Grids & Integration

The Chinese state-owned State Grid Corporation of China has been attempting to acquire a 20% stake in German transmission system operator, 50Hertz for some time now. After the intervention of Germany’s Federal Government, however, this share will now go to domestic development bank, KfW.

The storage system supplier is providing its technology to the Isles of Scilly as part of an ERDF-funded project to meet the remote islands’ energy demands more cheaply and cleanly. Until now islanders used fossil fuels and electricity from mainland Britain at high tariffs, prompting energy poverty for many.

GE Power Grid Solutions has presented a new white paper detailing the opportunities and challenges of smart grid applications in Sub-Saharan Africa. The report says that updating the centrally designed grid to expand and improve resilience may not be the most economical way to ensure energy access to the households in the region.

High-ranking officials from China and the EU have signed a joint statement to foster technological and political co-operation in clean energy. The regions will also develop emissions trading systems further, with officials seeing such schemes as a policy tool to foster innovation for a low-carbon economy.

UN delegates are meeting in New York to negotiate further realization of the Sustainable Development Goals. One of the goals is to ‘Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.’ And Bloomberg NEF argues that thanks to new technology this goal is more feasible than ever, and that delegates should focus on building financial and regulatory frameworks to enable large scale micro-grid development.

Gogla has released a report showing the positive economic effects of deploying small-scale pay-as-you-go solar systems in off-grid regions. More than half of the survey’srespondents reported having increased economic activity, with many of those starting new businesses or significantly increasing their household income.

Following the U.K. government’s announcement to significantly increase EV numbers on its roads, a call for applications was announced. Ramping up EV numbers does necessitate a convenient and low-cost charging infrastructure. To achieve this, public administration offices will fund trial phases of promising concepts. Businesses can apply until August 29.

The virtual power plant (VPP) solutions provider connected its product with a 2 MW storage system in Belgium. It will be the country’s first storage system to take part in the grid’s frequency control reserve.

The project connects four to six households, and lets dwellers pre-purchase daily access to electricity using a mobile app. A successful trial phase has just been finished and the executing association, Nanoé Développement has set new goals to reach in the near future.

InnoEnergy has launched its energy management platforms with local partners in Sweden. The platform would help integrate renewable energy resources through battery storage management algorithms. An expansion into other markets is planned already.