18 Nov 2011
Brazil has the largest electricity market in Latin America. 97% of its households have access to grid electricity. Energy consumption is expected to rise sharply. This is due to a projected GDP growth between 2010 and 2013, which will exceed the US, Canada. The International Energy Association projects that the rate of energy consumption for...
The country’s higher rate of consumption has resulted in power outages. There will be a further increase in consumption of 5.3% per year, between 2009 and 2019. The growing demand needs a total investment of US$128bn. Some analysts blame the pressured infrastructure onan “unwieldy bureaucracy and political system.” Richard Dubois, infrastructure partner at PwC in São Paulo, says that “there is a chronic lack of planning”.
The National Interconnected...
16 May 2012
Aussie’s NSW biodiesel plant gets go ahead … while Kiwis prepare for GreenWave’s easy-to-use HEMs … Origin Energy enters record-breaking deal … and NZ smart homes project gets top tech platform!
EnergyBusinessNews.com: New South Wales biodiesel plant ago
Lachlan Colquhoun announced that NSW Premier, Barry O’Farrell, gave the green light to a US$273m soybean processing and biodiesel production facility. The Port Kembla, south-Sydney factory will produce soybean meal, used in stock feed, and also soy biodiesel, to be used as fuel.
The plant will produce 288 million litersof biodiesel annually to supply to major companies like Caltex, Xstrata and BHP. The company in charge of the...
25 Jan 2012
Delay in German Smart Grid, Oracle looks at Smart Grid challenges and Germany’s renewable plans.
Spiegel: Demand Pushes Power Grid to the Limit.
The article reports on how Germany’s electrical upgrade, which is behind schedule, may stifle the country’s plans to significantly increase its renewable energy usage.
German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, aims to make renewable energy account for four-fifths of the total consumption, by 2050. There is talk of a four-year delay in the development of Germany’s new high-voltage smart grid, the "energy autobahn."
The...
20 Mar 2012
LIBERTY LAKE, Wash. (NASDAQ:ITRI) announced today that it has signed an agreement to acquire privately held SmartSynch, Inc. in a transaction valued at US$100m.
The acquisition will bring greater choice to utility customers across the spectrum of smart metering deployments and strengthen Itron's integrated cellular communications offering. The parties expect the transaction to close in the second quarter of 2012.
"SmartSynch is a compelling strategic acquisition that strengthens our position in the industry and with our energy and water utility customers," said
LeRoy Nosbaum, Itron president and chief executive officer. "...
28 Mar 2012
South Korea embraces smart meters … as Bihar goes from zero to surplus … Japan rebuilds Fukushima with geothermal plants... while Russia stays power subsidy … and two more Asian countries get in on solar.
Smart Planet: South Korea rolls out smart meters for half of the nation
Charlie Osborne, at SmartPlanet.com, says South Korea plans to install smart meters in half of the country’s households by 2016. The move would cut electricity consumption equivalent to the projected cost of a nuclear plant.
Despite opposition from citizens and other interest groups, installation of the smart meters will go ahead. The South Korean government has pledged US$1.3bn to support the scheme. If the 2016...
04 Apr 2012
US army to march on renewables … and 12 billing and payment methods to shape-up bottom lines … new smart tech for smart grid … while Seabrook nuclear is safe for now!
Smart Grid News: Army ups the ante for renewables (7 billion worth)
Jesse Berst of Smart Grid news feels it is likely that the military will be the primary driver for the smart grid of the future. The Department of Defense announced its intention for a 25% renewable energy portfolio by 2025, which requires grid interconnectivity, and the US Army is already an early proponent of microgrids and energy storage.
Berst reports that the US Army will partner with private sector investors with a...
10 Apr 2012
Huawei and Landis+Gyr sign a joint agreement to develop UK smart metering solutions ahead of the national rollout.
What happened
Chinese technology leader Huawei and smart meter manufacturer Landis+Gyr are joining forces to develop smart metering products for the UK by mid 2012, reports Smart Meters. The collaboration comes ahead of the UK’s planned smart meter rollout, whereby the UK government plans to install a smart meter in every British household by 2019, writes Manchester Evening News.
The companies will develop a "universal communications hub" for power utilities and...
06 Apr 2012
The electric industry is good at building things. That’s how it solves problems. Is there a threat of blackouts? Develop a new natural gas-fired plant. Worried about climate change? Build wind and solar power. Does electricity cost too much? Install a transmission line to import cheaper power.
But build-to-solve represents only half of the equation in the new world of smart grid. The other half, the part that stumps the industry, is solve-without-building.
Rather than adding more energy, smart grid tries to wring maximum efficiency out of the system by changing the way we consume electricity. But it turns out, trying to direct human energy behavior makes cat herding look easy. To get people to pay attention to their energy use, utilities and private companies are...
15 Mar 2012
According to Itron, Centerpoint Energy, Texas have installed 2.2 million smart meters.
Coupled with its CNP smart grid system, it is eliminating manual reads, maximizing efficiencies and collecting more detailed data, more frequently - for 5 million residents.
Source:
Itron: We’ve been busy.
15 Mar 2012
Utility privacy in the spotlight … while data focus shifts to customer information and billing … and smart grid benefits worth trillions, but still cost billions!
Engerati: SDG&E privacy policy
Jenni McCann of Engerati writes that San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) and the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, Canada released a joint paper on how SDG&E integrated “Privacy by Design” into its smart grid initiative.
“Privacy by Design” is essentially a rule book for IT operators on data handling and its principles are summarized as – “privacy by default in all...
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