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Grids must be bigger, stronger and smarter
02 May, 2024
The IEA describes its recent special report, Electricity grids and secure energy transitions, as offering “a first-of-its-kind global stocktake of the world’s grids as they stand now.” It assesses signs they are not keeping pace with the emerging global energy economy and the risk of them becoming a bottleneck, impeding efforts to accelerate clean energy transitions and ensure electricity security.

Hitachi Energy project updates
02 May, 2024
Hitachi Energy reports that it is providing Fingrid and Elering, transmission system operators in Finland and Estonia, with an extensive control and protection system upgrade of the EstLink 1 HVDC transmission system that interconnects the two countries.

US EPA issues new GHG standards for fossil fuel-fired power plants
30 April, 2024
On 25 and 26 April the US Environmental Protection Agency issued final carbon pollution standards for power plants that set carbon dioxide (CO2) limits for new gas-fired combustion turbines and CO2 emission guidelines for existing coal, oil and gas-fired steam generating units, in order to secure important climate benefits and protect public health.

US gas fired generation increased consistently in 2022 and 2023
30 April, 2024
Electricity generation from units that primarily consume natural gas in the US Lower 48 states has increased for all hours of the day since 2021, according to data reported to the US Energy Information Administration. The date is reported via its Form EIA-930 Hourly and Daily Balancing Authority Operations Report.

Hitachi Energy invests $100 m in Quebec modernisation
30 April, 2024
Hitachi Energy has announced an ambitious upgrade and modernisation of its power transformer factory in Varennes, and other facilities in Montreal, to address a fast-growing customer demand for sustainable energy in North America. More than $100 million ($140 million CAD) in projects around Montreal will include funding from the government of Quebec through Investissement Quebec.

Maxeon starts Patent Infringement lawsuit against Hanwha Q CELLS
30 April, 2024
Maxeon Solar Technologies, Ltd, a prominent company in solar innovation, announced on 22 April that it had initiated a patent infringement lawsuit in the Eastern District of Texas against Hanwha Q CELLS, alleging their infringement of Maxeon patents relating to TOPCon (tunnel oxide passivated contact) solar cell technology.

Morrow secures strategic off–take agreement
30 April, 2024
Morrow Batteries and Nordic Batteries have signed an agreement for 5.5 GWh of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) BEV2 (automotive platform) batteries over seven years. The first batteries will be sold from Morrow towards the end of 2024. The agreement follows from an MoU between the two companies dated August 2023.

Batteries are growing fast – but need to grow faster
30 April, 2024
Many clean energy technologies on the market are growing very quickly – but none faster than batteries, which are set to play an increasingly important role alongside renewables and electrification in the global transition away from fossil fuels, according to the International Energy Agency’s new World Energy Outlook Special Report, ‘Batteries and Secure Energy Transitions’.

Novel energy storage demo to be deployed in the UK
30 April, 2024
UK company RheEnergise, which is developing a new form of long-duration hydro-energy storage system, is to build its first-of-a-kind demonstrator of the system at Sibelco’s mining operations located at Cornwood, in the southwest of the UK. Work onsite to build the demonstrator will start imminently, with its commissioning scheduled to start in September.

Vogtle Unit 4 goes commercial
30 April, 2024
On 29 April Georgia Power announced that Unit 4 of its NPP Vogtle had entered commercial operation and is ready to provide emissions free energy for the next 60 to 80 years.

Plans progress for NPP construction in Uzbekistan
25 April, 2024
Rosatom and Uzbekistan’s nuclear utility Uzatom are working on a contract for the construction of a nuclear power plant in the country. Rosatom is also ready to offer Uzbekistan options for low-power NPPs. “Rosatom and the Uzatom agency are working on a draft general contract for the construction of nuclear power plants; this is an extensive and multifunctional work”, Russian deputy prime minister and head of the Ministry of Industry & Trade Denis Manturov said on the sidelines of the international exhibition, ‘Innoprom – Central Asia.’ At the same time, he said, Rosatom is ready to offer additional proposals to Uzbekistan, including for low-power nuclear power plants.

Hitachi announces $1.5 bn investment to boost transformer production
25 April, 2024
In a bid to meet the surging global demand for transformers and bolster electrification efforts worldwide, Hitachi Energy has unveiled plans to inject over $1.5 billion into ramping up its global transformer manufacturing capacity by 2027. This substantial investment is intended to address the long-term needs of customers while creating over 4000 jobs across its expanding operations.

Why we need to carbonise the grid
24 April, 2024
The grid is being required to carry loads it was never designed to handle. One potential solution is deployment of radically improved conductors based on carbon nanotubes. But to achieve this, carbon nanotube prices need to come down and the manufacturing precision needs to be driven up.

Major utilities announce intent to hugely scale up renewables
23 April, 2024
On 19 April members of the Utilities for Net Zero Alliance (UNEZA) organisation adopted the UNEZA roadmap to 2030, which targets a total increase of renewable energy capacity within their portfolios to 749 GW by 2030, an increase of 2.5 times relative to 2023. UNEZA was established at COP28, with the adoption of the UAE Declaration of Action. Alliance members’ joint renewables ambition was announced, alongside a grid infrastructure action plan.

New UK-US collaboration on US floating wind technology
23 April, 2024
Applications opened on 18 April for a unique project that could expand the US market for innovative UK companies developing technology which can help support the growing floating offshore wind market in the United States.