The aim of the app is to enable users to optimise how and when energy is used around their homes, integrating smart devices, such as electric vehicle charge points and solar panels, regardless of their brand.

“There’s a lot of clever technology out there that helps people manage the energy in their homes but, incredibly, there’s nothing in the UK that works with different brands and devices, meaning people can’t currently control all the energy devices across their home in one place,” said Swarm Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer Anthony Piggott.

“We knew we could create something to change this and with [Opencast’s] tech expertise and our knowledge of the energy sector, we have the ability to make something really exciting: one app to control every aspect of energy in the home.”

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Demonstration and testing of the new app are set to take place in a purpose-built energy hub at the Hoults Yard business village in Newcastle, where the two companies are based, with the first iteration planned for launch in autumn 2023.

Growing UK consumer interest in green innovations

The availability of such apps as Swarm’s would appear to be timely, with a new survey from McKinsey & Company of more than 2,000 consumers revealing a soaring demand for green energy innovations to curb high energy prices and reduce household bills.

McKinsey reports that as wholesale prices have started to fall enabling retailers to offer lower prices the incentive to switch suppliers, after record low levels, has increased and a third of consumers are considering switching, while almost half are willing to adopt some form of time-of-use tariffs.

Further, a quarter are also willing to buy additional green products and services from energy retailers such as energy management services, solar panels, electric vehicle chargers and heat pumps.

With this suppliers also have the opportunity to attract more customers and diversify their offerings by curbing costs, simplifying processes and boosting public awareness of new energy products and services, McKinsey indicates.

Kiril Bliznakov, Senior Partner at McKinsey, says the survey findings point to the driving of a more competitive market where low cost and low carbon tariffs, products and services will be the key differentiators of the future.

“The ‘gamification’ of energy services and rising demand for energy-as-a-service offerings will create new opportunities for suppliers to increase long-term customer loyalty and to both decarbonise and cut household bills.”
 

Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Spain, Norway, Luxembourg, Latvia, Italy, France, Malta, Slovenia and the Netherlands have reached the 80% penetration rate.

A further four countries, Portugal, Austria, Great Britain and Ireland, are progressing their rollouts, with three of them targeting 80% by 2024.

However, six countries, Belgium, Croatia, Poland, Slovakia, Lithuania and Hungary, have barely started theirs, while five, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, Germany and Greece, have very few or no smart meters.

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These are among the findings in the 2023 retail market study – based on 2022 data – from the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) and the Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER).

The report, which is focussed largely on the energy crisis and the increases in energy prices in 2022 with recommendations based on the lessons from that, regrets that the 11 countries have barely started the smart metering process.

Their non-availability is a key barrier to consumers receiving regular and accurate metering data in a timely manner. Without that, they are unable to take advantage of the opportunities to respond to real-time price signals.

Moreover, for innovative market players, the lack of smart meter rollout can be a barrier to market entry and thus to competition. As new suppliers enter the market and offer real-time billing, consumers may respond by switching to other suppliers.

As far as switching – a key measure of consumer engagement – goes, for both electricity and gas the rates decreased in over half of member states in 2022 compared to previous years, although increasing in others. Possible reasons for these lower switching rates are related to pricing and the emergency measures taken during the energy crisis.

The other measure of consumer engagement reviewed in the report is energy communities. At this stage, the impact of energy communities is relatively small in terms of the number of initiatives, people involved and citizen-owned renewable capacity, but the interest of citizens in getting involved seems to have increased during the energy crisis.

In order to facilitate their development a clear and workable definition of energy communities and an enabling framework with the transposition of European rules in national legislations are needed.

Retail market structure

The report notes the heightened risk of the energy crisis triggered an uptick in the number of retail suppliers exiting the retail electricity market, reaching 62 due to financial problems in the residential market in 2021, up from eight in the previous year. However, the number dropped again to 23 in 2022, almost half of them in Spain.

Nevertheless, new suppliers have continued to enter the market with the number relatively high in countries where many suppliers exiting the market.

Similar patterns have been observed for supplier exits in the gas retail market.

From a supplier perspective, a key lesson learned from the energy crisis was to keep open lines of communication with all customers.

In response to increased prices, consumer complaints increased in 2022, primarily related – where data is available – to invoicing/billing and debt-collection and by almost half and double respectively compared to 2021.

While some energy companies’ customer services struggled to cope with the unexpectedly high volume of contacts, others found that engaging with their customers created opportunities to help consumers through the energy crisis, to the benefit of both the customer and the supplier.

Engaging with customers will therefore be key to the energy transition, the report states. Smart metering is one of the tools to facilitate this communication. Offering dynamic price contracts, in addition to hybrid or fixed price contracts, is another way of encouraging consumer participation from the demand side of the market.

Other findings in the report include the increasing share of electric vehicles in national new car registrations, although markedly different in different countries with the highest increases in Norway, Sweden and Denmark but the lowest in Cyprus, Slovakia and Czechia.

Another is the almost 40% increase in heat pump sales in 2022 compared with 2021, with consumers encouraged by the high energy prices.

The use of heat pumps will contribute to achieving the national and EU climate targets especially in the building sector. To meet these commitments, heat pump sales are expected to continue to grow.

The retrofit, which encompasses electricity, gas and water meters, is aimed to enable remote meter reading in the diverse environments around the capital Jakarta.

There the meters are in locations including inside private apartments, residential areas, industrial water utilities and shopping malls, which has resulted in meter reading being both challenging and expensive.

Chen Deyu, CEO at Sindcon, says ST Microelectronics’ STM32WLE5 LoRaWAN wireless microcontroller was selected “for its high integration benefits to our customers and because it enhances performance, size, security and power consumption.”

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The STM32WLE5 wireless MCU is a sub-GHz wireless microcontroller featuring an Arm Cortex-M4 core operating at 48MHz.

The MCU contains 256kb of Flash memory, 64kb of SRAM, LoRa modulation, and AES 256-bit encryption.

With the STM32WLE5, Sindcon’s retrofitted meters contain an advanced battery management system that can support accurate remote readings for up to 10 years.

The project is Sindcon’s first deployment in Indonesia using the STM32WLE5CC wireless MCU and is expected to be completed by the end of 2023.

Sindcon is involved in several LoRaWAN smart meter installations in Indonesia.

Over the past five years, the company has installed more than 1,000 LoRaWAN smart gas meters for restaurants and other commercial customers in more than 20 shopping malls in the country.

A recently reported new customer is Indonesia KFC, which has adopted Sindcon’s gas meter technology.

In another project, Sindcon has partnered with IoT solution provider IoT Kreasi Indonesia on prepaid gas metering in Jakarta for the country’s state-owned gas transmission and distribution company PGN Group – believed to be a first in Southeast Asia.

In the first phase, some 2,000 LoRaWAN prepaid gas meters have been deployed in collaboration with Chint, whose G1.6 model gas meter has been re-engineered to offer prepayment and LoRaWAN wireless data transmission.

Sindcon also has partnered with IoT Kreasi Indonesia on Semtech LoRa and LoRaWAN based smart electricity and water meter deployments in multi-tenant residential buildings.

Most of these households were in the outlying rural areas, which meant the usual method of revenue collection using post payment was going to be a huge challenge. It was decided to instead use the prepayment meter as the technology of choice to deliver this service.

Meters were manufactured and deployed into the field, but very soon after there were several problems discovered. None of these systems could talk to each other, and they all had varying levels of cryptographic security and functionality.

The solution was to have a system that allowed interoperability between these systems, whilst sharing the same level of state-of-the-art security. This is where the STS, or ‘Standard Transfer Specification’ was born.

It was developed based on an Eskom NRS specification, and essentially it defines the secure transfer of credit into a prepayment meter. One of the requirements for this was to encode every token created with a unique ‘Token Identifier’ or TID, which is then stored in the meter to prevent token replay – 1 Token, 1 Meter, Only once!

The STS system was so successful that it has now become the only globally accepted open standard for prepayment systems, with over 70 million STS certified meters in over 100 countries.

With the latest version of the specification, STS Edition 2, the doors are now opened to an exciting world of ‘Smart STS Systems’ with two-way communication and powerful smart meter functionality, all whilst retaining the proven STS standards.

Watch the video on STS Edition 2 here

STS, the only globally accepted open standard for prepayment systems.

Simple, Trusted & Secure.

The installations will start in the company’s southern communities and will lead to the installation of more than 260,000 of the new smart meters in the service area through 2025.

For Xcel Energy, the rollout marks the next step in the modernisation of its power grid, which so far has focussed primarily on boosting the capacity and reliability of the system through new and improved lines and substations.

With the smart meters, customers will be empowered to manage their energy use better while improving reliability and helping Xcel Energy restore power more quickly after an outage.

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“We’re excited to take this next step in building a smarter, more resilient and efficient energy grid and making it easier than ever for customers to understand and manage their energy use,” said Karl Hoesly, president, of Xcel Energy – Wisconsin.

“Smart meters are the starting point for this advanced grid, boosting reliability and providing new tools and technology to help customers lower costs.”

Smart meters will give customers near real-time energy use data with access through the company’s ‘My Account app’ or online.

They also will have access to programmes and services that will help them better understand their energy usage and how to improve efficiency and find more savings.

Currently, the majority of Xcel Energy’s old meters are AMR meters.

In addition to Wisconsin, Xcel Energy has smart meter rollouts underway in its service areas in Colorado, Minnesota and Texas.

The rollouts in North Dakota, South Dakota and New Mexico are tentatively scheduled to start in 2024 and in Michigan in 2025.

Xcel Energy serves approximately 3.7 million electricity and 2.1 million natural gas customers across the eight service territories.

While home battery backups have gained popularity for reducing energy costs and carbon footprints, reliance on solar power during daylight hours and grid availability poses limitations. Grid-tied or off-grid solar systems with big batteries allow you to store excess clean energy and maintain power in the case of grid outages or power blackouts. BLUETTI, a top player in the energy storage field, is set to bring out another battery solution–EP800 in September this year. What is it exactly? And how does it differ from its predecessor – the EP900, which uses the same B500 battery packs? Let’s find out.

What is the BLUETTI EP800 & B500?

The BLUETTI EP800 & B500 is a 7,600W modular home energy storage system (ESS), featuring 9,000W PV input and scalable capacity from 9,920Wh to 19,840Wh. Similar to the EP900, it is widely compatible with existing or future solar systems for energy bill saving and blackout preparedness.

Besides their output performances, the main difference between EP800 and EP900 lies in their ability to connect to the utility grid. The former is a pure off-grid system, while the latter also supports on-grid connection, whose installation therefore could take several months with time-consuming paperwork and inspection processes.

With an easy and quick installation of a few hours, the EP800 is a blessing for those in urgent need of complete battery systems to pair with their solar setups.

Key features of the BLUETTI EP800 energy storage system

1. Flexible capacity from 9,920Wh to 19,840Wh
The EP800’s modular design allows users to tailor their energy storage capacity to their specific needs. By choosing two to four B500 battery packs, each providing 4,960Wh, you will have a customised capacity ranging from 9,920Wh to a maximum of 19,840Wh. According to a recent study showing that a small 10kWh solar ESS can meet backup needs for a 3-day outage in nearly all US counties, that energy storage could get you through a blackout lasting almost six days, or two days without solar power.

2. Powerful performance: 7,600W output and 9,000W solar input
The EP800 system delivers up to 7,600W power for the whole household. It can run both your 120V TVs and 240V pumps with ease. With dual MPPT charge controllers inside, the EP800 can maximise solar input at 9,000W, allowing you to easily reach power independence by solar. This also makes it an ideal choice for small businesses, farms and workplaces that are remote from the grid power.

3. Wide compatibility with solar panels
Whether you already have installed solar panels or plan to do so in the future, the EP800 seamlessly integrates into your solar panels with its DC-coupled connectivity. Generally, there are two types of electrical systems to connect a PV system to storage batteries, DC coupled and AC coupled. Rather than converting solar-generated DC power back and forth to AC power with unnecessary energy losses, a DC coupled system converts the DC solar power to AC only once that your home appliances use, making it more energy efficient.

4. Easy and quick installation: Indoor or outdoor
As an off-grid energy storage unit, the BLUETTI EP800 can be set up in a few hours with simple hook and screw steps. Even DIYers or homeowners interested in electricity can handle it. Instead of being mounted on the wall, it can be stacked vertically without damaging the wall or taking up too much space. With a NEMA 4X rating and quiet operation at less than 50dB, you can easily install it indoors or outdoors. Plus, BLUETTI offers an optional global installation team that can handle all the on-site work for you.

5. Durable design with 10 years warranty
Designed to be stylish and long-lasting, the EP800 is encased in a durable and corrosion-resistant aluminum alloy. It boasts a NEMA 4X rating for water, dust, and corrosion resistance. Using the safest LiFePO4 batteries available, the EP800 could have a at least ten-year lifespan. It also comes with an advanced BMS that prevents short circuits, overcharging and other potential hazards. To ensure hassle-free use, BLUETTI also backs it with a ten-year warranty.

6. Intelligent system: smart operation and easy control
The EP800 can adapt to varying weather conditions, regulating its discharging processes based on ambient temperature through its advanced thermal management technology. With the BLUETTI app, you can monitor system performance, track your power consumption and generation, and adjust settings remotely via WiFi or Bluetooth connectivity from anywhere at any time. Moreover, OTA updates are available for added convenience.

How to get the most out of the EP800 energy storage system

Get the power back in 20ms
The BLUETTI EP800 provides a stable and seamless power supply during emergencies and power failures. It takes less than 20ms to switch from grid power to its battery, providing stored power for all your essential appliances, large and small, such as refrigerators, dryers, water pumps, electric stoves, lights and medical equipment. An EP800 with two battery packs can power an average refrigerator for four days, or eight days with four packs. That means you can rest easy knowing that those steaks and ice creams will never again end up in the trash.

Enjoy power freedom
The EP800 could connect to solar panels for a maximum of 9,000W of solar charging. Even during power outages, there will be enough power in reserve to run your entire home. Two B500 packs, 9,920Wh of energy, equivalent to 3.3 hours of use of 2500W air conditioner, 140 hours of lighting (60W), and uninterrupted network connection. If you have a large family or experience a prolonged power cut, four B500 batteries will provide up to 19,840Wh of power, giving you peace of mind that your family will still live comfortably. This stronger battery system could power your 200W freezer for 84 hours, 500W washer for 33.5 hours and 2,000W oven for 8 hours. For others, power failures may mean disaster and hardship, with stinking piles of laundry and limited use of electronics. However, with the EP800 backup system in your home, a blackout is nothing more than a chance to show off your independence from the grid.

Benefit you and the Earth
The BLUETTI EP800 is an eco-friendly and quiet backup power source that runs on renewable energy instead of the fossil fuels of traditional generators. Unlike gas-powered generators that emit harmful gases into the environment when used, it produces no emissions or noise pollution, making it an environmentally friendly option for powering homes or businesses.

Availability
The BLUETTI EP800 energy storage system will be available on September 15 with a debut price starting from $5999.

Try BLUETTI EP800 free for 30 days! BLUETTI is currently running an Energy Freedom programme to help households reduce their energy bills and achieve power independence. Thirty households with monthly bills over $100 can apply for a free trial of the EP800 system for a full month. After the trial, they can either return the product at no cost or keep it for an incredible 40% off the retail price. Give it a try as the trial is totally money and worry free. All it takes is a few clicks to sign up, and BLUETTI will take care of everything from shipping to installation.

Limited offer, grab it now!

Conclusion

Some homeowners are still waiting in line for the pricey home backup solutions from Enphase, LG, Panasonic, FranklinWH and Tesla Powerwall. Others, however, have their eyes on affordable backup systems like the BLUETTI EP800 that are within easy reach. With this powerful device, you can keep your entire home running smoothly during a power outage, reduce your energy bills, and contribute to a more sustainable and greener planet.

About BLUETTI

BLUETTI has been committed to promoting sustainability and green energy solutions since its inception. By offering eco-friendly energy storage solutions for both indoor and outdoor use, BLUETTI aims to provide exceptional experiences for our homes while also contributing to a sustainable future for our planet. This commitment to sustainable energy has helped BLUETTI expand its reach to over 100 countries and gain the trust of millions of customers worldwide.

The two new centres are a Renewable Energy Forecast Centre and a Demand Response Control Centre, both situated within EGAT’s headquarters in Nonthaburi, close to Bangkok.

They also are intended as prototypes for regional centres at the five regional grid control centres, while a further eleven renewable energy forecast centres are being planned at EGAT substations in areas with potential for renewable energy development.

“The centres will support the additional 8,000MW renewable energy integrated into the generation mix as well as renewable energy power plants of very small power producers, which may impact the control and stability of the country’s power system,” commented Kitti Petchsantad, Deputy Governor – Transmission System at EGAT.

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The implementation of the centres forms two key pillars of Thailand’s smart grid development in the period 2022-2031.

The Renewable Energy Forecast Centre is directed at predicting electricity generation from renewable and clean energy, including wind and solar energy operated by small power producers.

The forecasts are then incorporated with the plan for electricity generation of other fuel-based power plants to ensure that the power system can handle fluctuations and uncertainties of electricity generated from renewable energy.

The Demand Response Control Centre serves as the control centre for reducing electricity consumption via a load aggregator, which manages the demand response of large power users.

Currently, the Centre is being operated in the pilot phase with a reduced load of 50MW and with the Metropolitan Electricity Authority and the Provincial Electricity Authority serving as the load aggregators.

In the future when the load aggregator role is open to private agencies, the new energy business will emerge with all aggregators operating under the Centre.

In other activities in Thailand, EGAT has opened in Mae Hong Son Province, where a smart grid pilot is underway, a new public centre to enable locals and visitors to learn more about the energy system and smart grids.

The pilot has included the implementation of a grid-connected solar PV and battery energy storage system among other technologies.

The Powerledger Chain is the third generation blockchain from the company, which was one of the pioneers of the technology in the energy sector, and is designed to facilitate the development of scalable decentralised apps that are able to handle thousands of transactions per second at low cost.

Example challenges highlighted include intermittency from solar and wind and grid congestion.

“Today is the most significant day in our blockchain journey as we make our game-changer Powerledger Chain public as it offers scalability, security, and energy efficiency,” said Powerledger technical director and co-founder, John Bulich.

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“It’s the ideal platform for developing green and affordable energy solutions that pave the way to a brighter future.”

The Powerledger Chain is a customised permissioned Solana blockchain utilising proof-of-history and proof-of-stake consensus mechanisms to deliver the required throughput with lower energy requirements compared with proof-of-work blockchains.

Powerledger has developed a range of solutions in the areas of energy trading and traceability, flexibility trading and environmental commodities training.

These are at various stages of implementation in a dozen countries including Australia, India, the US and within Europe and Asia.

Another issue Powerledger highlights is that of centralisation, with the growing distributed energy system challenging the traditional centralised approach.

With decentralisation at its core, the public blockchain’s role in energy does not necessarily dismiss centralisation, but offers the importance of a balanced approach with the power of highly scalable blockchain-based solutions, the company states.

“The responsibility for grid management can be negotiated among stakeholders using a decentralised paradigm that uses smart contracts on our new public blockchain.”

Superfast charging LFP batteries for EVs

A 10 minute charge providing a driving range of 400km and a full charge delivering 700km?

That would satisfy most EV drivers and eliminate range anxiety – and it is claimed to be coming with Chinese battery manufacturing company CATL’s new lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery named ‘Shenxing’.

CATL reports leveraging the super-electronic network cathode technology and fully nano-crystallized LFP cathode material to create a super-electronic network, which facilitates the extraction of lithium ions and the rapid response to charging signals.

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Its latest second-generation fast ion ring technology is used to modify the properties of graphite surface, which increases intercalation channels and shortens the intercalation distance for lithium ions, creating an expressway for current conduction.

A new superconducting electrolyte formula, which effectively reduces the viscosity of the electrolyte, resulting in improved conductivity, also has been developed.

Other improvements include reduced resistance of lithium-ion movement, while cell temperature control technology ensures that cells heat up to the optimal operating temperature range rapidly, allowing a 0-80% charge in just 30 minutes in temperature as low as -10°C.

CATL anticipates that mass production of Shenxing will be achieved before year-end and the first vehicles with the battery will be available on the market in the first quarter of next year.

Improving Bitcoin mining efficiency

With Bitcoin mining notoriously energy intensive and miners rushing to adopt greener and more sustainable operations, another alternative, which is being pursued by the London-based Quantum Blockchain Technologies, is to improve the efficiency of the mining itself and thus in turn its energy consumption.

The company’s ‘Method A’, unlike the standard approach of running as many hashes as possible within the available period, decides at the beginning of each block hashing whether to hash using a traditional search or a spaced confined search, with testing demonstrating an approximately 10% in mining speed.

But its ‘Method B’, for which a patent application was recently filed, is even more efficient, based on partial pre-computation on upcoming blocks prior to the current one being closed and guiding the search by deciding where the most promising winning hashes are likely to be found.

With this approach, the number of logic gates on the chip is reduced and the processing of a large number of hashes is avoided to obtain the results in less time.

In this case, there should be a 2.6x improvement in the ability to find a winning hash, compared to standard search, while saving up to 4.3% of energy.

However, its implementation requires a new architecture and the design of a new mining chip.

Setting sail with ‘Windwings’

Mitsubishi Corporation’s ‘Pyxis Ocean’, a 229m long bulk carrier vessel on charter to the global food giant Cargill, has become the first to be fitted with a novel wind propulsion system that could be key for the decarbonisation of shipping.

The two ‘Windwings’, which were designed by BAR Technologies in the EU Horizon 2020 supported initiative, are large wing sails measuring up to 37,5m in height with a 10m wide central component and front and rear 5m wide flaps that can be fitted to the deck of cargo ships, both new and as a retrofit, to harness the power of the wind.

The windwings can rotate and also pivot, right down to deck level, to allow for the differing wind angles and speeds.

With this wind assist, the windwings are expected to deliver average fuel savings of up to 30%.

The ‘Pyxis Ocean’ is currently on its maiden voyage with the windwings from Shanghai, where they were fitted, to Paranagua in Brazil with their performance being closely monitored to further improve their design and operation.

Hundreds of wings are planned to be built over the next few years and BAR Technologies is also researching new builds with improved hydrodynamic hull forms.

The solution, believed to be the first to use Amazon Sidewalk for data communication, is comprised of the Subeca ‘Pin’ as a Bluetooth meter register to replace the standard register on the water meter.

Once commissioned, the utility is then able to utilise the Amazon Sidewalk communications network, with the free communications benefit that it offers.

“This is a very inexpensive way for a utility to start building out an AMI platform,” says Patrick Keaney, CEO of Subeca.

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Subeca’s Pin is claimed to work with the majority of existing water meters and that it can be retrofitted in less than a minute.

To get the product out on the market the company has launched an ‘Explorer kit’ comprised of three Pins and the use of its Engage data platform for one year, available to 100 utilities.

Amazon Sidewalk is a long-range, low-bandwidth, low-power community wireless network for IoT that is enabled on Amazon Echo and certain other devices.

It is based on Bluetooth low energy and 900MHz LoRa and is believed to potentially provide coverage to over 90% of the population in the US – its only country of availability so far.

Subeca’s Pin includes the Bluetooth meter register as the core data collection component and the Bluetooth low energy and LoRa modules.

The company’s product offering also includes the ‘Act’, a Bluetooth wireless ball valve that will open, restrict or close upon command from a Bluetooth-capable mobile device or through the company’s Link data collection device.

Subeca has previously developed a LoRaWAN solution with a Pin featuring AWS IoT Core for low-cost communication.

Keaney, who has been CEO of Subeca since May, is the former worldwide head of development at AWS Water, with a focus on the development of IoT and cloud services in the water sector.

Also on the radar are two further acquisitions: that of a Chinese EV manufacturer by a Dubai-based tech company, as well as of a grids-focused advisory company by a US-based global consultancy.

SMS acquires heat pump division for flexibility services

The Scottish smart metering company has announced the acquisition of Evergreen Energy’s domestic services division, which specialises in the installation and maintenance of renewable energy assets, including heat pumps, solar and battery storage for homeowners.

According to SMS, the acquisition will enhance their capacity to deliver an extended range of low-carbon, behind-the-meter energy solutions to the UK’s domestic and commercial marketplaces.

The company, which earlier this year pointed to their flagship smart meter services and storage portfolios as key profit areas, is calling the acquisition “highly complementary to SMS’s leading role in the delivery of Great Britain’s smart meter programme, owning and managing c.4.5 million meter and data assets for customers,” they state in a press release.

Heat pumps are a key clean tech asset for enabling demand side response, which is gaining attraction in the UK as a method of alleviating peak demand on the country’s grid system.

The acquisition is thus hoped to deliver associated data solutions and demand flexibility services to energy suppliers, businesses and consumers.

Earlier this year in February, SMS announced a demand side response project, part of the UK Government’s Flexibility Innovation Programme, to design and deliver testing schemes for flexibility applications.

Earlier this week, UK market research company Cornwall Insight released research illustrating the crucial element smart meters represent for flexibility services, which have exponential savings potential, should households participate.

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SMS’s acquisition follows other strategic investments made last year in EV charge point software company, Clenergy EV, and of smart energy data platform, n3rgy, which similarly bolstered SMS’s presence in the EV charging infrastructure and data services markets.

Evergreen Energy’s other divisions, including the Homely and Easy MCS brands are not included in the transaction and will operate independently from the Evergreen Energy brand going forward.

Stated SMS CEO Tim Mortlock: “Whilst we will continue to operate the Evergreen Energy brand that has been successfully established within the northwest, the acquisition will bolster the Group’s overall capacity to deliver these carbon reduction assets on a wider national scale to a fast-growing domestic and commercial marketplace.

“The location of Evergreen’s Manchester base close to our national training academy and innovation centre in Bolton, where we are focussed on upskilling our engineering workforce and testing new technologies, will also be highly beneficial.”

A Middle Eastern acquisition of Chinese EV manufacturing

Dubai-headquartered mobility tech company NWTN has reached an agreement to make a strategic investment of $500 million in China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group (EVGRF), a Chinese automobile manufacturer that specialises in developing EVs, aiming to accelerate the company’s position in the EV space.

NWTN and EVGRF entered into a share subscription agreement pursuant to which NWTN will acquire approximately 27.50% of shares of EVGRF alongside the right to nominate a majority of EVGRF’s board.

The proposed transaction is expected to close in Q4 2023, subject to customary and other closing conditions.

NWTN, a mobility and green energy company, has a full vehicle assembly facility in Abu Dhabi. Technologically, the company has expanded its capabilities to include PV generation, green hydrogen production and energy storage.

The strategic acquisition forms part of the company’s continuing expansion, vying in growing markets in the Middle East, North Africa, China and other countries.

NWTN states an emphasis for their business on the use of AI technologies, autonomous driving and personalised passenger experience as key to its market positioning.

The company believes a partnership with EVGRF will be instrumental in addressing the EV needs of the Middle East and will facilitate EVGRF’s research and development and mass production of new car models for eventual export overseas.

According to Reuters, the deal forms part of a $3.2 billion plan unveiled by Evergrande to reduce its debt and stay afloat.

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Consultancy’s acquisition to reinforce grid expertise

US-based ICF, a global consulting and tech services provider, has acquired CMY Solutions, a power and energy engineering firm that advises on decision-making for grid modernisation, programmes and investments.

Founded in 2016, CMY’s team of 50 specialised experts advise senior leaders of utilities and developers across the US, Europe and Asia, including investor-owned utilities, electric municipalities and electric cooperatives.

ICF on the other hand consists of approximately 9,000 employees, consisting of business analysts and policy specialists who work alongside digital strategists, data scientists and creatives in the public and private sectors.

The acquisition brings to ICF strong backgrounds in renewable energy integration, distributed energy resources (DER) impact studies and management.

Additionally, CMY brings “deep technical expertise in substation, transmission and distribution system design, protection and control, North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) compliance, as well as system planning and capital strategy consulting,” states ICF in a press release announcing the acquisition.

Commenting on the acquisition was John Wasson, ICF chair and CEO, who stated how the deal will “strengthen our ability to support utilities’ needs for grid transformation, reliability, resilience and renewables integration in a much more holistic way.

“As one team, we will scale our industry-leading energy service offerings and continue to grow our rapidly expanding technology and data management capabilities across the various markets we serve.”

Acquisitions have been key in this week’s Smart Energy Finances with smart metering for flexibility, EV manufacturing and grid modernisation expertise for consulting all seen driving strategic corporate moves.

What are your thoughts? What have you seen as having a large influence on decision-making when it comes to acquisitions in the energy sector and what would you like me to cover?

Let me know.

Cheers,
Yusuf Latief
Content Producer
Smart Energy International

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Over the past few decades, commercial buildings have become a focal point in the fight to minimise the global carbon footprint because they consume a lot of energy due to the increased use of cooling, heating, ventilation systems, lighting and computers. Some companies even use cleanrooms, which require up to 50 times more energy than non-classified spaces.

This means that commercial buildings, although unable to choose whether they use fossil or renewable energy as they are subject to the grid’s supply, have a lot to gain and contribute by using more renewable energy sources. In the near future they may not have a choice as commercial buildings face evolving regulation that either incentivizes owners to make the sustainable move or requires them to do so.

Although fossil fuels remain a prominent power source due to their replacements’ intermittency, Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) will solve this unreliability problem and propel buildings and businesses in the right direction. Here’s how.

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Virtual power plants to the rescue

It’s already widely acknowledged that sustainable energy is the future for power, with the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) recently declaring long-term energy storage “the most pressing utility scale needed in the next decade” – the ability to store energy from renewable resources for later use is the answer.

VPPs have been around for the better part of 40 years. They give the ability to harness sustainable energy by bringing together multiple energy sources, also referred to as Distributed Energy Resources (DERs), such as solar panels, electric batteries, wind turbines.

The VPP then forms a system based on supply and demand that can be controlled according to the current grid needs so that it can avoid consuming power when it’s expensive and limited to consuming power when it’s cheap and abundant, all the way to providing power back to the grid when supply is limited – all in the hope of reducing the grid’s reliance on fossil fuels.

Some of the above mentioned energy resources are only relevant during the daytime (for example, solar panels) and become less efficient on cloudy or rainy days; wind-based energy depends on the fluctuating airflow, wave energy relies on ocean waves to generate electricity, and hydropower utilizes the gravitational force of falling or flowing water.

So there is some justification for businesses to hesitate in relying more on renewable energy sources, which they deem as unstable. Considering that a single hour of downtime can cost organisations over $100,000 from lost revenues and reputational damage, businesses are rightfully hesitant to rely on these solutions without fossil fuel backup.

However, although the grid currently runs in a one directional way and renewable energy sources are less consistent individually – when they become part of an extensive network of devices that supports a building’s energy needs around the clock, regardless of the time of day or weather conditions, they create a consistent and reliable energy supply alternative.

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VPPs: Multiple energy sources, multiple advantages

In our ‘smart’ age, the new generation of VPPs present a far more efficient way of using renewable energy. Today’s VPPs live up to their promise by eliminating integrating more resources into the grid, leveraging its flexibility, enabling greater share of renewable energy sources thus optimizing the grid’s capacity so it can do more with less.

This means that the VPPs are able to perform two activities. The first is control demand flexibility, the easier of the two, which turns off power demand when the grid is overworked. The second is to provide a supply service by supplying power back to the grid in exchange for lower rates, flat fees or similar.

Through these services, the risk of relying on sensitive sources is minimized and the ability to provide a continuous supply of energy based on actual demand is strengthened. Simultaneously, at times when supply is high, onsite or ‘ behind the meter’ energy storage solutions ensure that the surplus energy isn’t lost but stored to be utilised when needed.

Commercial buildings can then be part of a grid that provides a smart, reliable, cost-effective solution that considers both the planet’s and their business’ needs. Additionally, buildings can choose whether to include their energy assets as part of the VPP network, such as EV charging, and help the grid become more stable.

By doing so, VPPs enable commercial buildings to contribute to a greater solution together with the climate-responsible grid, to do their best without taking unreasonable risks, creating an energy ecosystem that is better for businesses, communities, and the planet.

As VPPs advance, so does our ability to move away from harmful energy resources and offer future generations a more sustainable approach. Doing so without asking businesses to sacrifice their ability to plan ahead and meet revenue goals is critical.

As the load on the grid is expected to grow exponentially in the coming months and years, now is the time to scale up and move forward to make the VPP part of the solution. The time is ripe to give VPP its time to shine.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Yoram Ashery has been the CEO of storage tech company Nostromo Energy since May 2021, specialising in managing technology companies, designing and executing international go-to-market plans and leading business development and complex financing and commercial transactions.

The first phase of the rollout was focussed on the southwest region of Paraná state in Brazil’s southeast, while the second started in the metropolitan region of the capital, Curitiba.

The smart meter and smart grid programme was launched in 2021, following a 5,000 smart meter pilot introduced in 2018 in the southern state municipality of Ipiranga.

The programme is expected to see the introduction of around 4.5 million smart meters in total.

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In the first three phases, the entire southern region of the state will be supplied with smart meters, approximately 1.5 million by 2025, with a budget of the order of R$820 million (US$169 million).

Daniel Pimentel Slaviero, President of Copel, says the goal is to apply the technology to improve the efficiency of service to customers.

“Paraná has once again come out ahead, and today we have the most advanced smart grid programme in Brazil,” he asserts.

“It is the best in solutions for the power distribution system.”

Benefits provided by the smart meters include a reduction in the time to locate and fix breakdowns, remote meter reading and connections, the availability of meter data to customers via a smartphone app and digital billing, in addition to a reduction in carbon emissions due to improved efficiencies of field workers.

For example, the company estimates the avoidance of 75t of CO2 emissions in the first half of the year due to the latter.

The latest municipality in which the rollout is being introduced is Ponta Grossa, which is among the largest in the state and considered among the more challenging due to the geography of the city and the characteristics of the local power grid, according to Copel.

Approximately 800 units per day are expected to be installed there.

The human factor, when it comes to the use of distributed generation such as rooftop solar and its delivery to the grid is one of the biggest challenges when it comes to the modern grid.

Zhao, who directs Mines’ Smart Grid and Energy Research Lab, intends to study this human factor and this in turn could be incorporated so that the grid could predict how it will then be used by the humans.

Zhao says that while there is a great deal of effort underway right now to build the technology and infrastructure needed to run smart grids, the one thing missing from current research is the human factor.

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“The most important part of the equation is people, and we are trying to understand human behaviour to help build the most robust and fully functional smart grid models.”

The grant from the National Science Foundation is worth almost $200,000 over the next two years.

Specifically the intention is to introduce a data-driven approach to analyse and explicitly model power demand behaviour at the household level using real-world long-term data.

The goal is to reveal macro- and micro-residential power demand patterns, through matching 15-minute resolution smart meter data with consumer surveys, along with local parcel data and meteorological data, to achieve a comprehensive understanding of residential power demand behaviour at a disaggregated level.

This should then lay the foundation for research focused on data-driven analysis and modelling for next-generation power grids.

The primary contribution of the project is intended to be the development of a data-driven temperature-time-day-based model for residential power demand behaviour, relying solely on real-world data.

Zhao anticipates that the research also should have wider impacts, with the proposed model potentially readily expanded to other domains such as water usage.

It also should contribute to better understanding incentive effectiveness in changing consumer behaviour, particularly in green consumption.

Alongside the project a new ‘Smart Grid and Data Science’ curriculum will be developed, combining power engineering and social science.

Partners in the project include the local coop West River Electric Association and the chamber of commerce Elevate Rapid City.

Smoke impact on solar PV

The new project comes as Zhao has just completed another study on the impact of wildfire smoke on solar PV.

While solar energy production is likely to be impacted by low-level smoke, the project found that the output of individual solar panels can be reduced by nearly 50%, even when the smoke is present at high altitudes and air quality near the ground is not significantly impacted.

Moreover, the fluctuations vary with the intensity of the smoke, which often varies, indicating the importance of taking this into account as solar becomes more widespread in wildfire-prone areas and beyond given the propensity for the smoke to potentially travel large distances in the air.

The company, which supplies water to almost 7 million people mainly in the east of England, launched the programme in December 2022. Based on two complete scans of its service area has reported saving over 2Ml/d – enough to supply 8,000 homes in the region.

Chris Utton, Leakage Intensive Delivery Manager for Anglian Water, says that as much of the company’s region is rural, the satellites are particularly helping to detect any leaks in these areas where traditional monitoring is much more difficult.

“Over the last 30 years, we’ve reduced leaks in our network by 38%, despite putting a third more water into supply to meet the increasing demand of our rapidly growing customer base,” he says.

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“We know we must go even further as it’s one of the most important things to our customers and the wider environment. Gone are all the low-hanging fruits and quick wins, we’re now into the realms of tracking down really hard-to-find leaks, long before they’re visible to the naked eye, to fix them quicker and save as much precious water as possible.”

Anglian Water is working with water solution company SUEZ and California-based earth observation data provider Asterra – the only service in the world to use L-Band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) with patented technology and analysis to find leaks from the satellite images.

The satellites work by sending a pulse down from space and measuring interaction with materials on the Earth as backscatter, in this case the signature of drinking water below the Earth’s surface, which may suggest a hidden leak in the water network.

The satellite imagery is expected to form a regular component in Anglian Water’s leak detection armoury but ultimately it is only one of them, with others including thermal imaging drones and naval hydrophone equipment.

Anglian Water was also recently allocated funding to expand its smart meter rollout as part of its leak reduction plans.

Since the first smart meters were installed in 2020, the company has reported helping customers find and resolve more than 100,000 leaks at their properties.

The smart metering system is under development by energy companies E.ON and Netze BW, technology suppliers Robotron Datenbank-Software and Power Plus Communications and manufacturer Landis+Gyr.

The companies have announced that the system is based on the integration of an RLM meter to a smart meter gateway with testing having proven its marketability and timely availability.

The large consumption points in Germany account for about three-quarters of the energy consumed in the country, although in number they amount to only around 1% of the total 53 million metering points, i.e. about 530,000.

Under the Digitisation Act, at least 20% of the load profile measurement points in Germany must be equipped with smart metering by 2028.

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“With this technical solution, we are taking a further step towards digitising the RLM measuring points with smart meter gateways,” commented Jürgen Kramny, Head of Metering Systems at Netze BW.

Malte Sunderkötter, Managing Director of E.ON Grid Solutions with responsibility for the smart meter rollout in the E.ON group, said the solution has the potential to become a new industry standard.

“To this end, we are building on broad acceptance among customers, users and manufacturers.”

Specifically, the solution is based on the connection of a Landis+Gyr RLM meter to Robotron’s back-end system via the controllable local systems (CLS) interface of Power Plus Communications’ smart meter gateway.

The solution fulfils all the specific RLM use cases and also makes the metered values available for subsequent billing with storage in the meter – key in the event of a temporary interruption of the communication link to the meter, given the high levels of energy involved.

In addition, the local interfaces of the meter can be used for specific industry use cases, thus taking into account the different requirements of customers in this market segment, the companies have reported.

The solution is available in a test environment and the intent is to further optimise it as it evolves.

The task force, which is planned to kick off its activities in early September, is aimed to drive the adoption and standardisation of wireless charging solutions for EVs globally.

Established in cooperation with association members Siemens AG, the wireless charging technology company WiTricity Corporation and German charging solution provider MAHLE chargeBIG, the taskforce is intended to seek to close existing gaps to ensure the successful integration and utilisation of wireless power transfer technology in the evolving electric mobility landscape.

The taskforce will actively work towards harmonising standards in wireless power transfer technology for charging EVs.

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Defining the respective applicability of wireless charging will play a crucial role in its integration into diverse EV platforms.

The taskforce also will seek to define rigorous test procedures and certification guidelines for interoperability, in order to ensure that wireless charging solutions are reliable, efficient and compatible across different platforms.

Additionally, the taskforce will focus on clearing the co-existence of relevant technologies for wireless power transfer to foster a cohesive ecosystem for the future of EV charging.

Members of the taskforce with expertise in wireless charging technology are now being sought from both CharIN members and non-members.

Wireless charging developments

Wireless charging is becoming increasingly popular for mobile and other devices, with EVs an obvious opportunity due to the convenience it offers.

Both static and dynamic options are available, enabling charging when parked in a garage or driving on highways respectively, with the former aimed primarily at homeowners and charging station operators and the latter initially at least for trucks and other high-use vehicles such as buses and taxis.

Its use so far is limited, however, but that is set to change with wireless charging now delivering efficiencies and charging times that match or even better those of traditional plug-in chargers, according to developers such as WiTricity.

As an example of recent development, WiTricity has entered into a partnership to deliver its technology in Europe with ABT e-Line, which initially will upgrade the VW ID.4 to support wireless charging and subsequently other VW, Audi and Porsche models thereafter.

In another example, another CharIN member, the Israeli company Electreon is to equip a section of the French A10 motorway southwest of Paris with dynamic wireless charging and a stationary wireless charging station initially for fleet use.

A third CharIN member InductEV recently opened a high power wireless charging R&D centre at its King of Prussia, Pennsylvania headquarters.

In the US there also is a move to introduce a grant programme for wireless EV charging with a proposal for $250 million to be made available for its introduction on roads and bus routes, in parking areas and at airports among other locations.

DEWA files 3D printing patent

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA)’s Research and Development Centre is something of a pioneer with 3D printing and has just filed a new patent for an innovative build plate and method to detach 3D printed objects automatically.

This is intended to improve the performance of 3D printers by easing the removal of 3D printed objects during the printing process and thereby making it feasible to have a continuous 3D printing operation.

The invention supports DEWA’s intensive efforts to develop advanced infrastructure and specialised software in 3D printing and additive manufacturing, and invest in them to overcome challenges in the energy sector, according to the utility.

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HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA, says that the utility supports Dubai’s endeavours to become the global hub for 3D printing by finding innovative solutions and technologies that modernise the manufacture of spare parts in its business.

“We adopt 3D printing as an innovative solution for our internal operations to print spare parts for devices and equipment, in addition to extending the lifespan of our equipment,” he says, adding that DEWA is the first organisation in the GCC to apply metal 3D printing technology using threads and wires.

DEWA reports having achieved a Guinness World Records title for its 3D printed laboratory and previously a patent has been registered for an adhesive device for 3D printers, which automatically distributes the adhesive material on the 3D printing plate, to ensure that the printed material sticks adequately to the build plate.

Harnessing the power of quantum for solar energy harvesting

Northeastern University professor Sijia Dong has been awarded a US Department of Energy grant to explore algorithms for simulations on quantum computers that may further the pursuit of renewable energy sources.

Specifically what Dong wants to do is develop quantum algorithms that can enable quantum chemical simulations of macromolecules that may be leveraged for solar energy harvesting and conversion.

“In photosynthesis, a plant can convert solar energy to make sugar, a chemical that can help the plant survive,” says Dong, an assistant professor of chemistry and chemical biology as well as affiliated faculty of physics and chemical engineering at Northeastern.

“If we can do something like this artificially – convert the solar energy into chemical energy to make materials or useful chemicals – that will be very helpful for society.”

To date, Dong and her team have been using traditional digital computers to simulate the photochemistry of macromolecules and materials that could lead to new forms of clean energy.

However, it is a hard problem computationally and if the simulations can be carried over to a quantum computer, that should greatly accelerate the capability of developing such molecules and materials.

A Samsung Galaxy Ring

This column doesn’t normally cover rumours, but those about Samsung mobile products tend to be quite reliable so we have no hesitation in reporting the likely release of a Samsung Galaxy Ring.

Why a Galaxy Ring is of interest is because early patents indicate that it has potential for smart home integration and to control connected devices.

What we know so far is that a smart ring is almost certainly under development with a possible launch in 2024.

Based on the patents filed, other possible integrations include health tracking, such as heart rate and temperature monitoring, and coupled with XR glasses, finger and hand tracking in XR applications based on their positional information.

The concept of a connected ring isn’t new and the Oura ring as a fitness monitor has been around since 2015.

For Samsung, it would mark the company’s continuous evolution in the wearables market as an adjunct to its mobiles, while potentially providing a significant step up in convenience for smart home enthusiasts.

The contract for the advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) initiative with a value of Rs416.84 crore ($50.2 million) has been awarded to HPL Electric & Power.

The goal of the project, which is supported by funding from the World Bank, is to reduce losses and improve the revenue collection for the utility.

The proposal is that the smart meters will be deployed to high-value consumers in selected urban geographies, including Asansol and Kharagpur among others, by the end of 2026.

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The meters also are expected to improve peak load management and help in better integration of distributed energy resources such as rooftop solar in the grid.

They also should support demand side management by providing consumers with access to their consumption data and hence encourage them to reduce their electricity consumption.

The project marks HPL Electric & Power’s further inroads and broader role in India’s meter market – of which the company claims a 20% market share – with its first as the ‘advanced metering infrastructure service provider’ (AMISP) with responsibility for delivering other smart metering infrastructure and services, alongside its traditional role as supplier to the AMISPs.

“This achievement not only highlights our readiness for change, but also emphasises our preparedness to seize the opportunities in India’s smart metering evolution,” said the company’s joint MD and Chief Financial Officer, Gautam Seth, in an investor call.

As a World Bank-supported project, it is supplementary to but broadly following the guidelines of the national rollout under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS).

Smart grid development

The smart meter rollout forms part of the smart grid component of the distribution grid modernisation.

Other elements include technology and capacity upgrades of the ICT systems and the deployment of distribution automation technologies and integration of communicable control devices with SCADA.

More broadly other aspects include the strengthening and augmentation of the distribution network in select districts and towns, with retrofits, new distribution and undergrounding of lines for storm protection, and the customary technical assistance for institutional development and capacity building.

The whole distribution grid modernisation is due for completion at the end of November 2026.

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 programme, which began in 2021 and runs to 2025, has so far seen the installation of over 150,000 new smart meters.

A further 7,000 units are due to be installed by year end in the central-southern municipality of Pälkäne.

The new generation smart meters are of Finnish design by Elenia in partnership with the smart grid solution provider Aidon, which together have developed a platform on which over time new services may be enabled, such as the use of self generation, electric vehicle integration or flexibility for the grid.

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The telecom operator Elisa also is a partner, with responsibility for IoT communications between the meters and the wider system.

The new meters are aimed to involve Elenia and its customers more strongly in climate solutions and actions, according to the company.

Customers with the new meters can access Elenia’s new AinaLab service, where they can monitor their electricity consumption down to the five-minute level on an almost real-time basis.

The service also disaggregates the loads by the three phases enabling monitoring of individual phases and checking the phase connections of individual devices.

Sanni Harala, Account and Stakeholder Manager at Elenia, says that consumption data often appears in the AinaLab service within a few minutes and usually within an hour.

“The energy sector plays a key role in the electric, green transition, which we are promoting by modernising the electricity grid and its technology. The smart grid is increasingly involved in climate solutions,” he says.

The installation of Elenia’s smart meters is being undertaken by Finnish provider Voimatel.

Since the start of the programme, installations have progressed in Elenia’s network area in Northern and South Ostrobothnia, Central Finland and Pirkanmaa.

Installations will begin in Kanta-Häme in 2024 and in Päijät-Häme in 2025.

In all approximately 400,000 smart meters are being replaced, broadly in line with the end of service life of the current meters.

A further 40,000 customers have newer meters that will be replaced at a later date.

CLP Power has been replacing traditional meters since 2018 to enhance the reliability of power supply in the utility’s operating areas. Installation is expected to complete by 2025.

The smart meters will allow CLP Power customers to view their hourly consumption as recently as four hours ago.

CLP Power stated in a release that this will enable new insights into usage patterns to enable consumption and price reductions.

Since 2020, CLP Power has invited residential customers with smart meters to make slight adjustments to their consumption behaviour and reduce their energy use during peak demand periods.

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950,000 households were invited to join an energy saving event this summer, of which around 70% saved a total of 410,000kWh of electricity over a period of four hours.

Commented CLP Power managing director Joseph Law: “Customers can enjoy digitalised services and energy management solutions made possible by smart meters to optimise their consumption habits, resulting in energy savings and better management of electricity expenses, supporting the Hong Kong SAR Government to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

“In recent years, customers with smart meters have used them as an effective tool for energy management and actively participated in energy-saving events that reduce peak electricity demand. We will continue to enhance the customer experience by launching different services to help people adopt a smarter, low-carbon lifestyle.”

CLP Power is a Hong Kong utility subsidiary wholly owned by CLP Holdings Limited. The company operates electricity services for more than six million people in its supply areas.

Kaluza heads ‘down under’

UK headquartered energy software company Kaluza is planning to expand its activities in Australia and New Zealand with an office in Melbourne led up by former London-based client solutions director, Conor Maher-McWilliams.

Over the next 12 months, Kaluza intends to build a local team of experts to support activity in the region.

The team will work closely with Kaluza customer AGL Energy, one of Australia’s largest energy retailers and generators, on the ‘OVO Energy Australia’ joint venture to accelerate the adoption of clean energy solutions across the country and develop new EV and solar propositions for AGL’s customers.

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Kaluza is also expanding its managed charging programme to New Zealand with Meridian Energy. Through this new service, Kaluza will manage the charging of Meridian Energy’s customers’ EVs in response to their needs as well as market signals and pricing data.

Scott Neuman, CEO of Kaluza, described the development as “an important milestone” for the company’s global expansion, which so far has extended to Europe, North America and Japan.

Training for the energy transition

Britain’s Heriot-Watt University, known for its technical training, is launching a new Master of Science degree programme to provide advanced training in the energy transition.

The programme, run from the University’s Orkney campus, is taught both in person and online, with a focus on the technologies, systems, processes and economics, alongside the design of transition projects to move away from fossil fuels and accelerate the integration of renewable energy.

The MSc in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Transition, to give its full title, has been developed by the mechanical and energy systems engineer Susan Krumdieck and is built around the rapidly growing discipline of ‘transition engineering’, an interdisciplinary approach to change for unsustainable systems across power, transport, industry, real estate and other sectors, according to a statement.

Krumdieck, who hails originally from New Zealand, is Chair of Energy Transition Engineering at Heriot-Watt and her research group has led the development of ‘transition engineering’ as a discipline since the early 2000s.

“If the world is to decarbonise and reach net zero emissions by 2050, whole systems will have to be redesigned and redeveloped, including energy infrastructure, technology, regulation and markets,” she commented.

“A new generation of transition engineering specialists is needed to drive this change – and our MSc ReSET is firmly focused on helping students and professionals develop these vital skills – so they can help to reset global energy systems.”

The MSc programme has four themes: Transition Engineering, Economics and Commercialisation, Renewable Energy Technology and Energy Systems.

Hydrogen trains – before their time?

Germany has been a pioneer with hydrogen-powered trains over the past five years and the rail operator Landesnahverkehrsgesellschaft Niedersachsen (LNVG) was the first, a year ago, to launch a network of such trains using Alstom’s Coradia iLint rolling stock.

But now the company has decided that its future – at least for the next generation – is with battery-powered trains, citing their cheaper operating costs.

LNVG is now planning to obtain 102 new units with battery-powered technology, which will progressively replace its diesel rolling stock from 2029 onwards until the last diesel is withdrawn in 2037.

Hydrogen has been billed as the option for emission-free trains on lines that have not been electrified. However, an advantage of the battery-powered trains is that they can run on both electrified lines, drawing on the power and recharging batteries via the pantograph, and non-electrified lines using the battery power with charging from purpose-built charging islands.

LNVG has not specified what the cost differences are or where they arise. But like hydrogen for road transport, undoubtedly the ‘chicken and egg’ of infrastructure availability vs demand is likely to be a factor.

With hydrogen-powered trains under test in other locations such as Canada, their potential is very much a space to watch.

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.

The project ‘STORM: Data-driven approaches for secure electric grids in communities disproportionately impacted by climate change’ is intended to engage underserved communities in local climate change solutions and increase their situational awareness of the grid as well as to study community engaged operation of local power grids.

The project, which is expected to advance the nation’s smart grid technologies to support these communities, has been awarded an initial $375,000 in funding – half the intended total – from the National Science Foundation’s EPSCoR research stimulation programme.

Other participants include the universities of Maine, South Dakota State and Alaska Fairbanks.

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The project is designed to respond to current resilience challenges, in particular the more frequent and intense extreme weather events and physical and cyber attacks, with three interrelated themes.

Theme 1 is focussed on engagement with underserved communities in local climate change solutions and knowledge translation for microgrid design.

Theme 2 then seeks to increase the situational awareness of underserved communities in order to improve the local power grid resilience through accelerated big data modelling, estimation and secure control frameworks.

A new multi-microgrid system restoration strategy is planned to prioritise critical loads at the community and individual levels based on a new multi-timescale predictive control and estimation framework that utilises grid forming inverters to provide dynamic support during the process.

Novel hardware Trojan prevention, detection and mitigation techniques should advance cyber-attack resilience of the entire system during severe weather.

Theme 3 addresses the development of a regionally relevant cyber-physical research infrastructure for studying community-engaged, data driven operation of power grids.

The new synthetic power systems, climate and socioeconomic data are expected to be immensely valuable to the advancement of data science, machine learning and artificial intelligence applied to the electric industry in these underserved jurisdictions.

The STORM project is expected to benefit from solid existing partnerships including a Department of Energy EPSCoR project on modelling converter-dominated power systems.

The project also builds on partnerships with the Sandia, National Renewable Energy and Pacific Northwest National Laboratories.

In addition, the project will leverage relationships with industry and community partners, including the Kotzebue Electric Association, East River Electric Co-op, Missouri River Energy Services, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, Siemens, Sioux Valley Energy, Sustainable Energy for Galena and Versant Power.

The three projects, part of a broader programme to investigate innovations to deliver large-scale flexibility to the electricity system, now move into phase 2 following the first phase to establish feasibility.

Smart meter based IoT applications

The IoT programme is focussed on trialling smart meter system-based sensor devices and the supporting data management tools.

Five projects were funded in the first phase, of which the two selected for further development of their solutions and to build and deploy demonstrations are the Hildebrand-led ‘Smart metering IoT system’ with funding of £764,323 (approx. $976,000) and the Octopus-led ‘Low cost enabler to connect IoT data to the smart meter system’ with £625,171 ($795,000).

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The ‘Smart metering IoT system’ project is focussed on demonstrating smart sensing of temperature and humidity within a property, using smart meter data accessible through the Data Communication Company’s (DCC) communications network.

In Phase 1 data collected from temperature and humidity sensing were shown to work within the DCC test environments while maintaining world class security and high service levels.

The project innovates by utilising new types of sensor data accessible through smart meters and the DCC network, without requiring additional operational obligations of suppliers.

Other participants include the University of Salford and Utilita conducting in-home trials.

Octopus’s project will build on its proprietary ‘Octopus Home’ product, which will connect IoT sensor devices to the company’s cloud based platform to allow real time insights on new data metrics such as temperature and humidity.

During phase 2 Octopus Energy along with Rufilla, NCC Group, Silicon Labs and the DCC will look at securing Certified Product Assurance (CPA) security certification of Octopus Home and adding new environment sensors to the device as well as connecting a HAN load control switch or standalone auxiliary proportional controller to the smart metering system via Octopus Home

With consumer consent, sensor data would be transmitted via the smart meter network instead of relying on home networking and device specific private cloud services.

The solution should provide real time data captured through the connected IoT devices, increasing options for the monitoring of smart building devices in the home.

Smart meter energy data repository

The smart meter energy data repository programme is aimed to determine the technical and commercial feasibility of such a repository.

From the three phase 1 projects, the ‘Anonymisation enhanced smart meter data repository’ led by Advanced Infrastructure Technology Ltd has been awarded funding of £850,000 ($1,08 million) for the phase 2 proof of concept.

The project’s approach puts privacy in the foreground, exploring new tools and techniques to protect personal data while sharing anonymised trends and insights to help manage the energy system more efficiently and accelerate the transition to net zero.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks will co-create the solution alongside the DCC, drawing on machine learning research co-developed by the University of Sheffield and Advanced Infrastructure to leverage the power of aggregated smart meter data in reducing the cost of heating and powering homes.

Other partners in the consortium are Perse Technology, which provides data services for the energy and carbon markets, N3rgy which will provide technology to test the provision of secure and scalable access to smart energy data, and the Retail Energy Code Company which will provide expertise aligned with the goal to make the retail energy market efficient.

The timescale of the phase 2 projects is expected to be around 15 months.

The capability is intended to offer a low cost option for utilities that use drive-by AMR to detect and manage outages without the requirement for upgrade to an automated metering infrastructure (AMI).

The feature, which is described in a patent, is in essence based on cloud-based signal detection analysis to detect meters that are not transmitting readings and from their GPS coordinates to determine a polygon defining the outage area.

“Effectively responding to and managing outages is critical for all utilities,” said Dan Forman, CEO of Copper Labs.

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“Our goal is to give utility companies the tools they need to quickly identify and decrease the duration of power outages – regardless of the types of metering equipment they currently have in the field – while also empowering homeowners with timely and actionable insights.”

Outage detection has historically been one of the primary motivators for electric utilities to consider the retrofit of AMR systems to AMI.

With Copper Labs’ advanced technology, utility companies can now identify the exact location of outages and efficiently allocate resources for restoration without having to make this shift, the company says in a statement.

The new capability joins a growing collection of offerings for utilities, including a ‘neighbourhood-level detector’ announced earlier in the year, which is designed to ‘smarten’ residential meters at scale.

Copper Labs also is partnering with the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory on a tool to harness meter datasets for outage detection and automated restoration. The technology is due to be tested at 20 rural locations.

Similarly the company has introduced an ‘add-on’ technology for water meters for water leak detection without the need for a full water AMI upgrade.

The pilot, the state’s largest, is planned to install more than 16,000 digital smart water meters at homes and businesses across the city.

The aim is to provide insights on the benefits of the smart meters, including how data can help customers change water use behaviours and which meters work best in local conditions.

The first meters are expected to be installed with about 250 customers in west Perth this month, with the wider rollout planned to take place from October.

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“We know by empowering people with information about how they use water, they’re more likely to take action to reduce their consumption,” says Water Minister Simone McGurk.

“Through this pilot, we’ll gain valuable insights into how to best utilise smart meters in Perth. This will inform the pace and scale of future installations, and help Water Corporation on its journey to become a leading digital utility.”

The Water Corporation already has installed some 40,000 smart meters, particularly in larger commercial properties and in regional areas where there may be property access issues including Kalgoorlie-Boulder in the east, parts of the Pilbara in the north and Yanchep to the north of Perth.

In those locations the technology has been found to improve safety and efficiency by removing the need for the physical meter reading.

The smart water meters transmit data on an hourly basis, which should lead to the early detection of leaks or other unusual water use patterns with their implications for customer bills.

Average rainfall across southern Western Australia has fallen by 20% since the 1970s, leading to an 80% reduction in dam inflows, according to a statement.

This in turn has increased Perth’s reliance on water sources such as desalination.

The smart water meters are expected to support both more efficient use of water resources as well as the Water Corporation’s digitalisation journey.

Trial participants will have access to an online Water Corporation account from around mid-2024.

The pilot is planned to finish in mid-2025.

The utility has reported making progress with the state’s first of its kind community microgrid, which will power around 100 homes in Bawley Point and Kioloa, 250km south of Sydney on Australia’s southeast coast.

The AU$8 million (US$5.3 million) project is on track to be operational by the end of the year, Endeavour Energy has reported.

The community microgrid will act as a self-contained energy system, harnessing electricity from renewable sources including rooftop solar, home-based batteries, and a 3MW grid connected battery, strategically positioned between the two communities.

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This configuration empowers the microgrid to operate autonomously during outages, forming an island of power for the community, a statement reads.

Guy Chalkley, Endeavour Energy’s chief executive officer, said the microgrid will lead the way in making isolated communities more resilient while laying the foundation for future renewable energy solutions.

Bawley Point and Kioloa are both situated on the edge of the Endeavour Energy network and prone to adverse weather events and thus vulnerable to supply disruptions.

“The grid independence provided by this microgrid becomes essential for their survival and safeguarding our regional communities,” he said.

“What makes this microgrid the first of its kind is the customer centric and integrated approach to planning – we can call upon a customer’s energy resources such as rooftop solar and batteries to add resilience to the network and the community’s power supply.”

Endeavour Energy, which reports co-designing the solution in partnership with the local community, anticipate that it will serve as a blueprint for other communities and is exploring additional locations that could benefit from similar microgrid installations.

The new system uses G3-PLC communication between gateways installed at transformer stations and load control devices installed in customer premises to control endpoints including heat pumps, boilers and electric vehicles.

The load control system functions concurrently with the existing G3-PLC enabled AMI rollout.

The G3-PLC coordinator, the nBox-SG at the transformer station, which is supplied by the Swiss connectivity solutions provider Neuron, multiplexes both metering and load control traffic towards their respective backend-systems.

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The load control devices are managed through machine-learning algorithms, which were developed by researchers at ETH Zurich.

This AI/ML logic is hosted in a software container within Neuron’s G3-PLC device and can take load switching decisions based on a variety of locally collected and remotely supplied information.

“We are excited to see this novel application of G3-PLC realising multiple smart grid functions, namely metering and load control,” said Leon Vergeer, general secretary of the G3-Alliance.

“Efficient integration of renewable energies requires real-time control and I am sure this application will find additional adopters in various markets.”

The OrtsNetz project, which was started in October 2021 and runs for four years, is aimed to address consumer energy behaviour in a local energy market in order to manage and reduce peak demand.

It involves approximately 500 Zurich households with other facets including the design and testing of incentives and dynamic tariffs in order to inform regulation and other aspects of Switzerland’s future electricity system.

The project is being supported by the Swiss Federal Ministry of Energy.

EKZ is one of Switzerland’s largest energy suppliers, supplying electricity to approximately 1 million people in the canton of Zurich.

The company also was one of the first in Switzerland to introduce smart meters back in 2013 and currently has more than 210,000 smart meters in its network.