With this comes the risk that grid investments may be insufficient to deliver on the 2030 energy security and climate targets and need to be urgently addressed given the longer timescales of grid developments compared with clean technologies.

The analysis was based on the national grid development plans of 35 countries, including the EU-27, Norway, Switzerland, the UK and the Western Balkans.

Among the findings is that the grid plans of seven countries – Bulgaria, Greece, Ireland, Lithuania, Norway, Portugal, Romania – are based on lower wind and solar deployments than national targets, while those of a further six countries – Czechia, Denmark, France, Hungary, Luxembourg, Poland – are based on either lower wind or solar.

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Of these solar tends to be more affected, with its capacity underestimated by a total of 60GW across the 11 identified countries and wind by 27GW.

Conversely, in four countries – Croatia, Denmark, Finland, and the Netherlands – the plans are based on scenarios with higher capacities for wind and solar, ranging from 50% higher for Denmark to 200% higher for Finland and totalling 81GW.

Another finding is that in 19 out of 23 national grid plans examined, the deployment of solar expected under SolarPower Europe’s business-as-usual scenario is undershot by a total of 205GW by 2030, while in ten out of 31 plans wind is underestimated by a total of 17GW.

These discrepancies imply grid congestion may worsen in the short-term as grids are ill-equipped to manage the rapidly growing renewable fleet, the report states.

A third key finding is that spending on grids today in EU member states reaches approximately €63 billion ($68 billion), with an average of €28 billion per year earmarked for transmission grids and €35 billion invested in distribution grids in 2022.

This spending surpasses the European Commission’s REPowerEU estimate for annual grid investment of €58.4 billion until 2030 by at least €5 billion.

Furthermore, investment in national transmission systems will likely need to be augmented to make them ‘fit for purpose’ in those countries where the grid plans lag behind existing energy policy.

Commenting on the findings, Elisabeth Cremona, Energy & Climate Data Analyst at Ember, says there is no transition without transmission.

“We can’t afford to overlook grids. They risk holding Europe’s supercharged energy transition back if plans aren’t updated. Making sure solar and wind can actually connect to the system is as critical as the panels and turbines themselves.”

Expanding transmission grids capacity

Among other findings of the analysis is that European countries are planning to add over 25,000km of internal transmission lines between now and 2026. This corresponds to an increase of over 5% and would bring the total length to approximately 523,000km by the end of 2026.

Moreover, that accelerating network expansion is feasible is illustrated in the plans of ten TSOs. In particular, Energinet plans to expand its 7,440km grid by 3,300km by 2026, corresponding to an annual growth of 7.6% – over double the average growth since 2015.

Non-wires solutions – also known as ‘grid enhancing technologies’ in the US – in particular dynamic line rating and local flexibility also are being increasingly adopted by TSOs to increase the grid capacity as an alternative to new or upgraded infrastructure.

A further finding is the emergence of hydrogen in grid planning and the need for integrating both the demand and supply sides and coordination with the gas TSOs.

For example, strategic deployment of electrolyser plants could reduce bottlenecks in the electricity transmission grid and lower the need for grid expansion but is contingent on proximity to the existing natural gas network or planned hydrogen network.

Preparing the grid

To prepare the grid for the clean energy transition the report recommends political prioritisation of the grids, revision of regulatory frameworks to allow timely planning and investment and increased oversight and scrutiny of network plans along with enhanced reporting by TSOs on for example grid connection queues, available grid capacity and planned investments.

Placing clean power at the core of grid planning also would enable anticipatory investments.

Opening the discussion, organised by the Future Energy Leaders of the World Energy Council (WEC) in the Netherlands, Rene Peters, Business Director Gas Technology at Dutch technology organisation TNO and Board Member of WEC Netherlands, pointed to the importance of the North Sea and the Netherlands’ role within it for the energy transition as it expects to grow its offshore wind to around 20GW in the next few years from less than 5GW currently.

“That’s the electricity part and it’s relatively simple as there is already an electricity market,” he said.

“But now hydrogen is coming and that’s different as there is no hydrogen infrastructure or market yet and we need to build a full value chain,” he continued, noting that it is also an area where the Netherlands can be a frontrunner with an existing gas infrastructure than can be retrofitted for hydrogen use – up to 85% it is believed.

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“We’ve started doing that, actually taking the lead and I think we are one of the few countries in the world with a gas infrastructure becoming available for new functions like hydrogen,” he commented, saying that while that refers to the onshore infrastructure, the offshore infrastructure could similarly be available for hydrogen transport.

“It’s a huge investment we need to make and we also will need the new technology for offshore production of hydrogen.”

The Netherlands’ advantage

Maria van der Hoeven, Special advisor on energy literacy at the WEC and a former executive director of the IEA, reiterated that the Netherlands with its gas infrastructure has an advantage compared to other countries.

But three areas need to be addressed, she said – the planning around the transitioning of the existing pipelines with the need to continue to supply gas, the need to move away from the ‘colouring’ issues of hydrogen with a certification based on origin and the development of the marketplace.

“Why not see to it that there is a marketplace in the Netherlands? The demand is going to change as there are companies that want to have hydrogen to decarbonise their operations. If one is starting on the supply side one also needs to start at the same time to build enthusiasm for the demand side.”

An example cited of such an uptaker is Thyssenkrupp in Germany, which is being incentivised to ‘green’ its steel production if its stated target is met and its loss if not.

Skills and labour

Another challenge alongside the need for investment is that for skills and in particular attracting young people into the sector, with currently only about 1 in 10 of the Dutch workforce believed to be working in the ‘green sector’.

Aniek Moonen, co-chair of the Board of Trustees of the NGO ‘Women Engage for a Common Future’, said she was excited by the prospect of being able to attract more young to the sector as she had observed many examples of young people going into businesses and asking critical questions about sustainability.

“We have seen cases of young people going into businesses that have used sustainability to promote themselves but leaving shortly afterwards because they don’t actually live up to those statements. I think this is a driver for change and companies can say they are being sustainable but they need to ask if they are actually doing it.”

On the wider issue of general labour shortages, she said that while attracting talent from outside and encouraging more people to work full-time might help at best to a limited extent, more important is to consider the demand side of labour.

“It’s about what sectors we want to have in the future and then to boost jobs in those sectors. There may be certain sectors that need to be rethought that are performing inefficiently and need subsidies.”

The concept is controversial but it’s a discussion that is needed, she stressed, pointing to the “creative destruction” of industries as something of all times.

“It always happens and sometimes we just have to let that frame of destruction happen.”

Originally published on enlit.world

The new consultancy service draws on the energisation of more than 50 commercial grid connections and can work in any region of Great Britain.

With decarbonisation of the economy essential to meeting net zero targets, the country’s demand for electricity is forecast by National Grid to more than double by 2050.

Key infrastructure such as food manufacturing plants, electric transport hubs, residential and commercial construction and renewable energy projects that require a grid connection are often frustrated by complex and lengthy processes.

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For example, Ofgem data suggests over 40% of all applications for a grid connection for low-carbon energy schemes comprising over 120GW of clean power have been offered connection dates of 2030 or beyond, while around 20% would have to wait around 10 years.

Stewart Dawson, CEO of Vattenfall IDNO, says that the new Grid Connection Consultancy intends to provide an end-to-end solution for businesses.

“At Vattenfall IDNO, we recognise the urgency of achieving net zero goals and that many businesses find it challenging to manage the intricate process of securing grid connections. By offering a fully managed grid connections service, we aim to alleviate the burden for businesses that can’t manage this process themselves and accelerate the transition to a sustainable future.”

Historically, developers were obliged to connect via the DNO that controls the region in which the project is being built.

However, to introduce competition to help drive down costs, Ofgem has allowed independent DNOs to develop, operate and maintain local electricity distribution networks anywhere in Great Britain.

The Grid Connections Consultancy team includes electrical engineers, project managers, grid specialists and legal, regulatory and policy advisors.

Services offered by Vattenfall IDNO include power capacity and design requirement assessments, grid capacity reservation and negotiations with multiple landowners.

In addition, Vattenfall IDNO will carry out compliance audits for businesses looking to connect and can oversee on-site works.

To free up funds for those businesses, Vattenfall IDNO also offers a fee to adopt the new electricity network which can be re-invested by the developer.

The increasing complexity of power grids with high levels of inverter-based variable renewables and unpredictable electric vehicle charging patterns has brought with it challenges for power grid operation and the need for real-time control as key for maintaining voltage stability.

Based on deep reinforcement learning – a subset of machine learning – the new algorithms are designed to solve this challenge by delivering intelligence to power converters in the grid utilising what the researchers describe as a novel data synchronisation strategy to optimise the large-scale coordination of energy sources safely under fast fluctuations without real-time communication.

“Centralised control is not cost-efficient or fast under continuous fluctuations of renewable energy and electric vehicles,” says Qianwen Xu, one of the researchers involved in the project.

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“Our purpose is to improve control strategies for power converters, by making them more adaptive and intelligent in order to stabilise complex and changing power grids.”

The research, which was demonstrated in KTH’s smart microgrid hardware platform and published in the IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy, proposes a projection-embedded deep reinforcement learning algorithm to achieve decentralised optimal control with guaranteed 100% safety.

This is intended to overcome the challenge of existing deep reinforcement learning methods in power system applications of not being able to achieve optimal performance and guarantee safe operation at the same time.

In essence, the approach of the researchers is to formulate the grid control problem as a deep reinforcement learning problem with hard physical constraints and then based on this to project a multi-agent algorithm onto a set of constraints characterised by the physics of the distribution system.

With this, the proposed method can achieve the optimal control of the distribution system in a decentralised manner without real-time communication while guaranteeing the physical constraints of the system all the time. As such, it is thus flexible for scalability and practical deployment.

The research formed part of KTH’s Digital Futures Centre which collaborates with researchers from the Universities of California, Berkeley and Stockholm University.

Deep reinforcement learning combines deep learning and reinforcement learning and has been developed for application in complex, unpredictable systems.

The inertia measurement technology, GridMetrix, offers network operators continuous measurement and analytics data, including real-time measurement of inertia.

The collaboration, supported by the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) and utilities across the state, will be showcased in a demonstration project to confirm the operational and grid planning benefits.

New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act mandates the quadrupling of offshore wind capacity to 9,000MW by 2035, doubling distributed solar deployment to 6,000MW by 2025, and deploying 3,000MW of energy storage by 2030.

“We are delighted to see NYSERDA and the New York State utilities exemplify climate leadership by supporting and adopting our technology,” said Marc Borrett, CEO of Reactive Technologies. “This award underscores New York’s dedication to fostering new technologies that advance a future powered by clean energy. We are eager to continue our collaboration with utilities across New York State, aiding them in achieving their net zero goals, safer and faster.”

Reactive’s GridMetrix technology has been deployed globally, serving utilities in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

“NYSERDA is moving forward strategically to support the demonstration of tools like Reactive Technologies GridMetrix through our Future Grid Challenge program,” said Doreen M. Harris, president and CEO, NYSERDA. “Investments in innovation are investments in a grid of the future that incorporates clean energy and allows for dynamic management and operation to ensure resilient and reliable transmission and distribution, even when factoring in the impacts of climate change.”

The Future Grid Challenge is part of NYSERDA’s Grid Modernization Program included in the State’s Clean Energy Fund (CEF), which is providing a total of $140 million through 2026 to further research, develop, and provide funding for solutions that support the advancement of a smart, modernised electric grid.

Originally published on power-grid.com

With the acquisition, energy supplier EDF is positioning itself to meet the expected take-up of solar panels as the demand increases, with projections indicating an up to 75% increase by 2030.

It also forms part of the company’s plans to provide a ‘whole house’ net zero home offering, combining solar, battery, EV charge points and heat pumps and follows the earlier acquisition in November 2023 of the heat pump installer CB Heating.

“This investment marks another important step forward in our commitment to helping our customers achieve net zero,” commented Philippe Commaret, Managing Director of Customers at EDF.

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“We know more and more people want to save cash and carbon and by acquiring a company like Contact Solar we can help them by providing better value and a truly great end-to-end solar panel install service, utilising a company whose expertise, knowledge and service is exceptional.”

Contact Solar, which was founded over a decade ago, is a specialist installer of domestic and commercial solar and battery storage systems and electric vehicle charge points and has gained an ‘Excellent’ rating for its services on the review site Trustpilot.

Contact Solar’s network of local installers across the country will work with EDF to deliver residential installs alongside solutions for local authorities, housing associations and developers in building and retrofitting homes.

EDF also intends to explore the possibility of upskilling engineers already working on home energy solutions to install solar panels, alongside other zero carbon products such as EV chargers or heat pumps.

Expressing delight that EDF had chosen to acquire Contact Solar, director Tom Taylor said: “We are excited about the limitless opportunities that lie ahead and look forward to working alongside EDF to help more customers install solar and batteries in their homes, as the country moves towards a greener future.”

Customers in Britain with ten 4kWp of solar panels along with a 5.32kWh battery could save up to three-quarters on their annual energy bill, modelling indicates.

Customers who opt for an installation will be provided with a personalised performance estimate based on their property type, size, location and household usage.

The rollout follows the regulatory approval given in September 2023, which authorised up to $153 million for the initiative and forms part of Rhode Island Energy’s grid modernisation activities to enable the integration of renewable energies to support the state’s climate goals.

The Revelo metering platform features grid edge sensing and edge computing capabilities to manage load and support grid troubleshooting, with the Revelo meter operating on Landis+Gyr’s RF Wi-SUN network.

Additionally, the advanced grid-edge processing allows for greater consumer engagement with applications such as real-time load disaggregation and pricing information.

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“The Commission’s approval to implement our advanced metering plan is an important step in modernising the state’s energy infrastructure for the benefit of all Rhode Islanders,” said Dave Bonenberger, president of Rhode Island Energy, of the approval.

With the prospect of being able to benefit from parent company PPL Corporation’s other smart meter rollouts in Pennsylvania and Kentucky, he continued: “We’ve seen the success of these new technologies across other PPL service territories, and customers should be excited about the advantages they’ll bring to their homes and businesses.”

The rollout is timely as approximately 60% of the electricity meters across the state are nearing the end of their design life and need to be replaced.

Before the start of the rollout, which is expected to begin in 2025 and to be completed over the following three years, Rhode Island Energy intends to engage customers to provide more details about the technology in advance of installation, as well as an opt-out option.

In October 2023 Rhode Island Energy was selected to potentially receive up to $50 million in federal funding from the Infrastructure Investment Act towards its almost $300 million smart grid investment programme to improve visibility and control on its grid.

Among the plans are advanced distribution management and energy management systems and a centralised asset hub data system and geographic information system to represent a digital twin of the grid.

BayWa r.e. installed three new rooftop arrays and one new ground-mounted system to expand renewable energy utilisation onsite. These PV systems with a total capacity of 690kWp are now connected to the power grid without their own inverters, but via an existing 2MW wind turbine. A 10MWh flow battery energy storage system completes the triad.

Technically sophisticated, it represents a plant combination of wind and solar energy including battery storage, which is said to be unique in Europe in this form.

Leveraging Ampt String Optimisers, each of the different technologies was integrated through a shared DC bus – commonly referred to as a “DC-coupled” architecture. In this way, the generation variability across the PV systems can be managed and the different systems united at a high and fixed voltage to increase system efficiency.

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“We are delighted to bring this milestone project to life. Ampt’s technology simplified a technically very complex project,” said Andrea Grotzke, global director of energy solutions at BayWa r.e. “The way we have added solar to the existing wind energy and battery storage system is unique, and in successfully completing this project we were able to further improve our own expertise and capabilities. We are pleased with the result of this innovative power solution symbiosis and our ability to meet our customer’s individual requirements.” 

The main campus of the Fraunhofer Institute ICT has over 100 laboratories, as well as several pilot plants and three test centres on a 21-hectare site. This project will make a valuable contribution to their increasingly climate-neutral operation.

Ampt String Optimisers are DC/DC converters that perform maximum power point tracking (MPPT) and recover energy losses due to voltage and technology differences. Through individual string MPPT, Ampt optimisers mitigate the energy losses caused by shade from surrounding buildings on the Fraunhofer ICT campus. The optimisers are programmable and provide string-level data, which enhances visibility of the system functions as well as operation and maintenance capabilities.

Levent Gun, CEO of Ampt said, “Combining both rooftop and ground-mounted solar in seven different orientations and two module sizes in one common microgrid with wind power and batteries is a significant challenge. This project is a testament to the capabilities of our industry-leading power conversion technology to simplify control of the diverse systems spread across a site.”

“We look forward to expanding our relationship with BayWa r.e. and continuing to deploy our technology to solve the challenges of our customers in solar and energy storage applications.”

Dr. Frank Henning, institute director of Fraunhofer ICT, added: “It was important for us to add solar to the microgrid that powers our campus, to bring additional flexibility and ensure higher utilisation of our system. Sustainability plays a crucial role for Fraunhofer ICT, and by combining the advantages of wind, solar and storage, we are ensured to meet our sustainability goals and operate in a responsible manner.”

The dataset for 2019, chosen rather than the latest available COVID-impacted 2021 dataset, aims to provide insights into the usage patterns of different energy products in the EU and to investigate energy scenarios to 2050.

With a more detailed understanding of how energy is produced, traded and transformed across different regions, the tool should allow spatial analyses to identify patterns, bottlenecks and opportunities for optimising the energy infrastructure.

At a scale previously not impossible, the map is likely to provide a powerful tool for policymakers and infrastructure planners as well as for others such as energy service providers.

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“This concept is totally unique,” says Salla Saastamoinen, JRC Deputy Director-General.

“[Policymakers and infrastructure planners] will be able to see on a map what fuels are being used and where, in unprecedented geographical detail. It will help them gauge the future impact of energy policies in every community across Europe.”

The basic dataset is the Eurostat national energy balances, which are downscaled to the 1kmx1km cell size in a series of steps drawing on other data sets such as the Emissions Trading System and socioeconomic data and then mapped using land use and land cover data.

Some of the energy products with supply and demand mapped include electricity, natural gas, heat, renewables and biofuels, solid fossil fuels and oil and petroleum products.

Among the general findings highlighted is that natural gas is primarily consumed by power plants, industry and households, with high concentrations in densely populated areas.

Electricity consumption is also significant in urban areas, while other energy carriers, such as manufactured gases, oil shale and waste are consumed near their sources for industrial processes.

The same methodology used to break down national energy balances to the 1km square cells is applied to the energy scenarios.

An example highlighted is projected changes in natural gas demand from 2019 to 2050 showing a general shift towards lower consumption, indicating progress towards decarbonisation goals.

The energy atlas has been embedded in the Energy and Industry Geography Lab geospatial tool, which combines energy and industry data.

A key role considered for this tool is to support EU member states in identifying acceleration areas for the rapid deployment of wind and solar.

Combined with other datasets, the new energy atlas provides a boost to the EIGL’s spatial analysis capabilities.

As the Eurostat data is produced on a two-year basis and published two years after the reporting period, the next available dataset for 2023 is likely to become available only in 2025.

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Graphene is often described as the ‘wonder material’ and it has a name for it but that is for applications such as energy storage.

But another candidate for the moniker is the less high-tech sounding perovskite that is expected to bring the next step change for solar photovoltaics, with new levels of efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

Perovskite, which is named after the Russian mineralogist Lev Perovski following its discovery in Russia’s Ural Mountains in 1839, is a naturally occurring mineral of calcium titanium oxide (CaTiO3).

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Despite being so long known it is only in this century that perovskites, i.e. not only perovskite itself but also other materials with a similar chemical structure that occur both naturally and can be synthesised in the lab, have been found to have a range of unusual physical properties such as superconductivity and ferroelectricity.

This makes them suitable for a range of applications, of which solar cells have emerged as the most prominent, with the potential to offer a low-cost, high-efficiency product – around at least 20% more than that of traditional silicon cells – that could boost the global renewables revolution.

But that potential has also come with challenges, in particular the stability of perovskites to the day-to-day environmental factors to which they must be subject, such as moisture, light and temperature.

No surprise then that the development of perovskites has seen, and is seeing, considerable investment and research interest along with the entry of new startups with the prospect of a major market opportunity.

Commercialising perovskite solar cells

Though they have yet to become fully commercialised, that day is not far off with Oxford PV, a spin-off from the University of Oxford in the UK, at the forefront after over a decade of developing the technology.

Oxford PV, founded in 2010 to advance solar PV but only latterly focussing exclusively on perovskites has pioneered the ‘tandem cell’ approach in which perovskite is added on top of conventional silicon solar cells to enhance their performance while maintaining the standard cell footprint.

In May 2023 Oxford PV recorded a record 28.6% cell conversion efficiency and in January 2024 a record panel efficiency of 25% compared with the averages for standard silicon cells and panels around 22 to 23%.

Moreover, Oxford PV’s theoretical maximum efficiency for its tandem cell approach is more than 40% compared with less than 30% for the standard cells.

“This new world record is a crucial milestone for Oxford PV, proving that our tandem solar cells can deliver record-breaking performance when assembled into solar panels,” said David Ward, CEO of Oxford PV, commenting in the January announcement that it is a first step in what should be a “transformative 2024”.

While R&D is continuing to improve the efficiency of the technology with a roadmap to go well beyond 30%, Oxford PV has reported starting production of its tandem cells at its Brandenburg-an-der-Havel site near Berlin in Germany – an acquisition of a former production site from Bosch Solar.

These are then expected to start coming to the market later in 2024, not directly but through their integration into modules of manufacturers in the market.

At the same time, Oxford PV is searching for a new high-volume manufacturing site with a particular eye on the US, where a subsidiary has been registered.

Perovskites in space

Just as perovskites are expected to become the solar PV product of choice for the next generation rooftop and utility-scale deployments, so too they are being eyed for use in space as an alternative to the go-to gallium arsenide cells.

Solar PV is essential in space for providing on-board power to orbiting satellites and for example the International Space Station. Gallium arsenide cells have become the technology of choice for their high absorption but more importantly, their ability to withstand the harsh space environment.

However, the main challenge with their use is the manufacturing costs primarily resulting from the scarcity of gallium and the more complex manufacturing process.

That is where perovskites are expected to have the potential to come in, because of their simpler manufacturing. Another key benefit is their versatility for diverse applications, from lightweight to bendable solar panels – a key factor for the proposed kilometre-scale satellites proposed to deliver solar energy to the Earth from space.

An understanding of the behaviour of perovskites in space is still ongoing, however.

In the Caltech space-based solar demonstrator which ran for most of 2023, the perovskite cells were found to exhibit marked variability in performance, whereas the low cost manufactured gallium arsenide cells had consistently performed well overall.

An earlier 10-month demonstration on the International Space Station also revealed some unusual properties about their absorption characteristics with varying temperature, with both a ‘self healing’ quality and enhanced light absorption that could make them particularly suitable for long-duration missions.

“A lot of people doubted that these materials could ever be strong enough to deal with the harsh environment of space,” said NASA research engineer Dr Lyndsey McMillon-Brown announcing the findings in May 2023, adding: “Not only do they survive, but in some ways, they thrived.”

With space technology developments often spinning off to Earth-based applications, this is a space to also keep watching.

And if you are involved in the development of perovskites, be sure to keep us updated with your findings.

Jonathan Spencer Jones

Specialist writer
Smart Energy International

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Providing a comprehensive understanding of grid orchestration, its challenges, and the transformative potential it holds, this eBook focuses on:

1. Grid Orchestration: The art of harmonising diverse energy sources, demand patterns, and grid infrastructure.
   • Explore the role of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and predictive analytics in optimising grid operations.
     
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4. Cybersecurity Challenges: Grid orchestration faces cybersecurity threats due to increased connectivity.
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5. Renewable Integration: Integrating renewable energy sources seamlessly into the grid.
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6. Policy and Regulation: Policy frameworks and regulatory aspects influencing grid orchestration.
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“Orchestrating the Grid” eBook, serves as a roadmap for energy professionals, policymakers, and researchers. By embracing grid orchestration, together we can create a resilient, efficient, and sustainable energy future.

Indeed the title of the session, the Energy Innovation Forum, gives it away.

But what is innovation? I and daresay many others tend to think first of advances in technologies, but ultimately it is much more than that and there is the need for innovation across multiple fronts – policy and funding to name some, in addition to technology – to be able to achieve the various climate targets as set out to culminate in net zero by 2050.

Just as the social sciences started becoming part of science policy in the 1990s so too they are now becoming part of innovation with more than one speaker highlighting the need for the human aspect to be placed at its centre.

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“It is important to recognise innovation in all its forms. It’s exciting to hear about some of the key technological breakthroughs but that is just one part of the equation and it’s good and necessary but not enough,” said David Turk, US Deputy Secretary of Energy, in his summing up.

“The human piece is incredibly important throughout … It’s not just human behaviour for the technologies that are consumer-facing but it has to work for the businesses, the incumbents, the other parts of the system as well,” he continued.

“We should be working for the betterment of fellow citizens around the world,” he said.

Another aspect of innovation that he highlighted as a takeaway from the discussions is the need to consider the full innovation cycle with the need to move from pilot to scale up but with what appears today a limited focus on the demonstration phase.

Turk suggested that AI and machine learning could play a role in shrinking the innovation cycle.

A third is “connecting the dots” between all the parties in the sector and the fourth related to this is knowledge sharing on at least a real-time basis and the tracking of progress.

“The IEA’s tracking of clean energy progress last year found that only three of the 50 technologies and sectors were on target and those are impressive but we need that across the board.”

Innovation looking ahead

Part of the focus of the meeting was to get input on areas that the IEA should focus on to advance energy innovation in the years ahead.

In her summing up, Amanda Wilson, Director-General of the Office of R&D at National Resources Canada and chair of the IEA’s energy research committee, pointed to technology priorities that arose in the discussions including needs around products and software such as AI, batteries for storage and electrolysis for hydrogen and large scale processes including industry decarbonisation, carbon capture and storage and nuclear.

The needs of emerging economies also arose as a key topic, particularly around energy access, clean cooking and digital skills.

Then on top of those inputs, numerous more were from participants in an hour long session with the general sentiment among the specifics being the need for the IEA to draw on its expertise and for example its tracking and analytical skills to address all the facets of innovation and to advise on and support the acceleration of the energy transition.

Technology advisory body

A notable aspect of the IEA’s work over the years is the broadening of its scope as reflected in the breadth of its reports, covering countries and technologies and not least the net zero pathway that forms the baseline for its future work.

In their communique from the meeting, and taking into account the input from participants, the ministers said they reiterate their commitment to support energy RD&D to reach the 2050 objectives, including through the IEA’s technology collaboration programmes.

The ministers also indicated support for further discussion towards the establishment of a technology advisory body of innovators, investors and industry and to foster synergies between international initiatives such as the IEA TCPs – of which the International Smart Grid Action Network is one – the Clean Energy Ministerial and Mission Innovation.

As these occur we will continue to report on but in the meantime let us know the innovations you are working on.

Jonathan Spencer Jones

Specialist writer
Smart Energy International

Follow me on Linkedin

Specifically the holding company is named Enaon and the operating company Enaon Eda and together they will be responsible for the development and management of the gas service in Greece.

The rebranding also marks the next step of the reorganisation of the company, which has included the merger in 2023 of the three previous DSOs of Depa Infrastructure, Thessaloniki-Thessalia Gas Distribution (EDA Thess), Attiki Natural Gas Distribution (EDA Attikis) and Public Gas Distribution Networks (DEDA), into one.

“With the presentation of Enaon, we inaugurate a new chapter in our journey,” said Italgas CEO Paolo Gallo making the announcement at the inauguration of the companies’ new headquarters in the Politia Business Centre in Athens.

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“The launch of the new corporate image comes at a time when we have already successfully achieved important goals that will make us work better and more efficiently. I am referring to the migration of the IT system to the cloud, the unification of the three companies into a single operator and the choice of a new headquarters where people, previously spread over several locations, have more space and greater comfort at their disposal.”

He added that Italgas confirms itself as the ideal technological and industrial partner to support Greece in the phase-out of coal and lignite towards the EU’s decarbonisation targets.

“Our experience in the digital transformation of networks, an enabling factor for the decarbonisation of consumption, has already been made available to our colleagues and will also allow Greek distribution networks to welcome biomethane, green hydrogen and other renewable gases in the near future.”

At the same occasion Enaon signed a memorandum of understanding with HABIO, the Hellenic Association of Biogas Producers, to accelerate the development and use of biomethane in Greece.

The two-year agreement will focus on areas including the development of regulatory proposals, definition of grid connection parameters, determination of costs for the expansion and connection of plants, promotion of sustainable biomass harvesting and the use of digestate as fertilizer.

Italgas reports the name ‘Enaon’ as being inspired by the Greek word ‘Αέναος’ or Aenaos, which translates to ‘perennial’ and ‘renewable’ and which in the context of energy is intended to represent a lasting offer able to meet both current needs and that of future generations.

Moreover the company continues, ‘Ena’ is the Greek word for ‘one’ and recalls the union of the three previous DSOs and together with ‘On’ represents the commitment of Enaon to delivering continuous gas supply and working to equip the country with a state-of-the-art smart flexible infrastructure.

The DIVE – ‘Digital identities as trust anchors in the energy system’ – project, which has been reported by Energy Web, is focussed on establishing secure and reliable digital identities for devices and systems within the energy sector.

These can then act as trust anchors, verifying the existence and capabilities of each system in real time.

By automating those verification processes, the electricity use cases that the devices are participating in can be changed quickly and easily to ensure grid stability and cost savings for energy consumers.

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With the large scale of expansion of renewable energies in Germany – as elsewhere – the system is decentralising and with increased consumer choice use cases such as renewable energy tracing, providing flexibility to the grid and supplier switching need seamless integration for efficient energy management.

Energy Web reports to play a central role in the DIVE project, including taking the lead in developing and implementing use cases related to electricity labelling and verification. This includes the use of digital identities in conjunction with the registry and exploring energy industry use cases and their links to the identity register.

Additionally, Energy Web intends to extend its existing open-source Green Proofs solution to connect to the digital trust anchors of DIVE and leverage the Energy Web X chain (EWX).

The Green Proofs solution is designed to enable trustworthy device identities to connect with different registers for guarantees of origin.

In the project, Energy Web will develop standardised representation and description forms for smart contracts under DIVE. This includes classification within the energy industry context, ensuring implementation-independent descriptions of inputs, outputs, conditions and logic of smart contracts.

The establishment of a ‘Smart Contract Register’ as an ‘app store’ for decentralised applications and logic devices, along with the provision of smart contracts under free licenses, should set the groundwork for an independent technology library.

Throughout, Energy Web aims to support existing standards and platforms, such as EnergyTag, the Elia Group platform Energy Track&Trace, GO, REC, I-REC and the German guarantees of origin register (Herkunftsnachweisregister, HKNR).

Energy Web also is integrating the ReBeam ‘fast change of supplier for EV charging stations’ solution with DIVE. Initially tested with Elia Group and 50Hertz Transmission in Berlin during the summer of 2022, the integration ultimately allows the consumption of self-generated PV power at public charging stations.

Other partners in the project are Forschungsstelle für Energiewirtschaft e.V, Oli Systems, KILT Protocol, Fieldfisher and Fraunhofer FIT.

When one thinks of professionals in the electricity sector one tends to think first of engineers as a key role, be they electrical or mechanical.

But a new study by Britain’s Institute of Physics (IOP) highlights the important role of physics and physicists in delivering the energy transition and net zero – and perhaps no less important.

For example, physics has played a uniquely important role in the development of climate science which uses physics modelling techniques to help understand our world and its biosphere.

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Equally, most clean technologies are built on physics discovery and innovation and need physics skills for their continued development.

Tellingly, the study reports, since 2006 almost three-quarters of the £2.4 billion UKRI research council R&D investment in five of the central green economy technology areas – nuclear, renewables, hydrogen and clean fuels, energy storage and carbon capture, usage and storage – has been for research topics classed by the IOP as ‘core physics’ and ‘strongly physics’.

In particular, the greatest investment has been into less mature research topics, such as energy storage and newer areas of nuclear such as fusion, while hydrogen has seen a slight increase in growth over the last five years.

Conversely, the better established technology areas such as wind have seen lower levels of funding across the two decades, reflecting the maturity from an R&D perspective.

Green technology advancement

The report Physics powering the green economy states that investment in physics R&D over the last two decades has enabled a dramatic transformation in the energy system, reduced the amount of greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere and supported the development of significant numbers of low carbon businesses.

However, the scale of change still required cannot be overstated – as indeed IOP members believe, with 83% of those responding to a survey not thinking the UK is on track to net zero in 2050.

The report continues that each of the five technology areas are crucial to growing the green economy, but none will achieve this alone and they need to work in concert to successfully replace fossil fuels.

For example, the non-constant nature of renewable electricity generation from solar and wind means that energy storage is vital to their effective deployment.

Aside from fossil fuels, only nuclear energy or gas turbines/combined-cycle gas turbines powered by hydrogen or alternative fuels, and/or with carbon capture and storage, can provide the constant baseload power.

Alternative fuels are needed to power aircraft and heavy vehicles for which battery power is not enough.

Meanwhile, carbon capture, usage and storage is vital as a mitigating technology while fossil fuels continue to be used in conjunction with alternative fuels.

From its analysis, the IOP identifies no less than 41 key green technology advancement areas and 158 physics dependencies underpinned by a wide range of physics disciplines that are still needed to unlock their potential as drivers of change.

For example, for renewables the development of materials is a recurring theme to enable improvements in performance and scaling.

For solar energy high priorities are advancements in both solar electrical and solar thermal, while for wind energy storage and grid capacity as well as alternative wind turbine designs are named as short term priorities.

Similarly improvements in energy storage are needed with optimised lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries short-term priorities, while hydrogen as a national-scale storage solution is in the mid-term.

For nuclear the priority is seen as its ability to deliver flexibility to the system.

Building the business base

The report also points to the need to build on the business base – currently numbering 1,653 and 119 unique green economy companies across the UK and Ireland respectively – to drive sector growth and international competition.

However, there are challenges. Skills shortages was highlighted as the top one for growing the green economy, with others the lack of infrastructure and public attitudes.

In conclusion – and while focussed on the UK situation but undoubtedly applicable in numerous other countries – the report calls for public and private investment in physics R&D to remain a high priority and for policies to support business innovation.

“Physicists, trained to tackle complex systems through data analysis, have a vital role to play in developing solutions. A healthy physics ecosystem is therefore essential to the continued development of the green economy (in the UK and Ireland).”

Physics-trained professionals working in the electricity sector? – we would welcome your insights.

Jonathan Spencer Jones

Specialist writer
Smart Energy International

Follow me on Linkedin

The researchers at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UT) have developed an algorithm that uses signals from pumped storage hydropower along with data from grid sensors to produce real-time estimation of the grid inertia.

With increasing intermittent renewable generation, such real-time situational awareness is increasingly critical for grid stability.

Yilu Liu, UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair for power grids who has led the project, explains that when the hydropower facility pumps shut down, they almost always stop at a fixed power level.

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“That’s a very defined signal on the grid that can help us calculate overall inertia. What we’re providing will become more and more important for grid situational awareness as the system grows increasingly reliant on renewables.”

While inertia is used to maintain the balance between supply and demand, renewable sources such as wind and solar provide only a minimal amount as they are connected to the grid using inverters that convert the DC generation to the AC power for transmission.

Thus renewables-powered grids have less tolerance to abrupt change such as storm damage or unusual demand peaks.

In the project, the researchers created a visualisation interface to monitor the inertia and enable operators to better prepare for potential grid instability.

The new method with the FNET/GridEye sensing and measurement system was validated with the help of utilities and power regulating authorities in the western and eastern US where pumped storage hydropower is most prevalent.

The visualisation tool is currently being demonstrated to utilities and grid coordinating authorities such as the North American Electric Reliability Corporation.

The Tyrrhenian Link, a 970km, 1,000MW double submarine cable, is a new electricity corridor at the centre of the Mediterranean connecting the Italian mainland with Sicily and Sardinia.

This final financing sees €500 million ($540 million) signed in addition to the €1.4 billion ($1.5 billion) previously disbursed via loans signed in November 2022 and March 2023.

The final tranche will support the construction and commissioning of the link’s East and West sections.

The loan aims to foster the development of renewable energy sources and grid reliability and promote energy security through the interconnector.

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Tyrrhenian Link

In Sicily, Sardinia, and especially Campania, states Terna, there is increasingly strong production from non-programmable renewable sources such as solar and wind. The Tyrrhenian Link will increase electricity exchange capacity and thus support the development and better use of renewable energy flows.

Additionally, the project is anticipated to significantly improve grid reliability while increasing the competitiveness of producers in the electricity market.

The overall project involves two sections: East from Sicily to Campania and West from Sicily to Sardinia.

The East section is 490km long and connects the Fiumetorto landing point, in the municipality of Termini Imerese in Sicily, with the landing point in Torre Tuscia Magazzeno, near Battipaglia in Campania.

The West section is approximately 480km long and connects the Fiumetorto landing point to the one in Terra Mala, in Sardinia.

With terms of around 22 years from each drawdown, the loans have a longer maturity and more competitive costs than those generally available on the market. According to the TSO, this puts them in alignment with Terna’s policy to optimise its financial structure.

This operation brings total EIB financing for Terna to around €3.8 billion ($4.1 billion).

Around 50% of the project cost will be financed by the EIB.

The Tyrrhenian Link is expected to be fully operational in 2028 with some 250 companies involved in its implementation.

Under a memorandum of cooperation Statnett and CERN intend to explore collaborative opportunities across a range of areas that can address the challenges and opportunities for managing highly complex systems, such as the evolving transmission system with its demand for high reliability.

In particular thematic areas that have been identified include time synchronisation on measurements, control of high voltage power electronics, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, as well as drone and robot technology.

Ultimately the goal is to contribute to the utilisation of the existing infrastructure with automated system operation and increased capacity and to advance the development of an offshore power system.

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“The transition to the future power grid characterised by a high share of renewable and intermittent energy sources requires new solutions and expertise in monitoring and controlling the grid,” comments Nenad Keseric, director of R&D and Innovation at Statnett.

“As we navigate the challenges posed by the integration of wind and solar energy into our grid, collaboration with CERN emerges as a valuable partnership. It will make us accelerate the development of novel solutions, ensuring a secure and efficient operation of the power grid in Norway and beyond.”

CERN knowledge transfer

CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research as a research partner will be a new one for many in the sector.

The organisation, which marks its 70th anniversary this year, was among the first European intergovernmental research organisations to be created and has since grown to become the world’s largest particle physics laboratory with many achievements to its name – perhaps most famously the world wide web.

With CERN’s competencies and technology ‘knowledge transfer’ has become an important component of its work, with renewable and low carbon energy identified as one of the main sectors with high impact potential and strong synergies with its technical domains of expertise.

One of these is superconductors and for example, the Irish transmission technology company SuperNode is collaborating with CERN on the development of a novel insulation for superconducting cables to improve long distance transmission.

Although not stated the collaboration with Statnett appears to be the first with a TSO.

CERN’s head of Knowledge Transfer, Giovanni Anelli, says the collaboration with Statnett reinforces the organisation’s ongoing commitment to innovate and contribute to addressing global challenges such as climate change through technological advancements.

“I am confident that merging CERN’s expertise developed in the pursuit of fundamental physics research with Statnett’s proficiency in managing complex and reliable power systems will make a positive impact on energy grids. We also hope it serves as an inspiration for others to innovate with CERN.”

The Alliance, an initiative of London-based digitalisation professional services company Gemserv and local energy market solution provider Traxis Group, is planned to bring together market players to develop commercial solutions for local energy markets and to scale the delivery of consumer-facing local energy systems.

While there have been multiple local energy system pilots and demonstrators, there are few fully commercial developments and the aim is to redress this, with the challenge mainly commercial rather than technical.

As such the proposal is to address common market barriers and to find collaborative business solutions, which ultimately should accelerate electrification and decarbonisation.

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“Decarbonising demand is a really big energy challenge. Local energy systems will become an essential part of it so we are delighted to be working with Gemserv to initiate this really important enterprise,” says Simon Anderson, a co-founder of LEMA and CEO of Traxis Group.

Miriam Atkin, the other co-founder of LEMA and Executive Director at Gemserv, likewise expresses her delight to be working to support the development of commercially sustainable solutions through the Alliance.

“Local energy systems are a critical enabler to achieving net zero but they must be commercially viable.”

The basis for the Alliance is that the delivery of the many elements for consumers, such as the electrification of heating and transport and maximisation of rooftop solar, is highly fragmented with multiple parties and tends to lack leadership.

A programme of work has been developed for the Alliance, which is focussed initially on the creation of a network through stakeholder engagement and in the current year to identify common market barriers and develop business concepts and models to minimise their impact.

In 2025 the intention is to develop and approve common structures and contractual frameworks and thereafter to build on the experience gained to optimise delivery and support new development business cases.

The Alliance is also envisaged as an opportunity for businesses to commercialise their innovations through connecting with organisations with complementary capabilities.

The deal, which sees the Group expand its geographical scope, forms part of its growth strategy focussed on that country as well as Europe as it seeks to become an international energy company.

So far as part of the closing $250 million has been drawn out of the $400 million, with Elia Group WindGrid subsidiary serving as the designated holding entity.

The proceeds are to be fully committed to fund project developments in electricity transmission and renewable energy generation.

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In particular, the group will offer its expertise and experience in the development, construction, operation and maintenance of offshore transmission infrastructure, HVDC technology, transmission planning and congestion management to the partnership.

On the initial announcement of the acquisition in December, Catherine Vandenborre, then interim CEO of Elia Group, said: “With our first investment, WindGrid stands ready to be a steadfast ally seeking to proactively establish offshore grid infrastructure and support renewable energy developers in search of secure connections to onshore electricity networks.

“By harnessing our extensive expertise and engaging in co-investment ventures on the global stage, WindGrid is committed to playing a pivotal role in expediting the energy transition.”

Elia states energyRe Giga to be an established partner with a strong pipeline of projects and with a unique focus on transmission-led generation combining high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission with emissions-free energy sources.

These include a 50% stake in Clean Path New York, a future 280km HVDC transmission line and 3.8GW onshore generation in New York, and a 40% stake in SOO Green, a future 560km transmission line from the MISO to PJM.

The company also has a minority stake in the 2.4GW Leading Light Wind offshore wind development project in the New York Bight, which was contracted in January by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.

energyRe Giga’s assets are sold upon completion of each project, with the opportunity to reinvest the capital to support further portfolio expansion.

The report, which lumps raw materials in with its review of the energy sector, points to the leveraging of space data for network condition monitoring and phasor measurement units (PMUs), among other energy sector applications.

For example, Earth observation data from the Copernicus programme is being used for situational awareness and monitoring, such as monitoring the structural integrity of assets including towers, poles and wind and solar plants, monitoring of land subsidence around energy infrastructure and assessment of vegetation encroachments.

Data from the European Galileo Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) is providing accurate timing and synchronisation for PMUs, which are being deployed across the networks in increasing numbers.

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In the foreword to the report, which appears biennially, Rodrigo da Costa, Executive Director of EUSPA, writes that while many of today’s challenges – such as addressing climate-related changes – may look like lemons, he thinks “they could be opportunities to make lemonade”.

“One of the key takeaways is how many of today’s most pressing challenges represent a real opportunity for Europe – an opportunity to leverage the power of Earth observation and GNSS to develop the innovative solutions that will have positive impact on society and define our collective future.”

Benefits of space data

The report notes that synchronisation quality is at the core of smart grid protection and control applications, with the growing adoption of smart grids and PMUs facilitated by substation digitisation.

State-of-the-art GNSS receivers, providing timing and synchronisation information, can fulfil the requirements and provide the necessary level of quality, with the latest receivers contributing to an overall higher level of resilience for the smart grid, states the report.

As a back-up time source, Precision Time Protocol (PTP) concepts are being explored, with
some of these also relying on the use of GNSS receivers.

The report also highlights how Earth observation data can deliver key information for climate-related indicators relevant to the European energy sector, such as electricity demand and renewables production.

For example, solar irradiance data is important for planning and operating solar installations, while SAR (synthetic aperture radar) data is particularly useful for measuring wind speeds on the surface of the ocean and data related to water surface temperature, water conditions and water level is useful for onshore, offshore and tidal energy installations.

The report also mentions examples of EU funded projects that are developing solutions based on space data. These include RESPONDENT, which is leveraging both Copernicus and Galileo data for renewables integration to the grid, and the KliWiSt project, which is drawing in historical data and near future projections to investigate the influence of climate change of wind energy site assessments.

When world leaders agreed at the Conference of the Parties 28 (COP28) in Dubai, held in December 2023, to transition away from fossil fuels, anyone operating a power grid surely took notice. While expanding renewable energy capacity is good news for the planet, it’s bittersweet for utilities who – according to a special report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) – are already at risk of becoming a bottleneck in the global shift toward renewables.

All this ratchets up the importance of transforming the power grid into a dynamic entity that can sense, think, and act. Not an easy feat – but a necessary one for a power grid that has been mostly static since its birth in the 1880s.

Why do renewables such as distributed energy resources (DERs) present such a challenge? The hard truth is that the majority of electric grids were not originally designed to accommodate DERs.

DER for Reliability is an educational track at DISTRIBUTECH International,
set for Orlando, Florida February 26-29, 2024.

Obstacles will emerge when balancing energy supply and demand, coupled with managing fluctuations in voltage and frequency. Moreover, many renewable sources rely on unpredictable weather patterns, presenting a challenge for a grid that requires continuous, intensive oversight of DER infeed conditions at the interconnection point to maintain electricity balancing and help ensure stability and safety. Additionally, the proliferation in micro/nano grids and bi-directional electricity flows from “prosumers” that must be integrated into the grid.

Thus, to adapt to the clean energy future, the power grid must be able to sense, think, and act. And what does it mean for the power grid to sense, think and act?

For starters, it must sense, as in measure and monitor, which of the many DER inputs it is dealing with. Then it must think about how to adapt to the ever-changing landscape of energy supply and demand.

Indeed, think at a level that – given the extensive scale and high-density presence of DERs on the grid – demands help from grid applications that embrace new technologies like artificial intelligence to evaluate how best to generate and dispatch power to meet the load demands. Then it must act through intelligent electronic devices (IEDs), which again – as the power grid scales in size and complexity – will require technological assistance to act in a synchronized and coordinated manner.

Let’s take a look at the role of a converged field area network (FAN) and how it helps transform the power grid into an entity that can sense, think, and act as more and more megawatts of renewables enter the system.

Introducing field area networks

Converged FANs help utilities extend communications deep into the distribution grid to enable integration of DERs as well as storage, distribution automation, substation automation, and advanced metering infrastructure.

Converged FANs connect IEDs in substations and on feeder circuits that sense line conditions. Grid management systems and automated controllers across the grid apply application logic to think and send commands to IEDs to act, essentially to protect and control the grid.

A converged FAN integrates an IP/MPLS field router with a private LTE network, bringing resilient and secure broadband network services to the distribution system. This enables system operators to wirelessly deliver a broad range of distribution automation applications to utility poles, low-voltage substations, and DER sites, connecting IEDs (such as reclosers and line switches), CCTV, drones, and other devices.

Addressing islanding

Islanding prevention is a good example of why FANs are becoming more crucial to power grid operations. For example, as line sensors across feeder circuits send current measurements from a feeder circuit to a recloser controller, the controller logic will analyze the data in real-time to detect fault currents. Once detected, it will command reclosers adjacent to the fault location to open.

When the circuit connects with a community solar project rather than a traditional one-way grid, further remedial action is required.

Should the solar array inverter fail to detect island formation, it would still continue to supply power through the point of common coupling (PCC) into the section of the feeder circuit downstream from the recloser. This situation results in an islanding condition, posing a hazard to the dispatched crews addressing the fault as well as to the local electrical equipment on that particular section of the feeder.

With a converged FAN, control logic gains the capability to issue a trip command to the downstream switch at the PCC, preventing the DER from energizing the feeder.

Restoring service

Another key to improving grid reliability is through fault location, isolation, and service restoration (FLISR), which brings self-healing capabilities to power grids.

According to a U.S. Department of Energy study, FLISR can have the potential to decrease customer minutes of interruption (CMI) by 53% and the number of customers interrupted (CI) by 55%. That’s because a line sensor can send a message to the FLISR controller to indicate a service interruption which kicks off a process whereby power is re-routed, and users are reconnected to a different substation.

This is not a bandwidth-intensive process. Add DERs to the power grid, though, and things get complicated.

When a DER contributes to a fault, there are many locations to isolate, surpassing the capacity that older FLISR systems can manage. The key is to make the advanced distribution management systems (ADMS) aware of the exact configuration of circuit topology and model the more complex system in the ADMS software so that it can correctly carry out the restorative actions through dynamic circuit reconfiguration.

Centralized ADMS FLISR applications demand substantial flexibility to manage multi-way communications with IEDs in the substation and on feeder circuits. This is necessary to collect data and send instructions once the fault(s) are located and appropriate actions are determined.

In some FLISR implementations, the application logic is run in the substation with IEDs that also communicate with each other for heightened awareness. A converged FAN has the ability to support, flexible any-to-any communications in order to meet this complex need.

Mitigating fire risk

FAN is crucial in supporting applications that monitor for and s iftly detect falling power lines, a factor implicated in some of the most severe forest fires of this century.

Identifying and de-energizing falling conductors before they reach the ground is essential for mitigating wildfires. A converged FAN, leveraging IP/MPLS and private LTE/5G, can also carry real-time synchrophasor data for the distribution automation controller to detect and de-energize falling power lines. In fewer than two seconds, a falling line can be detected and isolated while in mid-air – before it sparks on the ground – significantly mitigating the threat of widespread destruction and injury or death.

Dynamic energy grids

Certain attributes are required for a converged FAN to support grid communications and empower the grid to sense, think, and act. Look for a solution with end-to-end multi-fault network resiliency, deterministic quality of service for assured data delivery, any-to-any multi-point connectivity for more efficient machine-to-machine communications, and robust cyber security defenses.

As power grids integrate more DERs, the converged FAN will play a significant role in guaranteeing effective energy provision and administration – thereby removing the risk of power utilities becoming the bottleneck in the world’s sustainability efforts. A dynamic energy grid that can sense, think, and act is the foundation for the power grid of the future.

About the author

Dominique Verhulst currently heads the Energy Segment at Nokia’s Network Infrastructure Group.

Leveraging Nokia’s portfolio of Fixed, IP&Optical, and professional services products, Dominique drives the business and solutions development for Energy customers globally. He is the author of the “Teleprotection over Packet Networks” e-book available on the iTunes bookstore, and co-author of several publications from the University of Strathclyde on the matter of Differential Protection over IP/MPLS. He has over 30 years of experience in the telecommunications networking industry, holding senior sales and marketing positions at Nokia, Alcatel-Lucent, Newbridge Networks, Ungermann-Bass and Motorola.

Data centres, crypto mining and AI are ultimately different sides of the same coin, requiring banks of processors churning away often on a 24/7 basis with their need for energy for operations, cooling and other associated tasks such as communications for the in and out data flows.

In scale, the traditional data centre sector is the largest from the energy perspective, while the crypto sector has garnered the most criticism and publicity driving a rapid shift towards more sustainable – but in some locations still controversial – operations.

But AI remains something of an uncertainty with its accelerating growth. While already widely used but still growing in business applications it is yet to take off at the consumer level – and as it is made more accessible that use is likely to be massive.

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Currently, most consumers are likely to be largely unaware of AI directly, although it contributes to many aspects of daily life.

For many ChatGPT introduced in November 2022 was probably their first ‘hands on’ experience.

Subsequently, over the past few months, Microsoft has been piloting its Copilot, which is built on the ChatGPT technology.

But now AI is entering the mass market with Samsung’s new S24 range of Galaxy mobiles full of AI-powered features.

With mobiles the ‘aways to hand’ device and a selection of what on paper at least appear compelling applications – real-time translation to other languages and wallpaper picture generation to name two – AI is likely to rapidly become part of the daily usage of these devices and others that follow suit, not to mention the possibility of Google’s Bard getting more prominence in the Android OS.

Energy consumption

The IEA’s Electricity 2024 review released last week reports data centres, cryptocurrencies and AI – of which there are more than 8,000 around the world – consuming an estimated 460TWh of electricity globally in 2022, amounting to almost 2% of the global demand.

Of this, the majority, almost three-quarters, was from traditional data centres, with almost all of the rest from cryptocurrencies.

Within three years by 2026 that demand could double and potentially exceed 1,000TWh, the IEA estimates from its modelling.

In particular, AI’s energy demand is projected to grow exponentially to at least ten times its 2023 demand level, which would put it in the range of 70-100TWh.

As an example of how demand could increase the IEA points to search tools such as Google, which could see a tenfold increase of their electricity demand with the full implementation of AI in the process.

The current average electricity demand of a typical Google search is 0.3Wh of electricity compared to ChatGPT’s of 2.9Wh per request, and scaling that up to 9 billion searches daily amounts to an almost 10TWh additional electricity requirement in a year.

Energy challenge

One approach to the energy challenge is greater efficiencies in the data centres themselves.

Currently, the servers and cooling systems are each responsible for about 40% of the demand, with the remaining 20% consumed by the power supply system, storage devices and communication equipment.

More efficient cooling, currently at least, offers the greatest benefits but the move towards hyperscale data centres with upwards of 2,000 racks is achieving energy savings and in the future quantum computers potentially could replace the traditional servers.

Temporary time and location shifting of data centre workloads to regions with lower carbon intensity also is considered to have potential.

Arguably the most significant approach advocated in a conversation with Bloomberg at the World Economic Forum meeting by Sam Altman, CEO of ChatGPT developer OpenAI, is for a breakthrough with more climate-friendly sources of energy such as nuclear.

“The two important currencies of the future are compute/intelligence and energy and I think we still don’t appreciate the energy needs of this technology,” he said, stating that those energy needs will “force us to invest more in the technologies that can deliver this”.

One nuclear option is SMRs, with their potential for an onsite power supply, but closer to Altman’s heart is fusion, in which he has invested $375 million in the private US company Helion Energy.

Helion Energy, vowing to be first with fusion, already has a power purchase agreement in place to supply Microsoft from a plant deployment in 2028 and is targeting 2030 to start supplying baseload power to a Nucor steelmaking facility.

With fusion under development for well over half a century and AI playing an important role in its ongoing advancement, there would be a nice sense of ‘circularity’ if its energy demands were, even indirectly, to impact in finally delivering that breakthrough.

As a user of AI, particularly generative AI in its emergence as a distinct sub-genre, let us know how you are applying it in your utility.

Jonathan Spencer Jones

Specialist writer
Smart Energy International

Follow me on Linkedin

The global push for cleaner, greener sources of energy is accelerating. According to the International Energy Agency, renewable energy was expected to account for nearly 30% of global electricity generation by this year.

In fact, we are approaching “the beginning of the end of the fossil age”, according to the fourth annual Global Electricity Review written by Malgorzata Wiatros-Motyka and others for the energy think-tank, Ember.

As fossil fuels go out of style and fossil-burning power plants are taken offline, renewable energy sources are now surpassing coal as the largest source of power worldwide, says the IEA. By 2027, the IEA report states, renewable energy sources will grow by 2,400GW. That’s equivalent to the entire power capacity of China today, and an acceleration of 85% over the previous five years. In fact, renewable energy is expected to account for 90% of global electricity expansion in the next four years.

That expansion is attributable to renewable energy policies and market reforms in the US, European Union and China, according to the IEA report.

Renewable energy need

The acceleration of renewable energy sources – solar, hydroelectric, wind, biomass – tracks along with the spike in energy prices brought on by war in eastern Europe, which has disrupted the fossil fuel supply chain. That disruption, which the IEA called “the first truly global energy crisis”, underscored the need for the energy security provided by domestically produced renewable energy sources.

In 2022, 63% of the new utility-scale generating capacity added to the US power grid came from solar (46%) and wind (17%). In fact, renewables are the only sector expected to continue to grow, with declines predicted in coal, natural gas, nuclear and oil.

Offshore wind generation is a newer player in the renewables market and is expected to continue to grow globally. However, the expansion in that area is being stalled by lengthy permitting processes and a lack of improvements to power grid infrastructure.

While the expansion of renewable energy might be slowed by policy disagreements and political considerations, the need to update utility infrastructure to handle renewable energy could be the most critical holdup.

Grid enhancements

Utilities are realising that smaller, less predictable energy sources like wind and solar aren’t just plug-and-play. Their grids must be upgraded and digitised to handle not only new offsite power sources, but disruptive technologies such as electric vehicles that are shifting traditional energy demands.

Plus, with the introduction of new renewable energy sources, just how much load they will deliver isn’t certain. Utilities need to move to a real-time, digital approach to load management in order to keep supply and demand balanced. A digital representation of the network, or digital twin, is essential to understand, predict and plan for production and consumption.

A digitised network will also be more efficient since each component and asset can be tracked and maintained through its entire lifecycle, making it more reliable. Having a digitised grid in place is necessary before utilities can adopt a distributed energy resource management systems (DERMS) approach to dealing with alternative energy sources.

DERMS are the combination of hardware and software that allows management of a power grid that includes renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. DERMS provide real-time communication and control across batteries, solar panels and other devices that may lie behind the meter and outside the grid operator’s direct control. They primarily optimise energy consumption to minimise peak demands, which requires careful planning.

Sustainable future

Renewable energy is not only a transformative opportunity for the utility industry, but also a key driver of global transformation.

By adopting renewable energy sources and the advanced grid management technologies needed to sustain them, utilities can help themselves by enhancing their efficiency, reliability and resilience, while helping the world by reducing the causes of pollution, climate change and dependence on fossil fuels.

About the author:

Maximilian Weber is the senior vice president of EMEA for Hexagon’s Safety & Infrastructure division. He has more than 25 years of experience within Hexagon, serving in various executive roles throughout the years, such as general manager, business unit manager and sales manager.

About Hexagon:

Hexagon helps utilities and communications companies achieve greater service reliability, increase operational efficiency and enhance customer satisfaction. We support hundreds of utilities and communications customers around the world with solutions for network engineering and design, operations and maintenance.

The new plans, part of ENTSO-E’s ‘Ten-Year Network Development Plan’ (TYNDP) for 2024, are aimed at assessing the offshore transmission infrastructures required to provide visibility and guidance on the integration of the planned growing offshore renewable capacity to the European electricity grid.

Offshore renewables are proposed to become the third most important energy resource in the European power system, providing 18% of the dispatched energy by 2040 and 2050 – sufficient to supply up to 55 million households in 2040.

Moreover, the size of this task and the speed required is huge. As of today, just a small fraction, around 30GW, of the envisaged offshore renewable capacities have been installed.

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To reach the 2030 ambitions of around 182GW, annual installations of approximately 25.5GW have to be installed, with EU countries needing to deliver 15GW and Norway and Great Britain together 10.5GW each year.

This corresponds to a factor 10 increase in the installation rate, based on Wind Europe’s quoted data of an average annual installation rate during the last 10 years of 2.5GW.

Potential equipment supply chain challenges also may arise. Looking ahead to a 2050 target of almost 500GW of offshore renewables, the plan estimates the need for up to 54,000km of additional offshore network transmission infrastructure routes compared to 2025.

Priority offshore grid corridors

The plan, the subject of eight documents, is based around five priority offshore grid corridors, with the associated infrastructure requirements for each:

• Northern Seas Offshore Grids encompassing the North, Irish and Celtic Seas and the English Channel;
• Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan Offshore centred on the Baltic Sea;
• Atlantic Offshore Grids encompassing the north Atlantic from Ireland south to Portugal and Spain;
• South and West Offshore Grids in the western Mediterranean;
• South and East Offshore Grids covering the eastern Mediterranean including the Aegean Sea and Black Sea.

The plan foresees the offshore connections in the northern European sea basins, the Northern Seas and the Baltic Sea in particular, developing from point-to-point connections towards a more integrated offshore and onshore network with an increasing share of offshore hybrid interconnections.

Offshore infrastructure in the Atlantic – in this area floating technology is the solution of choice, given the depth limitations – the Mediterranean and the Black Sea will instead be characterised by the radial connection of the offshore renewables and interconnectors.

Overall by 2050 most of the offshore renewables is expected to be connected via radial connections, with about 14% connected via dual purpose hybrid infrastructure and up to 9% connected to more than one jurisdiction.

Modelling assumptions include an average wind farm size of 900MW and 2GW cable capacity by 2040 and a 525kV reference voltage level.

The plan finds that capital expenditures of around €400 billion ($436 billion) are necessary for offshore transmission infrastructure, with the largest proportions, around €150 billion and €120 billion respectively, for offshore DC converters and offshore and onshore DC cables.

The availability of commercially attractive DC circuit breakers is expected to make a difference to the costs and hydrogen also can have a role, especially in the Northern Seas corridor, where it has been identified and is being pursued by some countries.

“We are proud to be presenting the first European Offshore Network Development Plan, as the development of offshore wind generation and strong interconnections across all European sea basins are essential to create a carbon neutral, resilient and cost-effective European energy system,” commented Damian Cortinas, Chair of the Board of ENTSO-E and a senior executive at RTE.

“The deployment of the fit-for-purpose offshore grids is a necessary condition to achieving the European energy transition to carbon neutrality.”

The plan also reviews environmental protection issues and recommends that the development of the offshore network infrastructure should happen in synergy with the protection of the maritime environments in order to achieve a sustainable energy system coexisting with biodiversity.

ENTSO-E also has indicated that in future editions, it intends to further integrate the offshore network development plans into the TYNDP process to enable synchronised planning of the onshore and offshore developments to provide a holistic approach to maximise the benefits of a decarbonised power system.

Under the name of ‘Net Zero Data’, the portfolio of datasets has been built to align with the needs of different types of low-carbon projects being investigated by network operators, local authorities or other technology installers.

Common project themes include the potential locations for renewables and storage or renewable heat, buildings suitable for net zero retrofits and land with potential for electric vehicle infrastructure.

The Energy Systems Catapult reports that the datasets have been developed drawing on 30 years of collective data modelling expertise and are intended to fill gaps in common open data sources.

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They have been applied, refined and tested in various real-world scenarios and projects, with an example cited of understanding the baseline of a local energy system prior to full local area energy planning.

The datasets cover the local authority regions GB-wide, with availability at the regional level using the Ordnance Survey standardised ‘unique property reference number’ and thus enabling overlaying and integration with the user’s own datasets.

The datasets can be visualised with any GIS platform or through a partnership with Advanced Infrastructure Technology via its LAEP+ digital twin based planning and modelling platform.

Further, the datasets are updated on an ongoing basis, in many cases reported as often as daily.

The Energy Systems Catapult states that the use of such datasets enables more rapid decision making to speed up the net zero transition without the need for lengthy delays for custom-made datasets to be compiled.

The datasets are available both by one-off purchase or subscription.

Three case studies illustrate how the ‘grids of the future’ emerge in different contexts and locations. Widespread clean and renewable energies and the electricity systems built on digital and other technologies to carry them are the basis for the ‘grids of the future’.

The smart plant – smart energy operations for business success

A recent report from CB Insights found that 80% of industry manufacturers believe smart factories are crucial to their future success. However, while industries face specific challenges in smartening plants due to their complexity and scale, the process may be simpler than it appears.

With smart automation technology and energy technologies such as onsite renewable generation and green hydrogen production, plant operators have the tools to readily modernise, automate and optimise their energy use and other plant operations.

As an example, a global manufacturer of pumps and pump systems, Wilo wished to decarbonise its activities by becoming energy-independent and centralising the management of the different processes and energy flows involved.

The solution included a 3MW rooftop solar installation powering a 300kW electrolyser to produce green hydrogen with a 500kg tank for its storage. A 150kW battery energy storage system was integrated for peak shaving and emergency power supply via a 75kW fuel cell. An exchanger also was implemented to enable the use of waste heat for cooling applications.

With the integration of all the processes in a single digital platform the automation of the launching of green hydrogen production and the use of the available energy resources for peak shaving, the solution responded fully to Wilo’s needs.

Green hydrogen – how AI can accelerate the energy transition

While all the potential uses of green hydrogen in the future energy mix are open to debate there is agreement that it will have an important role, in decarbonising sectors that are hard to electrify, such as heavy transport and in an industry where hydrogen has been used as a feedstock for decades.

A major challenge, however, is scaling up the production, with decisions on where to site electrolysers and infrastructure such as storage taking into consideration the need for renewable energy to create green hydrogen and the demand requirements.

A new analysis from the ETIP SNET initiative argues that electrolysers should not be treated merely as a new load on the grid but should be addressed as a part of the system architecture so that the growth of the hydrogen ecosystem is matched with that of the associated renewables.

The analysis suggests that most electrolysers are likely to be grid-connected. While smaller MW-scale electrolysers should be able to rely on grid power when renewables are not available, larger GW-scale electrolysers will have a significant impact, requiring transmission system operator positioning and solutions such as microgrids for their operation.

Electrolysers and the wider hydrogen ecosystem also are expected to play an important role in delivering demand flexibility to the grid, both short term of seconds to minutes and long term up to months with storage of excess renewable generation.

With this, they offer the potential to support resilience on the grid and to control electricity prices for consumers by avoiding the need for other more costly grid management options.

Data centres – the renewable energy opportunity

Data centres are a growing and key component of the IT infrastructure, enabling the cloud and software as a service. They are energy intensive, due both to the number of servers they need to run and to the associated cooling requirements. Often, they have the added challenge of delivering 24/7 availability, necessitating a backup power requirement.

A key consideration in evaluating solutions for data centres is the level of emissions that are assessed as Scope 3 (i.e. indirect, across the value chain) as these become increasingly important for reporting.

Depending on the carbon intensity of purchased electricity, Scope 3 emissions can be the largest contributor to the total carbon footprint. The main action proposed to reduce Scope 3 emissions is to use more renewable and clean energies, such as solar, wind or hydro.

The use of clean energies also is a key step for more sustainable power backup. Traditionally diesel generation has served as the backup and a first step is to introduce a mix of biodiesel or a green renewable diesel.

Another key technology is battery energy storage, with the dual function of enabling participation in day-to-day demand response opportunities to alleviate congestion on the grid and serve as a backup in the case of an outage.

For example, if the grid is subject to very high power demand, such as during a heat wave, data centres can use their microgrid systems to reduce load on the grid, improving overall grid flexibility. When this battery system is charged with renewable energy, it emits zero carbon during operation. When there is a surplus in renewable supply, instead of curtailing the production, this surplus can be used to charge the battery storage.

Energy efficiency is another area of opportunity for data centres. As an example, waste heat is being used increasingly to help heat nearby buildings or to supply industrial heat users, reducing the energy use from other sources. For efficient data centre operation, all energy flows should be managed from a central automated platform.

These are three of the many examples of how the latest digital innovations and other technologies are delivering the grids of the future to accelerate the integration of clean and renewable energies and large-scale electrification across sectors.

Read Part 1 of this 3-part series: Renewable energies for the grid of the future
Read Part 2 of this 3-part series: Renewable energies – the transmission and distribution enablers

The concept of capturing solar energy in space and beaming it down to the Earth had its origins with the well-known science fiction writer Isaac Asimov in an early short story from his student days during the Second World War.

While it attracted limited attention in the following years, since the turn of the century with the increasing move to renewables, interest has grown and subsequently accelerated, with several initiatives emerging, including in the US, UK, Europe, Japan and China.

The fast-falling costs of satellite launches with their proliferation has given impetus to the proposal. However, while conceptually it is straightforward, technologically it is still very complex – to place solar panels several square kilometres in extent in space and then to deliver the energy via conversion to microwaves and reconversion on the ground with sufficient efficiency.

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Nevertheless, several studies, most recently one from NASA, have indicated that cost parity with ground-based renewables should be possible by 2050, if not before.

With this space-based solar can become a viable addition to the renewables mix, with one of its prime benefits its ability to deliver solar energy on a virtually 24/7 basis – something that earth-based photovoltaics are unable to match, currently at least although not to be ruled out in the future.

For example, the CASSIOPeiA design proposed in the UK with two 1.7km diameter solar collectors is calculated to be able to deliver 2GW to the grid via a 5km diameter rectenna ground station.

Caltech’s space solar power demonstrator

Key to the development of space-based solar is the ability to test the technologies in space where they can be subject to the effects of space weather such as the solar wind.

Last October researchers from the Universities of Surrey and Swansea reported demonstrating the potential of a new solar cell technology based on thin-film cadmium telluride deposited directly onto ultra-thin space qualified cover glass material.

After six years in space, the cells were observed to show no signs of delamination and no deterioration in short circuit current or series resistance but the power output had decreased, which is attributed to an aspect of the cell design and is to be altered for the next generation.

Arguably the most advanced initiative is that at Caltech in the US, which was launched over a decade ago and is seeing investment of over $100 million on a largely philanthropic basis.

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One year ago the first space solar power demonstrator was launched into space and while it ceased communication in November, one year on all three of the technologies carried, all fundamental for the delivery of space-based solar, have now been confirmed to have been successful.

These have shown that a flexible mesh material can be carried into space and deployed, that low-cost manufactured solar cells show potential for space use – particularly those with high-performance compound semiconductor materials such as gallium arsenide – and that energy beamed from space can be detected on the Earth.

Reflectors in space

Another option being considered is one that was proposed back in the early 1980s for nighttime illumination of cities – having giant reflectors in space that reflect the sunlight down to Earth, in particular at dawn and dusk when demand is peaking and the output from solar farms is weakening.

In a 5-year project that was started in late 2020 at the University of Glasgow, a reference architecture has been published recently for ‘Solspace’ as a constellation of five hexagonal-shaped reflectors with a combined area of about 1,000m2 – their size dictated by the available other technologies required for example, for attitude control.

With constant solar facing, these are estimated to deliver approximately 280MWh of solar energy daily to large solar farms, around 10km in extent to match the size of the solar beam at the proposed altitude of almost 1,000km, across the Earth.

With an operational lifetime of 20 years, the cost of the electricity is estimated at $70/MWh.

Further results are yet to come from the project, which also was proposed to look at issues such as the use of 3D printing methods for the reflectors, which are proposed to be made from aluminised Kapton and gossamer thin.

These findings and those from the other initiatives are early stage and much work still needs to be done to evolve the technologies and to implement a commercial-scale operation.

But in one form or another, it will happen, and perhaps as early as 2035 if the UK’s Space Solar venture meets its timeline.

The year 2023 was a record-setting year for investment and growth in clean energy, with the International Energy Agency projecting over 500GW of new renewable capacity to come online by year-end globally. Energy storage, a critical component of a fully renewable grid, also saw record growth in 2023 and Bloomberg New Energy Finance has forecast a 27% compound annual growth rate to 2030 to enable renewable growth.  

These trends were supercharged at COP28, where over 100 countries committed to a tripling of renewable energy capacity by 2030. As these bold commitments trickle down to the state and local level, specific policies and roadmaps will emerge to accelerate the deployment of wind, solar and energy storage technology. 

These policies and roadmaps will not be developed in a vacuum. The world at the end of 2023 is an increasingly challenging one, with geopolitical instability, lingering supply chain uncertainty and broader concerns for global environmental justice influencing policy and investment decisions.

These considerations will shape the growing clean energy sector as countries seek solutions that reduce carbon emissions, increase energy security, and ensure environmental sustainability and economic opportunity for their citizens.

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Looking ahead to 2024, we anticipate:  

Concrete policy commitments for clean energy deployment 

In 2024, countries will promulgate specific plans and targets to accelerate policy momentum and achieve the ambitious targets set at COP 28. In the United States, the Inflation Reduction Act is already providing substantial funding for new clean energy projects at the federal level while individual states set ambitious deployment targets. Just last month, the state of Michigan set an energy storage deployment target of 2,500 MW by 2030, joining 10 other states with concrete storage targets. 

This is not limited to the U.S. In Australia, the government of New South Wales has set a goal of 2 GW of long-duration energy storage installed by 2030, and the state of Victoria is committed to 2.6 GW of storage online by 2030. Similar targets are being implemented or considered in Europe and elsewhere globally. In 2024, the race to set and achieve bold clean energy targets will intensify.

Energy security will remain centre-stage

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, energy security became one of the top considerations of policymakers, energy companies and consumers worldwide. Instability in global oil markets served as a reminder of the risks associated with reliance upon globally traded energy commodities controlled by a small group of countries.

Fortunately, an economy powered by renewable energy is potentially much more secure and resilient than one reliant upon fossil fuels. As the clean energy transition accelerates, expect that policymakers will pay close attention to both security of energy supply and security of technology supply: 

• Security of energy supply: Decentralized energy generation reliant upon wind and solar energy is inherently more resilient than large-scale, centralized power grids. In 2024, deployment of these decentralized models will accelerate as utilities and regulators continue to see the advantages. For example, ESS technology is powering a solar + storage microgrid at an industrial recycling facility in Pennsylvania which enables the company to operate seamlessly during grid outages, while also significantly reducing carbon emissions.  

• Security of technology supply: Chokepoints in the global clean energy supply chain are beginning to emerge. Today, energy storage = lithium-ion and the supply chain for lithium-ion batteries runs through a small number of countries, creating supply chain risks. In contrast, new alternatives such as iron flow battery technology, are able to leverage broad supply chains thanks to Earth-abundant materials and commonly available components, mitigating supply chain security risks.

The security advantages of renewable energy will continue to shape energy policies and accelerate the clean energy transition in 2024. 

Circular economy principles will factor into decision making 

In addition to security considerations, in 2024, the environmental, social, and economic impacts of clean energy technology will increasingly factor into procurement decisions. Growing attention to resource and carbon-intensive supply chains and concerns about end-of-life disposal will favour technologies with superior environmental profiles over those which require intensive mining, manufacturing and recycling processes. 

Emerging iron-based energy storage technologies offer one example of an inherently more sustainable alternative. Earth’s abundant materials and commonly available mechanical components can be readily recycled or repurposed at end of life. Additionally, iron flow batteries have approximately one-third the carbon footprint of Li-ion technology, further reducing sustainability risks.  

Emerging technologies will come of age 

In response to these broader trends, over the next year, new clean energy technologies will become established and grow from megawatt-hour to gigawatt-hour scale.   

This trend is already beginning. In Australia, ESS technology will enable the retirement of large coal-fired power stations. An initial iron flow battery pilot project is currently being developed at the Stanwell Power Station in Queensland, Australia, to be followed by a 150 MW installation with options for a further 200 MW per year beginning in 2026.

In Europe, the continent’s largest clean energy hub is in the early stages of development by LEAG, a major German energy generator. When complete, the hub will include 7-14 GW of renewable generation paired with 2-3 GWh of long-duration energy storage to provide green baseload energy and effectively replace coal generation. ESS is partnering with LEAG to supply the long-duration storage component and engineering work is already underway, with delivery of the first 500 MWh iron flow battery system expected in coming years.  

Going forward, these early large-scale projects will provide a blueprint for the clean energy transition and demonstrate how to deliver resilient, clean, baseload energy without fossil fuels.

2024 promises to be an exciting year in the clean energy industry as commitments from COP take shape and renewable deployments accelerate. At ESS, we look forward to continuing to build and deliver safe and sustainable long-duration energy storage solutions and working with our partners to deliver the paradigm-shifting projects which will be the blueprint for the clean energy future.

About the author
Eric Dresselhuys is the CEO of ESS Inc. and joined the long-duration energy storage company in 2021. Dresselhuys has over 25 years of leadership experience and is an accomplished technology and market development pioneer with a demonstrated background in growing both public and private companies.