electronic properties. In a typical solar crystalline silicon cell, most of the material is silicon. The silicon is doped with a small quantity of boron to give it a positive or p-type character. A thin layer on the front of the cell is doped with phosphorous to give it a negative or n-type character. The interface between these two layers contains an electric field and is called a junction. Light consists of particles called photons and when the light hits the solar cell, some of the photons are absorbed in the region of the junction, freeing electrons in the silicon crystal. If the photons have enough energy, the electrons are able to overcome the electric field at the junction and are free to move through the silicon and into an external circuit. As they flow through the external circuit they give up their energy as useful work (turning motors, lighting lamps, etc.) and return to the solar cell. The photovoltaic process is entirely solid-state and self-contained; there are no moving parts and no materials are consumed or emitted.

Oil and Gas Reserves

2008-01-31T13:17:00.000Z

The Oil & Gas Journal (OGJ) estimates that at the beginning of 2004, worldwide reserves were 1.27 trillion barrels of oil and 6,100 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. These estimates are 53 billion barrels of oil and 575 trillion cubic feet of natural gas higher than the prior year, reflecting additional discoveries, improving technology and changing economics.

The countries with the largest amounts of remaining oil reserves are: Saudi Arabia, Canada, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Russia, Libya, and Nigeria. The largest reserves of natural gas are found in: Russia, Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, United States, Algeria, Nigeria, Venezuela, and Iraq.

Discovered (or known) resources can be divided into proved reserves and prospective or unproved (probable and possible) resources. "Proved reserves" are the quantities of oil or gas from known reservoirs and expected to be recoverable with current technology and at current economic conditions. Prospective resources are those that may be recoverable in the future with advanced technologies or under different economic conditions. The application of these distinctions is becoming blurred. For example, in 2003, Canada restated its reserves including its enormous non-conventional oil or tar sands with its conventional oil reserves.

Some experts argue that worldwide conventional oil production will peak within the next few years. This prediction is based on a methodology advanced by M. King Hubbert, which concludes that while the production of oil can increase for some period of time, it eventually reaches a maximum and then declines until the resource is totally depleted. In 1956, Hubbert used this methodology to predict correctly that US oil production would peak in the early 1970s.

However, others argue that, while conventional resources may be limited, the world has enormous resources of unconventional oil which are increasingly competitive with conventional crude. One outstanding example is the case of Canada’s oil sands. Canada’s resources of oil sands or crude bitumen lie almost exclusively within three regions in the province of Alberta known as Athabasca, Cold Lake and Peace River. The Alberta Energy and Utilities Board has estimated the ultimate volume of crude bitumen in place to be 2.5 trillion barrels, although the World Energy Council quotes a slightly lower figure. About 370 billion barrels of this volume are believed to be economically recoverable at current prices and with current technology. Of the economically recoverable reserves, about 15% can be recovered using surface mining where the bitumen deposits are dug from the earth, while the remaining 85% require the use of in situ production processes, in which a well is drilled and the bitumen is extracted, often using unconventional technologies.

Australia's Coal Industry

2008-01-24T13:24:00.000Z

Natural gas use in Australia is relatively small, but it has been growing rapidly in recent years. As a result of expanding consumption in a period of declining production, Australia is facing growing dependence on petroleum imports. Australia has 8.3% of the world’s coal reserves; 42.6 billion tonnes (Bt) of anthracite and 39.5 Bt of lignite. The total of 82 Bt amounts to 236 years of reserves at current production.

Coal is Australia’s largest energy source, supplying 44% of primary energy consumption, followed by oil with 33.4%.

Production of coal in Australia tripled from 127 million tonnes (Mt) in 1981 to 386 Mt in 2006. Australia has substantial domestic consumption, largely for power generation but the market is dominated by exports. Out of 386 Mt produced in 2006, approximately 97 Mt were consumed in Australia and the remaining 79% were exported. Australia is by far the largest coal exporter with 30% of the world’s export trade and Australian producers making extensions to their coal mining capacities.

Biomass in China

2008-01-14T19:55:00.000Z

The biomass energy resources in China include the residue from agriculture and forestry processing, covering solid residue, the concentrated organic waste water from the agriculture products processing, crop straw and stalk burned as fuel, fuelwood, human and animal excreta, and urban residential refuse.

Traditionally, biomass was a major energy source in China but with the huge escalation of fossil-fuel generating capacity in the last 15 years, it is now dwarfed. 80% of biomass energy is rural, the principal biomass resource being crop residue, which accounts for over 52% of total biomass energy, followed by dung with 20% and firewood with 10%. Currently, 61% of rural household energy in China comes from traditional use of biomass. This means that each year approximately four billion tons of crop residues and woodfuel are burnt using stoves.

Among the extensive agricultural residues in China, the straw and stalk output alone reaches about 604 million tons. Calculated with a collection rate of 85%, the available amount of straw and stalk is 513.4 million tons, equal to 205 million tons of carbon equivalent (tce). Much of the 513.4 million tons of straw and stalk are presently used for cooking and heating in rural households. Other uses include forage, industrial raw material for paper production, and organic fertiliser. Presently, most of it is used at low efficiency. For example, in domestic cooking stoves the conversion efficiency is only 10-20%. The remainder of the straw is either dumped or burned in the field.

City refuse accounts for 18%. Crop and forest residues are mainly used as fuels for cooking food and/or heating by means of direct burning.

Solar Thermal Technology

2007-12-22T14:16:00.000Z

In the early 1980’s, a 354 MW solar power plant was built in the Mojave Desert, in California. The heat contained in solar rays, concentrated by reflecting troughs and raised to 400^oC, produces steam that runs a conventional power generator. When the sun is not shining, the plant switches to natural gas. The latest generation of this type of plant incorporates new engineering solutions and new scientific principles such as non-imaging optics, which makes it possible to build much more efficient concentrators at lower costs. Solar thermal technology has many applications both for grid-connected power generation, in isolated locations where grid connected electricity is not viable, and in domestic and commercial situations.

Hydrogen Production, Storage and Delivery - the Infrastructure

2007-11-30T17:38:00.000Z

The development of a wide-area hydrogen production infrastructure could take several pathways, the most important of which are centralised production and distributed production. Distributed production includes production at local merchant facilities and on-site production by fuel stations or end users. The alternatives are now being applied and tested in many sites.

Hydrogen can be stored as a compressed gas or as a liquid or in a chemical compound using a variety of technologies, mainly involving storage in metal hydrides. Research is underway into the feasibility of storage in carbon.

There are two options for transport of hydrogen, pipeline or truck, and the hydrogen can be in gas or liquid form. Because the CO2 captured from flue gases is in gaseous form and large capital investments would be needed to construct the cryogenic plant needed for liquefaction or solidification, transportation is likely to be undertaken in the gas phase.

Bulk gaseous transport of CO2 may be undertaken by tanker (road, rail or water and air) or by pipeline, but with the large volumes required for bulk transport, pipeline transmission is the only practicable option. Tanker transport may have a role in smaller demonstration projects of the order of 100-200 kt of CO2 per year and in final distribution.

The existing hydrogen production, storage and delivery facilities are geared toward the industrial process market. The physical infrastructure to support a hydrogen economy would be far larger and will take 10 to 20 years to create. Parts of the existing natural gas delivery system can be converted to carry hydrogen but not all pipelines are suitable. Hundreds of thousands of kilometres of hydrogen pipeline will need to be constructed throughout the world.

The creation of a new energy economy is a gigantic task and to put its magnitude into perspective it is instructive to look at the existing scale of the transport network of the carbon energy economy. Much of the present extraction and processing of hydrocarbons will remain, albeit with new modified technologies for the production of hydrogen. There are 5.9 million km of natural gas pipelines in the world, 65 million km of electricity transmission and distribution lines and a vast network of oil pipelines. There is also a huge infrastructure transporting coal, oil and natural gas by sea, rail and road. The substitution of hydrogen as the world’s energy carrier would entail the creation of a new infrastructure of production and delivery.

Growth of Wind Energy

2007-11-22T15:27:00.000Z

World wind energy capacity reached 74 GW by the end of 2006. It has been doubling every three years during the last decade and growth rates in the 2 years to 2006 were even faster. Wind power has grown faster than hydropower in its early years and in the last six years wind power growth has exceeded nuclear power growth. The rate of annual growth increased up to a 5 year CAGR of 28.5% in 2004 and dropped slightly to 26.3% in 2006.

Last year, wind power accounted for 1.7% of global installed generating capacity, but had a much higher share in a small number of countries. Because wind is intermittent and wind turbines have a lower load factor than base load nuclear and fossil fuel power stations, typically 25%-30% for wind and 65%-90% for nuclear and fossil fuels, less power is generated.

Wind power is now regarded as a mature technology and is the first of the renewable generating sources, since hydro power, to be termed a mainstream energy source.

The attraction of wind as a source of electricity which produces minimal quantities of greenhouse gases has led to ambitious targets for wind energy in many parts of the world. More recently, there have been several developments of offshore wind installations and many more are planned. Although offshore wind-generated electricity is generally more expensive than onshore, the resource is very large and there are fewer environmental impacts than with on-shore wind turbines. Furthermore, as with on-shore installations, the costs are now coming down systematically.

Whilst wind energy is generally developed in the industrialised world for environmental reasons and as a contributor to security of supply, it has other attractions in the developing world as it can be installed relatively quickly in areas where electricity is urgently needed and grid access is limited. In some instances it may be a cost-effective solution if fossil fuel sources are not readily available. In addition, there are many applications for wind energy in remote regions, worldwide, either for supplementing diesel power, which tends to be expensive, or for supplying farms, homes and other isolated installations.

Australian Coal Industry

2007-11-16T18:48:00.000Z

New South Wales and Queensland produce nearly 97% of

Australia

's saleable output of black coal, as well as 100% of

Australia

's black coal exports.

The chief mining areas in New South Wales include the Hunter River and Newcastle areas with high volatile (> 30%) steaming and soft coking coal. To this, must be added the Southern coal field with low-volatile (22–25%) coking and the Western and Gunnedah coalfield with high-volatile steaming coal. In Queensland, the Bowen Basin, with low to medium-volatile (18–28%) coking and steaming coal, but also anthracite (12–18%) semi-soft coking coal, is of outstanding importance. On top of this come the Moreton and Tarong basins with high volatile steaming coal. Australian hard coal is mainly rich in ash and requires preparation. It is usually low in sulphur (<>

In 2001, 93 hard coal mines were operated, including 52 in New South Wales and 41 in Queensland; of these, 15 mines mainly extracted coal for domestic needs and 78 for exports. Some 146 Mt (57%) of hard coal was mined in opencast pits and 110 Mt (43%) in underground mines (Queensland and New South Wales) totalling some 266 Mt in 2001. The chief producing states were New South Wales with 113 Mt and Queensland with 143 Mt. Minor levels of approximately ten Mt output in Tasmania, Southern and Western Australia served the country’s own needs. Some 153 Mt of total output was steaming coal and 113 Mt coking coal.

In 2001, the New South Wales- and Queensland based coal industry, which mostly exports, had a headcount of 18,862; with total output of 256 Mt for the two states, productivity is 13,572 t/man per year. Here, the performance achieved in underground mines of approximately 10,300 t/man per year lagged behind that of opencast pits with 14,200 t/man per year.

Fuel Cell Vehicles

2007-10-30T13:05:00.000Z

Fuel cell vehicles are being launched all over the world. In less than 10 years, they have reached the stage of operating prototypes and demonstration models. Nearly 20 companies are developing lightduty fuel cell vehicles and components. The first application addressed in this sector was buses, because they are operated in fleets, along defined routes over comparatively short distances requiring low endurance. This has now expanded into the automobile industry and nearly all of the world’s major vehicle manufacturers are involved, some heavily.

One of the central dilemmas facing Fuel Cell Vehicles commercialisation is whether to generate the hydrogen off-board and store it on the vehicle or store a hydrogen-rich compound onboard the vehicle. Both strategies are technically possible and neither strategy yields a clearly preferable result so far from the consumer’s perspective.

Companies involved in the production of Fuel Cell Vehicles are BMW, Daihatsu, Daimler-Chrysler (which believes that it leads the industry in fuel cell vehicle demonstration projects worldwide), Delphi, Fiat, Ford, General Motors, GM-PATAC, Honda, Hyundai, Mazda, Michelin, Mitsubishi, Nissan, PSA/Peugeot, Renault, Suzuki, Toyota, Volvo, Volkswagen AG.

Transit buses are widely viewed as one of the best strategies for commercialising fuel cells for vehicles and transitioning to a hydrogen economy. Many advantages have been identified regarding the use of transit buses as fuel cell platforms. Major institutions and programmes in this sector include the Georgetown University Fuel Cell Bus Programme, DaimlerChrysler EVOBAS, Electric Fuel Corporation, Irisbus, Gillig, Hino Motors, MAN, NABI (North American Bus Industries), Neoplan, New Flyer Industries, Nova Bus, Proton Motor Fuel Cell GmbH, Toyota, Thor Industries Inc, UTC, Van Hool, Volvo Bus.

The first fuel cell vehicles were specialty vehicles. Allis Chalmers built and demonstrated a tractor in 1959 utilising an alkaline fuel cell that produced 20 horsepower. During the 1960s, Pratt & Whitney delivered the first of an estimated 200 fuel cell auxiliary power units for space applications. Union Carbide delivered a fuel cell scooter to the US Army in 1967 and Engelhard developed a fuel-cell-powered forklift about 1969.

Gasification of Biomass

2007-10-18T14:50:00.000+01:00

Solid biomass can be converted into a gaseous form. The gas can then run through a combined-cycle gas turbine or another power conversion technology such as a coal power plant. Many experts hope that gasification can yield more efficient biomass power plants. Biomass gasification is the latest generation of biomass energy conversion processes and is being used at a scale of up to 50 MW to improve the efficiency, and to reduce the investment costs of biomass electricity generation through the use of gas turbine technology. High efficiencies (up to about 50%) are achievable using combined-cycle gas turbine systems, where waste heat from the gas turbine is recovered to produce steam for use in a steam turbine. Economic studies show that biomass gasification plants can be as economical as conventional coal-fired plants. However gas cleanup to an acceptable standard remains the major challenge yet to be overcome.

New technologies are being developed to produce biogas for bio generation. Biogas consists of methane, which is found in natural gas, together with hydrogen and other gases and lessons are being learned from coal gasification systems. Some new gasification technologies make biogas by heating wood chips or other biomass in an oxygen-starved environment. Gasification is probably the most important and efficient energy-conversion technology for a wide variety of biomass fuels. The large-scale deployment of efficient technology along with interventions to enhance the sustainable supply of biomass fuels can transform the energy supply situation in rural areas. It has the potential to become the growth engine for rural development in the country.

A second method for making biogas is with landfills. As paper and other biomass decay inside a landfill, they naturally produce methane, which can be recovered by drilling wells into the landfill and piping the gas to a central processing facility for filtering and cleaning. Clean landfill gas is then ready to fuel a biopower plant or help to heat a building.

Biogas can be burned or co-fired in a boiler to produce steam for electricity generation. Biogas can also fuel gas turbines or combined-cycle generation systems. In a combined-cycle system, pressurised gas first turns a gas turbine to generate electricity. The waste gas from the gas turbine is then burned to make steam for additional power production.

Conversion of solid biomass into combustible gas has the advantages associated with using gaseous and liquid fuels such as clean combustion, compact burning equipment, high thermal efficiency, which can reach 60%-70%. In locations, where biomass is already available at reasonable low prices (e.g. rice mills) or in industries using fuel wood, gasifier systems offer definite economic advantages. Biomass gasification technology is also environment-friendly, because of the firewood savings and reduction in CO₂ emissions. Biomass gasification technology has the potential to replace diesel and other petroleum products in several applications.

Development of Ocean, Tidal and Wave Energy

2007-10-11T14:58:00.000+01:00

Ocean energy is mostly in an experimental stage. Many ideas have been generated, and a lot of experimental projects are being funded both by governments and commercially. These range from technologies and schemes which produce small amounts of energy for local, often dedicated use, to large-scale projects which can or will be capable of supplying energy in quantities sufficient to feed into a grid. The ocean can produce two types of energy: thermal energy from the sun's heat and mechanical energy from the tides and waves. Energy can be harvested from the oceans in four ways.

As the ocean energy technology develops, the industry is finding that synergies and expertise exist in the offshore wind power and hydropower industries. In the same way, the wind power industry found that the offshore oil and gas industry had a valuable contribution to make in helping with design of offshore wind plants.

Most countries which have investigated the potential exploitation of tidal energy have concentrated on the use of tidal barrages that can be used to control the natural tidal flow, which is directed to drive turbines. Only around 20 sites in the world have been identified as possible tidal power stations. Three countries have tidal energy schemes in operation: France, with the 240 MW tidal barrage at Rance, the largest tidal power station in the world and the only one in Europe, built in 1966; Canada, with the 20 MW Annapolis tidal barrage; and China, with an 11 MW scheme of small tidal plants.

Experimental tidal energy projects are being tested in Russia, UK, Australia, USA, Argentina, Canada, India, Korea, and Mexico.

Potential sites for tidal energy stations are few and far between, but a number have been identified in the UK, France, Eastern Canada, the Pacific coast of Russia, Korea, China, Mexico, and Chile. Other sites have been identified along the Patagonian coast of Argentina, Western Australia, and Western India.

Tidal ranges along the west coast of England and Wales are unusually large, averaging 7 to 8 metres on the spring tides in several estuaries and as much as 11 metres in the Severn. The Severn estuary is the site for the most ambitious tidal barrage that has been proposed for the UK so far, and it has been discussed for many years.

Tidal energy barrages would modify existing estuarine ecosystems to varying degrees, and environmental considerations are some of the barriers which have to be overcome to develop them.

Over 300 wave and tidal devices have been suggested to date, but of these, very few are in an advanced state of development. A study in early 2005 identified that one technology, Ocean Power Delivery's “Pelamis,” was leading in terms of development, and a further 4 systems were following closely behind. There are many different wave energy devices on the drawing board or undergoing tests.

Wave energy is within sight of being able to provide commercially viable electricity. The experience of onshore wind energy costs, which have been seen to fall by a factor of five over 12 to 15 years, supports predictions that the cost of wave energy will fall to 3-4 cents/kWh in five to eight years.

Wave energy is generated by the movement of devices, stationary or floating on the surface of the ocean and moved by waves, as opposed to a large volume of tidal water that is used to drive motors.

The highest energy waves are concentrated off the western coasts in the 40°–60° latitude range north and south, in the Atlantic SW of Ireland, the Southern Ocean and off Cape Horn. The capability to supply electricity from this resource is such that, if harnessed appropriately, 10% of the current level of world supply could be provided.

Development is proceeding vigorously, and while little generating capacity has yet been created, the technology is being explored with many new ideas.

Experimental wave energy projects are being tested in Australia, UK, USA, Argentina, Canada, China, India, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Greece, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Maldives, and Norway.

Benefits would undoubtedly be gained from greater international collaboration on as many as possible of the pre-competitive aspects of R&D. At present, the EU funding opportunities provide a major incentive to encourage collaboration, but there is room for other mechanisms to bring the international wave community closer together and avoid duplication and waste.

Growing Pains of the Wind Industry

2007-10-02T21:38:00.000+01:00

The wind power industry is evolving rapidly and in 2007 we are seeing many changes. The wind sector is growing quickly and reaching new countries. At the same time, several developments have taken place which are having an impact on all aspects of the energy industry. Wind power is no longer in its infancy. From being a small, even marginal energy source, wind is now entering the main stream of energy development and is poised to become a significant contributor of non-base load energy. The rate of annual growth increased up to a 5 year CAGR of 28.5% in 2004 and dropped slightly to 26.3% in 2006. This has been faster than the initial growth of hydro capacity and during the last five years new wind capacity has been growing at double the rate of nuclear capacity.

There has been a great deal of debate in the last two or three years about various technical aspects of wind power. New information about the power delivery and environmental parameters of wind power has now become available and it raises a number of important questions. This information is based on the operational experience of the largest and most experienced wind power grid operators. The debate is now entering a new phase. At the beginning the response from much of the wind industry and its lobbyists was to label these questions as ‘myths’, many of them still do. The quality of the argumentation by the wind power promoters has been poor and there has been a lack of balanced analysis. The new dimension to the debate is that it is focused more on seeking solutions rather than denying that problems exist. Several years of large scale generating experience by leading network operators have revealed important characteristics of wind power operation and produced a body of empirical evidence. These reports come from the USA, Germany (E.ON, largest wind operator in the world), Denmark (Eltra), Ireland (ESB), Spain and Portugal.

The most important of these concern the following areas:

Wind power capacity factors

Intermittency or variability of wind

Mis-match of wind power supply and demand

Inadequacy of weather forecasting

The difficulty of balancing the grid because of the variability of wind

Demands on the grid

Credit capacity

Coal is Making a Come-back

2007-09-26T13:37:00.000+01:00

A relentless increase in world demand for energy, large price increases for natural gas, growing concern about imported energy and security of supply, indecision about nuclear power are all factors which are contributing to the renaissance of coal. Despite the ‘dash for gas’ in the last two decades, coal remains the number two source of primary energy. In 1965 coal accounted for 38.4% of total final energy consumption, by 1999 this had been whittled down to 25.1% but today it has risen to 27.8%.

Production grew 14.3% in the 20 years between 1981 and 2000 but then by 27.1% in total between 2000 and 2005.

This renaissance is taking place in many countries, but by far the most important driver is escalating demand for coal in China, accompanied by growth in India and by continued strong demand in the USA. 79.5% of the growth in demand for coal in recent years has taken place in China.

A vitally important issue is the development of clean coal technology. Coal is the largest emitter of carbon dioxide, a major emitter of sulphur dioxide, nitrous oxide, mercury and particulate matter (polluting ash and dust). Billions of dollars are being invested in the development of technologies to clean emissions, to capture and store carbon and to generate electricity with reduced carbon emissions.

In the last 40 years the global coal market has changed radically. In 1965, the United States was overwhelmingly the largest producer and consumer of coal, accounting for 20% of consumption, followed by the United Kingdom and Germany. The US share increased slightly to 22% but the US has moved from first place into second pace after China. In 1965 China had an 11% share of the global coal market but this had grown to 36.9% by 2005.

It is very clear that coal will remain an essential contributor to the world’s primary energy supply for decades to come. Global coal reserves are vast and widely distributed near to the load centres. Consumption of coal will expand, although more slowly than that of other fuels. Predictions are for an annual increase of 3.5% in natural gas consumption, 2.7% for oil, 2.6% for renewables and 2.2% for coal.

The world’s oil will last for 41 years at current rates of extraction (R/P ratio), gas for 67 years but coal will last for 192 years. The R/P ratio of coal may expand by many multiples if underground coal gasification (UCG) technology is introduced, accessing deeper coal seams.

The IEA forecasts that in 2030 total energy supply will increase from 10.23 billion tonnes of oil equivalent (Btoe) to 16.3 Btoe, of which 35.4% will be contributed by oil, 25.8% by gas and 23.1% by coal. This prediction shows the shares of oil and gas expanding whereas coal’s share will decline. It is difficult to see how these shares can be maintained for oil and gas with their current R/P ratios, while total energy supply expands about 20% every ten years. For coal, however, this is eminently possible and using clean coal technology, it can be done while meeting environmental goals. It becomes even more feasible with UCG expanding coal reserves.

Electricity Deregulation in the UK

2007-09-18T17:05:00.000+01:00

The United Kingdom opened the electricity market by stages, from 30% in 1990 to 100% by 1998.

The 1989 Electricity Act created a system of independent regulation, headed by the Director General of Electricity Supply (DGES) covering England, Scotland and Wales. The regulator’s principal roles are to ensure that competition develops smoothly and effectively and where competition is inappropriate, to protect customers. In 1999, the regulatory offices for electricity and gas (OFFER and OFGAS) were merged to form the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (OFGEM). Northern Ireland has its own regulatory body, the Office for the regulation of Electricity and Gas (OFREG).

The process of electricity deregulation has followed different paths in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The electrical industry in England and Wales has four principal components; generation, transmission, distribution and supply. Generation and supply are open to competition and price is not regulated. Transmission and distribution, which are natural monopolies, are subject to price regulation. The National Grid Company, the transmission network operator in England and Wales, has a central role in the industry. It has a statutory duty to develop and to maintain an efficient, coordinated and economic transmission system and to facilitate competition in supply and generation. Distribution remains a monopoly business and under the Utilities Act 2000 it has become a separately licensable activity. Nine distribution companies operate 12 authorised distribution areas.

The Scottish electricity industry had an integrated structure prior to privatisation, which remains after vesting. Two companies, Scottish Power and Scottish and Southern Energy, the latter formed as a result of a merger between Scottish Hydro Electric and Southern Electric, cover the full range of electricity provision from generation, transmission and distribution through to supply.

The industry in Northern Ireland differs from that in the rest of the UK in a number of important ways. It serves a comparatively small area and only 1.6 million people, with 690,000 customers and until March 1995, it had been isolated from other networks. It is now a privately owned company operating under its own regulator in Northern Ireland.

Leading Wind Power Markets

2007-09-06T20:30:00.000+01:00

In order of size Germany had the largest installed wind capacity with 20,622 MW at the end of 2006. Second and third were Spain with 11,614 MW and the United States with 11,603 MW. India was fourth with 6,270 MW followed by Denmark with 3,136 MW and China with 2, 604 MW. China has made a very recent arrival in the top wind power ranking, having risen from only 764 MW in 2004 but could overtake Denmark by the end of 2007, with 3,500 MW anticipated, whilst Denmark is presently static.

The United States has experienced a renaissance in wind power in the last two years due to production tax credits guaranteed for a fixed period and is expected to reach 25,000 MW, the same level as Germany in 2010, while Spain will not be far behind with 20,000 MW. China has a government target of 5,000 MW by 2010 but on current performance is expected to exceed that. Danish wind power capacity will probably not grow much in the next four years.

Global Energy Sector Facing Change

2007-08-17T15:29:00.000+01:00

The global energy sector is on the point of immense change. The current carbon economy, produces about 80% of the world's energy supply and depends on fossil fuels, which are finite and which produce harmful emissions. This infrastructure has been developed over about two centuries, but in the next 50 years will give way to a whole different reality. No matter a person's views on global warming or the causes of climate change, everyone agrees that the environment is vital to our future. Currently, only 11% of the world's energy needs are supplied by renewable sources.

How are we to provide the huge amounts of energy we need in our modern lives in a clean and secure manner? Governments, scientists and companies have now allocated large R&D budgets to finding the answer.

The "hydrogen economy", is an emerging sustainable energy supply system featuring electricity and hydrogen as dominant energy carriers. Supply of hydrogen is potentially limitless and clean. It is currently used in some industrial processes.

Developing the hydrogen economy depends on the development of fuel cells. Fuel cells utilise the chemical energy of hydrogen to produce electricity and thermal energy. A fuel cell is a quiet, clean source of energy. Water is the only by-product it emits if it uses hydrogen directly. There are a myriad of applications for the technology. In a hydrogen economy, vehicles are powered by Fuel Cells, akin to batteries, which produce electricity with the aid of hydrogen rather than gasoline. Hydrogen can be used for power stations, domestic use, electric and electronic appliances and transportation.

Hydrogen development is already beginning and the future is likely to see the emergence of a combination of existing and new technologies

Biomass - the Largest Source of Renewable Energy

2007-08-01T16:17:00.000+01:00

As a primary energy source, renewable energy is significant. It delivered 1,448 Mtoe of primary energy in 2004 and accounted for 13.1% of the 11,059 Mtoe of World Total Primary Energy Supply (TPES). Because of its wide non-commercial use in developing countries, biomass in particular has provided the largest source of renewable energy. Its contribution of 1,150 Mtoe represented 79% of the total supply of renewable energy, followed by hydropower with a 16.8% share.

Primary biomass energy consists of firewood, agricultural residues, animal and human wastes, charcoal, and other derived fuels. Biomass currently represents approximately 10% of world final energy consumption, being the fourth largest provider after oil with 34%, coal with 26%, and natural gas with 22%. Biomass has a higher share with 10.3% than either nuclear with 5.6% or hydro with 2.3%.

According to the IEA, the use of biomass will continue to grow at a rate of 1.4% per year until 2015 and at a rate of 1.3% from 2015 to 2030. The overall share of biomass will remain at 10% of the total. The total of the renewable energy supply experienced an annual growth of 3.5% over the last 15 years—more than the 1.9% annual growth in TPES. Biomass grew with an annual rate of 1.5%. However, the “new renewables” such as solar and wind power have recorded a much higher annual growth of 8.3% up to 2005; both continued to increase even faster in 2006.

The developed countries account for the largest proportion of the new renewables. Out of 11,059 Mtoe of total primary energy in the world, 1,508 Mtoe (or 13.6%) is converted into electricity. 17.1% or 248 Mtoe of all renewable energy is converted into electricity, but only 2.8% or 32 Mtoe of biomass is converted into electricity. “Modern” use is in fact slightly higher because this does not include use of gas and other commercial processes, but it is still a tiny proportion of total biomass consumption.

Renewables, including hydropower, are the fourth largest contributor to global electricity production. They accounted for 15.1% of production in 2004, after coal with 38%, nuclear with 22.9%, and natural gas with 18%. Most of the electricity generated from renewables comes from hydropower plants, which provide 83%, followed by biomass with 9.3%. Geothermal, solar, and wind energy are growing fast but still only accounted for 7.3% of renewable energy generation in 2004.

Ocean Energy Market Development

2007-07-24T16:25:00.000+01:00

Between 2004 and 2008, it has been estimated that the world capital expenditure (CAPEX) on wave energy will be US$140 million, with almost 50% of this in the UK. In the same period, it has been estimated that the world CAPEX on tidal projects will be around US$110 million, with almost 90% of this being related to the UK market. Together wave and tidal energy represent a global market of US$250 million, with US$180 million earned in the UK.

While committed tidal projects are primarily off the East Asian Pacific coasts of Korea and China, the bulk of wave energy projects are being developed in Europe. The UK and Portugal are the countries with the most current activity. In the last year, there has been an advance in the progress of tidal energy, with one barrage already under construction on the Korean coast, the 254 MW Shihwa tidal power plant, and a contract agreed for a second 300 MW tidal lagoon power plant in China. Both are larger than the barrage at La Rance in France, presently the largest in the world.

The technology that is most advanced toward commercialisation is the Pelamis (named after a seasnake), under development by Ocean Power Delivery Ltd. in Scotland. Pelamis is a series of cylindrical segments connected by hinged joints. In August 2004, Pelamis was connected to the UK grid at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney in order to be tested. This was the first offshore wave energy to be exported into the UK electricity system.

Sea trials are underway of the Wavegen commercial scale wave energy converter, LIMPET, which is feeding electricity into the supply of the Scottish island of Islay. Ocean Power Technologies’ floating Powerbuoy has undergone successful trials off the coast of New Jersey and is on the way to commercialisation. A number of oscillating water columns have been tested and are also under trial in various parts of the world. Seagoing trial of the 20 kW prototype Wave Dragon tapchan device has proven its offshore survivability since March 2003.

The first commercial grid-connected marine current turbine is currently being test operated at Lynmouth in the UK. A UK£3 million turbine has been built into the seabed about 1.5 km (one mile) offshore from Lynmouth. The single 11 metre-long rotor blade will be capable of producing 300 kW of electricity and will be a test-bed for further tidal turbines.

The first ship to use the technology of oscillating water wings may be the Orcelle, a cargo vessel
transporting up to 10,000 cars from Britain to Australia, New Zealand, and other countries.
The marine renewable sector is currently the focus of much academic and industrial research around the world. Many universities and institutes are engaged in marine renewable research, either developing new concepts or performing fundamental research to support the sector.

An economic analysis indicates that, over the next 5 to 10 years, ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) plants may be competitive in four markets:

• Small island nations in the South Pacific and the island of Molokai in Hawaii.
• American territories such as Guam and American Samoa.
• Hawaii, where a larger, land-based, closed-cycle OTEC plant could produce electricity with a
second-stage desalinated water production system.
• Puerto Rico, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans for floating, closedcycle plants rated at 40 MW or larger.

The Hydrogen Economy

2007-07-12T21:48:00.000+01:00

The energy sectors in both the

United States

and Europe are on the cusp of immense change. New technologies are being developed and opportunities for entrepreneurial ideas and innovative approaches are ripening at a time when capital-intensive, aging energy infrastructure is in need of improvement.

The world currently exists in a carbon economy. 80% of the primary energy which drives the world is derived from hydrocarbon fossil fuels; oil 35%, coal 24% and natural gas 21% and 11% is contributed by renewables, almost all renewable biomass. In the last two centuries the volume of carbon consumption has increased exponentially with the world’s industrialisation.

The carbon economy has given great economic benefits to mankind but it is subject to two limitations. Although new reserves of hydrocarbons and new technologies to exploit them are being discovered all the time, these resources are not limitless. Secondly, fossil fuels emit greenhouse gasses and other pollutants when they are burned and these emissions have reached dangerous proportions. Alternatives to the carbon economy are feasible although wide scale use is some years in the future. A hydrogen economy is one such option, in which the sustainable energy supply system of the future features electricity and hydrogen as the dominant energy carriers. Hydrogen will be produced from a diverse base of primary energy feedstocks, or from water using renewable electricity in the process. The use of hydrogen energy would reduce dependence on petroleum and the pollution and greenhouse gas emissions caused by carbons.

The development of the hydrogen economy will advance on two fronts. The development of another technology, the fuel cell, is essential to the exploitation of hydrogen; the two are interlinked. It is important to understand that hydrogen is not a primary energy source like coal and gas; it is an energy carrier, like electricity. Hydrogen can be converted to energy via traditional combustion methods and through electrochemical processes in fuel cells. Initially it will be produced using existing energy systems based on different conventional primary energy sources and carriers. In the longer term renewable energy sources could become the most important source for the production of hydrogen.

Fuel cells utilise the chemical energy of hydrogen to produce electricity and thermal energy. A fuel cell is a quiet, clean source of energy. Water is the only by-product it emits if it uses hydrogen directly. Fuel cells are similar to batteries in that they are composed of positive and negative electrodes with an electrolyte or membrane. The difference between fuel cells and batteries is that energy is not recharged and stored in fuel cells as it is in batteries. Fuel cells receive their energy from the hydrogen or similar fuel that is supplied to them. No charge is thereby necessary.

Fuel cells are already used in a wide variety of products, ranging from very small fuel cells in portable devices such as mobile phones and laptops, mobile applications like cars, delivery vehicles, buses and ships, to heat and power generators in stationary applications in the domestic and industrial sector. Fuel cells are customarily classified into the three categories; stationary, portable and mobile or transport. Within these three overall groupings there are sub-categories.

Although there are many positive factors in the concept of a hydrogen economy, there are arguments against it. The potential benefits include high efficiencies, decentralised power generation, security of supply, reduced emissions, reliable and silent operation, energy savings, multiple uses and opportunities for hybrids. On the downside there are huge technological challenges and massive investment is needed to create capacity and infrastructure for the production and delivery of hydrogen. The environmental benefits are only as good as the sources and processes of production, and finally there are competitive technologies.

New technologies include large scale electrification in conjunction with plug-in hybrid vehicles and Li-ion batteries in transport. In the stationary applications market, distributed electricity generation or cogeneration present an alternative to hydrogen. Other significant competitors are a new level of power generation technologies, such as large, increased efficiency coal and gas-fired power plants, possibly using underground coal gasification (UCG) with CO2 capture and storage (CCS), renewable electricity supply technologies which are already widespread in the market (wind and solar PV) or now being commercialised (ocean and tidal energy), and new nuclear power technologies. At the same time, new technologies such as micro-turbines and Stirling engines are being introduced in combined heat and power applications. All of these technologies are in the pipeline and will not simply be overridden by hydrogen.

Virtually all of the OECD countries treat research into hydrogen and fuel cells as an important and in most cases an increasingly important, element of their overall public policy and programme planning activities. An important feature of hydrogen and fuel cell research and development is the exceptionally strong involvement and commitment of industry as well as governments. The US federal government proposes spending $2.7 billion over the next five years on hydrogen and fuel cell research and development, and advanced automotive technologies. The Japanese government plans to spend over $380 million a year on fuel cell research, development and commercialisation. The FP- Framework Programme - is the EU’s main instrument for research funding in Europe and was first adopted in 1984, each lasting for a five year period. FP 7 has a total budget of over €50 billion and some €275 million is earmarked for hydrogen and fuel cells, in addition to national expenditures.

It cannot be taken as a forgone conclusion that an exclusive hydrogen economy will emerge.

Hydrogen is coming but it may consist of a hybrid of hydrogen applications side by side with conventional fossil fuels, nuclear and renewable energy. The final evolution is so far in the future and the waters are so uncharted that many variants are possible. Iceland, although small, has a high proportion of renewable energy, mainly geothermal and is interesting because the government has determined that the country should be the first with a hydrogen economy.

Tidal Energy Potential

2007-07-09T14:54:00.000+01:00

Only around 20 sites in the world have been identified as possible tidal power stations. Three countries have tidal energy schemes in operation: France, with the 240 MW tidal barrage at Rance, the largest tidal power station in the world and the only one in Europe, built in 1966; Canada, with the 20 MW Annapolis tidal barrage; and China, with an 11 MW tidal power scheme of small tidal plants.

Experimental tidal energy projects are being tested in Russia, UK, Australia, USA, Argentina, Canada, India, Korea, and Mexico. Potential sites for tidal energy stations are few and far between, but a number have been identified in the UK, France, Eastern Canada, the Pacific coast of Russia, Korea, China, Mexico, and Chile. Other sites have been identified along the Patagonian coast of Argentina, Western Australia, and Western India.

Tidal energy is expensive to install, costing UK£1.5 /US$2.4 million per megawatt, compared with about US$1 million per megawatt for wind turbines. It also has environmental problems including effects on tidal waters and ecosystems. On the positive side, it is cheap to maintain once installed and the electricity output is completely predictable.

Tidal energy barrages would modify existing estuarine ecosystems to varying degrees, and environmental considerations are some of the barriers which have to be overcome to develop them.

Uses of Biomass

2007-06-30T22:31:00.000+01:00

Biomass can be used in two fundamental ways: directly (e.g. burning wood for heating and cooking) and indirectly (by conversion into a liquid or gaseous fuel, e.g. ethanol from sugar crops, biodiesel from vegetable oils, or biogas from landfills and animal waste). Direct use is often termed “traditional” use, and indirect use is often termed “modern” or “commercial” biomass use because it involves more advanced processes, such as gasification and electricity generation. Direct or traditional use predominates in the developing world, while indirect use (after transformation) is more common in the industrialised countries.

70% of all biomass in the world is used in the residential sector, while 14% is used in industry and 11% is transformed into electricity, heat, or another energy carrier such as liquid fuel or biogas. Biomass for electricity generation has a total usage in volume higher in the USA than in the whole of Europe combined, but consumption for heating is considerably lower. The use of biomass for both electricity generation and heat has tripled in the last 13 years in the 15 EU countries, growing from 1,218 ktoe to 5,341 ktoe for electricity and from 2,186 ktoe to 5,341 ktoe for heat. The majority of developing countries are located in warmer regions, and the use of biomass heat, other than for cooking and traditional heating, is limited to the supply of process heat in industry.

In rural areas, biomass fuels are mainly collected by users, whereas in urban areas they are mostly marketed after collection by urban authorities or their agents. Urban use is based on the collection and processing of large quantities of waste, mainly by municipal authorities for processing in central plants and distribution by commercial means.

Of all the forms of renewable energy, only hydropower exceeds the amount of electricity produced by bio energy; wind produces similar amounts of electricity to bio energy. Biomass electricity has a significant advantage in that it is the only established renewable resource which can provide baseload power. Hydropower and wind power are generated with lower capacity factors because the supplies of water and wind are irregular.

Biomass fuels have negligible sulphur content and therefore do not contribute to sulphur dioxide emissions, which cause acid rain. The combustion of biomass generally produces less ash than coal combustion, and the ash produced can be used as a soil additive on farm land to recycle material such as phosphorous and potassium.

The conversion of agricultural and forestry residues and municipal solid waste for energy production is an effective use of waste products that also reduces the significant problem of waste disposal, particularly in municipal areas.

On the negative side, the widespread use of wood from natural forests can cause deforestation and localised fuel wood scarcity, with serious ecological and social ramifications. This is currently occurring on a serious scale in Nepal, Southeast Asia, parts of India, South America, and in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Some biomass applications are not fully competitive at this stage. In electricity production, for example, there is strong competition from new, highly efficient natural gas-fired combined-cycle plants. However, the economics of biomass energy production are improving, and the growing concern about greenhouse gas emissions is making biomass energy more attractive.

Direct use: Combustion is the main process adopted for using biomass energy directly. The energy released can be used to provide heat and/or steam for cooking, space heating, and industrial processes. Combustion can also be used for indirect conversion of biomass energy, as for power generation.

Indirect use: There are various technologies for converting biomass into secondary energy such as electricity or bio power. The technologies of energy conversion of biomass energy have been developed primarily in the USA and the EU.

There is a debate about the extent of the world's remaining oil reserves

2007-06-08T18:14:00.000+01:00

The global energy community is currently engaged in debate about the extent of the world’s remaining oil reserves and the rate of their depletion. Traditional orthodoxy is being challenged and the actual definitions of the resource itself and of the term “reserves” are under scrutiny.

In 2006, an increasing number of oil and gas companies devalued their reserves, the crucial asset which contributes most to their balance sheet. This was lead by a shock devaluation of 30% by Shell.

There are two strands to the reassessment of the world’s fossil fuel energy reserves. The definitions are themselves being reassessed. The rigour of most of the valuations is largely dependent on probabilities which are assigned to various factors, such as the likelihood of pipelines being available to a specific field. Discovered (or known) resources can be divided into proved reserves and prospective or unproved (probable and possible) resources. There is discussion about the value of each level of valuation; and, proved reserves, most commonly used, can be increased by moving a lower category up the chain.

A second issue is the inclusion of “non-conventional” oil in reserves, by far the largest of which are the Canadian oil or tar sands, a thick bitumen or heavy crude permeating the sands of Alberta in Western Canada and one of the largest deposits of oil in the world. The second largest deposits are in the Orinoco Belt in Venezuela. These are sometimes called the Fourth Fossil Fuel; after coal, conventional oil and natural gas.

For many years, although these were recognised, they were largely ignored because the technology of extracting them was not developed and the cost of cleaning them environmentally was prohibitive. Immense strides have been made in solving these problems.

The Oil & Gas Journal (OGJ), a leading source for worldwide reserves estimates, estimates that at the beginning of 2004, worldwide reserves were 1.27 trillion barrels of oil and 6,100 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. These estimates are 53 billion barrels of oil and 575 trillion cubic feet of natural gas higher than the prior year; reflecting additional discoveries, improving technology and changing economics. The countries with the largest amounts of remaining oil reserves are: Saudi Arabia, Canada, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Russia, Libya, and Nigeria. The largest reserves of natural gas are found in: Russia, Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, United States, Algeria, Nigeria, Venezuela, and Iraq.

The deposits of bitumen and Orimulsion in Canda and Venezuela can hardly be understated. Until recently, the Canadian bitumen had not received the prominence of Venezuelan Orimulsion but it is now exceeding it in volume as marketing momentum grows and the real extent of the asset is realised.

Orimulsion is loosely described as a bitumen-water emulsion (more correctly extra-heavy oil-water emulsion), consisting of 70% bitumen, a naturally occurring heavy petroleum material from the Orinoco region of Venezuela, 30% water and a small amount of surfactant. It was first used commercially in 1991 at two plants in the UK and one in Japan.

Currently, 3,866 MW of plant capacity has been adapted for use with Orimulsion, in UK, Canada, Italy, Japan and Lithuania. A plant is currently being converted in Singapore.

Orimulsion is cheap and competitive with internationally traded coal. It has been proposed as a fuel to replace either coal or heavy fuel oil in utility power plants throughout the world. It is relatively easy to convert coal, HFO or diesel plants for use of Orimulsion. It is easy to ignite and has good combustion characteristics. It is relatively easy and safe to produce, transport, handle and store.

OrimulsionTM is a trade name owned by Bitor, a subsidiary of PDVSA, the state oil company of Venezuela.

In addition to being used in conventional power plants using steam turbines, Orimulsion can be used in diesel engines for power generation, in cement plants, as a feedstock for Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle, and, as a "reburning" fuel, where it is used in a method of reducing NOx by staging combustion in the boiler.

There are two environmental considerations; the pollution resulting from combustion and the threat of a spill during transportation. There have been some objections to Orimulsion from environmental lobbies but in reality the fuel is no more environmentally dangerous than other fossil fuels, and better than some. Emissions of carbon dioxide per unit of electricity generated from burning Orimulsion are similar to those from heavy fuel oil and less than those from coal, although greater than for combined cycle gas plant. Due to Orimulsion’s water content and hence lower calorific value, around 42% more Orimulsion needs to be burned to generate the same amount of electricity. Consequently, without SO2 abatement, more SO2 would be generated per unit of electricity with Orimulsion than with heavy fuel oil. The emission of SO2 may, however, be substantially abated through the fitting of widely used FGD (fuel gas desulphurisation) equipment, which ‘scrubs’ over 90% of the SO2 out of the fuel gases before they are released to the atmosphere. Orimulsion is suitable for use in low NOX burners and with other NOX reduction technologies. Power stations worldwide, which are currently burning Orimulsion, are fitted with electrostatic precipitators in addition to FGD. Their emissions of particulates are within the limits required of new plant in the UK and EU countries.

Orimulsion is transported from Venezuela in double-hulled tankers. Should a spill occur at sea, Orimulsion mixes readily with the body of water because it already contains emulsifying agents. It does not tend to float on the surface like a blanket and does not have the suffocating effect of an oil slick. In terms of its long term fate and degradation, spills of Orimulsion pose similar environmental risks to those of heavy fuel oil.

There was much experimentation with oil sands technology in the first half of the 20th Century but it was not until the 1950s and early 1960s that commercial development became viable. Production depends on the depth of the deposits. Where the bitumen is buried deep enough to prevent severe heat loss, the bitumen may be produced from wells by the use of steam injection. The development of horizontal well drilling has led to a significant advancement in bitumen recovery, the SAGD process, through use of a higher horizontal steam injection well and a lower horizontal well to receive the mobilised oil by gravity drainage. The Government of Alberta’s oil sands development policy was announced in 1962 and the Great Canadian Oil Sands Project (GCOS) was conceived and approved.

Exploitation of the Alberta natural bitumen is well advanced. Taking into account all operations, total output from Canadian oil sands in 1999 was 323,000 b/d of synthetic crude and 244,000 b/d of crude bitumen from the in situ plants; together, these represented 22% of Canada’s total production of crude oil and NGL.

Geothermal Power in Mexico

2007-05-30T20:40:00.000+01:00

Mexico is one of the fastest growing geothermal producers in the world. Twenty-seven geothermal power plants are operating in the three Mexican fields, with total geothermal capacity of 953 MW in December 2005. There is a project to install 75 MW in 2006-2008 in the new area La Primavera pending resolution of some environmental matters. CFE has programmed to increase capacity in Cerro Prieto (100 MW) and Los Humeros (25 MW) in 2010.
Direct uses of geothermal heat are widespread in Mexico, including industrial laundries, refrigeration, district and greenhouse heating, and fruit and wood drying.

Geothermal Power in Japan

2007-05-23T19:11:00.000+01:00

The first experimental geothermal power generation in Japan took place in 1925 in Beppu and capacity reached 535 MW in December 2005, which ranks Japan sixth in the world. The government target for the year 2010 is installed geothermal capacity of 2,800MW. The plants range in size from the 65 MW Yanaizu-Nishiyama unit to the 100 kW Kirishima International Hotel back- pressure generator in Beppu, Kyushu.

The Japanese government gives substantial support to the development of geothermal power. ANRE, the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy is playing a core role in development and utilisation of geothermal energy in Japan, such as providing subsidy. NEDO plays a central role to support renewables and after a slow start is now promoting geothermal development as an element of the concept of regional renewable integrated self-sufficient systems. The introduction and promotion of geothermal energy as an alternative for petroleum, has been its major task.

The organisation is also encouraging international cooperation relating to geothermal engineering.

Geothermal Power in Indonesia

2007-05-10T16:42:00.000+01:00

Development of geothermal potential has proceeded very slowly in Indonesia and is currently facing difficult challenges and uncertainty. Over a span of 20 years, Indonesia has developed only 797 MW of geothermal power, approximately 4% of 20,000 MW geothermal potential. In the early 1990s, eleven contracts for development of geothermal power plants were awarded, with a total committed capacity of 3,417 MW and original completion dates between 1998 and 2002. As a result of the 1997-1998 financial crisis, which brought PLN, the state utility to technical bankruptcy, the Government suspended nine conventionally powered IPPs and seven geothermal projects. The government is now attempting to resuscitate the seven contracts but with little progress.

The new oil and gas law, passed in October 2001, bars geothermal as an area of regulation, requiring the Indonesian Government to develop a new legislative basis quickly. PLN understands that the future of geothermal power will depend on its competitiveness against other means of electricity generation. High capital costs and the associated electricity tariff required remain core problems. In addition, unresolved decentralization issues, uncertainties in security and contracts, and the potential regulatory changes of a planned geothermal law discourage investment in geothermal projects. In the long run, Indonesia still presents one of the world’s most attractive geothermal regions, but the Indonesian Government must develop new approaches to maximize its potential.

PLN is currently negotiating to bring down tariff rates on various geothermal ESCs, with the intent of lowering prices from US ¢ 6-8 cents/kWh agreed under Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) to around US ¢4 cents/kWh. The original prices negotiated by the geothermal developers ranged between US ¢7.25-9.81/kWh, about double the viable rate.

Geothermal Power in the Philippines

2007-04-26T19:12:00.000+01:00

The Philippines is the second largest geothermal power generating country in the world after the USA, with installed capacity of 1,930 MW at the end of 2005, of which 1,838 MW was operational.

The Philippines now leads the world in terms of wet steam field capacity and ranks just behind the US in terms of geothermal power generation.

The Philippines is located in the Pacific Rim of Fire, a volcanic region which extends in a crescent from Sumatra in Indonesia at the western end, across the 3,000 mile archipelago of Indonesia, through the Philippines archipelago to Japan in the east. It has a considerable number of high quality geothermal resources. These are all island arc volcanic systems as typically found in the Circum-Pacific region, and show close similarities with geothermal systems in Indonesia and Japan. The widely distributed nature of the geothermal resources in the Philippines has long been an impediment to geothermal power development.

With over 20 years of experience in geothermal development and power generation, the geothermal industry in the Philippines is now in a mature state and currently the Philippines Department of Energy is supervising the operations of nine geothermal service contract areas. In the early 1990s, there was a rapid upswing in geothermal power development and 1,000 MW of geothermal capacity was added between 1993 and 1997. This was largely due to BOT
legislation in the Philippines, which allowed international power utilities to enter the market and to fund and construct geothermal power plants. This enabled an increase in the much needed generating capacity without increasing national debt.

The Philippine government plans to add 526 MW of new capacity between 2002 and 2008.

Geothermal Power in the US

2007-04-19T13:55:00.000+01:00

In December 2005 the installed geothermal capacity in the USA was 2,564 MW, of which 1,935 MW was usable. The considerable difference between installed capacity and operating capacity in the USA was due to lack of steam caused by over-exploitation of the Geysers geothermal field in California. On this site, available steam can now only supply 888 MW out of the 1,421 MW installed capacity.

Current geothermal resources using today’s technology are estimated at 6,520 MW and at 22,000 MW with enhanced technology.

Over the last three decades, the US geothermal power-generation industry has grown to be the largest in the world, with over 2,445 MW of installed electrical capacity. Growth during the first two decades (1960-1980) was due to a single utility’s development of one dry-steam resource. After 1983, growth shifted toward independent power producers and development of waterdominated geothermal resources at several locations.

The steady growth of geothermal development in the United States from 1960 to 1979 was led by activities at The Geysers, where the field developments of the partnership of Union Oil Company of California, Magma Energy Company, and Thermal Power Company were greatly expanded toprovide steam to the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) electrical-generation system.

This construction made The Geysers field the largest geothermal development in the world. Production from The Geysers peaked in 1988 but pressure declines in the reservoir limited any further expansion of the field. In December 2006, it was announced that the 55 MW Bottle Rock Geothermal Power Plant at The Geysers will reopen after being dormant since 1990. It will operate initially at 20 MW with plans to expand.

Geothermal well drilling has tapered off in the US since the 1980s. In California, four wells were drilled in 1996 (one at The Geysers and three at Salton Sea), nine in 1997 (four at Coso, two at The Geysers and three at Salton Sea) and seven in 1998 (three at Coso, one at The Geysers and three in the Salton Sea). In all, between 1996 and 1998, only 13 production and seven injection wells were drilled in California. The most promising new areas for geothermal
exploration are in Hawaii and the Cascade Mountains of Washington, Oregon, and northern California.

Future developments are planned, with projects being considered in some 55 stages. Not all of these will happen since some are in the pre-planning phase and others are awaiting approval. The opinion in the geothermal industry in the US is up-beat for future expansion.

Geothermal Power on an upward growth path

2007-03-24T20:41:00.000Z

Geothermal power generation capacity worldwide rose from 7,972.7 MW in 2000 to 8,933 MW in 2005, with 8,035 MW running. This is about 0.2% of the total world installed power generating
capacity.

The geothermal heat pump (GHP), also known as the Ground-Source Heat Pump (GSHP) or generically as geoexchange, is the fastest growing geothermal application today. GSHP is a highly efficient renewable energy technology that is gaining wide acceptance for both residential and commercial buildings, with 1.4 million installations worldwide by 2005, and growth from 1,854 MWt of capacity in 1995 to 15,284 MWt in 2005.

Ground-Source Heat Pumps are used for space heating and cooling, as well as water heating. The technology relies on the fact that the Earth (beneath the surface) remains at a relatively constant temperature throughout the year, warmer than the air above it during the winter and cooler in the summer. GSHP systems do work that ordinarily requires two appliances, a furnace and an air conditioner and use 25%–50% less electricity than conventional heating or cooling systems.

Geothermal technology is suitable for integrated regional energy systems, rural electrification and mini-grid applications, especially in distributed generation systems, in addition to national grid applications. It is being promoted as a regional resource, combining the exploitation of renewable energy resources together with environmental advantages.

Geothermal energy is contained in the heated rocks and fluid that fill the fractures and pores within the earth’s crust. It can be harvested in two ways, direct use of hot water or steam for space heating or industrial use such as aquaculture, thermal baths and hot springs, and to power electricity generation plants. Direct use is confined to low temperatures, usually below 150o C whereas, power generation employs high temperature resources over 150o C. 80 countries have developed direct use of geothermal energy and 20 exploit geothermal energy for power generation. Direct low-temperature use employs about twice the energy capacity as is used for power generation.

Direct use of geothermal heat has been used for thousands of years. The major direct use applications today are GSHP installations for space heating, presently estimated to exceed 500,000 and are the first in terms of global capacity but third in terms of output. Direct use of geothermal energy achieves 50-70% efficiency, compared with the 5-20% efficiency achieved with the indirect use of generating electricity.

Geothermal power started in 1904 with the Larderello field in Tuscany, which produced the world's first geothermal electricity. Major production at Larderello began in the 1930s and by 1970; power capacity had reached 350 MW. The Geysers in California started in the 1960s is the largest geothermal plant in the world. Individual geothermal power plants can be as small as 100 kW or as large as 100 MW depending on the energy resource and power demand.

The three countries with the largest amount of installed direct heat use capacity are USA (5,366 MW), China (2,814 MW) and Iceland (1,469 MW), accounting for 58% of world capacity, which has reached 16,649 MW.

The global installed capacity of geothermal power generation at in December 2005 was 8,933 MW, of which 8,035 MW was operational. Six countries accounted for 86% of the geothermal generation capacity in the world. The USA is first with 2,564 MW (1,935 MW operational), followed by Philippines (1,931 MW, 1,838 MW operational); four countries (Mexico, Italy,

Indonesia, Japan) had capacity at the end of 2005 in the range of 535-953 MW each. Mexico and Indonesia have grown 26% and 35% respectively between 2000 and 2005. Although on a smaller base, Kenya achieved the highest growth, from 45 MW to 129 MW.

In the last five years geothermal power generation has grown at an annual rate of 2.3% globally,a slower pace than the 3.25 in the previous five years, while direct heat use showed a strong increase. With current technology, the global potential capacity for geothermal generation is estimated at 72,500 MW and at 138,100 MW with enhanced technology.

A strong decline in the USA in recent years, due to over-exploitation of the Geysers steam field,has been partly compensated by important additions to capacity in several countries: Mexico,

Indonesia, Philippines, Italy, New Zealand, Iceland, Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Kenya. Newcomers in the electric power sector are Ethiopia (1998), Guatemala (1998), Austria (2001) and Nicaragua.

In 2005 and 2006 the United States showed strong signs of renewed growth for geothermal power generation. Five states now have geothermal power generating facilities; California, Nevada, Utah, Alaska and Hawaii. The Richard Burdett Power Plant (formerly Galena I) in Nevada commenced generating power in 2005 and the first geothermal power plant in Alaska being installed in 2006 at Chena Hot Springs. A fairly extensive list of projects has been
announced for the next ten years, with new installations planned in Arizona, Idaho, New Mexico and Oregon, in addition to the existing five ‘geothermal’ states. Japan, Philippines and Nicaragua have all announced ambitious plans for further development of geothermal power.

There are three basic technologies for generating electricity from geothermal energy. Dry steam power plants using dry steam systems were the first type of geothermal power generation plants to be built. They use the steam from the geothermal reservoir as it comes from wells and route it directly through turbine/generator units to produce electricity.

Flash steam plants are the most common type of geothermal power generation plants in operation today. They use water at temperatures greater than 182°C that is pumped under high pressure to the generation equipment at the surface. Upon reaching the generation equipment, the pressure is suddenly reduced, allowing some of the hot water to convert or "flash" into steam.

This steam is then used to power the turbine/generator units to produce electricity. Binary cycle geothermal power generation plants differ from dry steam and flash steam systems in that the water or steam from the geothermal reservoir never comes in contact with the turbine/generator units but is used to heat another "working fluid" which is vaporised and used to turn the turbine/generator units.

Geothermal power projects require high capital investment for exploration, drilling wells and installation of plant, but have low operating costs because of the low marginal cost of fuel. Return on investment is not achieved as quickly as with cheaper fossil fuel power plant, but longer term economic benefits accrue from the use of this indigenous fuel source.

Construction costs of geothermal plants can vary widely, depending on local conditions and range from a minimum of $1.1 million to $ 3 million per megawatt. The DOE has calculated an average cost of $1.68 million for geothermal plants built in the Northwest of America in the last two years, where the bulk of US plants are situated or planned. However, while this is high in comparison with gas power, which can be as low as $460,000 per megawatt, the operating cost can be lower because there is no cost of fuel.

The leaders in developing geothermal technology and installing new plants are three American companies - Calpine, Unocal and Ormat, and one Japanese company- Marubeni. These companies have been active in establishing joint ventures in the Philippines and Indonesia andmore recently in Central America.

Developments in Transmission and Distribution Networks

2007-02-05T14:55:00.000Z

In the last five to ten years, almost all large or international networks have witnessed a shortfall of investment in the EHV and HV transmission systems, leading in many cases to concerns about security of supply. Despite being critical, transmission is the smallest investment component of the three sectors making up the electricity supply industry. In terms of future requirements, transmission accounts for about 20% of investment and distribution and generation for 40% each. In the past, investment in transmission has fallen short of this share.

The number of transmission failures in the last few years has provoked much public interest and increasing discussion within the power industry. Outages have occurred throughout the world but notably in the US, Italy, Denmark, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

In the United States, which makes up 25% of the world’s electricity supply sector, the growth rate of the bulk transmission system (230 kV and over) has declined from 3.1% a year in new lines in the period 1979-89, to 2.7% from 1989 to 1999 and to only 1.7% a year in the present decade 1999 to 2009. Between 1989 and 1999 utilities added new transmission capacity at a slower rate than loads grew and normalised transmission capacity declined in all of the 10 regional reliability regions by amounts ranging from 10-40%. From its surveys of US utilities, EPRI concludes that in the next four years, transmission investment will increase to US$6 billion a year.

The European Union´s high/extra high voltage electricity network consists of approximately 105,000 km of 380/400 kV overhead line and another 116,000 km of 220-300 kV lines. Up to 2000 there was not any significant expansion although many utility owners had invested in up-grading capacity. More than 50 transmission projects have been identified as necessary by the EU Commission in order to ensure the reliability and dependability of electricity networks, the functioning of the internal market, and the connection of renewable energy sources. Furthermore, 30 other projects are needed with the ten accession countries and non-Member States such as Norway and Switzerland to ensure the reliability and dependability of the electricity grids or supply of electricity within the European Community.

European international interconnections are being expanded significantly, not to mention the expansion linking to North Africa and the Middle East. In China and India, transmission has lagged but is now receiving attention and investment programmes are in hand, with the targets in each case of working to a national network interconnecting all of the regional grids.

This results in increased interest and investment in Transmission and Distribution. There has been a surplus of generating capacity for the last five years and the priority now is to transport the power and to bring it to the consumers. I predict that in about five years the focus will start to shift toward generation again, after much work has been carried out in the transmission sector.

Some T&D Facts:

Total worldwide lengths of T&D lines are forecast to rise from 64.4 million km in 2006 to 69.6 km in 2011. In 2006, the global total of transmission lines was 5.3 million km, forecast to rise to 5.8 million km in 2011. The total of distribution lines will rise from 59.1 million km to 63.8 million km in 2011.

Solar Power in China

2006-12-27T13:05:00.000Z

China has a well established low-tech commercial solar thermal industry with over a thousand factories manufacturing and selling solar systems. Most of these collectors are used to heat water, and are sold without subsidies. Solar water heating technology has made great progress and provides people in urban and rural areas with cost-effective energy services.

Solar thermal energy is competing with electricity in the supply of hot water in China. By the end of 2000 the accumulated installed area of solar water heater (SWH) systems in China was 26 million m2; far greater than the European Commission's target of 15 million m2 in 2004. The annual sales volume reached 6 million m2 in 2000, up from 4 million m2 in 1999.

As the industry grows, Chinese businesses are turning towards markets in Europe. Annual sales grew by 41% and 27% in 1999 and 2000 respectively. 1% of national production was exported to Japan, Germany, Belgium, Italy and to other Asian countries. This is a relatively small proportion but the average annual growth rate of exports has been about 40% in recent years.

In Europe, solar energy is viewed as a renewable energy option with high environmental value and low economic value. In order to meet their national and international commitments, many European governments are stimulating domestic markets through a number of incentive programmes; by providing support for R&D, demonstration projects, market dissemination and raising public awareness.

In most provinces of China, however, the solar solution for domestic hot water supply is viewed as the most economical. China is a country with a rich solar resource. As the domestic hot water supply infrastructure in most cities is not well developed, although improving, the significant natural solar resource makes solar water heater systems an excellent alternative to fossil fuel boilers or electric water heaters, in providing hot water to households. The market potential exists for the provision of hot water for bathing for a population of 1.3 billion.

Britain Nearing End of Natural Gas Self Sufficiency

2006-11-28T12:56:00.000Z

With Britain reliant on diminishing natural gas supplies and renewable energy sources only expected to shoulder a small percentage of the energy demand, an energy crisis is imminent,

The future of Britain’s natural gas supplies and estimated contribution of renewable energy as Britain closes down coal and nuclear plants is a topic worthy of extensive discussion. The UK is currently facing uncertainty about its future energy supplies with the possibility of a potentially grave energy crisis and the potential danger should not be underestimated.

More than a third of the country’s aging base load coal-fired and nuclear generating capacity is set to be decommissioned in the next fifteen to twenty years. Up till now, the government has claimed that this will be replaced with natural gas and renewable energy, plus imports of electricity from France, depending on the market. The government has now changed its tune and opted for nuclear power. With a discredited prime minister on his way out and bitter infighting about the succession paralysing decision making, who knows what will happen?

Although Britain is apparently to be dependent on natural gas, it is reaching the end of self-sufficiency in gas and is now a net importer. The industry is investing heavily in new pipelines to import gas from Norway and the Netherlands in addition to Russian piped gas, with new storage facilities for piped gas, and LNG terminals being built.

In renewable energy, hydropower contributes less than 5% of generating capacity in Britain and the principal renewable energy will be wind power. But wind cannot provide base load power because it is intermittent and its capacity credit will be small, at penetration currently being proposed, perhaps 2,000-3,000 MW out of the 30,000 MW which will be required to keep the nation’s lights on.

Gas prices are spiralling. The largest exporter, Russia, owns a quarter of the world’s gas. Russia is flexing its muscles ominously and is talking of a gas version of OPEC. How costly and how secure gas will be are looming questions.

Solar Thermal Power shows great potential

2006-11-25T13:02:00.000Z

Solar Thermal Power (STP) or Solar Concentrator Power (SCP) is a relatively new technology and offers great potential to the sunniest countries of the world in a similar fashion to that being harvested by European nations through wind farming.

Solar thermal power uses direct sunlight and the heat it generates is used to heat water, to raise the ambient temperature in buildings or to create steam which is used to power electricity generators.

The most promising regions of the world to exploit this new concept are the South-Western United States, Africa, the Middle East, the Mediterranean countries of Europe, Iran, Pakistan and the desert regions of India, the former Soviet Union, China and Australia.

Until fairly recently, the solar thermal industry has used low-tech technology and been largely concerned with domestic and building applications for heating space and water and for cooking.

However, the solar thermal industry has recently taken a more sophisticated approach and progressed to more high-tech applications involving relatively large electricity generation projects in a number of countries.

Producing electricity from the energy in the sun’s rays is a fairly straightforward process. Direct solar radiation can be concentrated and collected by a range of Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) technologies to provide medium to high temperature heat. The heat is then used to operate a conventional power cycle such as through a gas or steam turbine.

One of the major benefits of this form of energy generation is that it is one of the most benign methods of power generation around. It is silent, uses no fuel other than sunlight and there are no harmful emissions.

Transmission and Distribution Challenges in the UK

2006-11-20T15:12:00.000Z

I speak at a number of industry events during the year and they are always an interesting meeting place for people from different parts of the energy sector and I find that in general they are a good forum for exchanging views.

I recently spoke at the Transmission and Distribution Challenges in the UK conference organised by Wilmington in Glasgow. Transmission and distribution is such an important issue, that conferences such as these present a useful way for industry members to get together and discuss the issues that are driving the sector.

In recent years many developments have remoulded the electrical supply industry, some more prominent than others. Among others, one of the items I discussed was the recent expansions of international transmission systems. These developments not only offer major business opportunities but they are increasing the efficiency and reducing the costs of electricity delivery. The infrastructure is being created to transport power over long distances from countries far away, providing levels of reliable electricity supply where they did not exist before. The total lengths of electricity transmission and distribution lines in the world are forecast to rise from 63.2 million km in 2005 to 68.3 km in 2010. Most of this is distribution but a vital small component is for transmission and an even smaller share for international connections.

The transmission and distribution market has been through a series of realignments, consisting of mergers and closures, in recent years, a process which is not yet finished. In the core market with high technology value added, three companies dominate; ABB, Siemens and Areva. Each company has experienced difficulties and undergone restructuring.

In the past, the definitions used in the transmission and distribution market have consisted of six product-based categories; power and distribution transformers, switchgear, HV insulated cables, OH bare lines, insulators and fittings and EHV towers. These categories are now changing and at the same time, while technology is expanding the horizons of transmission and distribution operation, the traditional purely “product” segments such as wires and cable remain vital to the transmission and distribution networks, which could not exist without them. Some leading industry players are competing in the more restricted high tech sectors of the market, others in specific product segments and others in both.

To read more about the challenges facing the UK Transmission and Distribution sector please download the presentation.

Wind Power - are industry critics quoting facts or tilting at windmills?

2006-11-14T16:57:00.000Z

Despite rapid growth in this renewable energy resource, new evidence from operators shows that the benefits claimed for wind power are not always what they seem.

It has been an eventful year in this sector of the renewable energy industry and while generating capacity is up, solid new evidence suggests that some of the costs of producing electricity using the breeze sometimes mean that wind generation is not always unambiguously good. So are industry critics quoting facts or tilting at windmills?

Capacity in this type of renewable energy increased by 11.3 GW in 2005 to reach a total of 59 GW. Germany is the world leader, with 31% of the world’s installed capacity, followed by Spain, the USA, India and Denmark.

The big surprise among the five leaders was the recovery and surge in wind power production in the USA after years of stagnation. Guaranteed wind power production tax credits, valid for a three year period instead of annually as before have justified the new investment in renewable energy.

Growth is expected to continue. As the leaders consolidate and re-power smaller installations with larger turbines, the wind power market is now widening and entering a new phase with many new countries entering the market for renewable energy resources, such as wind.

Studies have given rise to critical concerns challenging some of the claims made for wind power. Badly needed evidence is now available after three years of large scale operation of wind turbines in five countries. In one such country, Ireland, the government placed a moratorium on wind power development, although this has been rescinded.

These studies are the first real evidence showing how wind actually works, as opposed to what has been claimed, and come from some of the most authoritative voices on energy in the world. Reports from E.On Netz, the system operator with the largest wind power feed-in in the world, and Eltra of Denmark, which had the largest percentage wind power contribution, show disturbing results.

E.On cites a study from the Deutsche-Energie Agentur. The report was sponsored by the German government and all sides of the industry. Among bombshells contained inside, the study suggests that while wind power capacity will reach 48 GW by 2020 in Germany, the source is so intermittent and unreliable that it is equivalent to only 2 GW of stable fossil fuel capacity.

The evidence also shows a mismatch of supply and demand. High pressure weather systems bring cold winters and hot summers which unfortunately coincide with low wind levels. These meteorological realities mean that wind makes its maximum contribution when demand is lowest and its minimum contribution when demand is highest. In 2004, wind accounted for 20 percent of total electricity production in Denmark but supplied only 6 percent of consumption, because it produced a surplus at periods of lowest demand. What's more, 84 percent of Danish wind-generated electricity was exported to Norway, and sold at a loss for Denmark. Furthermore, the Norwegian electricity system uses carbon free hydro power, so the effect of carbon reductions realised in power produced by windmills was nullified.

Also, because of this variability in wind, back-up fossil fuel plants must be operated at low load to maintain system reliability. There is new evidence that shows that switching base load fossil fuel plants on and off to balance a system produces higher carbon emissions than continuous operation, certainly not a supposed benefit from switching to renewable energy sources.

Because wind installations tend to be concentrated in areas with high wind speeds, regional grids are heavily overloaded at times of maximum feed-in. Each country studied reported extreme difficulties in balancing the grid. A further 2,700 km of costly high voltage transmission lines will be required in Germany to accommodate new wind capacity.

It is clear that wind-generated electricity can only work as part of a generation portfolio. The US Department of Energy advocates small local targets within states, most recently proposing targets of 100 MW in each of the 30 states, rather than the huge wind parks favoured in Europe.

I am not relegating wind power to the dustbin, but I do believe that this evidence goes to show how essential proper analysis is needed to establish what renewable energy can and cannot deliver and how it must be accommodated within a total electricity generation system