Albuquerque smart grid demo pulls in heavy hitters from Japan

A who's who of Japanese companies -- Shimizu, Toshiba, Sharp, Meidensha, Tokyo Gas, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Fuji Electric, Furukawa Electric and The Furukawa Battery Co -- are joining forces with Public Service Company of New Mexico, Sandia National Labs, the University of New Mexico, Accenture and Itochu on a smart grid demonstration project in the Albuquerque business district.  According to the announcement, the demonstration will use an existing three-story commercial building with approximately 7,000 square meters in total floor space and an electric power load near 400kW. A microgrid to supply power from the demand side will be installed in the building from power sources consisting of a 50kW photovoltaic power generation system, a 240kW gas-engine generator, 80kW fuel cells and a 90kW battery system. By controlling each of these power generation systems, the two-year demonstration will:

·         Perform demand and supply adjustment within the building based on requests from a commercial electric utility supplier

·         Operate the power generation systems according to energy and heat demand within the building itself

·         Compensate for power output fluctuations in the PV power generation system of the regional utility company

Operational study of rapid recovery transformers kicking off in Texas

We told you in March about the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) designing a system to replace transformers at record speed. Now EPRI, the Department of Homeland Security, DOE, CenterPoint  Energy and transformer manufacturer ABB  are kicking off a year-long operational evaluation of new, prototype recovery transformers they say could provide enhanced recovery capabilities from transformer-related outages. According to the announcement, while extra high voltage (EHV) transformers are critical components of the electric transmission system, they often weigh hundreds of tons, are too large to transport by road and are difficult to replace.  The prototype recovery transformers under evaluation are smaller, easier to transport, and operational in only a few days. 

UK project will evaluate low voltage current sensor technologies

Massachusetts-based Ambient is making its first foray into the European market with a trial of its Power Quality Monitoring application and energy sensing equipment. Ambient is part of the Low Carbon Networks Fund overseen by UK regulator OFGEM and is being run by UK Distribution Network Operators (DNOs), Western Power Distribution, and UK Power Networks. The focus is evaluation of low voltage current sensor technologies and how they can assist the network operators in running their grids. As Dave Openshaw, UK Power Networks’ Head of Future Networks, explained: "The predicted future growth in numbers of electric vehicles, heat pumps and micro-generation means that network operators will need much greater visibility of power flows and voltage quality on our low voltage networks. We are therefore happy to be working with Ambient and other sensor manufacturers to help us evaluate the contribution that current sensor technologies can make towards meeting our future need for critical data."

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