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DID YOU KNOW THAT SMART POWER OFFERS...
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High voltage network and maintenance planning?
Customers that own their own high voltage electricity networks have obligations under the current market rules. Owners need to manage these assets in a compliant manner and meet service levels and testing standards.
Smart Power offers high voltage network management services to ensure that all assets are fully operational and monitor the network's condition through non-invasive testing. Our service plans and schedules the multitude of tests, including a routine maintenance cycle, over a five year period.
The test results are monitored to show trends that can quickly identify any deterioration in equipment that may effect reliability, and make appropriate plans to rectify the problems before they become a major issue.
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EVER WONDERED ABOUT....
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The Global Warming Debate?
Talking about global warming can be tricky. Everyone has an opinion, some of them may seem to be more informed than yours. But what information is forming those opinions, and where does the truth lie?
The global warming debate is over whether global warming is occurring, how much has occurred in modern times, what has caused it, what its effects will be, whether any action should be taken to curb it, and if so what that action should be.
Primary issues concerning the existence and cause of climate change include the reasons for the increase in global average air temperature, whether the warming trend exceeds normal climatic variations, whether humankind has contributed significantly to it, and whether the increase is wholly or partially an artifact of poor measurements.
Additional disputes have concerned estimates of how responsive the climate system might be to any given level of greenhouse gases (climate sensitivity), projections of continued warming in response to the existing build up of greenhouse gases plus future emissions, and what the consequences of global warming will be.
There is much debate, opinion and presentation of passionate arguments on both sides. The following websites attempt to provide a reasonable argument for each case, and are a fascinating read, whatever your personal position:
Engineering and Technology Magazine: For and Against: Climate ChangeClimate Debate Daily provides a huge number of links to news articles, websites and blogs across the range of views
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Greetings!
Welcome to this edition of "Get Smart", Smart Power's regular bulletin. Get Smart provides a round-up of energy news and views from Australia, New Zealand and around the world.
In "Company Voice" this month, director Bruce Stubbing talks about voltage disturbance and harmonic analysis.
As always your feedback is most welcome. |
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AUSTRALIAN ENERGY HEADLINES
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Billion-dollar battle brews over renewable energy
On a line of low hills standing sentinel beside a dry lake bed near Canberra, giant turbines turning slowly in a chill winter breeze give no hint of a multi-billion-dollar storm building around renewable energy.
Infigen Energy's Capital Windfarm, built five years ago, was a vanguard for wind power as Australia sought to wean itself from cheap fossil-fuel power in the face of climate shift blamed in part for Lake George's transformation to a vast plain.
But big plans to expand the Infigen renewable energy project near Canberra and others like it have been put on hold awaiting the outcome of September's federal elections.
The ballot, which opinion polls show the Coalition winning, along with an economic slowdown and rising home energy bills have put the brakes on Australia's decade-long clean energy push. Read more
Commission questions high energy profits
The door has been opened to full deregulation of electricity prices in NSW after a report found there was a high degree of competition, with more than 60 per cent of households on unregulated contracts.
Even so, Victoria's Essential Services Commission has warned it is concerned about signs of a lack of competition in the state, which is supposedly one of the most competitive energy markets in the world.
The commission is finalising a report which questions the high profit margins of the energy retailers - primarily EnergyAustralia, Origin Energy and AGL. Read more
China makes $3b power play for energy network
Hard on the heels of its $500 million-plus purchase of a large stake in the power network in South Australia, China's State Grid has paid more than an estimated $3 billion for control of the main gas network in much of eastern Australia along with a one-fifth interest in SP AusNet.
The move paves the way for it to gain full control of SP AusNet, which operates electricity and gas networks in Victoria, along with the balance of the Jemena gas distribution assets in NSW and Queensland.
State Grid has agreed to pay $824 million for 19.9 per cent of SP AusNet, leaving Singapore Power with 31.10 per cent.
It also bought a 60 per cent stake in Jemena for more than $2 billion. Jemena has assets valued at $9 billion and substantial borrowings. The purchase gives State Grid control of the Eastern Gas Pipeline, which links Bass Strait with Sydney and the Queensland Gas Pipeline that runs from Roma to Gladstone and Rockhampton, along with other assets, such as half of the ACT's energy supplier and recycled water assets in Sydney. Read more
Firms 'missing out' on big energy savings
Australia's biggest energy users are missing out on more than half the available savings from energy efficiency projects because of a lack of access to capital and demands by management for short payback periods, according to research by Monash University-affiliated ClimateWorks Australia.
A survey of efficiency opportunities identified by 587 medium and large companies in mining, manufacturing and transport that account for about half the country's total energy consumption found firms were already achieving savings worth $1.2 billion, or 4.8 per cent of their energy use.
Those savings, however, could swell to 11 per cent - equivalent to half the total residential energy use in the country - if projects identified but not yet implemented were taken up. Read more
Record in renewables
Australia produced a record amount of renewable energy last year, with clean electricity sources such as hydro, wind and solar generating more than 13 per cent of the nation's power, new industry figures show.
A report by the Clean Energy Council says hydro electricity is still the most dominant clean-energy source, representing 58 per cent of all renewable electricity generated in 2012.
But the council's chief executive, David Green, said other sources were growing strongly, with wind energy rising to 26 per cent of renewable generation and solar to 8 per cent.
Despite the growth, the report also finds Australian investment in renewables fell by $1.3 billion dollars last year, from $5.5 billion in 2011 to $4.2 billion. Read more
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NEW ZEALAND ENERGY HEADLINES
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New HVDC Pole 3 Commissioned
Transpower announced last week that the latest addition to the National Grid - HVDC Pole 3 - has been commissioned and is ready to be put into full-time service.
Pole 3 is the new Siemens-developed, state-of-the-art High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) converter system installed at Benmore in the South Island and Haywards just north of Wellington. It replaces the 47-year-old Pole 1 (decommissioned last year after running in restricted mode since 2007).
Pole 3 joins the existing, 20-year old Pole 2 in operating the inter-island link. Together, they will allow up to 1000 MW transfer capacity between the islands. Transpower's Chief Executive Patrick Strange said that construction of the $672 million project, underway since early 2010 has not been easy. Building a new HVDC Pole in the middle of an operating power system, and in one of the world's most extreme seismic zones, has been a huge challenge for Siemens and Transpower.
"This is the first time worldwide that such a major link has been commissioned 'in the market'. Usually, these things are built on a greenfields site, tested, and then hooked into the power system. We didn't have that luxury," he said. Read more
Selling prices reflect higher electricity costs
Higher wholesale electricity market prices because of the summer drought pushed up power costs for business and those costs were passed on in selling prices.
Statistics NZ figures out yesterday show the electricity and gas supply output price index was up 12.5 per cent in the March quarter and the input price rose 15.1 per cent.
"Higher prices for electricity generation and retail were caused by lower lake levels and spot-market conditions," Statistics NZ said.
That flowed through to prices received by New Zealand producers of all kinds rising 0.8 per cent in the March quarter. Read more
Meridian Energy next asset sale
Meridian Energy will be next off the block in the Government's asset sell-down programme.
Up to 49 per cent of shares in the energy company will be offered for sale in the second half of this year depending on market conditions, State Owned Enterprises Minister Tony Ryall confirmed today as part of the Government's Budget.
Legal and capital market advisers are due to be appointed by June.
The widely expected announcement follows hard on the heels of the Government's partial sale of Mighty River, which raised $1.7 billion in its initial public offer this month.
That money went into the Government's Future Investment Fund, earmarked for major capital investment projects. Read more
Power hungry Auckland close to record highs
Some proof the electric blankets and heaters have been pulled out of storage in Auckland homes this past week.
Lines company Vector says there has been strong demand for power over the last seven days, and it is edging towards a record high.
Demand hit 1,718 megawatts around 7.00PM last Wednesday - the peak experienced in Auckland when snow fell in 2011 was 1,852 megawatts. Read more
Absorbing benefits of solar energy
The electricity Neil Kiddey's six solar panels create from the sun has cut his monthly bill by $37.
The Timaru retiree had them installed in February and he is also on the national grid, and represents a small but growing sector of consumers installing solar panels. The solar system cost Mr Kiddey $8500. "It's kind of green and makes me feel good."
Aged in his 70s he is not expecting to make his money back. He has recently had an import/export meter installed so any unused power goes on the national grid for redistribution. Contact Energy will pay him 17 cents a kilowatt for his extra power. Read more
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INTERNATIONAL ENERGY HEADLINES
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US mulls aid for energy storage
Four US Senators proposed legislation offering tax incentives to homeowners and companies that install energy-storage systems in an effort to boost investment in renewable power.
The bill would provide a 30 per cent tax credit, capped at $US1 million per project, to homeowners and businesses that use power-storage equipment, according to a statement today from Senators Ron Wyden and Jeffrey Merkley, Oregon Democrats, Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, and Angus King, an independent from Maine. Wyden is chairman of the energy and natural resources committee.
The bill also offers a 20 per cent credit, capped at $US40 million each, for utility-scale systems, with a total budget of $US1.5 billion in incentives for these large projects.
Wind turbines and solar panels don't always generate power when it's most needed, and storage systems that retain the energy until demand is higher will facilitate wider use of renewable energy, the senators said. Read more
Nuclear Headache: Task of Decommissioning Plants Is Herculean
The dismantling of Germany's nuclear power plants will be one of the greatest tasks of the century as the country moves to phase out atomic energy. It will take at least until 2080 to complete the job. But what happens if energy utility companies who own the facilities go bust before the work is done?
The issue is nuclear waste and its safe disposal. Germany will have to build a storage facility deep underground that can survive the ravages of wars, revolutions and even another ice age. Indeed, the remains of the nuclear age will have to be kept in a final repository for 1 million years -- longer than the human race has existed.
According to the latest calculations by the German Environment Ministry, the operation and decommissioning of the country's reactors will produce 173,442 cubic meters (over 6.1 million cubic feet) of low to medium-level radioactive waste that has to be stored underground. On top of that, there are 107,430 cubic meters of radioactive detritus from government institutions. Read more
'Death By a Thousand Cuts':
Coal Boom Could Destroy Great Barrier Reef
Australia's Great Barrier Reef is rapidly losing its coral, to the point that UNESCO may soon place the natural wonder on its "in danger" list. Climate change is one culprit, but so is the country's booming extraction industry. Environmentalists warn that time is running out for the reef.
The 2,300-kilometer (1,430-mile) Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of Queensland in northeastern Australia, is a natural wonder. It is home to a quarter of all species that exist in the world's oceans. In 1981, it became the first ocean region to be declared a UNESCO World Heritage site.
But now UNESCO is threatening to add the Great Barrier Reef to its list of protected sites that are "in danger."
Australian scientists have calculated that the Great Barrier Reef, the earth's largest living organism, has lost half of its coral in the last 27 years, and coral death is only accelerating.
One reason is that Australia feels the effects of climate change earlier and more strongly than elsewhere. Not only do rising water temperatures lead to coral bleaching in the summer, but increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere also raise ocean acidity, which damages the coral.
Man is also threatening the reef in a very direct way. Australia has the world's largest reserves of uranium, zinc and lead. It also has rich deposits of bauxite, iron ore, copper, gold, manganese and nickel, and no other country in the world has exported as much coal in recent years. Read more
Lib Dem Energy Secretary tells newspapers to stop publishing views of climate change sceptics
UK Climate Change secretary Ed Davey is due to launch an extraordinary attack on climate change sceptics and "some sections of the press" for publishing their views. "This is not the serious science of challenging, checking and probing," he says in a draft of the speech. "This is destructive and loudly clamouring scepticism born of vested interest, nimbyism, publicity seeking contraversialism or sheer blinkered, dogmatic, political bloody-mindedness."
This criticism of climate change scepticism is hardly new. Both sides in the debate about man made global warming frequently accuse each other of being "blinkered", "dogmatic" and "bloody minded" and being unduly influenced by "vested interests", whether it's Big Oil or green energy companies. In addition, they each claim the other's position is essentially "political" and not informed by a dispassionate analysis of the scientific evidence.
What's unusual about the Energy Secretary's latest attack is that he's saying that sceptics shouldn't be given the same opportunities as warmists to make their case. Read more
Electric Avenue: Solar Road Panels Offer Asphalt Alternative
An American couple has found a surprising alternative to conventional asphalt motorways: solar road panels. In addition to providing electricity, saving oil and melting fresh snow, it could also prevent accidents.
A lot of thought is put into how much energy we use to drive from point A to B. But what if the road itself could generate energy? Julie and Scott Brusaw, a married couple from Sandpoint, Idaho, have taken on just such a concept, which they hope will make the auto transport of the future cleaner and safer.
The idea is as simple as it is ingenious. Wherever roads are laid, solar panels could go instead. They would generate electricity, which would in turn be fed into the grid. Thus, oil is conserved twice: Electric cars could be charged with the energy produced by the panels, and the panels would replace the use of asphalt, the production of which requires petroleum.
Moreover, Solar Roadways, as the Brusaws have dubbed their invention, are heated and equipped with integrated LED screens, which act not only as street markings, but can also show warnings directly on the road.
The Brusaws are aware that their vision cannot be realized in a day. They've decided to start small: with pedestrian and bicycle paths or large parking lots at supermarkets. As they see it, every square meter of asphalt that gets replaced with Solar Roadway is a small step on the path toward independence from fossil fuels. The giant leap would be to take on urban roads and highways on a global scale. Read more
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THE COMPANY VOICE
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Director Bruce Stubbing has been with Smart Power since 1999 when he and Peter Alderdice set up the Auckland branch of the company.
Bruce is experienced in all aspects of line company operations having spent over 25 years in various engineering and management positions within the former Auckland Electric Power Board.
Bruce was involved in the initial stages of the de-regulated electricity market moving to the business development section within Mercury Energy during 1994. This was at the time when energy companies were first able to negotiate energy contracts outside their traditional supply areas.
Bruce has been a director of Smart Power Auckland since 1999 and specialises in customer networks, embedded networks, transmission, network supply negotiations and power quality issues.
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We have recently been approached by several customers asking for assistance in identifying problems with power quality. This can take several interesting forms but generally the most common to date is the presence of higher levels of harmonics causing harmonic distortion. These can often be found after the installation or upgrade of power factor correction capacitors.
Power system harmonics are generally caused by non-linear devices connected anywhere to the mains. Non linear devices are becoming more prevalent as the use of switch mode power supplies used in battery chargers for laptops and phone chargers, electronic ballasts for lighting, variable frequency motor speed controls and in some cases the installation of LED lighting. All these devices are becoming a larger part of our everyday loads.
Harmonics can lead to overheating in equipment and conductors, overload and nuisance trips in power circuits and in some case incorrect firing in variable speed drives and UPS system failure.
Determining where these are coming from can also be a challenge as two devices when turned on at the same time can create different characteristics. Often several smaller pieces of equipment can set up a low impedance tuned circuit of a certain frequency which can in-turn lead to a high frequency overcurrent and frequency resonance.
A simple way to identify the problem is to complete a harmonics analysis prior to any installation of new power factor equipment or variable speed drives. This way the data that is available from the harmonics study can be used so we can determine the existing levels of harmonics and then design measures to mitigate and where possible alleviate the potential harmonic problem. This is generally achieved by the design and installation of harmonic filtering for a specific frequencies.
Smart Power can provide power factor correction surveys, harmonic analysis and power quality analysis to your site. From these types of reports we can determine what sort of response is required and engineer a solution.
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