“Europe will do whatever it takes to keep its competitive edge.”

So said von der Leyen during her 2023 State of the European Union (SOTEU) address, announcing the EVs inquiry as one of two inititiatives to do just that, the other being a support package for the Union’s wind sector.

State of the EU

Referring to the importance of the European Green Deal at the start of her term in 2019, von der Leyen led her State of the Union address with the importance of the energy sector in enhancing Europe’s position as a competitive global player.

“Four years ago, the European Green Deal was our answer to the call of history and this summer, the hottest ever on record, was a stark reminder of that.”

Referencing the extreme wildfires and flooding experienced this year in Greece and Spain, as well as chaotic extreme weather in Bulgaria and other member states, von der Leyen emphasised how, although much has been done towards net zero, “our work is far from over.

“This is the reality of a boiling planet. The European Green Deal was born out of this necessity to protect our planet, but it was also designed as an opportunity to preserve our future prosperity.”

EV inquiry

This initiative, placing Europe again on the map against global energy competition majors such as the US and China, has been in the works through 2023 via tabled policies such as the Net-Zero Industry Act and the Critical Raw Materials Act.

However, although placing Europe on the map as a leading energy player will be key, von der Leyen also cautioned against isolating competitors:

“Our industries and technology companies like competition. They know that global competition is good for business and that it creates and protects jobs here in Europe. But competition is only good as long as it is fair.”

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Hence, the investigation into imported electric vehicles (EVs):

“Take the EV sector. It is a crucial industry for the clean economy with a huge potential in Europe, but global markets are now flooded with cheaper Chinese electric cars; their prices kept artificially low by huge state subsidies.

“This is distorting our market and as we do not accept this distortion from the inside of our market, we do not accept this from the outside.

“I can announce today that the Commission is launching an anti-subsidy investigation into electric vehicles coming from China (…) Europe is open to competition, but not for a race to the bottom.”

This, adds von der Leyen, is part of a strategy to “de-risk, not decouple” trade practices in the EU, a way to boost the Union’s competitiveness while retaining beneficial relations.

According to Reuters reportage, one of many reactions to the announcement of the EVs inquiry was from Sigrid De Vries, head of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), who commented on how “China’s apparent advantage and cost-competitive imports are already impacting European auto makers’ domestic market share, with a massive surge in electric vehicle imports in recent years.

“Von der Leyen’s announcement is a positive signal that the European Commission is recognising the increasingly asymmetric situation our industry is faced with, and is giving urgent consideration to distorted competition in our sector.”

Also commenting was Germany’s VDA Automotive Industry Assocation, which cautioned how “damage must be causally quantifiable and the community interest must be taken into account. Possible backlash from China must also be taken into account.

“One thing is clear: an anti-subsidy investigation alone will not help to solve the existing challenges with regard to the competitiveness of the European landscape. Policymakers in Brussels and Berlin must create the framework conditions to ensure that the transformation succeeds.”

The other initiative is focused on the wind sector, which has been “facing a unique mix of challenges and this is why we will put forward a European wind power package, working closely with industry and member states.”

The package, according to von der Leyen, will go towards fast-tracking permitting, improving the Union’s auction systems, boosting skills and supply chains and enabling eased access to finance.

The study, The Road to Transportation Decarbonization: Readying the Grid for Electric Fleets, was conducted jointly by the grid operator and the tech major to investigate the significant impact this electrification will have on the grid.

Namely, for the US grid to accommadate the much needed electrificaiton of heavy duty transport such as buses, trucks and vans, the study touts five key findings:

1: Region-specific strategy needed

According to the study, certain regions will experience grid impacts from MHDV electrification in the near future. Specifically, multi-megawatt charging loads from fleet clusters, or even a single depot, will quickly strain grid capacity in these areas.

As large fleets or states establish clear electrification targets or mandates, early adopters of electric MHDVs will place significant demands on the grid.

Utilities and policymakers must anticipate and prepare for these near-term loads and grid impacts, employing strategies tailored to each specific region’s needs.

2: Future-minded strategic investment

The study underscores the importance of coordinated investments in areas with high forecast electrification to minimise long-term costs and expedite electrification.

Namely, data, tools and forecast methods should be used to identify priority investment areas as well as locations requiring minimal, or deferred, infrastructure upgrades; these areas can then be aligned with fleet electrification and utility investment plans.

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3: Updating regulation

The research highlights the necessity for evolving regulatory and planning structures to accommodate MHDV electrification.

According to the research, the majority of the electric load scenarios identified fall outside the scope of typical utility planning and regulatory processes. It is thus crucial to develop anticipatory planning and investment processes and regulatory mechanisms that can adapt to the rapidly evolving needs of electric MHDVs.

4: Grid infrastructure upgrades

According to the study, an optimal grid infrastructure strategy for MHDV electrification will vary by location.

Different infrastructure strategies, states the research, such as electric network reconfiguration, multi-value grid infrastructure upgrades, and non-wires solutions such as storage, can effectively support electric MHDVs depending on the unique circumstances and requirements of each location.

Stakeholders, it states, should thus consider the specific needs of each location when devising an infrastructure strategy, enabling utilities to invest in solutions that not only address immediate demands but also accommodate long-term charging growth.

5: Collaborative efforts

The study emphasizes the necessity for new forms of partnership and cooperation to facilitate the transition to electric MHDVs.

Such collaboration among fleet operators, MHDV manufacturers, utilities, and other stakeholders, states the research, will be crucial to coordinate investments, assess charging needs and overcome barriers to charging deployment.

Also on the radar are a €140 million ($150 million) financing round for investor EIT InnoEnergy as Europe is set to update energy policy, and a triple acquisition of US gas utilities by Canada-based Enbridge.

Shell to reportedly sell sonnen

On Thursday, German publication Handelsblatt reported that oil giant Shell intends to sell sonnen, the German developer of energy storage systems.

The report comes in as Shell moves to divest its retail operations within the UK, Netherlands and Germany as part of a strategic restructuring.

The strategy follows the company’s review of market conditions, announcing in June its retail exit.

Kicking off the strategy late last week, Shell sold its UK and German domestic operations to energy major Octopus Energy.

Shell’s Dutch operations are winding down and in the process of transition.

Shell acquired sonnen back in 2019. According to Handelsblatt, the sale will be a significant deal for Shell, which acquired the Bavaria-based company for €500 million ($535 million); the sale is expected to be valued between €1.35 billion ($1.4 billion) and €1.8 billion ($1.9 billion), according to Handelsblatt.

So far, sonnen has had a very strong 2023 with an expected turnover of €450 million ($482 million). Earlier this year the company announced increased capacity of its German VPP at 250MWh, marking the largest in Europe.

The company is expecting to grow the demand response tech, which consists of tens of thousands of intelligently-controlled sonnenBatteries throughout Germany, to 1GWh in the coming years.

Shell has declined to comment.

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EIT InnoEnergy’s private placement round

Dutch energy investment company EIT InnoEnergy has received over €140 million from strategic players in industrial, financial, training and digital sectors in a private placement round.

According to the company, proceeds from the financing will be used for increasing new deal flow, launching new industrial initiatives, tapping opportunities from new regulatory frameworks and expanding in the US.

InnoEnergy’s portfolios focus on early-stage innovative technologies and teams in clean tech, normally CAPEX heavy.

InnoEnergy currently has a portfolio of 200 companies, three of which are unicorns, on track to generate €110 billion ($118 billion) in revenue and save 2.1G tonnes of CO2e accumulatively by 2030.

According to InnoEnergy, these companies have collectively raised €9.7 billion ($10.4 billion) in investment to date.

Tabled earlier this year, the European Union has been expecting to pass several policies in mind of better enabling its industrial capacity within the energy sector.

Namely, the European market design has had a proposed reform and the Green Deal Industrial Plan – within which are contained the Critical Raw Materials and Net Zero Industry Acts – will aim to upskill the workforce, develop European clean tech supply chains and lower barriers to deployment.

Part of the private placement round will, states InnoEnergy, also be used for training and upskilling:

“The new skills, and the larger workforce we will need to fulfil net zero objects, are significant, so with our shareholder make-up of those in industrial and financial sectors, and also in academia and research, we are perfectly placed to deliver progress,” stated the company.

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Earlier this week, the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E) hosted the first High-Level Electricity Grid Forum, of which EIT Innoenergy was a collaborator, during which the grid was placed high on the agenda as a strategic focus for future investments.

New investors in the round include Societe Generale, Santander CIB, PULSE – CMA CGM Energy Fund, Renault Group, Stena Recycling and NIIT.

Existing shareholders Siemens Financial Services, Schneider Electric, Capgemini, Volkswagen Group, ING, Koolen Industries, GROUPE IDEC and Engie were also among the strategic players.

Commenting on the announcement, Diego Pavia, CEO of EIT InnoEnergy, said: “New strategic players have joined InnoEnergy’s outstanding cap table, several shareholders have reinvested, and altogether we have secured sufficient fresh financial resources to double our on-going impact.

“The accelerated energy transition in Europe and in the world, and an increased re-industrialisation ambition in the western world are unique opportunities for InnoEnergy, its portfolio companies and our trusted ecosystem partners. We have geared up for the journey ahead.”

Details on individual investor contributions have not been disclosed.

Triple gas utility acquisition

Canada-based energy company Enbridge has acquired three US-based gas utilities to create what it is calling the largest natural gas utility franchise in the US.

Enbridge entered three separate agreements with Dominion Energy to acquire EOG, Questar and PSNC for the purchase, which totals $14 billion after deductions, including $4.6 billion of assumed debt.

Enbridge owns and operates pipelines throughout Canada and the US, transporting crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company also generates renewable energy, touting a growing European offshore wind portfolio.

Upon the closings, Enbridge will add to its portfolio gas utility operations in Ohio, North Carolina, Utah, Idaho and Wyoming, representing a significant presence in the US utility sector.

The acquisitions will double the scale of the company’s gas utility business to approximately 22% of Enbridge’s total adjusted EBITDA and is hoped to balance the company’s asset mix evenly between natural gas and renewables, as well as liquids.

Enbridge states that following the closings, its gas utility business will be the largest by volume in North America with a combined rate base of over CDN$27 billion ($19.8 billion).

In a press release announcing the acquisition, Enbridge cites how “high-quality, utility cash flows from the gas utilities” will reduce its business risk.

Michele Harradence, president of GDS and executive vice-president at Enbridge, commented that the utilities, each being based in the US, offer strategic advantage when it comes to regulation, namely how they “operate in regions with very attractive regulatory regimes” while offering diverse, low-risk growth opportunities.

However, earlier this week, credit ratings agency Moody’s changed Enbridge’s outlook from stable to negative, a result of the acquisitions.

“The negative outlook on Enbridge is prompted by the company’s announcement that it would acquire US gas utilities… adding pressure to an already weak financial profile that we expect to persist following the transaction close,” said Gavin MacFarlane, Moody’s vice-president – senior credit officer.

“Although Enbridge’s business risk profile improves modestly with the transaction, it is not enough to offset ongoing pressure on the company’s financial profile.”

What are your thoughts on Shell‘s reported strategy to move away from the residential market? If the reports are correct it will be interesting to see who manages to acquire sonnen, which has only been growing.

For the latest finance and investment announcements coming out of the energy sector, make sure to follow Smart Energy Finances Weekly.

I will also be attending Bentley’s upcoming Going Digital Awards in Infrastructure in Singapore in October. Will I see you there?

Cheers,
Yusuf Latief
Content Producer
Smart Energy International

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Aiming to bring together industry leaders to raise awareness about the grids’ crucial role in the energy transition and develop input for EU-level policy discussions, the immense investment needed to reinforce the grid stood out as a key topic.

“Let’s make no mistake: investments in the grid will be needed,” said Damian Cortinas, chairman of the board of ENTSO-E, the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity.

“Even if we (fully leverage) digitalisation and coordination with and between TSOs; even then we will need massive investments to connect new generation, for the solidarity between regions and countries of Europe and, in particular, for the sharing of flexibilities we will need for tomorrow.”

The grids forum is the latest initiative coming from European Associations to spotlight the state of the grid and the initiative needed to get it ready for a net-zero scenario.

Earlier this week, Eurelectric reported the need to prioritise grid expansion to meet Fit or 55 and REPowerEU goals, and the European distribution system operator (DSO) association E.DSO set out key pledges for the future grid with a call for investment to be high on the EU’s future agenda.

Investment first

According to Simson, one of the keynote speakers during the forum, although there are several key topics to tackle in readying the power grid, “the first one is investment.

“Europe needs to invest €584 billion ($624.6 billion) by 2030 to modernise and expand its grids. This is huge. But we can get there.”

Referencing an announcement from the European Investment Bank (EIB) back in July of additional financing of 50% (€15 billion ($16 billion)) to the REPowerEU Plan, Simson pointed out how there has been initiative to fast track financing.

“The proposed new electricity market reform will also make a difference. We expect it to change the remuneration mechanism for grid projects and boost anticipatory investments.”

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Regulation and interconnection

The second key issue to address, adds Simson, is that of regulatory barriers. Namely, the potential offered by breaking them down and fast tracking procedures.

Third was that of the importance of cross-border interconnection, as highlighted by the energy crisis.

Stated Simson: “Europe stands to gain much if we revitalise regional cooperation and make progress on cross-border interconnections.

“ENTSO-E’s latest 10-year network development plan 2022 shows how Europe needs to invest €6 billion ($6.4 billion) per year to 2040 on cross-border infrastructure; the 15% interconnection target is not just a benchmark – it is the best way to bolster our security of supply and competitiveness.”

Digitalisation and industrialisation

As the fourth point, Simson emphasized that we need to have more efficient grids by digitalising our energy system and investing in smart grids.

“With increasing shares of solar and wind, it’s becoming more important to match demand and supply. This requires real time data and pricing, allowing consumers, business and smart energy appliances to respond to the system’s needs.”

The fifth and final point that Simson highlighted is that of industrial and commercial opportunities for the grid.

“We all read the reports of project delayed or suspended because waiting times for components go beyond 2030, or because of rising costs.

“But let’s not forget that the three largest cable manufacturers in the world are based here in Europe. If we are to boost out industrial capacity, expand the pool of skilled labour, improve supply chain, all of this would turn into jobs , growth and opportunities.”

Simson here referred to the Net Zero Industry Act, one of many tabled back in March 2023 that aim to drive Europe’s prowess within the energy transition by, among other points, boosting European supply chains and upskilling the workforce.

Further conclusions to each of the discussed topics will be released in the coming weeks.

In a new study on the region’s electricity market design, Eurelectric states that with around 70% of the planned new renewable capacity being connected to the distribution grids, these require reinforcement and expansion.

But for efficient and timely connection, the way the grids are developed needs to change from an essentially reactive approach to a ‘build-for-the-future’ approach that includes inter alia anticipatory investments.

“Getting our electricity networks fit for net zero should be a top priority in the coming years, both at EU and national level,” says Kristian Ruby, Secretary General of Eurelectric.

“This requires a new mindset among regulators and legislators. One that anticipates Europe’s capacity needs to integrate more renewable projects, and one that accommodates unprecedented electrification of transport, buildings and industry to match the speed and scale needed for Europe’s energy transition.”

The REPowerEU plan anticipates around 50 to 60 million heat pumps, 65 to 70 million electric vehicles (EVs) and over 600GW of additional renewable capacity by 2030.

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A scarcity of grid capacity translates into longer waits for connections, more congested areas and higher costs for network users.

In its earlier ‘Decarbonisation Speedways’ study, Eurelectric found that the EU currently invests €23 billion (US$25 billion) per year in grid infrastructure. However, the investment in distribution grids should reach no less than €38 billion per year until 2030 and up to €100 billion per year until 2050 to deliver on the decarbonisation’s agenda.

Eurelectric proposes in its report that the distribution networks should be planned at least 5 years ahead, with the option of reaching 10 years and with a 2050 horizon projection.

Further regulators must be flexible on DSO investment instruments, removing regulatory obstacles and adopting output-based remuneration taking into account both capex and opex.

EU policies and funds also must promote investments in the physical dimensioning of the grids. In this connection, dynamic line rating is one of the basic means to expand capacity.

Likewise, significant digitalisation efforts are needed and should be incentivised for grid management and forecasting and flexibility should be promoted, with local production and consumption stimulated.

A key for infrastructure development is permitting and Eurelectric urges for a “dedicated and permanently simplified procedure” for grid development, including a possible ‘one-stop-shop’ concept for a single permit for a generation project and the associated grid expansion.

Underlying much of these actions is the need for accurate information and Eurelectric calls for “robust data-sharing mechanisms” among the various players.

The package includes $2 billion in grants and up to $10 billion in loans, as well as a Notice of Intent (NOI) to make available $3.5 billion towards the country’s EV transition.

“President Biden is investing in the workforce and factories that made our country a global manufacturing powerhouse,” said US Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm.

“Today’s announcements show that President Biden understands that building the cars of the future also necessitates helping the communities challenged by the transition away from the internal combustion engine.”

Depending on their capital needs, manufacturers can apply to receive assistance via financial grants through DOE’s Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC) or preferable debt financing through DOE’s Loan Program Office.

The funding breakdown is as follows:

$2 billion for EV plant retrofits

$2 billion will be made available to spur the conversion of long-standing facilities to manufacture EVs and components.

Supported by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, the Domestic Manufacturing Conversion Grants for EVs programme will provide cost-shared grants for domestic production of efficient hybrid, plug-in electric hybrid, plug-in electric drive and hydrogen fuel cell EVs.

The programme will expand manufacturing of light-, medium-, and heavy-duty EVs and components and support commercial facilities including those for vehicle assembly, component assembly and related vehicle part manufacturing.

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$10 billion for conversion projects

$10 billion will be made available in loan authority for applications under the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program for automotive manufacturing conversion projects that retain high-quality jobs in communities that currently host manufacturing facilities.

Examples include retaining high wages and benefits, including workplace rights, or commitments such as keeping the existing facility open until a new facility is complete, in the case of facility replacement projects.

For projects that seek financing to convert or directly replace an existing factory that has high-quality jobs, DOE will assess the projected economic impacts of the facility conversion relative to the existing facility, including factors such as contribution to the local economy, employment history, anticipated employment and duration of its existence.

$3.5 billion to boost production

The DOE’s NOI to make available $3.5 billion in funding will expand domestic manufacturing of batteries for EVs and the nation’s grid, as well for battery materials and components currently imported from other countries.

The NOI – made possible by the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law—represents the second round of funding for battery materials processing and battery manufacturing grants to support the creation of new, retrofitted and expanded domestic commercial facilities for battery materials, battery components and cell manufacturing.

The programme will also support communities with experienced auto workers and a history of producing vehicles, applicants with strong workforce practices and applicants who plan to create high-quality jobs.

The round of funding was made possible by President Biden’s Investing in America agenda.

Both the conversion grant funding opportunity and battery manufacturing notice of intent will be administered by the DOE’s Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC).

Namely, all parties involved in the deployment of charging infrastructure, including governments, charge point operators (CPOs), transmission and distribution system operators (TSOs/DSOs), need to start planning as soon as possible to meet the charging needs of battery electric trucks.

According to the Federation’s survey, Grid Readiness for HDV Charging, this will involve:

• Analysing future charging demand and where it will occur;
  
• Creating awareness of grid operators of what this future demand would mean for their grid planning;
  
• Accelerating administrative and permitting procedures;
  
• Breaking up silo thinking by bringing all stakeholders involved together.

According to T&E, the regulation on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure (AFIR) obliges EU member states to ensure the deployment of recharging pools dedicated to heavy-duty EVs.

However, these targets have raised questions addressing the suitability of existing distribution networks to support its development, as well as of the required actions to make network connections available.

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Key findings

According to T&E’s survey, the following key findings were derived regarding the readiness of the European distribution network, in mind of the targets set by AFIR:

• AFIR ambition:

The AFIR targets specify two metrics: timelines and distance as well as capacity.

The timelines of the targets, in general, were perceived as the more problematic metric.

Regarding a 2025 deadline for heavy-duty infrastructure, given the short remaining time, even at sites where sufficient network capacity is available, timely implementation will be challenging, states the Federation.

If any permitting procedures are required, implementation seems more unrealistic, necessitating a delay to 2027 or 2028.

However, for 2030, the general feedback was that the volumes specified in the proposals are challenging but feasible. Nevertheless, at least in certain regions, network development is required to meet the AFIR targets.

• Planning and permitting

According to the survey’s findings, the challenging character of the proposed timelines is even more evident as usual periods for network planning and permitting in several EU member states are very long.

If high voltage (HV) lines are included, procedures may take more than a decade, hence planning periods may already now conflict with 2030 targets.

Additionally, existing legal frameworks do not allow an acceleration of permitting processes.

From this perspective, states the survey, the time until AFIR enters into force is even more problematic.

• DSO awareness and focus

DSOs, states T&E, will only be able to successfully tackle the challenges related to AFIR targets with an anticipating and proactive approach, sufficient resources and respective corporate cultures.

The report states how specific national policy instruments incentivising DSOs may also be needed, at least in a transitional period until 2030.

However, incentives should not focus only on charging infrastructure for heavy-duty EVs but rather stimulate provision of connections in general, i.e. also for renewables.

While the distribution network perspective is important, T&E adds that requirements need to be set by transport demand and patterns.

Involving DSOs in the identification of potential sites, they state, will likely accelerate grid connection and reduce costs in some cases.

• Studies needed

Nearly all stakeholders mentioned ongoing studies matching scenarios for charging hubs with network development needs.

Lessons learned from national studies should thus be compiled at the EU level, states the survey, and findings should be disseminated among involved stakeholders as well as among different member states.

This would also minimise the risk of supply gaps in border regions and for transit routes.

• Coordination of Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) and distribution network planning

The report states how, at EU and national levels, planning of motorway infrastructure and distribution networks, so far, is not coordinated. This also applies to EU funding, although there is potential for improvement.

According to T&E’s report, ambitious policy targets correctly reflect the expected growth in demand for charging infrastructure.

However, political targets should be in line with actual charging needs. This helps DSOs and other stakeholders plan strategically and communicate their needs and challenges to policymakers.

The Federation adds how, although there will be charging hubs which are crucial for geographic coverage, they will not be economically viable due to low customer intensity and thus low utilisation.

These require special attention in planning but even more in implementation and suitable policy instruments, such as subsidies and service obligations, which will need to be applied.

State agencies will begin immediate inspections of energy storage sites, and the working group is intended to help prevent fires and ensure emergency responders have the necessary training and information to prepare and deploy resources in the event of a fire.

“Following multiple fire safety incidents across New York, I’ve directed State agencies to immediately form the Inter-Agency Fire Safety Working Group to mobilize the personnel and resources necessary to keep New Yorkers safe,” Governor Hochul said. “The Working Group will collaborate with first responders and local leaders to identify best practices, address potential risks to public safety, and ensure energy storage sites across New York are safe and effective.”

Three notable fires occurred at New York energy facilities this summer. A fire at an energy storage system in Warwick burned for multiple days in June, a battery fire at a solar farm in Jefferson County raised concerns of possible air contamination in July, and an energy storage system at an East Hampton substation caught fire in July.

In 2019, New York state committed to adding 3,000MW of Energy Storage by 2030, among other energy and climate goals, as part of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.

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The New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services’ Office of Fire Prevention and Control (OFPC) staff and the Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) Emergency Response Unit responded to the Jefferson County incident and supported emergency response partners with performing precautionary air monitoring tests in the surrounding area of the fire.

While fires at energy storage facilities are exceedingly rare, Hochul has directed the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services Office of Fire Prevention and Control, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Department of Public Service, and the Department of State to lead the working group to independently examine energy storage facility fires and safety standards. The group will leverage experts and national laboratories in energy storage root cause and emergency response analyses to independently assess and identify common causes, air monitoring results or other community impacts, and other factors involved with energy storage fires.

The working group will investigate the recent energy storage fires in New York and will conduct a fire safety review, including emergency response analysis, of energy storage projects that experienced thermal runaway events across New York. Findings will include a list of recommendations for stationary energy storage equipment and installations. The working group would review energy storage system operations and operators as they examine the condition of their batteries to verify operation within design parameters; remedy any deficiencies identified; verify operation of on-site fire suppression; and confirm fire suppression plans with local fire departments, among other best practices.

The findings and resulting recommendations will also be shared with the New York City Fire Department, National Fire Protection Association, International Code Council, the New York State Fire Prevention and Building Code Council, and Underwriters Laboratories, establishing New York as a national and international leader in fire safety and stationary energy storage systems.

Originally published on Power Grid.

The lawsuit alleges that Hawaiian Electric failed to properly maintain its system and failed to shut off the power despite a red flag warning issued by the National Weather Service. Additional reports claim bare wire and leaning poles were to blame for the fire.

In a statement, CEO of Hawaiian Electric, Shelee Kimura acknowledged that there are “important lessons to be learned” from the tragic event, and urged the public to embrace the Hawaiian spirit of “collective strength and unity of our community.”

The utility believes its equipment was not at fault for starting the fire and laid out the timeline below:

1. A fire at 6:30 a.m. (the Morning Fire) appears to have been caused by power lines that fell in high winds.
   
2. The Maui County Fire Department responded to this fire, reported it was “100% contained,” left the scene and later declared it had been “extinguished.”
   
3. At about 3 p.m., a time when all of Hawaiian Electric’s power lines in West Maui had been de-energized for more than six hours, a second fire (the Afternoon Fire) began in the same area.
   
4. The cause of the devastating Afternoon Fire has not been determined.

“We were surprised and disappointed that the County of Maui rushed to court even before completing its own investigation,” Kimura said. “We believe the complaint is factually and legally irresponsible. It is inconsistent with the path that we believe we should pursue as a resilient community committed and accountable to each other as well as to Hawaiʻi’s future.”

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Utility says Maui is at fault for the fires

Kimura said the utility is “ready to work” with the communities impacted by the fires but cautioned that “the county’s lawsuit may leave us no choice in the legal system but to show its responsibility for what happened that day.”

Outlined below are additional details offered in the statement from Hawaiian Electric:

The records conclusively establish that Hawaiian Electric power lines to Lahaina were not energised when the Afternoon Fire broke out shortly before 3pm on August 8, in a field near Lahaina Intermediate School. Power had been out for more than six hours by that time. There was no electricity flowing through the wires in the area or anywhere else on the West Maui coast. Hawaiian Electric has informed ATF investigators of the availability of records that demonstrate these facts.

The small Morning Fire, seen in videos taken by local residents, began more than eight hours earlier. Those videos show that power lines had fallen to the ground in high winds near the intersection of Lahainaluna Road and Hoʻokahua Street at approximately 6.30am. A small fire that can be seen by the downed lines spread into the field across the street from the Intermediate School.

The Maui County Fire Department responded promptly to the Morning Fire. According to the Department’s public statement that morning, by 9am the Morning Fire was “100% contained.” The Maui County fire chief subsequently reported that the Fire Department had determined that the Morning Fire was “extinguished,” and the Fire Department left the scene by 2pm.

Once the fire was out, Hawaiian Electric emergency crews arrived at Lahainaluna Road in the afternoon of August 8 to make repairs; they saw no fire or smoke or embers. All lines to Lahaina remained de-energised and all power in the area remained off.

Shortly before 3pm, while the power remained off, crew members saw a small fire about 75 yards away from Lahainaluna Road in the field near the Intermediate School. They immediately called 911 and reported that fire.

By the time the Maui County Fire Department arrived back on the scene, it was not able to contain the Afternoon Fire and it spread out of control toward Lahaina.

“The county’s lawsuit distracts from the important work that needs to be done for the people of Lahaina and Maui,” said Scott Seu, president and CEO of HEI. “Since the devastating fire in Lahaina, Hawaiian Electric’s focus has been supporting all of those who have been impacted and helping Maui recover. HEI stands with Hawaiian Electric and the community in rebuilding Lahaina and empowering a thriving future for Maui and the other islands we serve.”

Originally published on Power Grid.

The forecast demand is a new challenge surfacing for the US, which now needs to face exponentially increasing demand for critical minerals.

This is according to the New York-based financial information and analytics company’s study, Inflation Reduction Act: Impact on North America metals and minerals report, which finds that the historic policy is accelerating demand for critical minerals and copper that are vital to energy transition technologies.

They add that ensuring enough qualifying supply to meet that demand faces ‘considerable challenges’.

Accelerated demand

Namely, US energy transition demand from clean tech such as EVs, charging infrastructure, solar PV, wind and batteries, will continue to accelerate and be materially higher for lithium (+15%), cobalt (+14%) and nickel (+13%) by 2035 than was projected before the IRA was enacted in August 2022.

According to the study, demand for copper will be 12% higher by 2035 than pre-IRA projections. Copper is not currently listed as a critical mineral in the United States and does not qualify for IRA tax credits. However, its role as the “metal of electrification” makes it vital to the energy transition and demand for it will rise as it is used alongside critical minerals in energy transition applications.

Adding the post-IRA demand increases on top of demand growth that was already expected prior to the IRA becoming law means that total combined energy transition-related demand for lithium, nickel and cobalt will be 23 times higher in 2035 than it was in 2021. Total demand for copper will be twice as high, the study finds.

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While post-IRA demand is expected to be materially higher, securing enough supply under the law’s sourcing requirements faces considerable challenges, the study says. To qualify for IRA tax credits, processing and/or extraction of critical minerals used must be in the US and/ or in a country with which the US has a free trade agreement (FTA); and that sourcing cannot involve a “foreign entity of concern.”

Commenting on the study was Daniel Yergin, S&P Global’s vice chairman: “This new comprehensive analysis shows that the Inflation Reduction Act is indeed transformative on the demand side.

“However, challenges remain in securing supply of critical minerals needed to meet growing demand and achieve its goal of accelerating the energy transition.”

Material breakdown

Of the four materials analysed in the study, only lithium is likely to be sufficiently supplied to the United States under the IRA’s domestic content requirements, given already-planned capacity additions in the United States and other FTA countries such as Chile, Canada and Australia, the study finds.

Cobalt and nickel were both found to be unlikely to be sourced at levels high enough to meet demand.

While there is enough cobalt produced in FTA countries to meet the IRA domestic sourcing requirement, the United States does not currently source most of its cobalt from those countries. Doing so would require a challenging reorientation of trading patterns across several countries given intense international competition for resources, the study says.

Nickel was found to be the most challenged in terms of supply. There does not appear to be enough nickel supply in FTA countries to meet demand under the IRA requirements—even if all primary nickel production in FTA countries was exported to the US.

While copper is not subject to sourcing requirements under the IRA, ensuring access to enough supply to meet US demand post-IRA is also at risk, the study says. The United States will become more reliant on imports as growing demand for energy transition-related end markets outpace domestic supply.

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For example, the United States relies on one country, Chile, for 60% of refined copper imports. However, for Chile the United States accounts for only 20% of its refined copper exports. The United States could struggle to secure additional supplies from Chile if other markets that represent a larger share of Chilean exports also compete for that supply.

The increasing reliance of the United States on imports as energy transition demand grows places new emphasis and urgency on challenges such as long lead times and permitting complexities that prolong development of domestic resources, the study says. S&P Global data on 127 mines across the world that began production between 2002 and 2023 shows that a major new resource discovery today would not become a productive mine until 2040 or later.

Copper represents a particular opportunity in the United States, which country possesses more than 70 million tons of an untapped copper endowment, equivalent to more than 20 years of US copper demand, even at the level of peak energy transition-related demand in 2035, the study says.

“Timely and transparent permitting is a fundamental operational challenge to supplying metals for the energy transition, particularly in developed markets such as the United States that have high levels of transparency and both political and civil society scrutiny of policy,” said Mohsen Bonakdarpour, executive director at S&P Global Market Intelligence.

“Expediting permitting reform while meeting environmental and community concerns has become a central topic in boosting mineral supply for the energy transition.”

This is according to the IEA’s Facilitating Decarbonisation in Emerging Economies Through Smart Charging report, which looks at how decarbonisation can be facilitated through smart charging.

According to the report, although there are several requirements for smart charging to take place, the power sector has a unique role that can’t be overlooked, namely in establishing the foundations of how EVs can be used as a resource.

The potential of smart charging on the power system lies largely in its potency as a flexible asset, states the report, enabling widespread renewable penetration and consumption management.

EV proliferation

According to the report, while most of the uptake of EVs is found in the US, Europe and China, EVs are also starting to penetrate markets in emerging economies.

Electric two- and three-wheelers are more common in Asia, with sales of electric three-wheelers constituting 46% of total three-wheeler sales in the fiscal year of 2022. Meanwhile, electric buses are gaining ground in Latin America, where most have reached cost parity with diesel buses.

These trends are likely to continue as these economies set more adoption targets for the end of the decade.

However, to accommodate the increasing uptake, the necessary charging infrastructure will be needed to coordinate the increasing electric load coming onto the grid.

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While the energy required by EVs is low compared with typical daily electricity consumption, the IEA states how ensuring enough grid capacity will be the more important parameter given the high-power requirements that the charging process can take.

Charging of two- and three-wheelers may not lead to significant increases in peak load until a high level of penetration, whereas charging of buses will raise peak load and often require dedicated transformers.

The role of smart charging

This, states the IEA, is where smart charging needs to be more widely adopted, as it provides an avenue of integrating the EV into the power system where the charging process can be adjusted to be in line with power system objectives.

Said objectives could be voltage regulation and reduction of local peak in the distribution grid, or frequency regulation and energy arbitrage in the bulk energy system.

Smart charging of EV fleets can provide a good source of power system flexibility, increasing the uptake of renewables while maintaining power system stability.

However, for smart charging to be coordinated optimally and support the system, it needs to be able to adjust in response to system signals.

States the report: “The faster the EVs can react, the more services it can provide. Such high levels of coordination can happen only through digitalisation.

“With the help of telecommunications and connectivity, smart charging service providers can exist to help serve as intermediaries to balance the needs of the EV users, charge point operators and power systems.”

Power system measures missing

According to the report, the main signals which can serve as rewards or sources of value for EV users and smart charging service providers are:

• Differentiated tariffs: Tariffs which vary rates based on time of day to incentivise the behaviour of EV users about when to charge their cars

• Procurement of local flexibility: Distribution grid operators enter into contracts with aggregators or charging service providers to manipulate the charging process to achieve local needs.

• Wholesale energy market access: Whereby vehicles can participate in changing the supply-demand curve to lower peak generation and increase renewables consumption.

• Ancillary services market access: Allowing aggregated EVs to respond to system services such as frequency response.

In advanced economies such as California, South Korea, the Netherlands and the UK, each of these power system measures is widespread or in progress, with the exception of procurement of local flexibility in South Korea.

However, for the studied emerging economies, including Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Indonesia, Maharashtra, Morocco, South Africa, Tamil Nadu, Thailand, Tunisia, Uttar Pradesh and Vietnam, the opposite is true.

Differentiated tariffs were found to be the most common measure, although not absent in Colombia and Morocco.

The only other measure found was that of ancillary services in South Africa and in progress in Chile.

Moving forward

According to the IEA’s findings, depending on the degree of EV integration desired by the economy in question, different technological and regulatory frameworks will need to be deployed for the sector to facilitate a fair and efficient smart charging process.

Specifically, they state, the following recommendations are made to establish a smart charging ecosystem:

• Establish a framework for demand response in the power system, which could be implicit via tariff variation or explicit through direct bidding of demand in wholesale and balancing markets.
  
• Ensure standardisation and interoperability; said standards could be set by tying them to charging infrastructure incentives, as a de facto standard based on public tenders, or legislated directly as a regulation
  
• Establish minimum requirements for smart communication and control, thereby ensure future EV uptake will instill the ability to participate in smart charging
  
• Ensure matching with clean electricity, whereby signals to charge could come either from the electricity market through wholesale prices, or from end-consumer electricity prices that reflect the best time to consume clean electricity
  
• Reform the role of distribution operators from passive owners and providers of network capacity into active managers of an interconnected system that can help activate EVs’ full potential

With the major growth of new energy systems expected in the years ahead in the form of renewable generation, particularly solar and wind, along with the supporting transmission and distribution infrastructure, environmental and sustainability considerations are becoming increasingly important for today’s utilities.

With this in mind, Iberdrola has launched the new Carbon2Nature (C2N) company to harness the potential of carbon credit markets to drive the development of projects that will generate the credits and that then would be made available to customers to support their decarbonisation.

Iberdrola’s stated aim is to capture and store more than 61Mt of CO2 in natural sinks such as forests, coastal ecosystems and agricultural soils through the promotion of conservation and restoration projects in these.

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The focus is on regions where Iberdrola is present and where such solutions have significant potential, with over three-quarters of the projects likely in Latin American countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Chile and the remainder in countries in the northern hemisphere, including Spain, the United Kingdom and Portugal.

C2N is already working on the development of projects in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Chile and Spain, the company reports.

“To face the global challenge of climate change, the firm was created with the ambition to make a long-term impact at an international level,” says Miguel Ángel García Tamargo, director of Carbon2Nature, who previously held various roles with Iberdrola clean energy subsidiary Avangrid.

“In order to achieve this, it is committed to diversification in geographies and projects and promotes collaborative strategies for their development with local communities and other actors, guaranteeing the highest levels of quality.”

RGI, IUCN energy solutions partnership

Another new initiative in this area is a partnership between the Renewables Grid Initiative – an EU-funded TSO, NGO collaboration – and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) with a five-year agreement on the development of sustainable renewable energy and electricity grids.

A key project currently being developed is the ‘Global Initiative for Nature, Renewables & Grids’, with the intent to support key stakeholders to incorporate nature-positive approaches in renewable energy generation and transmission.

If successful, the project should lead to a monitoring and reporting system, showcasing solutions and progress globally.

Antonella Battaglini, CEO of the Renewable Grid Initiative, comments: “It is possible to address climate, energy and biodiversity security in parallel when well planned, energy infrastructure can contribute to create nature protection and restoration opportunities.”

ESB Networks started its deployment of smart meters in the autumn of 2019 and is working through the country on a phased area-by-area basis.

Currently, installations are taking place in County Longford in the central north of Ireland.

Ireland’s Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU) made the decision to implement smart metering for all residential and small business customers in July 2012, following customer behaviour and technology trials and a positive cost-benefit analysis.

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Under the National Smart Metering Programme, which is being delivered by ESB Networks in partnership with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland and electricity suppliers, the rollout must be completed for the approximately 2.4 million customers by the end of 2024.

With the smart meters, suppliers are required to offer all users a time-of-use tariff and to make available new services.

ESB Networks also has launched a portal for smart meter users to view their consumption.

At the time of the one million smart meter milestone in October 2022, ESB Networks reported to be installing the new meters at a rate of about 10,000 per week and on track to meet the 2024 timeline.

To date, the programme has focussed on the replacement of standard 24-hour meters to smart meters.

However, the plan is to start from September 2023 also replacing other meter types, including day-night meters, standard 3 phase 24-hour meters with large users including industrial and commercial customers and night storage heating meters.

ESB Networks is installing meters from Kamstrup and Sagemcom.

The trial is to deliver 100% hydrogen gas through a 30km decommissioned pipeline between the eastern Scotland coastal town of Grangemouth and the district of Granton on the outskirts of Edinburgh.

SGN has reported that over the past year, a team of engineers and researchers has carried out surveys and assessments to determine the integrity of the pipeline.

These tests included an operation which involved pushing a pipeline inspection gauge (PIG) through the pipeline using compressed air to clean it and identify any critical defects.

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A hydrotest was also conducted, for which engineers filled the entire pipeline with water exceeding the pressure the pipeline will be exposed to during the live trial.

Inspections of the condition of the pipeline also were performed above ground, below ground and at river crossings.

Based on this evidence, Ofgem has confirmed the suitability of the pipeline for hydrogen testing and for the project to progress to the next stage, which will be to connect the existing pipeline to a hydrogen supply from project partner INEOS from its Grangemouth facility.

Gemma Simpson, SGN Director of LTS Futures, says that offsite trials will allow testing of procedures for making new connections to the pipeline, including the first live welding procedure on a hydrogen pipeline.

“If we’re successful we’ll be able to proceed to a live trial in 2024 which will deliver a blueprint for repurposing Great Britain’s local transmission system network, driving decarbonisation and supporting our net zero goals.”

SGN’s £30 million ($38 million) LTS Futures project is focused on testing and repurposing the decommissioned pipeline as the basis for the wider use of hydrogen within the 11,000 km local gas transmission system (LTS).

Among other activities related to hydrogen, SGN is leading the H100 Fife neighbourhood project to trial the use of hydrogen in around 300 homes and is co-leading a study on the potential use of hydrogen for heating in multi-occupancy residences, which account for about one-fifth of the country’s domestic heating demand.

Currently the length of time taken to build new electricity transmission from identification of need to commissioning is 12 to 14 years but it could be reduced to seven years, Winser has found in a new study undertaken with the Energy Systems Catapult.

This would then bring the construction time in line with for example that of large wind farms and would expedite their integration to the system and reduce the risk of congestion.

The building of new infrastructure – and aspects such as permitting, which is often highlighted – are potential constraints to the meeting of the net zero targets.

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Few new transmission lines have been built in Britain over the past 30 years and investment has not matched that into renewables. For example, the ‘queue’ to connect to the grid is extremely congested, with more than 230GW of generation waiting, compared to approximately 80GW of generation currently connected.

Moreover, a dramatic increase will be required through to 2050.

Winser, the former CEO of National Grid who was appointed the first Electricity Networks Commissioner in July 2022, was tasked with reducing the transmission line build time by three years but has gone further than that, saying it “would remain too long”.

He finds that the current process is complex and involves many different parties.

While significant improvements have been introduced in recent years, the process still has many unfortunate attributes, he indicates. The process for identifying need for new transmission assets is not efficient, the regulatory process is not settled or operating at a system level and planning lacks political or engineering context.

Every part of the process must be, and can be, dramatically improved, says Winser, who provides 18 sets of recommendations, which must be adopted as a package, to meet the 7-year timeline from identifying the need to commissioning new transmission assets.

Proposed transmission development process

Broadly, the report outlines, in the first-year certainty of need will be established early in the process, allowing for appropriate resourcing of design and appointment of contractors in the second year.

The corridor routing stage has been optimised to six months through use of meaningful automation while maintaining assurance of outputs through the efficient involvement of technical experts.

The route design process will be streamlined through standardisation which also facilitates and supports engagement with communities.

By the end of the second year, the supply chain can be engaged, and manufacturing slots can be booked in advance, reducing pressure in the procurement process. With this, detailed designs can be finalised by the end of the third year.

Simultaneously, a streamlined pre-application process can occur informed by surveys available through simplified land access and data sharing mechanisms.

By mid-way through the fifth year approvals and land purchases should have been achieved, allowing for an earlier build start and delivery within seven years.

“Delivering 50GW of new wind power and 24GW of new nuclear will be a major step towards decarbonising our economy and providing customers with clean, secure, affordable electricity, but that magnificent achievement will be wasted if we cannot get the power to homes and businesses,” Winser says in a statement.

“The challenge to me to reduce the timescale for building strategic transmission by three years, and ultimately by a half is the right one. I am confident that this is achievable as long we streamline the process as proposed in the report; and take a transparent, respectful and efficient approach when engaging with people and communities about the impact.”

A key aspect on which the report states further work is needed is to define “with crystal clarity” the roles and responsibilities of the various parties under the proposals, in particular, the government, the regulator Ofgem, the Future System Operator – which should be established quickly – and the transmission owners.

The future system operator is intended to bring together the planning for the electricity and gas systems, and potentially systems for new technologies like hydrogen and carbon capture and storage, into a single institution.

The three transmission operators are National Grid Electricity Transmission, Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission Ltd and SP Energy Networks, which connect with the fourteen distribution network operators across the regions.

These include over £300 million ($381 million) of investment over the next ten years and at least 300 engineering and other high-quality jobs in what the company states as a historically underfunded region.

Northern Gas Networks is currently in discussions with government about the go-ahead of the proposed hydrogen village, which would see around 2,000 homes in the Yorkshire coastal town of Redcar converted to run on hydrogen.

The trial, planned as the follow-on to the current H100 Fife 300 home neighbourhood trial, has been envisaged as the next step towards the potential wider use of hydrogen as a replacement for gas as a support for Britain to reach its net zero targets.

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However, there has been consumer opposition to it, leading to the government in July withdrawing the other contender, Whitby on the northwest coast, which had been proposed by Cadent and British Gas.

While there have been reports of similar consumer concerns in Redcar, clearly they are likely to be an important consideration in the go-ahead of the trial.

“Hydrogen has already been used across the world and in the UK for decades, and as a low carbon option that gives all of the familiarity and comfort of gas, it has a major role to play as part of the net zero solution,” comments Mark Horsley, Chief Executive of NGN.

“How it benefits the local community is a priority, and we are delighted by the investment and jobs it will bring to the resident of Redcar over the next few years.”

Participating homes would be supplied with new hydrogen appliances. In addition, they would be eligible for up to £2,000 in energy efficiency measures such as insulation.

Redcar was chosen by NGN due to plans by bp with its HyGreen Teesside project to produce green hydrogen locally.

The company further anticipates that the hydrogen can be pumped through the existing gas pipes, with limited disruption and additional cost.

The updates to the EIA’s National Energy Modelling System (NEMS) will involve both an advancement of the existing model and new data, while prioritising the requirements of current US laws and regulations.

Commenting on the updates was Sauleh Siddiqui, EIA chief energy modeller, who, referencing an AEO2023 appendix, which details the considered Inflation Reduction Act provisions, stated that the enhancements are being planned to develop a “next-generation, open-source modelling framework that will be nimble and flexible to new technology and policy advancements.

“We will be engaging the modeling community and providing updates as we move forward,” added Siddiqui.

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According to the EIA, a core aspect of their mission is to develop long-term projections of the US energy system that informs decision-makers. This requires keeping pace with rapidly evolving energy markets, policies and regulations, macroeconomic trends, technology innovation and resource availability.

As such, the NEMS update will revolve around garnering a better model to account for developments in hydrogen, carbon capture and other emerging technologies.

Announcing some of the updates on social media, Joe DeCarolis, EIA administrator, stated that the ongoing developments within the policy settings of the US have urged the remodelling to better account for newly proposed regulations, “some of which are still being finalised…we must forge ahead with critical NEMS enhancements to keep pace with the changing dynamics of the energy sector.”

The NEMS is used for the EIA’s Annual Energy Outlook, a yearly report using data from the modelling system. With the update, the outlook will be delayed to 2025. A Short Term Outlook will continue to be produced.

Stated the EIA: “By retooling NEMS in 2024, the next AEO (Annual Energy Outlook) in 2025 will more comprehensively address existing laws and regulations in the Reference case, including up-to-date provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act and regulatory actions that could be finalised in the coming months.”

With imposed and self-imposed deadlines drawing nearer, consumer concerns about the seriousness of climate change remain high with over half of consumers (56%) stating the climate change is serious or very serious.

“Our sustainability index highlights how much work there is to do help consumers understand clean energy goals and the plans in place to meet the goals,” said Andrew Heath, senior director of utilities intelligence at J.D. Power.

Why is this a problem?

The electric grid will require an increased level of customer participation as renewable energy adoption continues. Customers will need to charge electric vehicles at specific times and avoid using excess energy during times of high stress on the grid. This requires an educated consumer who understands how their own energy use impacts the grid and understands the reasons they are being asked to use energy differently. In short, customer buy-in about (or at least awareness of) utility sustainability targets, will help them understand the ‘why’ behind any requests to alter energy use in any way.

“Sustainability is now a strategic focus for electric utilities, and an increasingly critical focus for public policy makers at all levels. Utilities are not in an enviable position, to say the least,” added Heath.

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Communication and customer education is a winning strategy to foster greater customer engagement around sustainability.

“Clear communication about their clean energy goals and plans will build the customer support needed to deliver on these plans,” Heath said.

Following are some key findings of the 2023 index:

Low customer awareness for utility climate initiatives: Overall, just 19% of electric utility customers are aware that their utility has declared a goal to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions. The overall sustainability scores for electric utilities evaluated in the study—which are based on customer awareness, engagement and advocacy for their local utility’s climate initiatives—is 28 (on a 100-point scale), unchanged from 2022.

Few customers feel utilities will reach their goals: Just 26% of electric utility customers say they believe utilities will reach their goal of 100% clean energy. Moreover, the number of customers who say they believe a lot can be done to reduce climate change has declined steadily to 37.3% this year from 40.3% in 2020. More than half (52.7%) of customers say they believe climate change is serious or very serious.

Highest-scoring utilities: Sacramento Municipal Utility District has the highest score for a third consecutive year at 35. Other top performers include NextEra Energy (34), Portland General Electric (34), DTE Energy (32) and Southern Company (32).

Following is the full list of electric utility companies and cities that were evaluated, along with their index score:

“In the long run, an inability to deliver on stated carbon reduction targets will negatively affect credibility and will give regulators and politicians a foothold for increased intervention and closer oversight. Now is the time for utilities to capitalize on widespread customer concern about climate change to proactively share the steps they are taking,” said Heath.

The Sustainability Index evaluates electric utility customer awareness, support, engagement and advocacy for their local utility’s climate sustainability programs and goals. The index applies to the 35 largest U.S. electric utility companies and cities, each serving 500,000 or more residential customers. The study is based on responses from 70,486 business and residential electric utility customers and was fielded from June 2022 through May 2023.

Originally published on Power Grid.

The scheme, which was approved under the State aid Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework, seeks to accelerate investments in strategic sectors in Hungary, in line with the Green Deal Industrial Plan.

The measure will be open to companies producing relevant equipment, namely batteries, heat pumps, solar panels, wind turbines, electrolysers, equipment for carbon capture usage and storage, as well as key components designed and primarily used as direct input for the production of such equipment or related critical raw materials necessary for their production.

Under the measure, the aid will take the form of direct grants and tax advantages.

Aid under the scheme aims to incentivise the production of equipment needed for net zero and will be granted no later than 31 December 2025.

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Europe’s green industry

The State aid Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework will help speed up investment and financing for clean tech production and manufacturing in the continent and will assist Member States in delivering on specific projects under National Recovery and Resilience Plans.

Under the Framework, the following types of aid will be granted by Member States:

• Liquidity support through state guarantees and subsidised loans.
• Aid to compensate for high energy prices.
• Measures accelerating the rollout of renewable energy. Member States can set up schemes for investments in all renewable energy sources, including renewable hydrogen, biogas and biomethane, storage and renewable heat, including through heat pumps, with simplified tender procedures that can be quickly implemented.
• Measures facilitating the decarbonisation of industrial processes, including investments to phase out from fossil fuels, in particular through electrification, energy efficiency and the switch to the use of renewable and electricity-based hydrogen.
• Measures aimed at supporting electricity demand reduction.
• Measures to further accelerate investments in key sectors for the transition towards a net-zero economy, enabling investment support for the manufacturing of strategic equipment, namely batteries, solar panels, wind turbines, heat-pumps, electrolysers and carbon capture usage and storage as well as for production of key components and for production and recycling of related critical raw materials.

Sanctioned Russian-controlled entities will be excluded from the scope of these measures.

Smart Energy Finances: €3bn for German low-carbon tech 

The Green Deal Industrial Plan, announced earlier this year in March, is Europe’s response to increasing global competition in the energy sector and is hoped to enhance the competitiveness of Europe’s net-zero industry.

Also in March, the Commission adopted a new Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework to foster net zero support measures that are aligned with the Green Deal Industrial Plan.

This marks the second tranche of aid for clean tech manufacturing aligned with Europe‘s tabled Green Deal Industrial Plan.

A week before the announcement, a €3 billion ($3.9 billion) German scheme was announced by the Commission under the same category.

Also on the radar are announcements of a ‘resilient’ business model based on smart meter-generated revenue for Smart Metering Systems (SMS), growth financing for a smart meter data analysis provider and a €3 billion ($3.9 billion) scheme for cleantech companies in Germany.

AMI provider Ubiik acquires Mimomax Wireless

Taiwan-based Ubiik, an IoT and Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) provider, has acquired New Zealand-based Mimomax Wireless, a provider of communication solutions for narrowband channels.

The acquisition is being touted as an acceleration of Ubiik’s market expansion.

The new combined entity, which has not yet been named, aims to bring new wireless solutions to market, providing communications for utilities and critical infrastructure.

According to the Taiwanese provider, their current business is on track to exceed 1 million AMI device deployments by 2024, citing the “coverage limitations of existing public LTE networks that impede utilities’ AMI deployments” as the prime challenge they seek a solution towards, the company stated in a joint press release announcing the acquisition.

Since 2007, Mimomax Wireless established itself as a manufacturer of radios utilising Multiple Input, Multiple Output (MIMO) technology.

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The Kiwi company caters to utilities, stakeholders within the energy sectors and governments among others. Their communications solutions, states Mimomax, optimises data throughput and enables near-real-time visibility of critical assets.

Commenting on the announcement was Tienhaw Peng, founder and CEO of Ubiik, who stated how the acquisition “injects additional momentum into our collective growth. In tandem, we’re poised to boost the performance, security and cost-effectiveness of critical networks.”

Ubiik states how the merger will allow for an array of new solutions for mission and business-critical communications. For example, existing US utility customers who have deployed Mimomax products in the narrowband 700MHz Upper Block A can now leverage their spectrum acquisition by adding Ubiik’s goRAN NB-IoT Band 103 as a retrofit.

This opportunity, adds the AMI provider, offers the ability to connect smart meters and IoT devices for “a fraction of the cost of deploying new pLTE infrastructure”.

SMS’s ‘resilient’ smart metering business model

Glasgow-based smart meter and carbon reduction asset developer Smart Metering Systems (SMS) has, within its H1 2023 trading update and outlook report, reported 13.3% revenue growth.

Specifically, the Scottish clean tech company’s Index-linked Annualised Recurring Revenue (ILARR), a referral to revenue generated from meter rental and data contracts, grew from £97.1 million ($125.4 million) at the close of December 2022 to £110 million ($142 million) as of June 30, 2023.

The company’s CEO, Tim Mortlock, commented on the growth, citing the ‘resilience’ of their model:

“We have delivered another strong operational and financial performance during H1 2023, a testament to the resilient nature of our business model which is underpinned by our index-linked recurring revenues.

“Our existing pipeline of meter and grid-scale battery assets is expected to more than double the Group’s EBITDA in c.4 years compared to FY 2022, with significant additional growth opportunities in existing and developing CaRe assets.”

Within the first half of 2023, the company SMS installed 220,000 smart meters and has maintained market share of 14%.

According to the report, their engineering capacity delivered higher volumes of activity, largely driven by transactional callout services alongside a higher proportion of single fuel installations.

The Group also increased its engineering capacity and expects meter installation run-rate to accelerate as a result.

When it comes to financing, the Group claims its current pipeline of smart meters and grid-scale batteries can be fully funded from asset-backed, internally-generated cash flows and debt facilities.

The Group is also considering asset recycling to maintain a “prudent level of gearing in the medium term and to support future growth”, they state in the release.

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Expansion financing for a smart meter data analysis provider

CIBC Innovation Banking has increased its growth financing commitment to Bidgely, a provider of AI-powered energy intelligence solutions for energy providers worldwide.

The additional financing commitment of $18 million – 2020 saw Bidgely secure $8 million from the same company – will strengthen Bidgely’s ability to support critical utility initiatives, namely within the EV and grid modernisation markets.

Bidgely’s UtilityAI analyses smart meter data to provide appliance-level insights into daily energy consumption, giving utilities insights into energy usage patterns and anticipated grid loads.

Bidgely touts its platform’s ability to coordinate accurate grid planning and load forecasting, together with the ability to better manage the influx of EVs on the grid through optimised time of use, load shifting and managed charging.

“Utilities around the world rely on Bidgely’s artificial intelligence-powered energy solution to guide their clients to smart energy decisions,” said Amy Olah, managing director of CIBC Innovation Banking. “Our continued support speaks to Bidgely’s success and our commitment to back innovative software companies across North America throughout their growth journey.”

€3bn for German low-carbon tech – batteries, heat pumps and more

The European Commission has approved a €3 billion ($3.9bn) German scheme under the Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework to support private investments in low-carbon assets for the country’s transition to net zero.

The scheme, touted as in line with the tenets of the proposed Green Deal Industrial Plan, will take the form of direct grants, tax advantages, subsidised interest rates and guarantees on new loans for companies producing low-carbon technologies.

Said companies will include those with business in battery energy storage, heat pumps, electrolysers, wind turbines, solar panel, CCUS and key components needed to produce such tech or related critical raw materials necessary for their production.

The aid will be meted out by 31 December 2025.

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The proposals, which are made in the wake of the massive increase in prices sparked by the global energy crisis, are aimed to give consumers more choices of products and services with increased competition among suppliers.

While there has been some innovation in products and business models in the retail market, this has been limited and the uptake of new services has historically been low, according to the government in a new vision document.

Across the market, the vast majority of tariffs only differ by the price charged for using energy and the length of time that price is guaranteed, with the implication for consumers being a very limited set of choices in the market, with little opportunity for finding products or services suited to their individual needs.

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Furthermore, the relative prices of gas and electricity do not accurately reflect their respective carbon intensities, resulting in price signals that are insufficient to incentivise the degree of system-wide electrification required to reach net zero.

Consumers should have access to a far greater range of products and services, better tailored to their individual needs, the document continues. At the same time, retailers that can seize the opportunity to offer greater overall value to their customers should be well-placed to grow and secure sustainable levels of profit.

The document recognises the need to strike the right balance between competition and regulation, with the promise of the removal where possible of regulatory barriers to competition that are not in the interest of consumers.

It also states that a total overhaul of the regulatory framework is not appropriate but instead, a programme of targeted reforms is necessitated.

To this end, a ‘call for evidence’ has been issued in parallel, on aspects of the current retail market framework that act as barriers or enablers for innovation, or that might prevent the retail market from supporting system transformation, as well as on some wider considerations such as consumer protections and arrangements for handling supplier exits among others.

The document notes that by the mid-2020s there should be further expansion of the smart meter rollout, the implementation of market-wide half-hourly settlement, new technical standards for energy smart appliances and tariffs, as well as the continued growth in intermittent renewable generation and electrification of heat and transport.

It concludes: “Smarter technologies, tariffs, and services will empower consumers to take advantage of the new choices they face in the market and enable them to benefit from adjusting their energy usage to better align with the availability of low-carbon electricity. In a well-designed future market, there will be opportunities for all consumers to benefit from these changes, regardless of their level of engagement, energy needs, or income.”

Presenting the proposals, Amanda Solloway, Minister for Energy Consumers and Affordability, said it was about putting power back in the hands of consumers, “giving them greater options to cut their energy bills in a market fit for the future. Today, I’m calling on industry to work with us, and take up the opportunities of investing in low carbon technologies and providing a first-class customer service.”

The European Council’s newly adopted Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR) puts in place specific deployment targets that will have to be met in 2025 and 2030 across the transport sector.

Specifically, the regulation will see extensive recharging and refuelling stations for alternative fuels deployed across Europe to support the transport sector in reducing its carbon footprint.

“The new law is a milestone of our ‘Fit for 55’ policy providing for more public recharging capacity on the streets in cities and along the motorways across Europe. We are optimistic that in the near future, citizens will be able to charge their electric cars as easily as they do today in traditional petrol stations,” commented Raquel Sánchez Jiménez, Spanish minister of transport, mobility and urban agenda.

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Main deployment targets for 2025 and 2030

The regulation provides for the following specific deployment targets:

• From 2025 onwards, fast recharging stations of at least 150kW for cars and vans need to be installed every 60km along the EU’s TEN-T network
• Recharging stations for heavy-duty vehicles with a minimum output of 350kW need to be deployed every 60km along the TEN-T core network, and every 100 km on the larger TEN-T comprehensive network from 2025 onwards, with complete network coverage by 2030
• Hydrogen refuelling stations serving both cars and lorries must be deployed from 2030 onwards in all urban nodes and every 200km along the TEN-T core network
• Maritime ports welcoming a minimum number of large passenger vessels, or container vessels, must provide shore-side electricity for such vessels by 2030
• Airports must provide electricity to stationary aircraft at all gates by 2025, and at all remote stands by 2030
• Users of electric or hydrogen-fuelled vehicles must be able to pay easily at recharging or refuelling points with payment cards or contactless devices and without a need for a subscription and in full price transparency
• Operators of recharging or refuelling points must provide consumers full information through electronic means on the availability, waiting time or price at different stations

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The AFIR is part of the Fit for 55 package, which was presented by the Commission in July 2021. The package aims to enable the EU to reduce its net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels and to achieve climate neutrality in 2050.

The EU’s TEN-T policy aims to develop high-quality transport infrastructure across the EU, consisting of railways, inland waterways, short sea shipping routes and roads linking urban nodes, maritime and inland ports, airports and terminals.

The announcement of the AFIR coincided with the conclusion of negotiations surrounding the newly adopted Energy Efficiency Directive, which sets new binding targets for EU member states to reduce energy consumption.

The amended Energy Efficiency Directive will set energy-saving targets for both primary and final energy consumption in the EU.

With the directive, member states will have to collectively ensure a reduction in energy consumption of at least 11.7% at EU level by 2030.

A monitoring and enforcement mechanism will accompany this objective to make sure member states deliver on their national contributions to this binding EU target.

EU Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson welcomed the adoption: “Another milestone has been achieved today towards completing the Fit For 55 objectives. Our increased ambition and stronger measures on energy efficiency will accelerate the energy transition.”

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With the directive, EU countries will now be legally required to prioritise energy efficiency in policymaking, planning and major investments.

EU countries also agreed to almost double their annual energy savings obligation in the coming years.

Under the recast directive, EU countries will be required to achieve an average annual energy savings rate of 1.49% from 2024 to 2030, up from the current requirement of 0.8%, driving energy savings in critical sectors like buildings, industry and transport.

With the definition of energy poverty included in the legislation, EU countries are compelled to prioritise energy efficiency improvements for vulnerable customers, low-income households, and individuals in social housing, including within the scope of the energy savings obligation.

Public sector

The recast directive aims to strengthen the role played by the public sector in enhancing energy efficiency practices.

A significant advancement, states the European Commission, is the introduction of an annual energy consumption reduction target of 1.9% for the public sector as a whole. The annual 3% buildings renovation obligation is being extended to all levels of public administration.

Energy Performance Contracts will be prioritised in the implementation of energy efficiency projects in the public sector, whenever possible. Public bodies will continue to consider energy efficiency requirements when making decisions regarding the purchase of products, buildings and services.

Businesses operating in the EU will be able to benefit from assessments of their energy use practices, with energy management systems becoming a default requirement for large energy consumers exceeding 85TJ of annual energy consumption and will be subject to mandatory audits in the event of non-compliance.

Enterprises with an energy consumption above 10 TJ will have to perform an energy audit and prepare an action plan for the different recommendations.

Data

The agreement also introduces a reporting scheme of energy performance in large data centres, promoting transparency and optimisation of energy efficiency potential.

Given the importance of digitalisation and data centres, the directive introduces an obligation for the monitoring of the energy performance of data centres.

An EU-level database will collect and publish data, which is relevant for the energy performance and water footprint of data centres with significant energy consumption.

Heating, workforce and financing

The new legislation promotes local heating and cooling plans in larger municipalities.

Based on the revised definition of efficient district heating and cooling included in the legislation, minimum requirements will be gradually tightened in the coming years towards achieving a fully decarbonised district heating and cooling supply by 2050.

EU countries will also need to ensure that certification and qualification opportunities are available for energy efficiency-related professions.

The agreement supports energy efficiency financing provisions to facilitate investments, including from the private sector, which has a key role to play given the limited public resources available for the clean energy transition.

EU countries are tasked with promoting innovative financing schemes and green lending products, ensuring wider access through transparent investment. Enhanced reporting on energy efficiency investments will improve accountability and transparency.

The Council’s endorsement follows the one given by the European Parliament earlier this month and marks the final step in the legislative process that started in July 2021 as part of the ‘Fit for 55’ package.

As part of the Clean Energy for all Europeans package, the Energy Efficiency Directive underwent significant amendments in 2018, introducing updated energy efficiency targets of at least 32.5% by 2030, based on 2007 projections. Additionally, an extended energy savings obligation was implemented, specifying annual energy savings targets for EU countries during the 2021-2030 period.

The Commission’s proposal for a second revision (a recast) of the Energy Efficiency Directive was put on the table in July 2021 as part of the Fit for 55 package. This proposal included an energy efficiency target of 9% compared to the 2020 reference scenario, asserting the important role to be played by energy efficiency in Europe’s efforts to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions.

The energy transition is bringing profound changes across the sector and not least to the networks, with the need for their significant expansion for large-scale electrification and clean energy integration coupled with the universal adoption of digital smart grid technologies towards 2050.

With this in mind ISGAN, in partnership with IRENA and a group of experts from across the sector from 12 countries, has undertaken an evaluation of grid planning practices with the aim to cut through the complexities and uncertainties for policy makers and sector stakeholders.

“Overcoming these different complexities and uncertainties necessitates planning processes that are efficient, transparent, legitimate and guided by sound principles and effective steering mechanisms,” states ISGAN.

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Moreover, a key consideration was that the grid planning should align with and act as an enabler of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals of which the energy goal on access to clean and affordable energy is SDG 7.

Key recommendations of the policy brief for grid planning in uncertain times are as follows.

1. Cohesive scenarios, nationally and where possible regionally coordinated, should be developed that show the necessary electrification measures required to achieve net zero emissions.
2. Grid development plans should be ensured to enable deep decarbonisation in line with the developed scenarios, with political guidance likely to be necessary to balance conflicting goals between local and national levels as well as between economic, social and environmental considerations.
3. Cost-benefit analyses should be updated to properly capture the values of sufficient grid capacity and account for social, environmental and resilience metrics, based on a clear and transparent grid planning assessment framework.
4. Regulatory frameworks should be ensured to foster both conventional and smart grid solutions contributing to the clean energy transition. Tools such as regulatory sandboxes could be extensively used to support the deployment of innovative solutions.
5. Workforce strategies should be developed to recruit and train the skills to satisfy the short and long-term competence needs. These include policy and regulation, engineering, environmental impact assessment, behavioural sciences and urban and rural planning.
6. Stakeholder interactions between government, industry, research and other players including local communities should be promoted at all levels of the grid planning process.
7. Awareness and understanding of the role of the grid for meeting the SDGs should be increased, with clearer linkages of energy to supporting other goals such as poverty reduction and climate action.

The initiative was led by Helena Lindquist, director of the Swedish sustainability knowledge sharing company LightSwitch from ISGAN’s Communication working group, and Susanne Ackeby, an R&D engineer at the Swedish research institute RISE from ISGAN’s Power Transmission & Distribution Systems working group.

The current flexibility requirements in the EU correspond to 11% of the total electricity demand but the study indicates the need for growth to 24% in 2030 and 30% by 2050 in order to balance supply and demand with the increasing levels of variable renewable energies to meet the region’s ambitions.

In absolute terms the average requirements for the EU resulting from the modelling for 2030 are 0.79TWh/day, 4.93TWh/week and 14.39TWh/month respectively for the daily, weekly and monthly flexibility requirements.

For 2050, these numbers increase to respectively 2.52TWh/day, 14.6TWh/week and 41.68TWh/month. Summed across all timescales, this corresponds to 2,189TWh – approximately 30% of the estimated 7,300TWh 2050 demand and about 80% of the current (2020) demand of around 2,750TWh.

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The report states that the study has indicated evidence for significant correlations between the daily flexibility requirements and the share of solar PV production on the one hand and between the weekly and monthly flexibility requirements and the share of wind production on the other.

While electricity generated from solar PV plants typically follows a specific daily generation profile, wind production profiles more tend to follow the monthly seasonality. Efficiently integrating both sources of renewable energy sources in the power system thus requires an adequate evaluation of both short-term and long-term flexibility solutions.

Flexibility technologies

In terms of technologies offering flexibility solutions, the study finds that interconnections play a dominant role in addressing the flexibility needs in 2030 on all timescales but particularly on the longer-term timescales.

Storage solutions like batteries, electrolysers and pumped hydro also play a significant role, with the former almost exclusively targeting daily flexibility needs but the latter also targeting long-term flexibility needs.

Demand response from households and industry will also play a role in the flexibility mix and thermal units, of which production can be dispatched, also remain an important contributing factor.

This shows that to address the flexibility needs in the future a combination of technologies is required, including new storage solutions as well as more conventional assets.

Regarding storage specifically, the study suggests that compared to other technologies, it would only be able to recover a modest fraction of capital expenditure from market revenues gained on the spot market by 2030, and would thus exhibit a strong reliance on income streams from other market segments or further sorts of economic incentives.

Looking towards 2030, a relatively limited increase of storage capacity is projected, with additional capacity requested mainly when member states experience congested interconnector capacity over considerable periods of time.

If this interconnector capacity were lower than the current targets, lithium-ion batteries would be a key source of flexibility by balancing short-term system deviations. Further interconnection constraints would increase the importance of longer-duration batteries.

The study, from the Manufacturers Association (MAKE UK) and software company Sage, found that almost two-thirds of the companies that had adopted digital technologies were making energy savings.

Half of them reported savings of between £10,000 and £100,000 ($12,850 – $128,500) in the past 12 months, while most of the rest reported savings below £10,000 that were nevertheless still significant to their balance sheet.

Moreover, the companies reported other benefits beyond energy savings, including labour and non-labour elements such as water savings and less material wastage.

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“Britain’s manufacturers have long been at the forefront of digital innovation globally and they have taken significant steps to cut carbon emissions and move towards net zero,” comments Stephen Phipson, CEO of MAKE UK, calling on the government to help to drive the process forward.

“Government needs to help them move forward faster by committing to a national rollout of the industrial digitalisation programme Made Smarter across the UK and expand its remit to include industrial decarbonisation.”

Made Smarter was formed as a public-private platform to connect manufacturers to digital tools and skills to advance their business operations.

While the traditional wisdom is that electrification is the key to decarbonising industry and manufacturing, the study shows that digitalisation is also a significant contributor.

Almost half of companies surveyed said that digitalisation has been their firm’s top driver of productivity improvements, with production processes streamlined and tightened up.

Multiple digital technologies are being deployed. In particular, manufacturers are using new data analytics tools, new data capturing tools and supply chain management tools to decarbonise.

Data analysis has also proved popular with manufacturers to help them drive energy efficiency and decarbonise their businesses with over a third of companies surveyed highlighting this as being helpful to their business.

The survey found that almost half of the manufacturers have implemented or are planning to implement plans to increase their energy efficiency, with just 16% having no plans.

Nevertheless, barriers to digitalisation remain, the survey found. These include the upfront investment costs and skills shortages.

Among the other recommendations is the introduction of a ‘Help to grow green’ scheme, with existing funds reshaped to become more accessible and including smaller funding levels, for example for energy audits and submetering.

At Bertikow, wind turbines and other renewable generation systems with a total capacity of over 500MW are connected to the nearby 50Hertz substation. Through the project and in the future, they will provide the reactive power necessary for voltage stability, and thus overall grid stability, even when little wind feed-in is available.

Reactive power, states 50Hertz, ensures the smooth transmission of electricity over long distances. It can be used to compensate for voltage losses during transmission so that as much active power as possible reaches the consumer and the grid functions safely and reliably.

Until now, reactive power has mainly been provided by conventional power plants while in operation. Under current regulations, renewable energy plants do not have to deliver reactive power in periods when they provide less than 10% of their active power.

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50Hertz highlights how this presents a challenge for power grid operators as they have to compensate for the necessary reactive power with other technical systems in order to maintain voltage stability at these times.

However, modern wind turbines are also technically capable of providing reactive power, even when there is little or no wind.

In the pilot project, ENERTRAG and 50Hertz want to test how reactive power activation works technically in practice and can be contractually designed, including with a view to a future reactive power market.

“Innovative solutions for reliable power grid operation are absolutely vital for the energy transition,” said Dr Dirk Biermann, chief markets & system operations officer at 50Hertz. “At 50Hertz we’re testing a range of options.

“The permanent provision of reactive power by renewable energy plants is new technological and regulatory territory. Grid operators at the distribution system level, where the majority of renewable energy systems are directly connected, will therefore also benefit from the insights we’re acquiring here.”

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“In the context of the energy transition, renewable energy systems will have to fully provide the system service that is currently still supplied to the grid by conventional power plants,” added Thorsten Leske, head of electrical grids at ENERTRAG.

“In the pilot project, different renewable energy systems will supply reactive power to stabilise the transmission grid, even when there’s no wind. At the same time, this is an example of subordinate distribution grids in which the technical possibilities of renewable energy systems haven’t yet been fully exploited. The next step should be to establish a market model for the provision of reactive power.”

This number is higher than anticipated and is equivalent to taking a million cars off the road or avoiding the burning of 500,000 tonnes of coal, according to the DCC.

The research draws on the recent smart meter impact study for the government, which found that the energy savings were higher than expected, at 3.4% for electricity and almost 3% for gas.

Adopting these figures and applying them across the 16.5 million properties on the DCC’s network, the organisation further estimates that when applied to the current energy price cap, homes and small businesses have the potential to save £770 million (US$993 million) annually collectively.

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“We are delighted to have reached this milestone, which shows the power of collective action on climate change. Small changes in homes across the nation are adding up to power station sized savings,” says DCC Chief Operating Officer, Penny Brown.

“The DCC network is transferring the vital data needed to make the most of renewables on our energy grid. At the DCC our purpose is to make Britain more connected so we can all live smarter, greener lives.”

Rollout update

The DCC’s latest data indicates that there are 16.04 million SMETS2 meters and almost 11.5 million SMETS1 meters totalling almost 27.5 million smart meters and covering more than half of homes connected to the DCC network, with the daily connection rate averaging around 15,000.

The government Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s latest statistics to the end of March 2023 record a total of 32.4 million smart and advanced meters – 57% of all meters – with 29.4 million operating in smart mode in Britain.

The latest data from Electralink indicates that after a slowing in new smart meter installations early in 2023 the number has increased subsequently and the latest for the month of June of 209,000 installations is now above the 2022 monthly average of 197,000.

Nevertheless, for the first half of 2023, the 1.153 million installations is still down on the 1.181 million in the first half of 2022.

Despite the increase, suppliers are facing challenges in meeting the rollout targets, set to achieve full rollout by the end of 2025, a major one being a skills shortage.

The smart meters transmit energy readings every 30 minutes to the DCC’s network and this data is automatically shared with energy suppliers and grid operators, to provide them with a near real-time understanding of energy usage and enable them to utilise it to incentivise demand flexibility.

Among the consumer-related amendments proposed with the current price volatility in mind, consumers should have the right to fixed price contracts and dynamic price contracts, as well as more key information on the options they sign up to and a banning of suppliers from being able to unilaterally change the terms of a contract.

It also was advocated that EU countries should prohibit suppliers from cutting the electricity supply of vulnerable customers, including during disputes between suppliers and customers, and prevent them from requiring these customers to use prepayment systems.

The Committee also backed wider use of ‘Contracts for Difference’ (CfDs) to encourage energy investments and suggested leaving the door open for equivalent support schemes after approval by the Commission.

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The importance of power purchase agreements (PPAs) was also highlighted in providing consumers with stable prices and renewable energy providers with reliable revenues.

The European Commission is tasked with setting up a marketplace for PPAs by the end of 2024.

Commenting on these outcomes, rapporteur Spanish MEP Nicolás González Casares said that with the agreement, “the parliament is putting citizens at the centre of the design of the electricity market, promoting the right to share energy, reducing price spikes and promoting affordable prices for citizens and companies”.

“We turned CfDs into the reference system for encouraging the electricity sector to transition towards a renewable-based zero emission system. A system that will improve make companies more competitive through clean electricity at competitive and stable prices.”

System flexibility

The other key focus of the Committee was system flexibility, with it advocating in favour of ‘non-fossil flexibility’ and flexibility on the demand side, for instance via the use of home battery systems to help balance the grid and to empower consumers to adapt their consumption to prices and needs.

These provisions have been welcomed by the European Association for Storage of Energy (EASE), which said in a statement they would give investors confidence in energy storage technologies to provide the flexibility needed to integrate further renewable energy.

Member states would now have the powers to set up non-fossil flexibility support schemes, which provide energy storage a solid business case.

Additionally, EU countries must now assess the flexibility needed in the electricity system to deploy further sources of renewable energy in line 2030 climate goals, and set a national objective for energy storage.

The Commission is expected to introduce a strategy for energy storage from 2025, to ensure a harmonised approach across the EU.

The reform package will now go to the Commission and Council.

The annual update of the IEA’s Tracking Clean Energy Progress online resource shows notable gains in the past year. Electric car sales reached a record high of more than 10 million in 2022, a nearly tenfold increase in just five years. Renewable electricity capacity additions rose to 340 GW, their largest ever deployment. As a result, renewables now account for 30% of global electricity generation. Investment in clean energy reached a record $1.6 trillion in 2022, an increase of almost 15% from 2021.

The transition to clean energy is occurring at different speeds across regions and sectors, however. For example, nearly 95% of global electric car sales in 2022 took place in China, the United States, and Europe.

Clean energy deployment is also occurring faster in some parts of the energy system – such as electricity generation and passenger cars – where costs have fallen and technologies are already relatively mature. Meanwhile, innovation is still needed to bring to market clean technologies for parts of the energy system where emissions are harder to tackle, such as heavy industry and long-distance transport. Positive steps on innovation have been made in the past few years, but further acceleration is needed to soon bring to market more low-emissions technologies for these areas, IEA says.

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The 2023 update of Tracking Clean Energy Progress tracks progress towards aligning the global energy system with a path to reaching net zero emissions by 2050. It does this by assessing over 50 different components, from sectors to technologies to infrastructure. The IEA also released the redesigned Clean Energy Technology Guide, an interactive digital database that allows users to visualize the readiness and geographical distribution of more than 500 different innovative technologies or components across the global energy system, along with the accompanying Clean Energy Demonstration Projects Database.

Although many sectors are not yet fully on track for international climate goals, the new analysis identifies crucial advances over the past year. For the first time ever, announced manufacturing capacity for electric vehicle batteries has reached levels sufficient to fulfill expected demand requirements in 2030 in the IEA’s scenario for achieving net zero emissions by 2050. This is backed by the momentum from industrial strategies such as the Inflation Reduction Act in the United States and the European Union’s Green Deal Industrial Plan.

Solar PV has been upgraded to “on track”, as its progress now aligns with milestones consistent with net zero ambitions. Solar PV generated a record of nearly 1,300 TWh in 2022, up 26% from 2021 and logging the largest absolute generation growth of all renewable technologies in 2022. The number of manufacturing projects in the pipeline for solar PV also saw massive growth in the context of widespread government support, especially in China, the United States, and India. If all announced projects are realized, global manufacturing capacity for solar PV will more than double in the next five years, outpacing 2030 demand in the IEA’s Net Zero by 2050 Scenario.

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Notable progress was made in the buildings sector – which has been upgraded from “not on track” to “more efforts needed” in the Tracking Clean Energy Progress three-tier rating system. Governments are increasingly introducing stringent building energy codes and performance standards, and the use of efficient and renewable technologies for buildings such as heat pumps and low-emissions cooling equipment is accelerating. Energy efficiency policies were also strengthened globally in the past year, such as in India, which enacted new policies for appliances, vehicles, industrial facilities, and commercial buildings.

Policy is advancing in many regions. Earlier this year, for example, Indonesia became the first country in Southeast Asia to establish a legal and regulatory framework for carbon capture, utilization and storage, and Namibia released a hydrogen strategy in late 2022.

Several technologies have seen breakthroughs in innovation since the last updates to the IEA’s Tracking Clean Energy Progress and Clean Energy Technology Guide. The world’s largest battery manufacturer announced it would begin production of sodium-ion electric vehicles batteries, an alternative battery chemistry that can help reduce reliance on in-demand critical minerals. Two large-scale demonstrations of solid oxide electrolyzers, a technology to produce low-emission hydrogen, started operating earlier this year. There have been positive steps in innovative clean technologies for aluminum refining and cement-making – both industries in which emissions are difficult to tackle. Furthermore, in early 2023, the first shipment of liquid carbon dioxide was taken from Belgium to be geologically stored off the coast of Denmark beneath the North Sea.

While progress can be observed across all of the 50-plus components of the energy system evaluated in Tracking Clean Energy Progress, the majority are not yet on a path consistent with net zero emissions by 2050.

Originally published by Sean Wolfe on Renewable Energy World.