Advanced cables... Transformer sharing... Ontario smart meters

More progress for superconducting cables. A superconducting cable originally developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) will go into use to serve about 20,000 households in the suburban Columbus and Ohio region. The cable was created by Southwire Company and its partners, ORNL, American Electric Power, Praxair, and American Superconductor. Meanwhile, Frost & Sullivan recently selected American Superconductor (AMSC) for its "2006 Enabling Technology Award."

   QuickTake: Superconducting cables have finally hit the tipping point. Although we often talk in this newsletter about computers and electronics, advanced materials are also an important part of the Smart Grid story, and will claim their share of growing sales.

   OakRidge National Laboratory press release

Canada recognizes NERC as official reliability organization. Canada's National Energy Board (NEB) has recognized the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) as its official Electric Reliability Organization. Since the US and Canada share power grid, NERC will enforce and ensure compliance to reliability standards for all the international power lines that fall under NEB's jurisdiction.   

   QuickTake: This move by NEB will bring the USA and Canada at par in terms of reliability standards by enforcing common standards and hence indirectly strengthen interconnection of the grid between the two countries.

   NEB press release

FERC approves transformer sharing. The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) has initiated a Spare Transformer Equipment Program (STEP) for electric transformer sharing among utilities. The agreement also received statutory approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). More than 60% of the utilities under the jurisdiction of FERC have ratified the agreement. Each participating utility is required to maintain an inventory of transformers in various voltage classes. The goal is infrastructure security in an event of deliberate destruction. Total cost will range between $50M to $75M.

   QuickTake: A step in the right direction. But wouldn't it be even better if we were to see more rapid development of "universal" transformers and of standards that would make it easier to mix and match components.

   FERC press release

New transmission projects in Canada. Canada is witnessing a flurry of transmission projects. Sea Breeze Converter Corporation has received approval for a 150kV line running from Vancouver Island to Washington State. Meanwhile AltaLink is seeking permission from the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board to lay a 500kV, 300km transmission line between Calgary and Edmonton at an estimated cost of CAN$450M. 

   QuickTake: After nearly two decades (!) of hemming and hawing, Canada is finally realizing the urgent need to strengthen its transmission system, both for internal use and to allow it to more easily export electricity to the US

   NEB press release

   AltaLink press release

China accepts Echelon's LonWorks technology as standard. Echelon Corporation's LonWorks building automation protocols have been accepted with the Chinese national standard for commercial buildings and residential community construction. LonWorks is the second open standard to be approved recently by the Standardization Administration of China (SAC).

   QuickTake: What does a building automation standard have to do with the Smart Grid? Such standards are the way buildings of the future will talk to smart meters and demand response programs. With China beginning to press forward with Smart Grid initiatives, gaining approval to sell into that enormous market is a key milestone for the LonWorks consortium.

   Echelon press release

Ontario begins partial smart metering rollout. The Ontario Ministry of Energy has approved installation of TUNet^® (Tantalus Utility Network) smart metering solution from Tantalus Systems Corporation for Chatham-Kent Hydro (C-K Hydro). C-K Hydro is one of the first companies to receive authorization after successful completion of an 18-month pilot project. In addition, C-K hydro provided the meter at less than $2 per household, 40% of the cost incurred by some competitors.

   QuickTake: The Ontario smart meter rollout is occurring piecemeal rather than as a single, province-wide rollout. Even so, it will have a big impact on which metering companies emerge as market leaders.

   Tantalus Systems Corporation press release

Transmission companies are suddenly attractive. Michigan-based ITC Holdings Corporation, an independent transmission company, has received conditional approval to acquire Michigan Transco Holdings LP from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Separately, Atlantic Power Holdings, LLC (headquartered at Vancouver) has acquired 100% of Trans-Elect NTD Path 15, LLC (headquartered at Reston) for $85.5M.

   QuickTake: Nobody wanted anything to do with transmission companies a few years back. With the upsurge in transmission projects, they are suddenly in demand again.

   FERC press release

   ITC Holdings press release

    Atlantic Power Corporation press release

Schneider Electric acquires remote management.  A subsidiary of Schneider Electric has acquired Napac SA (headquartered in Paris), a leading French vendor of remote management solutions. The $7.5M company designs and manufactures end-to-end remote management solutions. Its product lines include Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), programmable logic controllers and web interfaces. It sells into the power generation market as well as the Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) sector.

   QuickTake: Schneider has made a series of acquisitions that make it the clear leader on the industrial side of energy automation. Watch for it to begin selling more of those solutions to utilities as part of a distribution automation solution.

   Schneider Electric press release

Hunt Technologies acquires StatSignal Systems. Hunt Technologies of [TO COME] has acquired Atlanta-based StatSignal Systems, Inc. With this acquisition Hunt will be able to offer a two-way mesh network in addition to its other smart metering and communications solutions.

   QuickTake: As predicted earlier this year in GlobalSmartEnergy's Advanced Metering Opportunity Report, metering companies may need to be "communications agnostic" to succeed long term. (GlobalSmartEnergy is the publisher of Smart Grid Newsletter.) That is, they will have to support and supply a wide range of different communications platforms (wireless, cellular, powerline, satellite, etc.) so customers can choose the one best for their situation.

   Hunt Technologies press release

   GlobalSmartEnergy Advanced Metering Opportunity Report

San Diego Smart Grid Summit. The University of California, San Diego's Energy Policy Initiative Center, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy's Modern Grid Initiative, will host the San Diego Smart Grid Summit on October 25-26, 2006. The  Summit will provide an overview of the Smart Grid concept and a look at the latest progress in demonstrating and deploying Smart Grid technologies. It will also explore whether modernizing the grid could advance statewide goals as expressed in California’s Energy Action Plan II, and regional energy policy goals as stated in the Regional Energy Strategy.  EPIC will also present the results of its Smart Grid Study, which assesses the business case for implementing a Smart Grid in the San Diego region.

The event includes regional, state, and national experts and leaders in the energy industry, including:

·         Senator Christine Kehoe, CA Senate Energy, Utilities, and Communications Committee

·         Kurt Yeager, Founder of the Galvin Electricity Initiative and President Emeritus, Electricity Power Research Institute

·         Smart Grid Newsletter Editor Jesse Berst