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Issue 3 | 2019

Issue 3 2019

UTILITY XCEL ASIAFocus on

MODERNISATION

AND

AUSTRALIA ENERGY

INTERVIEW

https://www.smart-energy.com/

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SMART ENERGY INTERNATIONAL ISSUE – 3 | 2019 1

In this edition

6 Cover storyNew protection standards for all

The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is currently working on a new series of standards that covers the functional requirements of measuring relays and related equipment used to protect electrical distribution and transmission systems.

PG 32

smar

t-en

ergy

.com

Issue 3 | 2019

Issue 3 2019

UTILITY XCEL ASIAFocus on

MODERNISATION

AND

AUSTRALIA ENERGY

INTERVIEW

Grid intelligence16 The changing landscape of smart metering

The smart electric meter market is evolving with a healthy spate of new deployments and an influx of second-generation upgrade projects.

World Energy Congress 201921 Energy security: How has it changed and what might it look like in the future?

23 Speaker insights: World Energy Congress 2019

Grid Evolution24 Decarbonisation will happen

26 100% carbon free by 2050 – achieving the Xcel Energy goal

28 Carbon-free – are we at a tipping point?

Grid operations19 Addressing our floppy disc power grid

Patrick Lee looks at the challenges faced by utilities wanting to expand their renewable energy portfolios.

29 Smart street lights, communications and the road to smart cities

Nicholas Nhede examines how smart street lighting projects are being deployed as part of broader smart city initiatives in Australia.

Asian Utility Week special supplement

End-to-end power solutions

33 Special supplement: Asian Utility Week

Special supplement: Asian Utility Week34 Joining forces for end-to-end power solutions

The co-location of POWERGEN Asia, Asian Utility Week, DISTRIBUTECH Asia, SolarVision and Energy Capital Leaders in 2019 provides you with one show covering the whole value chain of power and energy.

36 2019 – the year of collaboration and opportunity

In preparation for Asian Utility Week, this year taking place in Malaysia, Smart Energy International examines the role of utility Tenaga Nasional Berhard – or TNB – the largest utility company in Malaysia.

40 Financing Asia’s smart city ambitions

With more than two thirds of the world’s population expected to live in urban areas by 2050 urbanisation presents a unique set of challenges in the areas of governance, organisational and technological advancement.

42 Renewable generation on the rise in APAC

Renewable energy investment in Asia excluding China will overtake spending on upstream oil and gas projects in the region as soon as next year.

44 IIoT - the challenge and the opportunity

Contributing editor Kelvin Ross explores the Industrial IoT space.

SMART ENERGY INTERNATIONAL ISSUE – 3 | 20192

In this edition

Regular features4 Editor’s note: Challenging

perceptions and exploring the future

8 Trending on smart-energy.com

80 Ad index

Australian special supplement

57 Special focus: Power + Utilities Australia

Business and strategy46 AI is the new electricity

52 Key processes to reduce non-technical losses

68 Preparing for electrification doing it right

Focus on new technology56 Bringing a second life to EV batteries

70 EVs on the grid challenges and opportunities

73 The road to conductive convergence

76 Driven by storage: the journey to renewables in Australia

78 Augmented reality: transformation in utility operations

African Utility Week/POWERGEN Africa32 Do you need community buy-in for digital transformation?

How utilities can use technology to improve customer service and ultimately drive revenue may not be as clear cut for them as we may wish.

Company showcase14 5 considerations for water utilities wanting to go ‘smart’

50 Evaluation of power supply for remote control equipment

Power + Utilities Australia58 Power + Utilities Australia overview

The 2019 Power & Utilities Australia conference and exhibition, created with the co-location of several established power and utility events, focuses on strategies and solutions along the entire electric power supply chain.

62 Australia’s biggest behind-the-meter storage project goes live

UK energy storage company redT has switched on a 1MW facility at Australia’s largest university – marking the country’s largest behind-the-meter commercial and industrial installation to date.

63 Could the solar boom bust the grid?

With the growth of solar energy generation in Australia, what are the benefits and challenges posed to grid operators to accommodate increased capacity from distributed resources?

65 Falling behind ‘down under’

As in many developed countries, Australia’s grid infrastructure is ageing but state-led infrastructure modernisation has been ongoing since 2009.

PG 57

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EDITORIAL

I like having my perceptions challenged. I see it as a means of growing and learning and because I know I don’t know everything, it’s generally not too hard to keep an open enquiring mind.

This edition, my perception was challenged in a big way when I read the article on communications [pg 29] written by my colleague Nicholas Nhede, in which he discusses the developments happening in the Australian City of ... Darwin. This small city, far away from the major developments of Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane, has been appointed to a strategic position in the GoSmart initiative, which includes cities such as Taipei and London. Not only that, but this little city was named one of the smart cities of 2019 and was the first Australian city to qualify for smart city funding. Darwin is boxing far about its weight category.

Our focuses in this edition have been many – Asia, Australia, innovation and new technology

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Disclaimer: The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publishers. Whilst every effort is made to ensure accuracy the publisher and editor cannot be held responsible for any inaccurate information supplied and/or published.

Production: Reproduction by Spintelligent and printing by Tandym Print.Subscription: $40 / Euro35, for 5 editions.

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CHALLENGING PERCEPTIONS AND EXPLORING THE FUTURE

Managing director: David Ashdown

Publishing director:Ross Hastie

Deputy publishing director: Bernice Bredenkamp

Sales manager: Errol Bryce

Sales executives:Amelie Lozano Alick LeeTarryn BesterEster Kabeya

Editor: Claire Volkwyn

Production:Mandy Rust

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Staff writers: Nicholas NhedePhilip Gordon

smart-energy.com Smart Energy International @smartenergyTV Smart Energy International

Claire Volkwyn, Smart Energy International editor, speaks to Joao Duarte, Deputy Director of the ENEL Foundation, during the recent African Utility Week in Cape Town.

normal on our distribution grid, we ask what the technology of the future will be. We explore the changing dynamic of electric mobility [pg 68] and moves by countries around the world to reduce emissions through the removal of petrol and diesel vehicles. We explore what that means in terms of the road infrastructure and how smart highways could make range anxiety a thing of the past [pg 73]. The plans to increase the number of electric vehicles on our roads significantly raise questions about charging, demand response and peak usage and this, in turn, brings us to the question of vehicle to grid technology [pg 70].

Speaking of new technology – what role will augmented reality [pg 78] play in the development of our utility, power, water or gas sectors? How will it change the way we teach, learn and identify problems, work remotely and overcome the issue of, almost literally, being able to be in different places at the same time?

We live in a time of such exciting development and opportunity – come explore with us!

Until next time!

Claire

Official Publication

– and I have learned something new from each and every one of the articles featured.

From Malaysia’s Tenaga Nasional Berhad’s desire to be one of the top 10 companies in the world [pg 36] to why energy security is more of a consideration today than ever before [pg 21]; how artificial intelligence is the new frontier [pg 46], to how Xcel Energy in the United States plans on going carbon free by 2050 [pg 26].

Got a story to share? Email us at [email protected]

…climate obligations now make up a large portion of

any utility’s future planning.

In each of the articles, we hear from professionals dedicated to delivering the best outcomes for their customers, but never forgetting that climate obligations now make up a large portion of any utility’s future planning.

As the roles of consumers change and distributed energy resources become the new

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COVER STORY

NEW PROTECTION STANDARDS FOR ALLThe International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is currently working on a new series of standards that covers the functional requirements of measuring relays and related equipment used to protect electrical distribution and transmission systems.

There is a common belief that these standards will only be of interest to relay manufacturers, but in reality, they also promise big benefits for

the entire protection relay community. Megger’s Andrea Bonetti, who is a member of the committee developing the standards, explains more about them.

Electrical systems are becoming more and more complex and sophisticated. As a

consequence the protection systems are also becoming ever more complex and, at the same time, the consequences of protection failures are becoming costlier and more disruptive. It is clear, therefore, that there is a real need for internationally recognised standards to define the functionality of the key components – the protection relays and their protection functions – that form the basis of these systems. To meet this need, the IEC is currently working on the new

IEC 60255-1xx series of standards. Before looking at the benefits these can provide, however, let us consider a little background information.

The new standards are being developed and published by Maintenance Team 4 (MT4) of IEC Technical Committee 95 (TC 95) which, according to the IEC website, has as its terms of reference “Standardisation of measuring relays and protection equipment used in various fields of electrical engineering covered by IEC, taking into account combinations of devices to form schemes for power system protection including the control, monitoring and process interface equipment used with those systems.”

It can be seen that these terms are very wide ranging and, as a result, there will ultimately be many standards in the series. Some of these have already been published while


COVER STORY

Alan Goodson is the Megger Sales Manager for the Southern and Eastern African markets. He’s been with the company for 10 years – and still going strong! He works with distributors, electricians, colleges and power utilities to provide guidance and testing products for domestic and industrial installation (including railway, aviation, automotive, wind farms &co). For more information, contact Alan at [email protected]

others are in various stages of preparation. Examples are IEC 60255-121, which relates to distance protection; IEC 60255-151, which relates to current protection; and IEC 60255-127, which relates to voltage protection. What all of the standards have in common is that they specify minimum functional requirements, testing methodologies and methods of performance evaluation, as well as the format for publishing the test results for each function. The aim is to help users with relay selection, setting, commissioning, application and operation.

At the time of writing, the IEC 60255-1xx standards that have already been published are:• IEC 60255-151:2009 – Functional

requirements for over/under current protection.

• IEC 60255-127:2010 – Functional requirements for over/under voltage protection.

• IEC 60255-149:2013 – Functional requirements for thermal electrical relays.

• IEC 60255-121:2014 – Functional requirements for distance protection.

Work on the following standards is at an advanced stage, and they are expected to be approved and published before the end of 2019:• IEC 60255-181 – Functional requirements for

frequency protection.• IEC 60255-187-1 – Functional requirements

for restrained and unrestrained differential protection of motors, generators and transformers.

These standards are in the course of preparation, and they are planned for release from 2020 onward:• IEC 60255-187-2 – Functional requirements

for busbar differential protection.• IEC 60255-187-3 – Functional requirements

for biased (percentage) differential relays for transmission lines.

In addition, the TC95/MT4 committee is looking at the application in relay protection systems of the IEC 61850 standard, which relates to communication networks and systems for power utility automation. To facilitate this work, the committee has created a special ad hoc group (AHG3) to address “the use of digital sampled values instead of analogue inputs.” It is expected that the work being carried out by this group will, at some point in the future, impact standards in the IEC 60255-1xx series.

Having explained the background for these standards and discussed their current status, let us move on to consider their applications and benefits. Many engineers and technicians who work with relay protection systems believe that the standards apply only to relay

Many engineers and technicians who work with relay protection systems believe

that the standards apply only to relay manufacturers and that as users they do

not need to be aware of the contents.

manufacturers and that as users they do not need to be aware of the contents. This is unfortunate because – although it is certainly true that the standards apply to relay manufacturers – it is equally true that users will benefit from knowing about and understanding the issues the standards address. Relay users also need to take the content of the standards into account in their work.

It is anticipated, for example, that the standards will provide an excellent reference for relay acceptance tests performed by end users. This shouldn’t be taken to imply, however, that the standards include pass/fail criteria for tests – they don’t, except in a few very particular cases. Instead users are expected to create their own “user profiles” which include acceptance criteria and requirements relating to their specific applications. In creating these profiles, however, the users will be guided by the information and definitions contained in the standards.

The standards also contain details of declarations that relay manufacturers are required to make to aid the engineering processes involved in the protection of electrical substations. Knowing that the manufacturers must provide this information will make it easier for engineers to design reliable protection systems.

As an example, particular emphasis is given by the standards to the current transformer dimensioning formulas that manufacturers are obliged to provide, which now have to be in a standardised mathematical format. In fact, gaining a consensus in the protection relay community about the

importance of these formulas for relay users is, in my opinion, one of the most important goals achieved by the TC95/MT4 committee. Relay manufacturers are required to carry out extensive testing to comply with this requirement, which will result in benefits that include easier, safer and more reliable design and engineering of protection systems.

It is worth mentioning that the standards do not include details of specific commissioning or routine tests for protection functions. Nevertheless, there are several clauses that can be applied to these tests and doing so will help to minimise the risk of misunderstandings about validation in the field compared with the performance declared by the relay manufacturer or requested by the user. In addition, manufacturers of relay test equipment will be expected to implement the definitions and test methodologies detailed in the standards, in relation to both commissioning and maintenance tests.

In conclusion, we have seen that for relay manufacturers, the standards provide detailed requirements to which they must adhere. For users they provide clear and unambiguous guidance on what the performance relays should provide and the documentation they can expect from the manufacturers. And for manufacturers of protection relay test equipment, the standards dictate the testing methods they will be expected to support in the future. In short, standards in the new IEC 60255-1xx series are relevant and important to everyone whose work involves relay protection systems, whatever their role in this wonderful technical community. SEI


Trending on smart-energy.comSiemens to sell majority stake in power and gas businesses

German multinational conglomerate company Siemens will be selling off the €30 billion majority of its Gas and Power division.

The division to be sold will include the firm’s conventional power generation, transmission, oil and gas businesses, and a 59% stake in Siemens’ Gamesa Renewable Energy.

Selling the shares will help the company meet its medium-term growth and profitability goals by “clearly focusing its portfolio on dynamic growth markets and efficiency gains,” according to a statement.

The decision to sell the stakes was announced on 07 May, as part of the company’s Vision 2020+ strategy and is likely to affect 80,000 employees.

A new stock exchange listing for the company is expected by September 2020.

Siemens will offer financial services, regional sales networks and the licence to use the ‘Siemens brand’ to the company that will buy the stakes.

Joe Kaeser, CEO of Siemens AG, said: “Combining our portfolio for conventional power generation with power supply from renewable energies will enable us to fully meet customer demand. It will also allow us to provide an optimised and, when necessary, combined range of offerings from a single source.”

Mitsubishi mergerFollowing the release of the news, Japanese multinational engineering, electrical equipment and electronics company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries reported that it had initiated talks with Siemens AG for a possible purchase or joint venture agreement.

The agreement would see Mitsubishi taking over Siemens’ gas turbine business.

The UK installs 1 millionth SMETS2 meter

The UK’s Data Communications Company (DCC) has confirmed a major milestone in the country’s rollout of smart meters: a total of 1 million SMETS2 smart meters has been installed.

Approximately 500,000 units have been installed since 21 March 2019, when the UK reached its half a million milestone by installing a meter in the city of Slough.

More than 7,000 SMETS2 meters are being installed per day, from 1,000 units per day in June of 2018.

Angus Flett, DCC’s chief executive, said: “Credit to the energy companies, distribution network operators, and all the organisations in the supply chain who’ve worked really hard with us to make this a reality.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy says the rate of installation needs to double to 8 or 9 million per annum, from the current 4 or 5 milliion per year to reach just 75% of the national target.

Consumer watchdogs say energy suppliers would have to fit 30 meters every sixty seconds for the next two years to replace 46 million existing meters by the 2020 deadline.

As smart meter rollout intensifies, the UK is also tasked with installing the communications infrastructure needed to provide connectivity for units at a very fast pace.

Dan Lambert, chief operations officer at DCC, said: “This is one of the most far-reaching national infrastructure programmes Britain has seen. At scale, the reach of the DCC’s central network will surpass that of superfast broadband or digital terrestrial TV. “

The networks deployed for smart metering in the UK is providing over 30 million communications per day as of April 2019.

Swiss utility installs the country’s largest energy storage plant

Switzerland’s biggest energy distribution company Elektrizitätswerke des Kantons Zürich (EKZ) partnered with NEC Energy Solutions to install the country’s largest energy storage system, a 18MW/7.5MWh battery.

Located at a substation in Volketswil near Zurich, the battery will provide primary frequency reserve and ancillary services to ensure the reliability of the main grid during peak periods.

The system will provide energy equivalent of the daily electricity consumption of 600 average four-person households and is expected to have a payback of 5-7 years.

Marina González Vayá, energy storage specialist at EKZ, said: “Battery storage is a vital part of future energy supply.

“The now-completed storage system contributes to the stability of continental Europe’s power grid.”

The project is part of efforts by EKZ to modernise its grid network and enable the integration of more renewable energy resources

LoRaWAN and DLMS define new communication profile for LPWAN

The LoRa Alliance, an association of firms backing the development and use of open LoRaWAN protocols for IoT low-power wide-area networks (LPWAN) has signed an agreement with the DLMS User Association to define a new DLMS communication profile for LPWAN technologies such as LoRaWAN.

The LoRa Alliance and the DLMS User Association will share knowledge, develop documentation and educate the market ecosystem about the benefits of using the DLMS application protocol and data model over LoRaWAN networks.

Using DLMS over LoRaWAN networks will help utilities to

optimise smart metering services as well as to enter into the smart homes, smart buildings, and smart cities sectors.

“With more than 500 members, over 100 LoRaWAN network operators and coverage in over 100 countries, LoRaWAN is the most adopted LPWAN protocol for the IoT,” said Donna Moore, CEO and chairwoman of the LoRa Alliance.

Tony Field, chairman of the DLMS UA Board of Directors, added: “The collaborative creation of the new profile will open new possibilities for users of DLMS/COSEM over LPWAN IoT network technologies such as LoRaWAN. This development leverages the flexibility, efficiency and security of DLMS/COSEM, and its inbuilt ability to operate over virtually any communications technology.”


TRENDING ON SMART-ENERGY.COM

Enel buys $900 million-worth of assets from GE

American multinational conglomerate General Electric (GE) has sold approximately 650MW of renewable energy projects, worth $900 million, to Italian multinational utility Enel for $256 million.

The seven projects acquired by Enel were developed by the utility’s subsidiary Enel Green North America Renewable Energy Partners in partnership with GE Capital’s Energy Financial Services.

The projects are located in Utah, Kansas, Nevada and North Dakota.

GE will use the money raised in the deal to pay off its $121 billion debt whilst Enel will expand its portfolio of renewables.

The deal leaves approximately 1.1GW of wind and hydroelectric assets owned by the Enel and GE partnership.

The latest news and views available on

smart-energy.comUK to create the world’s first carbon negative power station

Drax Group, Equinor and National Grid Ventures will explore the potential for a large-scale carbon capture usage and storage (CCUS) network and a hydrogen production facility to be built in the Humber region of England by the mid-2020s.

The three signed a memorandum of understanding to explore possible opportunities to scale-up a trial carbon capture and storage project at Drax, and create the world’s first carbon negative power station within the next ten years.

The partners will also explore potential development of a large-scale hydrogen demonstrator at the Drax site by the mid-2020s as well as other strategic economic opportunities for hydrogen in the region.

Drax Group chief executive Will Gardiner said: “The Committee on Climate Change was clear – the UK needs both bioenergy with CCS and hydrogen production at scale by 2030 to achieve a ‘net zero’ carbon economy.

“This partnership is committed to meeting this challenge, putting Great Britain at the

heart of the global energy revolution.

“With [a] carbon negative power station, the Humber region could lead the world in new technologies that can deliver for the climate and the economy, helping to create a cleaner environment for future generations whilst creating new jobs and export opportunities for British businesses

“We’re excited to be working with National Grid Ventures and Equinor on this project – for decades the Humber has been a strategically important industrial cluster for the UK – it has the skills, industrial capability and offshore storage to transform itself into a cutting-edge low carbon hub.”

Equinor executive vice president for marketing, midstream and processing Irene Rummelhoff said: “As a global leader in CCS and a major gas supplier to the UK for many decades, we are committed to helping shape sustainable solutions for a low carbon future.

“We are pleased to be partnering with Drax and National Grid Ventures in looking at how the Humber region can be a launch pad for wider decarbonisation

in the UK economy and be an example for others to learn from.

“Globally we must see substantial decarbonisation of industry and energy in the years ahead, and we believe CCS and hydrogen must play a significant role in this.”

National Grid Ventures chief operating officer, global transmission Jon Butterworth said: “We all agree that we must act now to start delivering a ‘net-zero’ carbon economy.

“That’s why we’re delighted to be working together with Equinor and Drax on a project of such great potential for the UK and the Humber region and leveraging our skills and expertise to enable this transition

“We have seen rapid progress in decarbonising energy through established technologies such as wind power, solar and electricity interconnectors.

“CCUS and hydrogen create a new pathway to greater decarbonisation of the energy system and provide the platform for decarbonising the other areas of our economy, which will be to the benefit of current and future generations.”



Where two of the world’s biggest utilities are investing

Based purely on market value, the majority of the world’s biggest utility companies are located in the US and Europe. Highest ranked is US utility Duke Energy, with a customer base of 7.7 million electric and 1.6 million gas customers and as of mid-2018 – according to Investopedia – with an operating revenue of $23.9 billion, market capitalisation of $52 billion and $133 billion in capital assets.

North America: Largest food distributor pilots e-truck in California

DoT transportation, the largest food redistribution company in Nortrh America, has partnered with industrial electric vehicles (EVs) company Orange EV to deploy its first electric truck in Modesto, California.

DoT Transportation has used the Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project to purchase the e-trucks.

The e-truck is charged during breaks to provide services for 12 hours every day and increases the company’s energy efficiency by 400% over traditional diesel systems.

Orange EV is also providing DoT Transportation with daily truck data using a web-based telematics system to understand system status, fuel efficiency, cost savings and more.

Typical distribution centre operations report savings of up to $40,000+ per truck annually in fuel, maintenance and emission control, according to Orange EV.

Kevin Buss, director of fleet maintenance at Dot Transportation, said: “Making the move to pure-electric aligns with Dot’s mission to implement innovative, efficient solutions that contribute to the success of its food industry partners and their sustainability objectives.”

Sustainability efforts being deployed by Dots Transportation include installing solar panels, motion-activated LED lighting in warehouses, specialized insulation on freezers and refrigerators to reduce energy consumption.

Duke Energy has focused in emerging business cases or technologies including electric vehicles (EVs), renewable energy, smart meters, workforce development and management, and demand response and energy efficiency.

In what is believed to be one of the largest utility investments in EV pilots in the US, Duke Energy has recently asked the North Carolina Utilities Commission to spend $76 million to provide consumers with incentives to install EV charging stations.

If approved, the pilot will lead to almost 2,500 new charging stations and an increase in the use of electric buses for schools and public transportation. North Carolina currently has 10,000 plug-in vehicles and 600 public charging stations.

In March 2019, the US Energy Information Administration released a new report stating North Carolina expanded its solar power output by 36% in 2018, to be the country’s number two solar producer.

California state is ranked number one in solar adoption in the US.

Duke Energy connected more than 500MW of new solar capacity – enough to power about 100,000 homes at peak output in 2018.

The utility is operating more than 35 solar facilities in North Carolina and has invested more than $1 billion in renewable energy in the state.

Duke Energy has also engaged in a number of partnerships, including with Carolinas Energy Workforce Consortium, S.C Technical College and solution providers to ensure its workforce is qualified to operate the next-generation technologies the utility is adopting.

The utility has also appeared in reports on smart meters published by research firms as a leader in implementing the technology.

“North America has seen several new smart meter projects announcements from larger utilities. Announcements made include by Dominion Virginia, Duke Energy Florida, and Tampa Electric,” according to an AMI tracker issued by Navigant Research during the second quarter of 2018.

Number two is French utility Engie, with €65 billion in revenues and market capitalisation of €31.52 billion, as of June 2018.

In an effort to create new revenue streams by tapping into emerging business cases, as well as contribute towards the energy transition, Engie signed a deal with Chilean public transport operator Transantiago to electrify the public transport system in Santiago.

The deal will enable some 100 electric buses to be powered by 100% renewable energy as well as the installation of 50 EV charging stations.

To expand its global presence, Engie has acquired Swiss smart home energy management solutions firm Tiko Energy. The acquisition is expected to help Engie to achieve its decentralisation and digitisation goals by offering services in the water heaters, heat pumps, solar panels, batteries and electrical outlets segments.

Trends within the energy and utility industry are highlighting the need and positive response by energy providers to invest in new business cases and technologies for survival.

Merger and acquisition of startups has become a vital element for utilities wanting to improve their offerings to meet evolving customer demands.

Moreover, the two way flow of energy and data between the utility and the consumer seems to be opening up new possibilities for innovation within the industry. Hence, collaboration with third parties has evolved from being a threat for utility operations and revenue generation to being a source of new ideas and revenue streams.

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US DoE issues $36 million for R&D of solar and security technologies

The US Department of Energy has selected projects that will benefit from $36 million in funding issued by the Solar Energy Technologies Office to conduct research and development of next generation solar systems.

University Amount

Arizona State University (Tempe, Arizona) $3.6 million

Kansas State University (Manhattan, Kansas) $2.9 million

North Carolina State University (Raleigh, North Carolina) $3 million

Siemens Corporation, Corporate Technology (Princeton, New Jersey) $5 million

University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Charlotte, North Carolina) $3.7 million

University of Oklahoma (Norman, Oklahoma) $4.5 million

University of South Florida (Tampa, Florida) $1 million

Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. (Knoxville, Tennessee) with multiple partners, including Pecan Street and Austin Energy $5 million

Electrical Distribution Design, Inc. (Blacksburg, Virginia), partnering with Pepco $3 million

University of Utah (Salt Lake City, Utah), partnering with PacificCorp $4 million

The aim is to strengthen the country’s grid resilience by enabling grid operators to rapidly detect physical and cyber-based abnormalities as large amounts of solar capacity are integrated into the power system.

The funding will also help the US to expanded its portfolio of solar assets in a cost-effective and

reliable manner and to recover quickly from power outages, in many cases without human control.

Technologies to be researched include “grid-forming” inverters, cyber-secure communications for critical grid components during emergency operations, smart sensors and automated control schemes.

South Australia moves to vanadium redox-flow storage as base technology

A new energy storage system will be built to offer multiple grid services such as voltage compensation, reactive power, frequency regulation services and renewable base load in South Australia.

Renewable energy firm Pangea Energy has signed an agreement with Celltube to build a 50MW/200MWh energy storage system on grid scale level in Port Augusta.

The $200 million energy storage system will be integrated with a planned 50MW solar project at the same site.

Constructions will start in late 2019 with plans to be operational in 2020.

The project falls under efforts by Australia to expand its

http://www.nicerelay.com/




Australia: New report discusses digital transformation in water and wastewater industry

Frost & Sullivan has issued a new report analysing the digital transformation in the Australian water and wastewater market through 2022.

The key drivers of digital transformation in water and wastewater sector include: • The increasing need for

optimising performance and efficiency

• Increased focus on customer service improvements, billing revenue and accuracy

• Ensuring sustainable water supply

• Increased emphasis on workplace safety

• Regulatory and technological changes

• The need to reduce non-revenue water loss

The study also found that large, urban utilities tend to show

Climate activist Greta Thunberg has partnered with former US governor and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger at the launch of his conference to accelerate progress towards the Paris Agreement.

The 16-year-old founder of the School Strike for Climate movement, met the former California governor and fitness star at the Austrian World Summit R20 held in Vienna, along with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen.

with basically not doing anything to stop the climate and ecological breakdown. They have gotten away with stealing our future and selling it for profit.”

After the meeting Schwarzenegger tweeted:

Greta Thunberg, Arnold Schwarzenegger team up for climate action

The event strives to connect over one thousand leaders from science, business and politics to confer on how best to tackle climate change.

Speaking at the event, Thunberg said: “For too long, the people in power have gotten away

portfolio of grid-scale energy storage systems to complement its growing renewable energy mix.

Stefan Schauss, CEO of CellCube, said: “The Pangea Storage Project is a wonderful example of how renewable power generation and a safe, reliable and sustainable energy storage technology such as the Vanadium Redox-Flow battery are a perfect symbiosis to provide renewable base load today.

The technology being tested “… is three times more efficient than any Power-2-X or Hydrogen

greater digital maturity and stronger willingness and capacity to invest in digital transformation than smaller, rural utilities.A large number of cities changed their water supply networks to meet rising demand for water due to droughts experienced between 1996 and 2010. The changes include the construction of desalination plants, large pipelines, and wastewater recycling systems, which were extremely costly to implement.

The rise of social media and mobile content has improved customer expectations in terms of services offered and how they are offered.

Most utilities are seeking to adopt digital interfaces such as smart water metering to raise customer service levels

Lego generates power utilising its own building blocks

LEGO has released its first LEGO Creator Expert set that utilises its new eco-friendly pieces made from a plant-based material. The fully functional, mini wind turbine kit contains 826 pieces that together make up a 3-foot wind turbine with adjustable wind blades.

Just below the constructed turbine, is a woodland house with a working porch light and three LEGO servicemen minifigures and a LEGO dog. The set comes with a power function medium motor, battery box, and two extension cords – all of which are cleverly hidden in the final build. The kit was designed in partnership with Vestas, a world-leading provider of sustainable energy solutions. The toy design celebrates play and creativity while raising awareness for sustainability and renewable energy. SEI

technology which will not be available at this scale in the next 3 years…”

The technology has a lifetime of 25 years with no degradation or augmentation needed for lithium, according to CellCube.

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5 CONSIDERATIONS FOR WATER UTILITIES WANTING TO GO ‘SMART’According to the UN’s water agency, UN-Water, two billion people worldwide live in countries that experience high water stress.

Driven by the need to improve operational efficiencies and revenues, cut down on wastage, and enhance customer service,

water utilities are increasingly turning to advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), including smart meters.

Utilities find themselves under increasing financial pressure from non-technical water losses – including potable water that is lost in the system through leaks – and inefficient revenue recovery that results in millions being lost due to incorrect billing and theft.

Harnessing technology such as the Internet of Things (IoT), connectivity, and data analytics not only helps to better manage infrastructure and reduce losses, but also promises to bring important change to the ways in which water utilities, in particular, currently operate.

Little wonder, then, that AMI is a massive growth area globally as the world becomes more urbanised and city planners fast-track intelligent IT infrastructure for tomorrow’s smart cities.

Unpacking AMIAMI is a system that integrates smart meters, communications networks and data management, constituting a fundamental change to the water utilities industry.

It offers vastly expanded capabilities; positively affecting the way utilities capture data, bill for usage, and interact with their customers.

Apart from faster, more accurate capturing of data – and resultant billing – utilities further stand to benefit from early leak and fault detection; ensuring accurate water balancing across zones by using synchronised meter

readings; being able to monitor infrastructure in areas with limited access; and receiving alerts if the meter is tampered with.

Additionally, linking a water management device to a pulse output water meter enables near real-time two-way communication, configuration and valve control, as well as the option for Standard Transfer Specification (STS)-approved prepaid water supply.

Here are five critical issues for utilities to consider in their quest to become ‘smarter’:

1. Broader industry partnerships Among the drivers of growth in AMI are

private sector companies introducing innovative products and solutions re-redefining smart metering. There is also interest from large telecoms operators who recognise the opportunity to add services to their current offerings.

2. Infrastructure and maintenance Smart metering enables more accurate,

real-time data monitoring – helping utilities to reduce the time taken to identify and fix leaks by flagging water losses earlier. Not only will this save costs, but it also means that greater focus and more investment can be directed toward the proactive maintenance of water infrastructure – critical in the developing world.

3. Changing skills requirements Switching to smart water metering

increases the skill level required from those who are involved in the installation, management and maintenance of metering infrastructure. As the use of this technology grows, the skills required will extend beyond basic plumbing into more advanced skills, including IT and communications technologies.

4. Customer service and behaviour Utilities will be able to proactively monitor

customers’ accounts; identify issues, complaints and queries; and resolve them faster than they are currently able to. Additionally, initial studies have shown that once consumers have full visibility of their usage data – via a mobile or web app, for example – their water consumption drops by approximately 15%.

5. Regulatory compliance With near real-time two-way

communication and valve control, smart meters can give prepaid customers the ability to top up their water allocation, while also catering for developing countries’ free basic water requirements – all managed at the device level.

In summary, when coupled with increased billing accuracy, the long-term benefits of investing in smart water metering surely outweigh the higher initial capital outlay needed.

As such, the growth prospects for smart water metering are enormous.

This is why, in addition to the financial and operational benefits, utilities are increasingly including smarter water management as part of their Smart City development programmes. SEI

ABOUT THE AUTHORMarcus Thulsidas is the Business Development Director of Utility Systems, a smart water management solutions company. He played a fundamental role in the development of the first commercially available Standard Transfer Specification (STS) Association approved prepayment water management device in 2011.


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THE CHANGING LANDSCAPE OF SMART METERINGThe smart electric meter market is evolving. While developed markets of North America and Western Europe continue to see a healthy spate of new deployments, there has also been an influx of second-generation upgrade projects.

Meanwhile, developing markets are finally advancing beyond the nascent stage, with an uptick in project announcements across

Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East.

In this article, we will discuss the state of the market and highlight some of the notable projects captured in Navigant Research’s Global AMI Tracker.

Mature marketsNorth America and Western Europe have shown the highest level of development around smart metering. And while these markets are relatively mature from a global perspective, smart meter penetration across both regions hovers between 50 and 60%, leaving ample opportunity for market participants moving forward.

benefit analysis (CBA), member states are expected to supply 80% of their customers with smart meters by 2020.

At one level, countries like Italy and Spain skipped the CBA altogether and began deploying smart meters. While Spain concluded its smart meter rollout in 2017,

Italy (Enel) is already working on its second-generation upgrade.

Most EU member states fall into the second

level: nations that calculated positive CBA scores and are undertaking large-scale rollouts in advance of the 2020 target. This includes

the United Kingdom, France,

Netherlands, Austria, Denmark, and more,

although there have been some major delays in the UK.

SSE, for instance, has recently been fined £700,000 for failing to install enough smart meters in 2018.

Finally, there are those member states that have historically stayed on the sidelines due to negative or inconclusive CBA results, including Belgium, Germany, and Portugal. This is no longer the case for several of these markets:• In Portugal, Energias de Portugal (EDP)

is now aiming to deploy 6 million smart meters by 2020.

• In Belgium, Eandis and Infrax are set to rollout 1.3 million NB-IoT enabled smart gas and electric meters by 2022.

• In Germany, large consumers with average annual consumption in excess of 10,000kWh will be required to install smart meters under the Digitisation of the Energy Turnaround Act. This threshold will be lowered to 6,000kWh in 2020, which applies to approximately 15% of electricity consumers.

GRID INTELLIGENCE

In Russia, Rosseti is planning to rollout smart meters to its

18 million customers by 2030.

Since the last release of the Global AMI Tracker in 4Q 2018, the North American market has seen several new project announcements from larger utilities (e.g., Ameren Missouri, We Energies), as well as a handful of smaller utilities (Hancock-Wood Electric Cooperative). And while still early stage, the market for second-generation deployments is emerging across the US, including at Arizona Public Service, PPL Electric and Salt River Project. This market is expected to show significant growth over the decade as first-generation deployments reach the end of their natural life cycles and better and cheaper technologies hit the market. The industry has already seen significant technological advancements with the development of edge computing and the enablement of multiple communications pathways (e.g. Itron OpenWay Riva). Looking forward, the proliferation of managed service offerings presents even further opportunity to lower the costs and risks associated with either first- or second-generation deployments.

The Western European market can be broken down across three levels of maturity. This landscape was spawned in 2009 following an EU Electricity Directive recommending the rollout of smart meters across member states. Contingent upon a positive cost-

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Growing marketsEastern Europe is showing new signs of life. The relative lack of development to date has largely been a product of financial considerations. Additionally, countries like Latvia and Lithuania are part of the EU member group that produced negative or inconclusive CBA results. Over the past two years, project activity has increased, with a number of notable deployments popping up across the region:• In Russia, Rosseti is planning to rollout

smart meters to its 18 million customers by 2030. It is estimated that the mega-utility has deployed over two million smart meters to date.

• In Latvia, Sadales Tikls is aiming to install one million smart meters by 2023.

• In Lithuania, JSC Energijos Skirstymo Operatorius (ESO) will deploy 1.6 million smart meters starting in late 2020.

The Asia Pacific market remains fragmented but is forecasted to show extreme growth over the decade. China’s State Grid Corporation, which covers approximately 85% of the country’s 500+ million meters, is already deploying second-generation smart meters while China Southern ramps up its 80 million meter first-generation deployment. Meanwhile, high volume first-

generation deployments continue across Japan (~89 million meters) and South Korea (~22 million meters) as a part of nationwide smart metering mandates.

Several other Asian markets offer the promise of high smart meter growth, including the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan, and the Asia Pacific’s sleeping giant, India. The potential size of this regional market ultimately rests with India. While most public distribution companies are still in the pilot project stage, India’s Ministry of Power has set a target of 50 million smart meter installations by 2020. While this target is unlikely given the frequency of project delays and financial

For more information, look out for Navigant Research’s upcoming Global AMI Tracker 2Q 2019.

GRID INTELLIGENCE

ABOUT THE AUTHORMichael Kelly is a research analyst contributing to Navigant Research’s Digital Grid solution. He specialises in smart grid IT systems and data analytics, as well as advanced metering infrastructure. Prior to joining Navigant Research, Kelly worked as a research analyst at Energy Acuity, where he researched renewable energy projects and transmission planning dockets. Kelly holds an MS in geography and environmental science, with a focus on geospatial analysis, from the University of Colorado Denver, and a BA in environmental studies from the University of Colorado Boulder.

constraints, several multimillion-meter tenders have been issued in the past year.

Emerging marketsLatin America has traditionally been an underdeveloped market, with only a select few countries pursuing meaningful deployments, most notably Brazil and Mexico. This is changing though, as the region has seen an uptick in project development in Argentina, Colombia, and Costa Rica. There has also been an increase in regulatory support, with a number of governments establishing forward-looking smart meter targets:• In Colombia, some 11 million households

will boast advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) systems by 2030 under plans announced by the Ministry of Mines and Energy.

• In Chile, there are plans to install 6.5 million smart meters by 2025, according to energy minister Susana Jiménez.

And in the Middle East, pilot projects are giving way to larger deployments in some countries, including Kuwait, Iran, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Looking aheadThe horizon for smart metering remains bright. When taking a geographic perspective, new deployments continue to propagate across developed markets, while early adopters and innovators are already moving to more advanced technologies as part of upgrade projects. Across emerging markets, we are finally seeing the evolution of pilot scale projects into more commercial-scale rollouts.

From a technology perspective, the advancement of edge computing enables capabilities such as outage detection, active load and voltage control, active DR, and integration with DA devices such as FLISR and VVO. And from an economic perspective, the development of LPWA and managed services options are making smart meters more viable for today’s utilities, particularly in financially constrained regions.

As this market continues to evolve – across technologies and geographies – the stage is set for continued success across the space. SEI

The Asia Pacific market remains fragmented but is forecasted to show extreme growth

over the decade.


GRID OPERATIONS

ADDRESSING OUR FLOPPY DISC POWER GRID This article by Patrick Lee looks at the challenges faced by utilities wanting to expand their renewable energy portfolios as a result of how energy infrastructure is initially designed. He also provides some insights into how energy providers can address such challenges.

Whether it is an initiative to reduce emissions or a plan to go 100% renewable, it seems like every other week

a new city or company announces a renewable energy goal. In the US, states such as California and Hawaii now have mandates to procure 100% renewable or zero-emission electricity. Similarly, more than 150 large companies have pledged to source 100% renewable electricity as members of the RE100 global initiative.

However, what’s missing from these goals is a detailed plan to upgrade the grid to be

able to handle increasingly large amounts of intermittent renewable and distributed energy resources.

To reach a 100% renewable goal, many organisations purchase enough renewable energy to match the amount of electricity they use annually. Google explains their approach to renewable energy contracts in an April 2018 blog post, noting that their 3GW of wind and solar power make them the largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy in the world. Other big companies, such as Microsoft, Walmart, and Apple also buy large amounts of wind and solar power.

…states such as California and Hawaii now have

mandates to procure 100% renewable or zero-emission

electricity.


GRID OPERATIONS

All that wind and solar power adds up, and its intermittency isn’t something our 100-year-old electric grid can handle with ease.

When most of the power grids were built, decades ago, they were designed to deliver electricity one way, from large central power plants to population centres. There was no plan to include small generators on the grid, like rooftop solar or fuel cells, because they weren’t yet invented or mainstream.

Energy storage can help, but it won’t solve the problem alone. What is needed is a smarter, faster operating system for the grid, designed specifically to manage renewable and distributed energy resources.

A grid in need of an upgrade Conventional grid control technology was designed to handle steady or high-inertia generation from fossil fuel power plants. Renewable power facilities do not have spinning mass and produce low-inertia generation, which requires faster control to dynamically manage the flow of electrons onto the grid.

In addition to changing needs in power management, many grid functions that could be automated by a computer are still completed by hand using limited forecasting and estimating tools. Humans continue to monitor and make guesses as to how to deploy power resources and solve demand issues. Some systems still run on a DOS (disc operating system)-like programme, which had its heyday between 1981 and 1995.

Finally, on top of 1990s-era technology that is still being used throughout the grid, many grid control systems are running SCADA functions that provide a snapshot of the system to the human operator every few seconds. These systems that rely on human operators are becoming less

ABOUT THE AUTHORPatrick Lee founded and leads PXiSE Energy Solutions, LLC., a subsidiary of Sempra Energy with an investment by Mitsui & Co., Ltd. Lee is also vice president of infrastructure and technology at Sempra Infrastructure, LLC. Lee is a proven executive with a successful track record. He completed a $1.8 billion infrastructure project with 19 awards and has led numerous business operations with significant financial outcomes. He has over 30 years of energy industry experience in electric system planning, design, construction, operations, energy markets, renewables, and technology RD&D.

effective as the grid and its components become more dynamic and require greater speed and data processing than traditional systems can handle. Fortunately, new technology is available that can do everything the old SCADA systems can do and much more.

A modern grid makeover To successfully integrate more renewable and distributed generation, the grid must become smarter, more autonomous, and faster. This new grid is networked to allow for two-way flow of electricity and real-time communication and uses machine learning to provide self-adjustment, contingency planning, and remote operation.

Modernising our electric grids means leveraging existing technology on the system and marrying it with new – such as advanced meter data management and applications such as smart home or HVAC control systems – to access and optimise energy generation, distribution and storage and consumption in near real time.

In the third quarter of 2017, Horizon Power, a state-owned utility in Western Australia, embarked on an initiative to improve management of its existing assets, as well as add more distributed energy resources onto its grid network for reliability.

The energy provider to 48,000 metering points commissioned PXiSE Energy Solutions’ Active Control Technology as the distributed energy resources (DERs) management system.

The technology will run on a standard Microsoft Windows platform, and use embedded OSIsoft software and synchro-phasor data to enhance, analyse and respond to grid data from DERs.

High-speed control technology can ‘upgrade’ the grid by supporting the increased use of renewable power, without sacrificing reliability or power quality.

To move away from the century-old method of using slow, centralised generators to balance the grid, we must adopt new grid control paradigms that take advantage of the speed, precision, and multi-tasking that inverter-powered resources can provide. These resources can then complement the slow but powerful spinning generation resources to maximise the value of each unique energy resource. If we do not shift this grid operations mindset and fail to upgrade our systems and thinking, we risk ignoring a foundational weakness in our utility grid and holding ourselves back from realising the true promise of renewable energy.

Terry Mohn, general manager of Advanced Microgrid Developments for Horizon Power, says: “With increasing customer demand for behind the meter energy resources, we will need innovative technology to enable us to efficiently manage the resources while maintaining our highest safety and reliability standards.” SEI

…what’s missing from these goals is a detailed plan to upgrade the grid to be able to handle increasingly large

amounts of intermittent renewable and distributed energy resources.

Humans continue to monitor and

make guesses as to how to deploy power resources

and solve demand issues.


WORLD ENERGY CONGRESS

ENERGY SECURITY: HOW HAS IT CHANGED AND WHAT MIGHT IT LOOK LIKE IN THE FUTURE?Optimised energy governance is a juggling act between three key dimensions: security, sustainability and equity. This ‘trilemma’ helps inform the way we think about the world’s energy mix, with the relative importance of each dependent on the lens an individual – or government – is looking through.

In particular, how we look at and evaluate energy security – the uninterrupted access to affordable energy – is changing rapidly.

Historically, it has been tied to the geopolitics of any given region, in addition to the supply of oil and gas. Today however, a broader and more complex spectrum of elements is converging to both stabilize and threaten energy security.

The rise of renewablesThe availability of energy sources, when considering both fossil fuels and renewables, is increasing. Today, there are more sources of energy in more countries. Shale oil is now available in abundance in the US, and an increase in production over the past decade has contributed to market fluctuations and instability. Conversely, we have seen the

… a broader and more complex spectrum of elements is

converging to both stabilise and

threaten energy security.



World Energy CongressUnder the theme of ‘Energy for Prosperity’ the World Energy Congress will be taking place to discuss a clear framework for optimised energy governance, and solutions for these complex issues. Sessions will touch on how digitalisation, disruptive business models and technology are completely transforming the way we produce and consume energy. Speakers will contribute to a series of discussions that will extend beyond the usual debate to take in technology, finance, sustainable development, access to energy, dynamic resilience and civil society as well as examining the trends that are shaping the future of energy to deliver a more prosperous future.

ABOUT THE AUTHORDr. Matar Hamed Al Neyadi has been Undersecretary of the UAE Ministry of Energy and industry since 2012. He holds a Ph.D. in international law from the University of Edinburgh (1997). Dr. Matar is on the Board of Directors of the Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) and is the UAE’s Executive Member in the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), a member of the Executive Office of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), and a member of the board of UAE artificial intelligence.Al Neyadi is also the chair of the Gasoline and Diesel price follow–up committee, and Chairman of the Organizing Committee for the 24th World Energy Congress, which will be held in Abu Dhabi in September 2019. Dr. Matar Hamed Al Neyadi has authored a number of books.

..is providing governments around the world with avenues to

diversify the energy mix, improving energy security by reducing the physical reliance on and price

exposure to only a few sources and countries.

growing availability of renewables in countries that can draw on large supplies of wind and solar energy, like Morocco and Costa Rica for instance. Likewise, we have witnessed the development of supporting infrastructure and additional investment in Asia, particularly in China where the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has spurred the establishment and growth of a low-carbon energy sector. Today, this strong growth in the renewables sector is providing governments around the world with avenues to diversify the energy mix, improving energy security by reducing the physical reliance on and price exposure to only a few sources and countries. The growth of organisations like the Global Wind Energy Council, whose membership is now at over 1,500 companies, require the commitment of both governments and companies to renewable energy.

For traditionally resource-rich countries that have relied heavily on energy exports, the reduction in revenue – and profit – is creating significant challenges. Whilst fossil fuel subsidies can be reduced or eliminated – something we have already seen here in the UAE – falling revenue from oil and gas sales is significantly reducing investments in the wider economy in many of these markets,

impacting both the social system and the sustainability of the economy itself.

The question of energy securitySome countries have begun to pivot for future energy security. The UAE, to use just one example, is developing and deploying renewable (the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park) and nuclear (the Barakah power plant) energy programmes at a breakneck pace, diversifying energy sources, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and improving system resilience in the process. It is bold action that should pay off in the long run.

Other vulnerabilities in the energy security equation also remain quite pervasive, centred chiefly around the transmission and distribution of energy. For instance, the threats of terrorism – both physical and cyber – are present across the whole energy value chain. Governments are also grappling with the issue of demand management – a concept that has significantly changed in the past 20 years, thanks to the digital connectivity that can help reduce peak demand and balance the grid when there are shifts in demand or supply.

But perhaps most critically, responsible short-term energy provision and longer-term planning require a careful balancing act between the three key dimensions of the trilemma. They can be competing or complementary. And in uncertain times – when the news is dominated by political instability, protectionism, tariffs, trade bloc changes and conflict – it is hard not to unconsciously place energy security before sustainability and equity. It is important not to do so.

Looking aheadThe successful balancing act of these three dimensions requires realistic long-term, goals-based collaboration between the whole energy ecosystem (policy makers, investors, producers, the market), and a faith that the technologies of tomorrow will provide answers to questions that cannot be answered today. If they could – everyone would be doing it the same way. SEI



SPEAKER INSIGHTS: WORLD ENERGY CONGRESS 2019

What does the future energy industry look like? Nation-states used to be at the forefront of climate action. Thanks to citizens, consumers and civil society in general, corporations and local governmental authorities are now taking the lead. The industry will be structured by companies responding to tenders by adeptly gathering many innovations and technologies.

What are your expectations from the Congress 2019? As you mentioned, the energy transition is accelerating. Why? Because almost every day a meteorological event or a scientific report brings some new and alarming light on climate change. Our call to action has never been so pressing. As entrepreneurs and innovators, our role is to find the ways and means to deliver on the zero-carbon economy and to create value and prosperity at the same time. I expect to hear colleagues and experts share their experiences in how they try to do both.

ISABELLE KOCHER, CEO, ENGIE

What are the major challenges that the world and its energy sector are facing now that the grand energy transition is accelerating? The energy transition requires a diversity of

actions: efficiency, optimization, digitalization – in networks, in lighting, in mobility, in cooling and in heating and of course in innovation in renewables. Combining all these elements demands a high level of sophistication and expertise that Engie can deliver.

Which will be the most critical innovation areas? We live in the knowledge economy. Competition will be led by the ability to bring as much (both human and artificial) intelligence as possible into the energy system. Software will be key in optimizing networks and small decentralized energy sources, in monitoring consumption, to manage peak demand and intermittent production.

NUNO SILVA, TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION DIRECTOR, EFACECSpeaker and chair – Future Energy Leaders programme

What is the FEL programme? The Future Energy Leaders Programme is designed to inspire, grow and develop the world energy leaders of tomorrow. It is a community

of 100 bright individuals who are working in the global energy sector. The community builds on the creative ideas and innovative potential of the next generation to challenge conventional thinking and explore new strategies for the future of energy systems. We do leverage on one of the most positive characteristics of the programme which is diversity - gender, geographic, background and sector. We have a collection of different people who really want to make a difference.

What inspired you? What inspired me was really the will to make a difference. I would not be very happy if I had to sit down and wait for the energy transition to happen, and this inspired me to take matters into my own hands and join the global FEL-100 network which is helping to accelerate this energy transition.

What are the skills for the future? We live in a unique time where there are several drivers for change in the energy sector. Definitely the transversal wide communication through high speed mobile internet, and digitalization (where I include AI, big data analytics and cloud technology as well as blockchain) are technological drivers of change, but there are also other drivers - such as bridging the generation gap - that we see prominently in the energy sector as well as the gender balance in the sector. All these will shape the skill set of the future professionals

Isabelle Kocher spoke with the Congress organisers about her insights into challenges facing the energy sector, focus areas for innovation and her expectations of the 24th World Energy Congress.

and leaders of the energy sector, and all obviously will need to be carefully analysed.

What sector would you recommend for those entering the market? It is a great time to get into the energy sector: we are in a turmoil of transition and even now we can see evidence that the future is already here. I could name the roles that are in demand, but the list is quite extensive. Data analysts for example are clearly needed across the energy sector. People going into the energy sector and trying to drive digitalization forward have huge space to explore, with technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, big data, cloud computing and telecommunications just a few examples that cut across the sector.

Greatest challenges on the transition? I believe the energy trilemma the World Energy Council uses is a great way to answer current challenges on the energy transition. It is comprised of three main pillars – energy security (the reliability of energy supply that must be ensured to meet current and future demands), energy equity (because energy must be accessible around the world, particularly in emerging markets, at an affordable cost) and environmental sustainability (since global warming calls for improved energy efficiency and the development of renewable and low greenhouse gas energy sources). Underlying this are several drivers: the energy mix (since we are transitioning from fossil fuels to a more clean energy landscape, there is no perfect mix but in fact several scenarios on the table); technological advances (e.g. digitalization); changes in behaviour; and finally of course, policymakers and the regulatory environment also need to provide the correct frameworks for transition to happen quickly.


Why is the Grid Evolution event such an important event in your annual calendar?

Efforts to decarbonise our electricity supply, coupled with secular trends for EV adoption, IoT, solar, storage and other technologies, require a constant evolution of our industry. SEPA recognised the need to convene the thought leaders and decision makers from across the electricity industry to share best practices, review the latest research and collaborate to develop solutions. Grid Evolution Summit is the venue for industry leaders to have these conversations and to develop the roadmaps that chart the course.

What are the most important focuses for SEPA in the year ahead?

In order to deliver on our mission of a clean and modern grid, SEPA has identified four

DECARBONISATION WILL HAPPEN

Julia Hamm, President and CEO of SEPA, talks decarbonisation, SEPA’s focus and the Grid Evolution conference.

areas of focus – what we call pathways. They are Transportation Electrification, Grid Integration, Regulatory Innovation and Utility Business Models. Each of these pathways addresses a rich set of issues and opportunities important to achieving our long-term vision of a carbon-free energy system.

How are you supporting your utility members and how have their priorities changed over the past five years?

SEPA continues to provide unbiased research findings and education resources to help guide all of our members – including more than 725 utilities, 36 state public utility commissions, and hundreds of solution providers – on their path to a clean and modern grid. The increased focus on climate, the growing availability

of economical renewable generation and storage, electric vehicle adoption and the ability of customers to participate in the grid are forcing utilities and system operators to deal with a more distributed and increasingly complex energy world. SEPA is continually adjusting our focus and capabilities to address this new world.

What do you believe is the biggest challenge facing the utility sector today?

Decarbonising the electricity supply while maintaining the reliability, affordability, safety and security that customers expect and that are so important to our society.

What is the one message you would like to share with SEPA members and readers of Smart Energy International?

Decarbonisation will happen, and SEPA is committed to providing the thought leadership, research and education resources necessary for our members to make it happen in a thoughtful and pragmatic way. SEI

DON’T MISS THESE KEY SPEAKERS

GRID EVOLUTION


GRID EVOLUTION

100% CARBON FREE BY 2050 – ACHIEVING THE XCEL ENERGY GOALSmart Energy International spoke with David Eves, keynote speaker at this year’s Grid Evolution summit and VP - Utilities Group for Xcel Energy.

Xcel Energy serves customers in eight states, Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, Texas and New

Mexico. Through four utility operating companies.

The company serves a very diverse geographic and socio-economic spectrum of customers.

Eves, who is the executive vice president of the utilities group, oversees regulatory functions, state and local affairs and customer relationships for the utility companies across all service territories through the respective president for each utility. He is also responsible for resource planning across the entire corporation and has responsibility for federal affairs, which includes engagement with entities in Washington DC and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

In December 2018, the company announced its vision to serve its customers with 100% carbon free energy by 2050. The company has already reduced carbon emissions 38% from 2005 levels on its way to its interim goal to reduce carbon emissions 80% by 2030.

What does the move to 100% carbon free entail?

For the last five years we have worked very hard to lead the clean energy transition in our country with the addition of renewable energy generation onto our grid and the retirement of existing fossil coal units.

We are now taking that journey one step further with the addition of storage onto our grid to complement the wind and solar generation continue to add. We aim to achieve dramatic reductions of carbon.

We believe that the foundation for that is to do it in a manner that ensures the reliability and affordability of service for our customers. We have three strategic priorities – to lead the clean energy transition, to enhance our customer experience and to keep our services as reliable and affordable as we can.

This goal has led us to the conclusion that we can continue to add renewables to our system, transition away from coal - and keep our customer’s bills affordable. To do so we have done a lot of work with industry stakeholders, policy makers, legislators, our

regulators, and importantly our customers and the communities that we serve.

We strive to set an example for the entire sector to transition over time in a way that’s affordable and ensures reliability.

What are the first steps in this journey?

We are adding second generation storage in the form of batteries to accommodate the additional solar generation that we will be bringing online, and enhance the flexibility of the grid.

At the distribution system level, we have a number of demonstration and development projects where we are testing micro grids and battery storage. We have installed storage on the distribution system on our grid and behind the meter at our customer premises. That project is primarily designed


GRID EVOLUTION

100% CARBON FREE BY 2050 – ACHIEVING THE XCEL ENERGY GOAL

for management of the voltage and power quality on the distribution grid which is currently being exposed to high penetrations of distributed energy.

How have your customers reacted to the initiative?

The customers who are taking part in the pilots have shown enthusiasm for the initiatives; we had a waiting list of customers who wanted to participate in the programme.

We’re in the first year of operation and will be fully exploring their reaction to the programme in more detail, but the primary purpose of the programme at the moment is to evaluate the economics and the effectiveness of the facilities and the impact it has on distribution circuits and additional penetration of renewables.

What does the Xcel Energy modernisation journey look like?

The amount of wind energy that we have on our systems means that we have been paying particular attention to the concept of forecasting and monitoring the production characteristics of the thousands of wind turbines on our system. We have also partnered with the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and ultimately have developed a forecasting tool that they have now provided to other utilities as well.

We plan on continuing to work to develop a similar capabilities for solar. The penetration of solar on our system

increases, it is going to have a higher impact on our system at the distribution level. We are therefore undertaking the installation and deployment of advanced distribution management systems along with the installation of AMI on the network – which will give us significant additional insights into the control capability for the delivery system serving our customers.

We want to incorporate more sophisticated analysis, and tracking and monitoring of the distributed energy resources and community solar resources, and storage facilities that are either on customer premises or located on our distribution facilities.

How are electric vehicles impacting your grid?

We have seen a significant increase in the number of electric vehicles and charging requirements across the various utility businesses.

In Colorado we are one of the leading states supporting electric vehicles – we

…We aim to achieve some pretty dramatic reductions of carbon.

have tax incentives and credit facilities and policies in place that have incentivised the advancement of electric vehicles. Recent legislation means we will also be able to increase the extent of our participation in supporting the public with charging and ensuring the infrastructure is ready – to further facilitate the electrification of the transportation sector.

In Minnesota we’ll be investing more than $25 million to increase access to electric transportation with a plan focused on three main areas: home charging, public charging and fleet operations. We’re working to develop EV offerings that will keep bills low for everyone and benefit our energy grid.

What is the one message that you would like the attendees at Grid Evolution and the readers of Smart Energy International to take away with them?

I’d like to emphasise that the vast majority of our Carbon Reduction achievements come from, and will continue to come from, the transition of our energy supply resources at a utility scale level. In order to achieve the carbon reductions, maintain reliability or improve it – and do so affordably at a very low cost to our customers – is a significant priority. We will continue to capture the benefits of these economies of scale to make this transition happen.

That said, there’s an important role for the advancement of technology in the distribution system to improve the customer experience, to allow for the increased distributed energy resources – including community energy resources – and to facilitate partnerships with our customers and communities.

There are a lot of folks who probably think about the conversion of the grid primarily in terms of decisions regarding resources and the advancement of the grid itself. We think that that’s a part of the picture, but the big part of the picture is the retirement of core units, the operations of the remaining units and the addition of more renewables and storage at the transmission level to capture those economic benefits and to keep costs low. SEI


GRID EVOLUTION

CARBON-FREE – ARE WE AT A TIPPING POINT?Julia Hamm reflects on 20 years with SEPA and the ways in which the sector and organisation have changed.

When I started in 1999, SEPA wasn’t the Smart Electric Power Alliance: it was the Utility PhotoVoltaic Group

(UPVG) before becoming the Solar Electric Power Association (version 1.0 of the SEPA acronym) in 2000. At the time, there was no meaningful grid-connected solar industry in the US, with just a handful of players doing demonstration projects supported by grant funding. A 50kW solar project was considered massive in size, and the average cost for a residential system was $10 per watt. Renewable energy didn’t even make it into the EIA’s pie chart for US electricity generation sources, as seen in the table below.

Little by little, all those things have changed. The overall US electricity generation portfolio has become significantly cleaner, with coal dropping to 27% and renewables increasing to almost 20% in 2018, with continued rapid growth on the horizon.

Of all the changes and industry trends I’ve witnessed over the past two decades, I believe the most significant is one we are witnessing today: voluntary utility commitments to get to 100% clean or

carbon-free energy within the next two-and-a-half to three decades.

Many states, municipalities, corporations and other entities have also made similar pledges. But, to me, voluntary commitments from investor-owned utilities in vertically integrated states, in particular, are the real indicators that this transition is happening — and is about to accelerate. It’s the tipping point we’ve been anticipating since I entered the industry in 1999.

Take the case of Xcel Energy, who took the lead in announcing their plans to be carbon-free by 2050 late last year. Xcel recently released a report detailing how they closely examined key climate reports and worked with stakeholders to determine how best to align their company goals with those of the Paris Climate Agreement. Xcel’s commitment is significant and requires them to add thousands of MWs of renewables, pursue strategic electrification, and make critical investments in grid infrastructure.

In Idaho, only three years ago, president and CEO Darrel Anderson told stockholders he didn’t believe Idaho Power would ever be able to go to 100% clean power. However,

this past March, Anderson announced a plan to get to 100% carbon-free energy by 2045, with the first of nine coal and gas plants closing at the end of this year.

The same is true for MidAmerican Energy. There are no current state mandates in Iowa for carbon-free energy, nothing requiring a change in energy sources. Instead, 91% of customers polled in the service

territory said that it’s important for energy to be produced from carbon-free sources, and armed with that customer mandate, MidAmerican is bringing 2,591MW of wind energy online in the next few years as part of their goal to reach 100% clean energy sources.

Historically, the responsibility of reaching a carbon-free future fell more on the shoulders of state and federal regulators and government, but as we’re seeing today, the electric power industry is making serious commitments to address climate change and the concerns of customers.

As part of SEPA’s continuous evolution to ensure we can provide the most valuable thought leadership, unbiased information and practical solutions to the electric power industry, our Board of Directors recently adopted a bold new vision for the organization: a carbon-free energy system by 2050.

The road there won’t be easy, and it will take the collective effort of stakeholders globally to be successful.

As we conduct our work we are operating under certain guiding principles including:

• Significant increases in clean energy, generated from existing and new technologies, are needed to achieve a carbon-free future.

• Reductions in carbon emissions will occur as the transportation, building and industry sectors become more electrified.

• Investments in the transmission and distribution system are foundational to achieving a carbon-free energy future.

• Changes to the power sector need to evolve in a manner that is safe, reliable, secure and affordable.

As exciting as the last 20 years have been in this industry, I am even more excited about what is yet to come.

As Bill Gates says, we always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten. So, will it take us until 2050 to get to carbon-free energy? Only time will tell. SEI

GRID OPERATIONS

SMART STREET LIGHTS, COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ROAD TO SMART CITIESNicholas Nhede examines how smart street lighting projects are being deployed as part of broader smart city initiatives in Australia, with a specific focus on how cities have initiated rollouts of the required infrastructure.

Secure and resilient communication systems are one of the key elements enabling the rollout of next-generation technologies given that data telemetry, acquisition, management, processing and usage are vital for the delivery of customer centric services and efficient operations.

Following the launch of a Northern Territory government initiative to transfer the control of public lighting back to councils, cities in Australia are heavily investing in smart street lighting to reduce energy costs and to optimise the management of grid networks.

Upgrading public street lights to LED models alone is not enough to achieve the desired energy savings and other sustainability goals, according to research firm Frost & Sullivan.

Although replacing existing street lights with LED lamps can reduce energy costs by 50%, networking street lights can deliver additional energy savings and reduce the payback period to less than six years.

Other benefits as a result of using networked street lights and related infrastructure include smart city applications such as EV charging, digital signage and communication, environmental monitoring and smart parking.

The overall return in investment and benefits of smart street lighting systems is expected to be huge as the rollout of the technology and infrastructure intensify.

According to researchers at Navigant Research, a quarter of the 221 cities

CARBON-FREE – ARE WE AT A TIPPING POINT?



GRID OPERATIONS

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worldwide being tracked by its Smart City Tracker are rolling out smart street lighting initiatives.

This assertion is supported by market intelligence firm ABI Research which states that the annual global smart street lighting revenue will grow 10-fold to reach $1.7 billion in 2026 with communication solutions based on cellular low power-wide area (LPWA) network technologies witnessing the most growth, followed by non-cellular LPWA platforms.

Oceania, mainly Australia and New Zealand, has been identified as one of the most rapidly expanding regions in terms of the rollout of smart street lighting and related communications technologies. New Zealand and Australia are expected to invest up to $780 million through mid-2020s to convert up to 95% of existing street lights to LED models of which 70% will be networked by 2027.

from within the region to encourage local economic development.

In addition to the IoT network, Telensa is providing the City of Palmerston with a central management system which will be hosted by Amazon Web Services to provide a single platform for management of the entire street lighting system, as well as to allow remote control of the infrastructure.

A total of 4,700 smart street lights will be deployed over a period of 15 months as from April 2019 as part of the $3 million initiative.

Athina Pascoe-Bell, mayor of the City of Palmerston, said the project would reduce annual energy costs by up to $650,000 and reduce carbon emissions by 64%, the equivalent of planting more than 500 hectares of Australian forest trees.

“This project is another example of this Council’s leadership in adopting intelligent infrastructure to deliver a safer, smarter,

“A key element of the programme will include the installation of smart lighting and environmental sensors. Future projects under the #SmartDarwin strategy include the implementation of sensors to better manage waste and advanced CCTV analytics.

‘Switching on Darwin’ will be funded using a $2.5 million grant secured from the Northern Territory government’s Smart Cities and Suburbs Programme and another $2.5 million secured from residents.

A total of 10,000 smart street lights is being installed with Telstra and Telensa is providing the communications infrastructure and technologies.

Global knowledge exchange and partnershipsThe launch of the projects followed representatives from the City of Darwin together with others from 84 Australian councils returning from a fact-finding trip to Taipei.

Josh Sattler, general manager of innovation, growth and development services, said the trip to the Smart City Expo and Summit in Taipei “...confirmed that the City of Darwin is at the forefront of smart cities technology implementation and platform integration globally.

“We are recognised by our neighbours to the north as an important partner to collaborate with and we have been rolling out new smart technologies across Darwin since 2018 and a number of significant projects are nearing completion. As a capital city with a small population, it is easier for us to be nimble and implement innovative new technologies quickly.

“The City of Darwin is committed to investigating technologies to improve our service delivery and enhance the lives of our community.”

Owing to its leadership role in deploying digital solutions in Australia, Darwin was the only Australian city nominated to a position on the strategic committee for the organisation.

Members of the GoSmart initiative include Taipei and Great Britain and several key industry partners who will encourage collaboration between cities, venture firms and technology companies to accelerate the development and implementation of smart technologies.

It would be fair for one to conclude that just as smart meter rollouts are the foundation to smart grid operations, so too is the installation of smart street lighting systems to smart city applications. SEIAll currencies referred to in this article are in US dollars.

The Northern Territory government cities of Palmerston and Darwin have partnered with various companies to implement their smart streetlights projects, with Telensa providing the wireless IoT communications networks.

In the City of Palmerston, the communications network will connect LED street lights which will be provided by Light Source Solutions, Orangetek and Philips as part of the city’s ‘Pr6jects: Making the Switch’ programme.

The smart street lights are being installed by Northern Territory-based electrical specialist company ESPEC, which committed to recruiting all the workforce required

and more efficient environment for our community,” added the mayor.

Smart city roadmap – DarwinFollowing the launch of its #SmartDarwin digital strategy, at the city’s Innovation Hub in April 2019, the City of Darwin went on to launch the ‘Switching on Darwin’ project.

Commenting on the development, Kon Vatskalis, mayor of the City of Darwin, said: “This strategy will underpin our policy and technical infrastructure now and into the future as we collaborate with the community, business and all levels of government to achieve our smart city vision.”

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DO YOU NEED COMMUNITY BUY-IN FOR DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION?A panel discussion during the recent African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa, on how utilities can use technology to improve customer service and ultimately drive revenue, showed it may not be as clear cut for utilities as we may wish.

Take the example of South Africa’s national utility, Eskom. Despite being at the forefront on technological innovation when compared to the rest

of the continent, a deeply entrenched culture of non-payment along with mistrust and general negative public perceptions of Eskom are some of the factors that can be singled out as stumbling blocks to how the national utility can capitalise on this link between improved customer service and revenue.

It is generally understood that technology and innovation can enhance customer interaction and thus drive revenue. Chief driving officer of the Nigerian Kano Electricity Distribution Company Ravindra Joshi, industry value advisor for SAP Middle East and North Africa Slawomir Klimowicz, Eskom programme lead on Advanced Analytics Dileep John, and executive director of Jomat Investment Jodie Sherwin Hill, however, discussed the digital transformation in

utilities from a customer-first perspective. One of the questions discussed was what utilities should keep in mind as they transform and journey into the future pushing for customer service delivery to drive revenue.

Klimowicz said it is no longer enough for utilities to just deliver a service and push for revenue. “Customers want more. They want a better experience of utilities and not just the commodity like water or power. I would say the future is one where there is contact with customers – where customers have access to consumption data, to services and get advisories from utility companies. This future comes with mobile applications and social media and a younger generation of consumers.”

John also acknowledged that how customers interact with the utility needs to change significantly. “It is about how you interact with

your customer and their information needs. So, if the customer interacts with you on Twitter, you must be able to respond on Twitter.”

But not all facets of smart energy mechanisms necessarily get automatic consumer buy-in. John referred to the installation of prepaid electricity meters in Soweto – an initiative that was met with significant community resistance. According to Sherwin Hill it is important to study and know customers before you present them with a product. “And most of the time we make assumptions and go into communities guessing. So, the product we offer is not what they are looking for and it then becomes very reactive and customers do not want to pay.”

Sherwin Hill said that better results are achieved by keeping customers involved, if utilities do their homework first and find out what individuals and the communities value most. But according to John this exercise can get expensive and time-consuming and utilities like Eskom often cannot participate in drawn out engagements. He said Eskom is trying to carry out a behaviour change campaign in certain communities where there is the need to “win the hearts of people to ensure payment”.

“But it is not easy.”

According to him the utility is “caught between a rock and a hard place” especially with resistance to smart metering and will most likely need government intervention.

John also acknowledged there is a public perception crisis with Eskom and general mistrust. These perceptions are driven by many things like load shedding but there is also an existing and well entrenched culture of non-payment that the utility is wrestling with, he explained.

“So, we need to get the message across that without this revenue we cannot fund the supply; we cannot fund customer service delivery or any network improvements in the future. It’s a vicious cycle.” SEI

African Utility Week/POWERGEN Africa

Asian Utility Week special supplement

End-to-end power solutions


Asian Utility Week

JOINING FORCES FOR END-TO-END POWER SOLUTIONS

The combination of these leading energy shows brings unprecedented authority, with insights shared by the world’s most forward-thinking

experts and innovators.

POWERGEN Asia has, over its 27-year history, established itself as the leading platform, where the power industry comes together to share information on the challenges being faced and to discuss opportunities and solutions for advancing Asia’s generation sector.

At the core of POWERGEN Asia is the desire to help power utilities and IPPs in the region maximise their generation assets and showcase world-leading products and services that will help them achieve that.

This 3-day event offers a comprehensive conference program focused on helping the industry Navigate the Energy Transition in Asia, as well as presenting a truly international Exhibition.

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATIONAsian Utility Week celebrates its 20th edition, having begun as a small event

The co-location of POWERGEN Asia, Asian Utility Week, DistribuTECH Asia, SolarVision and Energy Capital Leaders in 2019 provides you with one show covering the whole value chain of power and energy – from conventional and renewable generation to transmission and distribution; to its digital transformation and how the industry will finance the energy transition.

focused on smart metering and billing issues. In recent years, it has expanded the digital theme to include digital transformation topics which include real time analytics and visualisation, cloud platforms, machine learning applications, mobile field services, smart home-business service platforms, and customer engagement strategies which are relevant to liberalised energy markets.

Asian Utility Week is designed to help utilities meet and do business with the world’s digital technology leaders. It’s also designed to help commercial and industrial customers meet their energy efficiency obligation to save money and improve sustainability programs. The topics are all closely linked with data capture, data communication and analytics programs.

RACE TO THE EDGEDISTRIBUTECH Asia focuses on the technical strategies to support fast tracking renewable power integration into the power grids, and solutions for effectively stabilising standalone power solutions. The program includes the latest in distribution automation and microgrid strategies that are being developed for advanced energy markets – to highlight development roadmaps – and to offer R&D partnerships in Asia.

Major investment being poured into building the grid edge – supporting a

one show covering the whole value

chain of power and energy…


Asian Utility Week

Not to miss sessions!Tuesday 3 September 2019

NETWORK TRANSFORMATION TO ENABLE THE ENERGY TRANSITIONSubstantial investment, innovation in smart grids and new business models are required to improve electricity distribution networks role in the Energy Transition.• TNB’s digital vision for the Smart Energy Transition• Modelling the Utility of the Future – How GIS can assist with Energy Transition

targets• How the Energy Transition will impact utility business strategies in Asia• The Future of Electricity: New Technologies Transforming the Grid Edge• How digital transformation in Ausgrid is improving customer experience and value

Wednesday 4 September

RETAIL DEREGULATION AND INNOVATION PARTNERSHIPSJapan, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines and Singapore have opted for market deregulation to encourage sustainability & innovation in services.• TNB’s shift to the digital utility model with retail service improvements• Digital transformation and innovation in China’s energy sector• Driving the transformation of Asia’s retail energy industry and urban energy

landscape

SMART METERS AND CUSTOMER CENTRICITYSmart Meters are potentially a massive improvement in energy management by including customer behaviour in the digital transformation program.• Building real-time intelligence in utility networks to better manage customers’

needs• Leveraging AMI to Tap Untapped Value – Smart metering project insights• How the digital meter shifts utilities towards effective customer-centric engagement

DIGITAL ENERGY• Energy Intelligence at the edge• Intelligent controls for grid edge energy management

INITIATE! ENERGY STARTUPS SPEED PITCH• Software for the digital transformation of energy grids• On- and off-grid systems, and trading with renewable energy attributes• Building innovative and highly intuitive software tools• Uniquely designed, long-lasting and reliable energy storage solution• State of the art IoT solution

UNLOCKING THE VALUE OF SMART METERS• Bringing smart grid functionality to underserved utility customers• Leveraging improvements to Smart Meter design• How to unlock the secret value of data at your utility

decentralised energy model. This model is supported by new energy services being developed by utilities and others who go directly to large energy users with niche services for carbon reduction and energy efficiency technology.

FINANCING THE ENERGY TRANSITIONIn partnership with the Energy Council, we bring you Energy Capital Leaders to ensure the most diverse audience possible assembles to discuss energy transition from an investment perspective. Energy Capital Leaders is dedicated to assisting the financial and investment community to generate change and more value from the opportunities arising from Asia’s shift to renewable energy. We investigate the implications from moving beyond coal, to how gas-to-power and clean tech solutions like solar and storage will radically change the energy value chain.

Our focus is upon bringing together investors and asset owners from traditional utilities and oil majors to look at navigating the finance and investment landscape to support the energy transition, and won’t just be approaching it from a geopolitical standpoint. SEI

…designed to help utilities meet and do

business with the world’s digital

technology leaders…


Asian Utility Week

2019 – THE YEAR OF COLLABORATION AND OPPORTUNITYA recent report by Frost & Sullivan has determined that in Asia “renewable energy will continue to be prominent, with a positive outlook for wind power generation,” and that energy storage and batteries will emerge as key sectors, with new business models in the microgrid segment likely to shake up the energy industry.

In preparation for Asian Utility Week, this year taking place in Malaysia, Smart Energy International examines the role of utility Tenaga Nasional

Berhard – or TNB – the largest utility

company in Malaysia. As the provider of electricity to 9.2 million customers across the commercial, industrial and domestic sectors, TNB spans the entire energy value chain from generation to supply.

In keeping with global efforts to address climate change, TNB is pursuing an active sustainability agenda, along with a robust corporate management structure and policy which determines clear guidelines for the company’s future.

Grid DivisionTNB’s Grid division operates the 132kV, 275kV and 500kV transmission network. This division is responsible for strategy formulation, system planning, engineering, project management, control operations, maintenance, way leave management and more.

An interconnection to Thailand’s transmission system in the North provides an HVDC interconnection with a transmission capacity of 300MW and a


Asian Utility Week

132kV HVAC overhead line with maximum transmission capacity of 80MW. In the south, the National Grid connects to Singapore’s transmission system at Senoko via two 230kV submarine cables with a firm transmission capacity of 200MW.

Distribution DivisionDistribution is divided into distribution network operations and electricity retail operations and is responsible for the planning, construction, operation, performance, repairs, maintenance and asset management of the 33kV, 22kV, 11kV, 6.6kV and 415/240 volt distribution networks.

Recent modernisation drives within TNB have included the implementation of smart meters and the establishment of a ‘grid of the future’ steering committee and a grid of the future (GoTF) maturity model to enable centralised decision-making, proving a clear accountability hierarchy and performance benchmarking.

Expansion and strengthening of the 500kV grid superhighway will continue to ensure secure and efficient power transfer to the Central Area region. This has been coupled with the continued modernisation and digitalisation of the distribution grid through a number of initiatives: • Installation of 190,000 smart meters in

Melaka. This programme will expand to homes and businesses in the Klang Valley during the course of 2019. The

promote energy efficiency practices and related services.”

• The fitting of 113 MVAr of capacitor banks throughout the distribution network. This initiative is in line with plans to optimise Volt-Var to improve the quality of electricity supply to our customers

• Conversion of 3,672 distribution substations into supervisory control and data acquisition enabled substations, bringing the total number of such distribution substations to more than 12,000 nationwide. Under the current GoTF strategy, there are plans to upgrade all distribution substations in major cities by 2025

• Deployment of mobility solutions for TNB meter management throughout the Malaysian peninsula.

• Upgrades to the grid will enable TNB to support the increased utilisation of sustainable energy, facilitating the bi-directional flow of energy as a result of the injection of distributed renewable generation along the grid.

TNB is enhancing digital and technological advancements to maximise the efficiency and reliability of the country’s national power grid. The electric utility aims to be one of the top 10 utility players globally by 2025 by developing and delivering a future forward grid, fully digitised and automated.

TNB has secured RM18.8 billion ($480 million) capital allocation to invest in its transmission and distribution grid until 2020. Of this amount, RM2.7 billion will be invested into GoTF technologies that help improve the grid’s reliability and efficiency, such as scheduled deployment of 340,000 smart meters in Melaka and subsequent deployment of an additional 1.2 million smart meters in the Klang Valley.

The investment will include advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and grid automation, which are expected to contribute to further advancements in network reliability and efficiency.

TNB’s grid strategy is directed by aspirations to grow the national grid to become one of the smartest, automated and digitally enabled grids; to ensure maximum efficiency and reliability of the grid; and to transform customer experience and offerings through embedding innovations into the grid.

This is of great importance, given the domestic demand for power. Electricity demand is expected to grow by 3.5% per year over the next 10 years, and 2.7% within 20 years.

Recent modernisation

drives within TNB have included the implementation of smart meters and the establishment

of a ‘grid of the future’ steering

committee and a grid of the future (GoTF) maturity

model.

ultimate aim is to have 1.5 million smart meters installed by 2020. According to TNB the installation of the smart meters “will provide customers with more detailed and near real-time information on their energy consumption as well as


Asian Utility Week

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3.-4. September 2019

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Booth AB05

CybersecurityTNB has implemented three cyber drills utilising attack simulations as part of their continued ISO27001:2013 certification. This is coupled with ongoing awareness training programmes for staff, increasing proficiency and highlighting the importance of data protection.

Strategic visionTNS’s strategic vision Transforming TNB aims to position TNB as one of the world’s top utility players by 2025. According to CEO and President Datuk Seri Ir. Azman Mohd, TNB wants to build on its rich legacy.

“TNB is a born and bred Malaysian company, which has a rich and deep-rooted history in building the nation, even before the country received its independence,” says Mohd. “With 67 years of experience, TNB has a foothold as Malaysia’s leading electricity utility with a strong presence throughout Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Labuan.

“Guided by the Reimagining TNB strategy, TNB is now venturing into new businesses and opportunities beyond our conventional business and territory,” he reveals. “Over the past few years, TNB has expanded its international footprint, having established its name in countries such as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, India, Turkey and the United Kingdom,

making TNB one of the largest electricity companies in Asia.”

TNB’s vision, built on four pillars, aims to: find future generation sources, create the grid of the future, win the customer and futureproof regulations.

As part of its drive to find future generation sources, the utility is shifting its focus towards renewables, aspiring to be the ASEAN leader in renewable energy. According to Mohd, TNB has thus far secured 237MW of renewable energy capacity globally.

By setting itself the task of creating the grid of the future, promoting greater digitisation and automation, TNB is set to introduce smart meters and advanced metering infrastructure facilities for its customers and implement data analytics, analysis and automation of its operations.

“As the backbone of the electricity system, the grid represents the single most impactful component of the energy industry and a country’s energy needs,” says Mohd.

“Therefore, we do not expect grid operations to stay the same as we progress into the future. We are looking to invest in technological advancements that will allow for greater digitisation

and automation of the grid. This will lead to improved performance and reliability, which will ultimately benefit our customer.”

Customer-centricThe third critical pillar, namely winning the customer, is the foundation for new and enhanced services and products. By putting its customers at the heart of its strategic plan, TNB intends to enhance its customer-centric focus.

“This means looking at customers as more than just a meter and understanding their values and needs beyond their kWh consumption,” he explains. “We have already identified several specific projects ranging from energy management to smart city utility services with various government agencies and corporate entities.”

Datuk Fazlur Rahman Zainuddin, TNB’s Chief Financial Officer, adds: “Our simple business philosophy at TNB is that it’s all about serving people’s needs. Businesses must be clear about whom they serve and understand these people well. The moment a business loses sight of this is when it loses its value proposition, plus profits. Or worse, it loses its licence to operate.

“Many words can be used to describe Tenaga Nasional Berhad; however, I prefer the simple description of ‘empowering people’. If we were to go back in history and recall the development of Malaysia from a rural economy to what it is today, it is clear that by bringing electricity to homes, TNB has made a significant difference to the lives of people who, before then, didn’t have access to 24-hour electricity. With electricity, the lives of people, families and societies have been able to change for the better. As TNB, we are so privileged to be able to serve people in this way.”

The fourth and final pillar of TNB’s strategic plan involves assisting the government in the execution of regulations and policies in the energy sector.

Chief Strategy Officer Megat Jalaluddin Megat Hassan elaborates on the vision by saying: “It is hoped that TNB can achieve or even surpass the target and aspiration outlined in the strategy towards becoming one of the top 10 utility companies in the world. This includes becoming the ASEAN leader in renewables; building profitable businesses in South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Middle East; the establishment of a robust smart grid that allows for bi-directional energy flow; and an increasingly digitally automated grid.” SEI

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Solutions for

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The PTS 2.3 genX system consists of a reference standard in class 0.1 and a three-phase current source up to 120 A.

The new three-phase Portable Test System PTS 2.3 genX with enhanced functionality does not only determine the accuracy of meters, but also provides additional information relating to the conditions at the respective mains connection points.

Voltage and current measurement, direct and with several external sensors(clamp-on CT's up to 1000 A, flexible current probes up to 3000 A, highvoltage sensors for voltage up to 40 kV and current up to 2000 A)

Independent three-phase current generation up to 120 A synchronized toline voltage, for verification of meters

Data transfer and communication via USB, ETHERNET and WLAN.Data storage on removable SD memory card

User-friendly functions such as integrated operation manual andclearly arranged user interface

Built in web server for remote display of graphical user interface andremote control of the unit

Large 9" TFT touch screen colour display with graphical user interface

Phone:Fax:Internet:E-Mail:

+41-41-508 39 39+41-41-508 39 [email protected]

Landis + Gyr-Strasse 1P.O. box 75506302 ZugSwitzerland

3.-4. September 2019

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Booth AB05


Asian Utility Week

FINANCING ASIA’S SMART CITY AMBITIONS

It also presents a number of opportunities for the automation and digitisation of many essential city processes and functions.

This worldwide rush to “smart cities” is also reflected by both state and federal efforts in the US, and by efforts in India to build 100 smart cities, demonstrating East Asia’s desire for technological hubs which solve the populace’s lifestyle needs, with digital solutions.

Smart cities have received much visibility in the last decade as a potential market with unlimited opportunities for companies in a wide range of sectors from technology to energy to mobility to health care. Also, developing a smart city has been touted as the be-all and end-all, for the challenges afflicting today’s urban agglomeration. While both of these could be true to a certain extent, the reality is that after a decade, the smart city movement is still in its infancy.

Due to cities being inherently budget conscious and constrained, many of the smart technology solutions have not moved beyond the pilot stage. Siloed city agencies and lack of multi-stakeholder buy-in have slowed down the smart city ambitions in many cases. Most cities also do not have a cohesive vision and strategy for their development. Despite all these factors, the biggest restraint and also the key success factor will still be the need for a compelling business model, unique to each city and sustainable in the long run.

Business models and value captureThe business models have to evolve in such a way that the urban technology companies are able to capture broader value beyond certain obvious revenue generation sources like advertising. The manifestation of this value for example in terms of higher rents for buildings, expansion of healthcare access to under privileged, lower cost of transportation, life extension of urban infrastructure, and improving public safety etc. will justify smart city investments.

The process for developing a smart city can be typically delineated into the following steps:1. Identifying objectives and desired

outcomes from initiatives2. Inventorying current systems and

assessing their relevance to the planned project

3. Defining the business model, i.e. how the project will generate economic value and how to monetise that value

4. Sourcing methods of financing the project

Such projects require huge capital outlay as their very function is to incorporate the latest technological advancements in as many aspects of a resident’s life as possible; and such a comprehensive effort necessitates funding for the conceptualisation and development of these digital interfaces. This raises the question as to what exactly the revenue streams that comprise the business model of a smart city are and whether they are a sufficient incentive for financiers to step in with funding.

With more than two thirds of the world’s population expected to live in urban areas by 2050, and the urban populations of India and China expected to surpass 1 billion as early as 2025, urbanisation presents a unique set of challenges in the areas of governance, organisational and technological advancement.

Smart cities primarily aim to reduce operational costs and help eliminate many inefficiencies or under-utilised services provided by city councils while also implementing a city-wide ecosystem that provides useful feedback. A few examples of such cost-saving initiatives are:• Kansas City in the US has implemented

smart lighting utilising LEDs across key city strips and plans to expand the project that has brought about a drop in energy consumption by 50-60% in addition to a reduction in maintenance costs. Furthermore, street lights come with inbuilt sensors that monitor and track other environmental and social data, access to which can be sold to third party developers for use in their own applications and generate further value for the city.

• Mandalay, Myanmar is already seeing the benefit of implementing technology on its streets which helps to reduce administrative costs in the operation of the city. Internet of Things (IoT) sensors are being used in the city to help officials keep track of water issues while drones are helping to map the city to plan drainage systems for the future.

• A region-wide effort in China spearheaded by counties like Gaoqing centralised systems around mobile applications thereby bypassing the need

Asian countries have an investment

gap of $5 trillion in the total

infrastructure need of $51 trillion


Asian Utility Week

to set up analogue landline connections. They also prioritised mobile banking and digital acceleration, creating savings on physical systems and brick-and-mortar infrastructure that are otherwise needed for the operation of a city.

Asian countries have an investment gap of $5 trillion in the total infrastructure need of $51 trillion, during the period 2018-2040, according to G20’s Global Infrastructure update. This thus represents a potential deficit of at least 10%. Bridging this gap through smart solutions is a great way to build a viable smart city business model.

Deployment of wireless smart sensors to monitor the integrity of bridges and identify leakages in water distribution pipelines helps the city authorities to prioritise their limited investments. For such smart solutions to work, the city needs to have certain basic infrastructure in place, which may not be the case with many fast-developing Asian cities.

There are applications that cities in Asia could efficiently utilise to incorporate smart solutions. Examples include the following: • A crowdsourced mobile app called

Safetipin was initially launched in New Delhi and later expanded to other Asian cities like Manila. The objective is to make the cities safer, by involving users to perform audits and rank various locations.

• Chiayi City in South-central Taiwan, which was listed as having the worst air-quality in Taiwan, transformed itself within four years, using technology and community engagement.

• Indonesia has kicked off several smart street lighting projects especially in Jakarta and other cities in Java. Smart street lighting is increasingly recognised as the first step toward the development of a smart city, with multiple benefits like energy savings, public safety etc. And new business models seen as lighting-as-a-service are exploited in Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung and Makassar.

Financing smart citiesThere are a variety of ways city councils can consider financing their smart city endeavours. The most direct option would be to invest public funds and own source revenues or seek federal funding.

Another option would be to adopt asset recycling, whereby the government negotiates new leases for older infrastructure projects to generate seed funding for new projects. The huge initial investment from issuing municipal bonds will be harder for developing nations; and may require risk and credit guarantees from multilateral agencies to absolve private lenders of risk in case of local government defaulting on contracts/obligations.

Direct and indirect value capture is another option. Project teams can generate value for an infrastructure project by levelling

ABOUT THE AUTHORRavi Krishnaswamy is senior vice president, energy and environment, Frost & Sullivan. He heads Frost & Sullivan’s Energy and Environment practice in the Asia Pacific region and is based in Singapore. Ravi has spent more than twenty years in the energy and environment sector. He is also Frost & Sullivan’s in-house expert on clean technologies and utilities.

a special tax on companies that directly profited from the smart city initiative or by charging impact fees on developers.

City councils can also offer development rights in other suburbs and zoning changes – from residential to industrial for instance – to developers to entice a broader range of firms to invest in such infrastructure projects. This was best implemented by Sao Paulo, Brazil throughout the early 2000s which exchanged certificates of potential additional construction (CEPACs) for investment in infrastructure projects.

These are just some of the popular methods of financing any smart city initiative; however, most projects have an overarching procurement system framework within which a blend of the many abovementioned value-generating methods are employed.

There are different frameworks along this range from solely public options at one extreme to completely private ones at the other, with differing levels of private sector participation in between.

The ideal method will vary based on the city’s financing ability, its acumen in designing and building functions, and on its risk tolerance for innovation. SEI

Mandalay, Myanmar is already seeing the

benefit of implementing technology on its streets

which helps to reduce administrative costs in the

operation of the city.


Asian Utility Week

RENEWABLE GENERATION ON THE RISE IN APAC

Total capex in renewables will overtake exploration and production spending in 2020, with contributions from Australia

and other Asian countries such as Vietnam, Taiwan and South Korea, the latest bottom-up analysis of investments shows.

“These countries each have strong pipelines for renewable energy developments of all types, including offshore wind,” says Gero Farruggio, head of renewables at Rystad Energy. “And, importantly, most have large targets outlining the inclusion of renewable power sources within their respective energy mixes, with corresponding support policies.”

In Australia, the renewable energy project pipeline is now over double the national electricity market. Only 1% of the country’s solar, wind and utility storage projects is currently owned by oil majors.

“By 2020 it is feasible that the majors will be the dominant renewable developers in Australia as they pursue ‘oil and gas’ scale

opportunities. Commercial drivers are increasing the desire to ride the ‘solar-coaster’,” Farruggio remarked.

“Upstream companies will lead the charge, building sizable utility storage, solar and – ultimately – offshore wind portfolios. Solar panels, lithium-ion batteries and turbines will soon be conventional segments of Australia’s oilfield services,” he added.

It is expected that renewables in Australia will continue the strong growth seen in 2018 through to 2020, although the country still faces the local challenge of transmission losses, which impacts revenues and creates policy uncertainty.

However, investor confidence is high in Australia, and the country currently has a development pipeline of over 105GW of solar, wind and storage projects, as well as a fleet of aging coal-fired power stations which will require replacement.

The growth in India’s renewables presents significant scale and is one to watch.

Renewable energy investment in Asia excluding China will overtake spending on upstream oil and gas projects in the region as soon as next year.

MalaysiaThis research would seem to be supported across other parts of APAC. Malaysia will continue to embrace and develop thermal power capacity for the next decade and beyond, adding 5GW of coal and gas capacity. Renewables, particularly wind and solar, will also rise by 2.8GW, according to a new report which explores the make-up of the country’s energy mix to 2030.

However, the study by analytics company GlobalData points out that the rise of renewables will come at the expense of nuclear, which has seen new build plans stall because of strong public opposition.

As a net importer of electricity, Malaysia is primarily dependent on thermal resources for electricity generation and although it possesses substantial fuel reserves, it faces the risk of declining energy security.

In 2018, gas-fired power dominated Malaysia’s power portfolio, with a share of 43% of total installed capacity. This was followed by coal and oil at 30.4% and 5.9% respectively, while hydropower held a 17.2%. However, other renewables together accounted for less than 4.0% of the total capacity.

Power analyst Harshavardhan Reddy Nagatham said: “Progressive economic reforms and a continuous increase in industrial activity are expected to boost


Asian Utility Week

economic progress in Malaysia, driving the country’s GDP at a compound annual growth rate of 4.8% during the forecast period. In addition, increasing population will result in a significant increase in electricity consumption.”

Storage changes the dynamicsThe Asia-Pacific region will be the largest market for battery energy storage in the next few years, with a share of the sector worth $6 billion by 2013.

That’s one of the key conclusions of a new report on global battery storage, which found that Asia-Pacific accounted for 45% of the worldwide market’s installed capacity last year.

According to research, lithium-ion will continue to be the preferred technology for market deployment and adds that “with the number of grid-connected renewable electricity generation plants increasing tremendously, countries such as China, India, Japan, South Korea and the Philippines will focus on frequency regulation in the electric grid to normalize the variation in power generation from renewables”.

Globally, it is forecast that the battery energy storage market will grow to $13.13 billion by 2023.

GlobalData power analyst Bhavana Sri said: “With countries aggressively promoting the modernization of grids, and developing their capability to handle the demands of the present and future, batteries are being deployed to support smart grids, integrate renewables, create responsive electricity markets, provide ancillary services, and enhance both system resilience and energy self-sufficiency.”

The research found that the EMEA battery energy storage market registered a market value of about $1.73 billion in 2018 and accounted for 26% of the global market; while the Americas had a value of around $1.97 billion and accounted for 28%.

Sri said: “Market conditions are improving and more companies are moving into a decentralized generation, leading to an increase in the onsite deployment of renewables and batteries, as in micro or mini girds. Supportive policies and high electricity charges are also nudging the market towards renewables and/or storage plus renewables at the end-consumer level. As the power sector evolves to accommodate new technologies and adapt to varying market trends, energy storage will play a central role in the transition and transformation of the power sector.” SEI

Don’t miss these sessions at Asian Utility Week

09.00 3 September 2019

JOINT OPENING KEYNOTE – NAVIGATING THE ENERGY TRANSITIONJoin us for the Joint Opening Keynote with Asian Utility Week where leading figures in Malaysia’s energy sector will welcome our delegates and visitors, and share a roadmap on navigating the Energy Transition

4 September 2019

ASEAN’S GREEN REVOLUTION• Towards the Circular Economy with Resource Efficient Solutions for Waste-To-Energy• The Opportunities & Challenges of Operating a Large-Scale WTE Plant• Focus on the Latest WTE Technology Advances

PANEL: IS GAS THE BEST BRIDGING SOLUTION FOR APAC?It is widely accepted across the globe that natural gas is the bridging fuel required as we move towards a renewables dominated future, but is it the best bridging option in APAC? Here a panel of experts will seek to answer that question

5 September 2019

ASEAN’S GREEN REVOLUTION

BIOENERGY & ITS IMPORTANCE TO ASEANHere we will explore why bioenergy in its many forms, if done in a sustainable manner, has a vital role to play in ASEAN’s securing a low-carbon future

09.30 Exploring the True Potential of Biomass & Other Bioenergy

Resources in ASEAN’s Energy Transition • Bioenergy with Capture and Storage (BECCS) Explained• Addressing the Sustainability Issue of Biomass• Focus on the Latest Bioenergy Technology Advances

PANEL: WHAT’S NEXT FOR RENEWABLES IN APAC?Experts indulge in blue-sky thinking and discuss the “next big things” in renewable energy from a technology, application and new-thinking perspective over the next five to ten years


Asian Utility Week

IIOT - THE CHALLENGE AND THE OPPORTUNITY

How is the IIoT evolving and how is this impacting the energy market?

I’ve noticed a change within the utility sector – one in which utilities are moving from utilising smart meters and the data they deliver – to more of an IoT platform. This move enables them to do much more than just deliver raw meter data to a back-end system. Because utilities now need to process data quicker and develop deeper insights from that data, IoT platforms are becoming more prominent and prevalent. In this space everyone’s looking at IoT, looking for the recipe to success.

Is there an ideal blueprint that can be followed when it comes to IoT implementations?

Did you know that 70% of IOT proof of concepts fail around the world today? There are a lot of providers that will provide the hardware, or the software or analytics platform at the beginning, middle or end of the cycle. What we are trying to do is close that gap by delivering an end-to-end platform that can deliver a world-class IoT platform to an organisation, enabling data to flow backward and forward.

Importantly, we are wrapping it all together in a very secure environment and delivering a management console which allows data to be analysed and reacted upon quickly. This means that utilities are now able to provide a proactive maintenance environment, instead of having to pursue a reactive maintenance schedule.

What are the obstacles to be overcome?

Utilities today operate utilising multiple data sources provided by multiple

software companies and in order to pull good quality information from all that data, barriers to the successful analysis of the data needs to be removed.

Quality data provides utilities with an opportunity to identify options that will enable them to operate more effectively. In order to do so, it is important to cut back on the complications in order to quickly identify alternatives.

We see a lot of opportunity with smart cities and the subsequent integration of data across multiple data sources. This approach is being seen in large utility organisations and cities around the world. Citizens are getting involved and

Speaking to Peter Asman, Vice President IIoT EMEA, Trilliant Networks, during European Utility Week, contributing editor Kelvin Ross explores the Industrial IoT space.

telling their utilities and city leaders that they want more from their cities.

In many cases, one of the first projects undertaken in a smart city is the implementation of smart lighting applications. Switching to LED street lighting will definitely save money. Moving to smart street lighting opens up a whole new set of avenues to consider.

Smart streetlight technology enables cities to monitor and manage pollution, rainfall, temperature and CCTV and then link it to services like charging for electric vehicles and parking management. It is here that I believe we are going to see a huge amount of change and a marketplace shift.

Of course, if you talk to 50 people, you will get 50 different opinions about what a smart city is. At the end of the day – each one is different. What is clear though is that citizens want more of a voice to influence decisions about what they want and need within their city space. SEI

Tuesday 3 September 2019: POWER OF THE DIGITAL PLANT

PANEL: PLANT DIGITALISATION – HOW TO AVOID BEING LEFT BEHINDDigital transformation of the generation sector is happening, so here we find out everything you need to know to ensure you have the right digital strategy for success

EXPERIENCE OF DIGITAL TWINNINGEnd users share their ‘digital twin’ experiences and explain how it is enabling them to improve the operations of their power plants

Wednesday 4 September 2019:

DIGITALISATION SUCCESS STORIESHere we showcase some of best digitalisation implementation projects in the generation sector

PANEL: INTELLIGENT DATA MANAGEMENTData generation is at an all-time high level, so the challenge is how a plant owner and operator can effectively handle and manage it.

Sessions not to be missed at Asian Utility Week

POWER &ENERGY SERIES

VIEW OUR FULL PORTFOLIO OF EVENTS ONLINE AT www.clarion-energy.com/pes

The Americas

EMEA

Asia-Pacific

Host Publications:

power & energy SERIESFROm CLARIOn ENERGYA world-leading portfolio of events

AFRICAN EVENTS

12 - 14 May 2020Cape Town, South Africa

17 - 18 September 2019Nairobi, Kenya

12 - 13 November 2019Lagos, Nigeria

ASIAN Utility Week

BUSINESS AND STRATEGY

AI IS THE NEW ELECTRICITYAs with all emerging technological trends, some elements of artificial intelligence (AI) are hyped out of proportion, some elements are ahead of their time, and some even incite fear.

However, there remains some truth beneath the hype, cycles and buzzwords. Advancements in AI stand to benefit the energy sector

but come with their own limitations and practical concerns.

What’s in a name?Currently, AI, Machine Learning (ML), and their other counterparts Deep Learning, Reinforcement Learning, etc., have seen wide coverage in a variety of industries. But what do all these terms mean? AI is a broad term and its scope varies but the idea is simple - adaptive intelligence displayed independently by a machine, in which the behaviour is not necessarily pre-determined, but which adapts to data inputs. AI in informal settings is used interchangeably with ML, but in reality, ML is a subset of AI.

Deep Learning and Reinforcement Learning are promising areas within ML. Within AI and next to ML there are the fields of robotics, speech recognition, computer vision, etc., which are key building blocks towards enabling machine intelligence. ML is the use of statistics to give computers the ability to learn from data. This differentiation is key because fast advances in ML have led to the sudden interest in AI worldwide. The initial set of improvements have been in the underlying algorithms and data architectures, but the current key improvements are just two: data and computation. Developments in data are driven by smartphone uptake and improvements in sensors, supported by revolutionary breakthroughs in data communications and data storage technologies. This has made many more datasets available than ever before, which

allows for in-depth scrutinization, enabling more accurate predictions to be made. The developments seen in computation can be attributed to dramatic increases in processing power, enabling algorithms to tackle many parameters simultaneously and conduct the same amount of computation in parallel rather than in sequence, saving a great deal of time.

What is AI/ML generally used for?Most ML methods are suited to tackling two key problems: prediction type problems and classification type problems. Prediction type problems include 'Can I predict when this equipment will fail?’ (If so, I can deploy maintenance before failure to ensure the plant doesn’t grind to a halt, while saving on unnecessary maintenance). Classification type problems include 'Is this customer different from another, based on the data I have from them?’ (If so, I can further study the differences and maybe deploy a new marketing program to retain them). The key requirement to enable these ML predictions has been the need for clean and useful datasets. For this reason, the ML method that has been showing the most potential recently is Deep Learning, a type of model


http://www.kaifametering.com/public/index.php




which can extract complex patterns and sequences in a dataset. In challenging areas such as speech recognition and image recognition, Deep Learning models have seen more success than traditional rules-based approaches or detailed expert systems and have led to a marked increase in accuracy of the prediction, well beyond what was possible before. Some popular examples of products which use Deep Learning (amongst other models) are Siri, Cortana, and Google Translate for speech/text recognition. The Google Translate model, for example, was trained on large amounts of EU and UN documents online which provide the same text professionally translated into different languages.

The most promising area with AI and ML is Reinforcement Learning, which involves training software agents towards a certain goal through rewards – in a sense mimicking how humans learn. This, when combined with Deep Learning, has led to powerful strides towards accurate prediction systems and is the key algorithm being used to drive autonomous vehicles.

A particularly interesting example of reinforcement learning is AlphaGo, which was the first computer program able to beat a high-ranking professional player in the complex board game Go. It did this through playing against itself and others repeatedly in order to know how to make the right move out of the billions of combinations possible. In short, the core idea of ML methods is that as long as the data and computational power are available it is possible to augment and even automate decision-making by creating some sort of expert system.

The future of these expert systems lies not only in enabling automation, but also in aiding complex decisions. Nowadays, computational power is easy to acquire (even on a short-term basis), and common algorithms are reasonably well known. The major investment required is in the form of time needed to acquire and assemble data, remove any mistakes from it, and assess different algorithms to see which one delivers the best performance.

Examples in energyIn energy, there are quite a few interesting examples in both the retail and the commercial space: • Fault prediction and dynamic maintenance:

This is one of the clearest uses of AI and enables operators to predict equipment failures. To do so it uses sensor data from various units, and significantly reduces their costs of downtime and maintenance. A start-up, Verv, is offering a meter device which identifies individual home appliances and tries to predict faults and alert when devices are accidentally left on.

• Investment optimisation: BP’s venture arm invested in an AI start-up called Beyond Limits, enabling them to dig through seismic images and geological models to increase the chances of success when drilling wells.

• Energy efficiency: Deepmind, a part of Google, has championed the use of Reinforcement Learning to reduce energy use in their data centres by a claimed 15%. The model learnt by looking at years of operational data and then issued changes to individual units.

• Better prediction: Deepmind has also recently announced talks with National Grid to better forecast demand on the system, with the stated goal of reducing the entire country’s energy usage by 10%.

• Trading: Origami Energy uses machine learning to predict asset availability and market prices in near real time, enabling them to successfully bid into the Frequency Response markets. Pöyry is also exploring a deep learning algorithm to support trading and dispatch decisions for generation assets in the prompt trading markets, focusing on the issue ‘When should I commit a trade’ (to maximise the option value of flexible capacity).

• Retail: Retailers are using ML to understand patterns of customer behaviour, to attract and retain customers and even to predict bill (non)-payment. Customer call centres are being fronted by algorithms which chat to customers (verbally or online) and deal with queries verbally.

• Customers: For customers, AI solutions are also gaining traction, and many retailers are offering these systems as part of an integrated package. Devices such as Amazon’s Alexa enable the customer to seamlessly interact with their thermostat and control systems (such as Centrica’s Hive). This increasing customer interaction with the device leads to the development of a more personalised usage profile, which reduces bills for the consumer and helps the energy provider to accurately forecast demand.

Caveats and conclusionDespite all the upsides, AI comes with many caveats. What happens if there is a low volume of data available for the ML model to learn from? Can it contextualise between two similar tasks and transfer

ABOUT THE AUTHORRavi Mahendra is an analyst at Pöyry Management Consulting involved in European gas modelling projects. Previously he was an O&G equity research intern at Tudor Pickering Holt & Co (now Perella Weinberg) and energy modeller at KBC Technologies (now Yokogawa Electric) where he applied ML techniques for oil refineries. Ravi has a MEng in Chemical Engineering from University of Manchester.

learnings from one to the other? How can AI systems be protected against false (perhaps maliciously-introduced) data? As some of these models are essentially black boxes, can the model users understand why the model took a particular action? Will the AI systems learn to collude or break through regulatory ringfences? Can the model take the right decision when it faces a new unforeseen environment? And, as decisions are increasingly driven by AI outcomes, will the underlying system converge, or will the outcomes be unstable?

To some degree, Reinforcement Learning coupled with intelligent model design with safety constraints and external controls can allay many of these concerns (this is being used for Autonomous Vehicle technology). Techniques will develop to combine historic-based AI outcomes with anticipated future changes in the fundamentals (e.g. new interconnection, changes in market rules), but these questions will persist; e.g. how would a car react in an earthquake if it has never had a dataset under earthquake conditions? As the standards of AI decision support improve, the interface with humans must adapt. Initially, humans must learn to trust the systems, even though the results cannot fully be explained. Techniques will be found to blend humans’ anticipation of the future with existing (historical) data to augment today’s algorithms, in what might be termed ‘augmented artificial intelligence’ (in which the AI is augmented by human knowledge, not the other way around). And ultimately, as the algorithms become more robust and are given more autonomy to act without human intervention, we need to ensure that appropriate monitoring, alerts and controls are put in place. That being said, AI or rather ML as it stands, is a powerful tool for prediction and classification problems, as long as the data to learn from exists. In non-critical business applications, ML is uncovering value in almost every application where past predictive data exists. The caveats must be put in context: human behaviour and existing prediction methods are far from perfect, and AI should not be compared with an impossible benchmark. For now, AI/ML coupled with better analytics, improvement in sensors and robotics can help automate the small directed issues entirely and let us focus on the unstructured problems of tomorrow. As succinctly put by Andrew Ng: “AI is the new electricity – enabling us to do more” SEI

https://www.global-energy-elites.com/


COMPANY SHOWCASE

EVALUATION OF POWER SUPPLY FOR REMOTE CONTROL EQUIPMENTLi/MnO2 batteries are widely used in the world due to their high specific energy, steady discharge voltage, high specific power, wide temperature range, safety and non-polluting characteristics.

They are used in applications such as smart meters, early warning and security systems and remote controls where long life and

reliability are needed; and where the battery must provide the low background current and high current pulse for data transmission or other functions.

However, if the service life of the battery needs to exceed 10 years in a security system application, evaluation of the reliability at the end of the battery life becomes difficult. One way of evaluating the reliability of Li/MnO2 batteries is by accelerated simulation.

The requirements of power solutions in security systemsOne typical example of high-current pulse application used in a security system is as follows – the equipment requires an

independent power system, and the battery in the power system must provide more than 10 years of service life.

Its application mode is set out in Table 1 below.

Table 1 shows that the anticipated 10-year consumption capacity of 832mAh indicates the average consumption current of the battery is close to 10μA.

Accelerated evaluation testIt is unrealistic to evaluate the life of batteries for a real-time period of 10 years. In order to have a quick estimate of the long-term reliability, reliability of the batteries is evaluated from three aspects: current stress, temperature stress and discharge depth.

The current stress is accelerated by twice redundancy (2*10μA), 145kohm (~20μA) is

chosen as the micro-current acceleration stress because the nominal voltage of lithium manganese dioxide battery is 3.0V.

We determine 60°C for the temperature stress. The ‘sunshine’ test is mainly used to simulate the actual application environment of the batteries, and 60°C is mainly used for temperature acceleration. According to the Arrhenius equation and industry experience, batteries stored at 60°C for 200 days is equivalent to 10 years of storage at room temperature. According to Table 1, the consumption capacity of the battery in 10 years is 832mAh, so a 53% depth of discharge (DOD) is used in the simulation (discharge is 800mAh).

Acceleration evaluation at sunshine and current stress After the aging process, the batteries are loaded with 145kohm (~20μA) in the sun room for 500 days, and then the IR and pulse voltage are periodically tested. The pulse mode is 200mA 10ms/10s 4 pulses and records the end pulse voltage after four pulses. In the experimental stage, the annual sun room temperature and humidity in Guangdong China is shown in Fig. 1 and the test results are shown in Fig. 2.

As can be seen from Fig. 1, the temperature of the sun room is between 10°C and 60°C, mainly between 10°C and 40°C, and the self-discharge rate of the battery is about 3% at this temperature range. According to the calculation result, we calculate that the self-discharge capacity is about 62mAh for 500 days and the consumption capacity of 145kohm load is about 250mAh for 500 days; thus the total consumption capacity is 312mAh for 500 days with self-discharge capacity and consumption capacity of 145kohm load. From Fig. 2 we can see that the IR of the batteries is less than 500mohm and the pulse voltages of 200mA 10ms/10s 4 pulses is more than 2.7V when the batteries are stored in the sun room for 500 days.

MODE REQUIREMENTS

Sleep (2 years) average current :2.5uA max pulse 30mA 0.15ms

Standby (10 years) average current :7.72μA max pulse 100mA 0.01ms

Test (once per week) average current :1.24μA 100-300mA

10 year consumption 832mAh

Nominal voltage 3.0V

Minimum voltage 2.7V

Power solution IR <820mΩ

Power solution CR17335

Self discharge <2%/year (20±5°C)

Capacity 1500mAh

Expected life 10 years

Table 1: The working mode of a smoke alarm


COMPANY SHOWCASE

Acceleration evaluation at sunshine, current stress and DODThe batteries are discharged for 800mAh with 14mA and then loaded with 145kohm (~20μA) in the sun room for 200 days, and then the IR and pulse voltage are periodically tested. The pulse mode is 200mA 10ms/10s 4 pulses, recording the end pulse voltage after four pulses. In the experimental stage, the annual sun room temperature and humidity in Guangdong China are shown in Fig. 1 and the test results are shown in Fig. 3.

According to the calculation result, the consumption capacity of 145kohm load is about 99mAh and the self-discharge consumption capacity is about 25mAh for 200 days. The total consumption capacity is 924mAh, including 800mAh discharge capacity at 14mA. From Fig. 3, we can see that the IR of batteries is less than 600mohm and the pulse voltages of 200mA 10ms/10s 4 cycles is more than 2.7V when the consumption capacity of batteries is 924mAh.

It can therefore meet the requirements of a smoke alarm application.

ABOUT THE AUTHORTina LI has been working at EVE since 2014. She is responsible for developing Lithium manganese dioxide battery technologies, for customer technical issues in the application engineering team and battery evaluation in the reliability test centre.

ABOUT THE COMPANYEVE’s core businesses include lithium primary battery, lithium-ion battery and power system and its products cover smart grid, intelligent transportation, smart security, energy storage, new energy vehicles, special industry and a series of industries.

Acceleration evaluation at current stress and temperature stressAfter the aging process, the batteries are loaded with 145kohm (~20μA) at 60°C for 200 days, and then the IR and pulse voltage are periodically tested. The pulse mode is 200mA 10ms/10s 4 pulses, recording the end pulse voltage after four pulses. The test results are shown in Fig. 4.

From Fig. 4 we can see that IR of the batteries is less than 600mΩ and the pulse voltage of 200mA 10ms/10s 4cycles is more than 2.7V when the batteries are loaded with 145kohm (~20μA) at 60°C for 200 days. Neither leak nor fail because the batteries

are hermetically sealed and the seal meets the requirements for 10 years’ service in smoke alarms.

ConclusionThrough the evaluation of long-term reliability, we can see that Li/MnO2 batteries have the advantage of reliable sealing, provide a stable voltage platform and with high current pulse ability and no voltage delay. These types of batteries can meet the requirements of remote equipment with an independent power supply which needs the battery to provide the low background current and high current pulse for data transmission or other function realisation. SEI

Figure 1: Temperature and humidity in Guangdong Figure 2: Discharge with 145kohm load (~20μA) in sun room for 500 days

Figure 3: After discharge to 800mAh discharge with 145kohm load (~20uA) in sunshine room for 200 days

Figure 4:. Discharge with 145kohm load (~20μA) at 60°C for 200 days



KEY PROCESSES TO REDUCE NON-TECHNICAL LOSSES

In previous articles on non-technical losses (NTL) we examined what NTL is and why it matters to all of us; and the strategies to detect and reduce them.

Although some level of losses are inherent to utility distribution business, utilities should undertake the efforts necessary to reduce losses to the point that they do not burden society (via tariff or government subsidies) or the utilities (loss of revenue affecting their capacity to invest in a better grid to remunerate the shareholders). Moreover, it is a utility's obligation to detect and remove manipulations that could generate security issues.

Detecting and addressing theft is not a one-step action; it is a process involving different areas of the utility. The workflow below summarises the proposed process.

Looking at part of these operations, or to look at them as independent actions, is a sure way to underperform. Let us examine these steps, their interdependency and the critical factors that affect each.

Identify This activity is critical, and usually includes the analysis of data from all customers, looking for patterns that would suggest a possible fraud. Then, identifying the most likely customers to be undertaking such fraud/theft.

Most utilities usually perform this activity via simple filters via SQL scripts or Excel spreadsheets. These filters may look for abrupt decreasing consumption or zero consumption and some other simple clues. Other good – and frequently

used information – are meter reader annotations, and data from previous inspections and maintenance work performed on customer facilities. Unfortunately, these annotations, historical inspections and maintenance records are usually hardcopies and not readily accessible for processing.

This method does not allow jointly checking different data categories and factors that duly correlated would influence and provide them with more detail, allowing deeper analysis and detection. An initial problem is that it will result in collecting and processing an enormous amount of data coming from independent data silos (databases). Acquiring and manipulating such data requires a significant effort, requiring several person-hours. It is also subject to data manipulation errors, poor or missing documentation of studies and results, and will provide little room for further improvement. Remember that these simple filtering processes normally consider only one data category, not allowing for correlations with several different types of data. Finally, the computational performance requirements for calculations using several data sources have to be taken into account in order to avoid very time-consuming processing.

Misidentification of potential theft will lead to inefficient operation and poor results. This process may be reasonably effective when pointing out simple frauds – which by the way are most likely found in low-income neighborhoods and result in low energy (or water) recovery. On the other hand, the process is ineffective with more sophisticated fraud, like the types that professionals commit for high-end residential, commercial or even industrial clients (the “big fish”) that may remain undetected for years, causing significant financial losses to the utility.

Many utilities fail to effectively identify potential theft, resulting in an inability to



quickly detect and “catch” the fraudsters, leading to ineffective inspections. This comes at a high cost and, of course, high revenue leakage, leaving many thefts (especially the larger, most valuable ones) undetected while frequently bothering innocent customers with unfruitful inspections. An additional issue is that in such cases the recoveries of energy/water usually depend on the capacity of the customer to pay.

This theft detection method – via manual monitoring, filtering, and reporting – carries potential integrity issues, with a high probability of inaccurate and error-prone reporting. It is time-consuming and identifies a limited amount of theft.

The method can be significantly improved when you add specialised software including tools like data analytics, AI (artificial intelligence) and ML (machine learning) techniques, and process automation. Automation by software will allow more input and insight from, for example, geographical and grid (GIS) data, seasonal and weather-related data, social-economic info, and others. Data quality verification and fixing incorrect or inconsistent data is usually a significant implementation effort.

When the utility is already in the process of implementing AMI/smart metering, complexity increases together with the amount of data acquired by modern smart meters as near-real-time data metering and alarms. This will require acquiring data automatically, plus specialized data analytics software that should consider all relevant data. MDM systems usually include some simple data analytics tools which allow limited verification. Additionally, when metering is remote, there is no visual reading. Consequently, a first visual inspection of the meter, looking for possible irregularities, does not exist, eliminating an important source of clues.

A final remark – as the utility gets smarter with the fraud detection and recovery processes, it is very common that fraud methods also get more sophisticated, and more difficult to detect. Smart meters are more difficult to tamper with and one undesired consequence is that fraudulent customers will also become smarter. Fraud profiles will also evolve because of the evolution of detection tools and methods and it is important that both the process and the software tool are able to adapt to these changes – and evolve.

AnalyzeOnce the NTL team has the output of the Identify activity, which is a list of suspect accounts, the next phase is to analyze the

filtered customers and qualify them. This means that the analysts will verify the info available and determine what may likely be theft and determine whom to inspect, based on the available data. That requires searching and analyzing data in detail. Looking at these indications, for example the present and historical consumption, the location, and others, a determination indications – for example, the present and historical consumption, location, and other factors – a decision is made as to whether this customer is worth inspecting, or not. Unfortunately, the previously described process of manual Identification usually does not provide info that helps to qualify each customer and the consequence is that gathering data for the analysis is not practicable without a significant human effort. Therefore, analysts will do it only in a few cases, at their discretion.

Considering the huge amount of data to acquire and manipulate, the only way to do activities one and two in an effective way is via software that not only does the screening but also provides all data relevant for analysis on a convenient way to be easily consulted and analyzed. This software should include algorithms that automatically estimate the likelihood of theft. The UI (user interface) should have effective means to display all relevant data to support the analysis process so the analysts can verify whatever seems important to them with just a few mouse clicks.

Experience has demonstrated that adequate software may double the effectiveness of inspections.

SelectOnce the analysts have done their work and determined who the best candidates for inspection are, it is normal that the number of inspections is much bigger than the capacity to inspect as the number of inspection teams is limited by its cost. The next phase should then be to select what inspections to prioritize.

In order to do the selection, analysts will need to analyze all info to determine a number of selected customers for the inspection teams. This requires the analysts to have easy access to all related information at the tip of their fingers, requiring only a few clicks.

Some utilities support the previous activities with fraud management or statistical packages designed for general use. This requires a long and expensive implementation and customization process and may be useful to some extent but will not provide all the necessary functionalities. Additionally, the software maintenance process and future updates will usually require a substantial and continuous effort, which is not cost effective.

Execute Field crews perform the inspections as part of the execution phase, and usually are part of other departments under direct supervision of a different manager. A common strategy is to hire third-party teams from a contractor to perform most of the inspections, sometimes reserving an internal team of specialists to inspect the most technically complex installations, like industrial and high-commercial ones, and to do audits on third-party work.

One key issue for the whole process is to be able to TRUST the results of the inspections. The quality of the inspections and consequently the accuracy of reports may be affected by human performance, or it may not be possible to do the inspection, for some reason.

Incorrect reporting can compromise any of these possible outcomes. Possible causes are insufficient training, not having the necessary equipment to verify a possible irregularity, insufficient time to perform an accurate inspection or even collusion. It is of great importance to provide adequate training to the inspections personnel, and

... the process is ineffective with more sophisticated fraud, like the types

that professionals commit for high-end residential, commercial or even

industrial clients...


ABOUT THE AUTHORRui Mano is VP at Choice Technologies. He has extensive experience in smart grids, automation of electrical systems IoT / SCADA / EMS / DMS systems and analytics for the detection of fraud/theft and reduction of losses. Mano is an author of articles and lecturer at conferences in Latin America, the US, and Europe. Choice Technologies is a technology company specializing in revenue protection analytic systems and methodologies.

a well-designed inspection and reporting procedure. Besides a thorough inspection, it is of key importance to follow the inspections procedure, to log all actions and, if fraud is found, to accurately take evidence of it for legal processing as these registers will support all further actions.

MonitorEvery inspection outcome is an important new piece of information to verify the accuracy of the predictions and of all previous processes, and therefore needs to be monitored. Understanding what went according to the prediction, what did not, and then learning about the problematic issues, is key for improving.

Needless to say, the amount of data is, again, huge and not practical for manual processing. Data should be automatically fed back into the analytics software that would do most of the task, re-evaluating its business rules, self-adjusting its internal parameters, via machine-learning techniques, and pointing out incongruences.

Besides software-supported verifications and optimizations, there will be situations when an inspection does not report fraud but the team must further analyze the case. To give an example, once we found a very clear situation of unexpectedly low consumption by some customers of a new building. It turned out to be an updating problem on the billing system, whereby the software was excluding these customers. Other typical examples are customers incorrectly registered, broken or miscalibrated meters, metering data wrongly entered on the billing system, inspections that were scheduled but not undertaken etc. Business rules should check for such issues automatically.

Another important aspect is the accuracy of the inspections, and automatic verifications of all suitable measures for the inspections. Some examples: register the timings of each inspection; check the conformity of the inspection results of each team to the software predictions; and check the number of “not-inspected” compared to the results of other teams.

Analysts must keep track of the performance of the complete process. The analysis should include bad results or bad conformity of results to the predicted ones. This post-mortem monitoring and analysis is key for the next step – to find flaws in the process, in the inspections and in the business rules, and to improve. The supporting software tool must additionally include business intelligence functionality to help analysts in all tasks related to this step.

ImproveThe improvement process is not easy as, again, the huge amount of data gathered during all previous steps will constantly increase and should be considered in the learning and improvement process. In previous projects, fraud databases have easily grown to several petabytes. The analytics software should support it without performance issues. Each cycle adds new info to the knowledge base. Artificial intelligence and machine-learning techniques should support this processing.

Key performance IndicatorsThe above-described process has one expected objective – to help discover and eliminate as much theft, non-technical loss and security risk as possible, and maximise available resources.

As with every process, it is important to monitor all results and provide data for verification, correction, management, auditing and improvement. The system needs to collect data on results and calculate the performance indicators, and support informed decisions. The most common (and most important) KPIs are:• AT&C – all technical and commercial losses

of a distribution utility. It is calculated as a percentage and measures how much energy or water is not billed to customers compared to the total that is produced/purchased and distributed to customers.

• NTL (Non-technical losses, sometimes referred to as commercial losses) – it estimates how much energy or water is not being billed to customers due to non-technical reasons. It is normally expressed as a percentage calculated by [NTL = (AT&C – TL) / AT&C]. It is comprised of fraud, theft, and process issues (metering, human and system errors). TL stands for the technical losses caused by the imperfections of the physical processes of distribution; for example, electrical impedance and water leaks.

• Effectiveness of field inspections – a percentage calculated as the total number of theft cases reported by the inspections, divided by the number of inspections performed.

• Productivity of the field inspections – a percentage that is calculated by the amount of subtracted energy or water (meaning the amount of energy or water that was not registered and not billed for

for during the period of fraud), divided by the number of inspections.

Although these are the most important, there are many other PKIs. The software should monitor and calculate the PKIs and make them available in a timely manner on a dashboard to authorized users – managers and directors.

Defining the teamBesides implementing a well-designed process, as described above, a utility has to staff the boxes with a skilled team. The Loss Analysts require a new skill set. This is a key function and one of the most difficult in which to find skilled people. On the technical side, these professionals need knowledge in two different fields, IT and electrical (or gas or water) distribution.

These skills will ideally empower them to execute the operations of the “data analytics team” and deliver the following outputs: goal analysis, process management, analysis of actions and business rules to mitigate losses, selection of targets for inspection, analysis of results and design enhancements.

ConclusionsSelecting the right software tool is necessary to perform such tasks and monitor and control the complete process in an efficient manner. A fraud management or statistical package tool will help to do part of the job, mainly steps one to three. However, it will require costly implementation, customization, human operations, maintenance and upgrades and therefore result in expensive operation and high TCO (total cost of ownership), substantially above the specific cost of the software package licences.

Time is another significant dimension, as theft will not stop and wait while you develop your software tool – and the monthly cost of lost revenue might be your highest financial consideration.

Implementing a solution that is easy and fast to implement, and will support the utility in all the process steps as discussed in this article, requires a powerful, easy-to-operate solution that can be integrated with your corporate databases and cover all the process steps to support you on a successful NTL reduction journey. SEI


http://www.china-wanjia.com/



NEW TECHNOLOGY

BRINGING A SECOND LIFE TO EV BATTERIESAs global uptake of electric vehicles continues to grow, a new opportunity is emerging for the utility sector. This is the opportunity of stationary storage powered by used EV batteries.

According to McKinsey, this storage opportunity could exceed 200 gigawatt-hours by 2030.

“During the next few decades, the strong uptake of electric vehicles (EVs) will result in the availability of terawatt-hours of batteries that no longer meet required specifications for usage in an EV. To put this in perspective, nations like the United States use a few terawatts of electricity storage over a full year, so this is a lot of energy-storage potential. Finding applications for these still-useful batteries can create significant value and ultimately even help bring down the cost of storage to enable further renewable-power integration into our grids,” according to Hauke Engel, Patrick Hertzke, and Giulia Siccardo.

Despite the ‘tough life’ to which EV batteries are subjected – extreme operating temperatures, hundreds of partial cycles a year, and changing discharge rates – these batteries can live a second life, even when they no longer meet EV performance standards.

What to do with a battery which is outside its ‘useful’ life is often a matter of choices – and comes down to disposal, recycling or reuse.

There is evidence that “reuse can provide the most value in markets where there is demand for batteries for stationary energy-storage applications that require less-frequent battery cycling (for example, 100 to 300 cycles per year).” This means this type of battery could provide a reliability mechanism for utilities at a lower cost than, for instance, combined cycle gas turbines. The team at McKinsey believe it also defers transmission and distribution investments, "taking advantage of power-arbitrage opportunities by storing renewable power for use during periods of scarcity, thus providing greater grid flexibility and firming to the grid.”

Challenges to repurposingRepurposing is not without its challenges. Chief among them are the different battery pack designs, sizes, electrode chemistry and format. Designed to suit a participar EV model, refurbishing batteries is complex “due to lack of standardisation and fragmentation of volume. Up to 250 new EV models will exist by 2025, featuring batteries from more than 15 manufacturers.”

This is seconded by the falling cost of new batteries. The cheaper new batteries are, the costlier remanufacturing becomes in comparison to the decline in new manufacturing cost. Another challenge is the “immature regulatory regime. Today, while most markets have some form of regulation requiring the recycling or remanufacturing of consumer electronics in general, most markets do not have EV-battery-specific requirements or delineations of responsibility between the producer and the consumer.” This in turn creates uncertainties for OEMs, second-life-battery companies, and potential customers.

Targeted action can, however, overcome these challenges, enabling a sustainable second-life-battery industry to emerge. And in fact, many are already being managed in this way. For instance, some automakers

are designing their batteries with second-life considerations in mind. “Nissan formalized a partnership with Sumitomo Corporation to reuse battery packs from the Nissan Leaf for stationary distributed and utility-scale storage systems. In September 2018, Renault announced its Advanced Battery Storage Programme. This collaboration involves several partners in the energy sector and is expected to result in a 70MW/60MWh used EV battery installation in Europe by 2020, the largest in Europe to date.”

Standards are being developed which essentially classify batteries based on their performance potential and classify storage applications based on their performance needs – thus creating product supply and demand transparency. According to McKinsey, “establishing a body to regularly review and refine battery standards and report annually on average cost and operating benchmarks could further catalyse growth in battery deployment.”

Further, it should be considered that “battery-ownership models may evolve.” As the second life market grows, auto manufacturers may consider retaining ownership of the battery system as more attractive, due to the residual value. This in turn may see automakers less inclined to ‘give’ batteries away.

As electric vehicles continue to disrupt the automotive value chain, they are similarly impacting on the energy-storage value chain as well. Where this new opportunity may still develop is unclear, but it will certainly mean traditional positions within the value chain are going to change. SEI

Australian special supplement

Australian Utility Week Australian Utility Week58

special report

Power + Utilities Australia overview

The 2019 Power & Utilities Australia Conference and Exhibition, created with the co-location of several established power and utility events, focuses on strategies and solutions along the entire electric power supply chain – power generation, transmission & distribution and digital transformation.

The power industry is undergoing a dramatic transformation

as variable/renewable power is rapidly introduced into the

system and distributed generation and microgrids take on

increasing significance as an energy solution. Power & Utilities

Australia will examine the challenges and opportunities created

by this unprecedented disruption in the industry.

Confirmed speakers include John Cleland, Chief Executive

Officer of Essential Energy; Andrew Bills, Chief Executive Officer

of CS Energy; Rebecca Kardos, Chief Executive Officer of

Aurora Energy; Paul Simshauser, Executive General Manager of

Infigen Energy; Rob Amphlett Lewis, Executive General Manager,

Strategy & Regulation AUSGRI; Dave Johnson, General Manager

Development & Construction of AGL; Tony Wood, Energy

Program Director, The Grattan Institute; Scott Strazik, Chief

Executive Officer of GE Gas Power; and Andrew Dillon, Chief

Executive Officer of Energy Networks Australia.

The Generation Theatre, where presentations will focus on the

challenges of balancing traditional energy with clean energy and

case studies on topics such as asset management, utility scale

solar and storage, emissions control and demand management.

The T&D theatre will focus on new challenges and opportunities for

network companies as they manage intermittent power on a grid

built for a different era. Additionally, microgrids, community energy

and edge of grid intelligence are explored.

The Digital Transformation Theatre looks at case studies from utilities

that have invested In IoT, AI and customer-facing strategies to gain

efficiency and reduce customer churn.

Power & Utilities Australia includes exciting additional features such

as breakfast forums, industry roundtables, business matching and a

start-up zone and innovation pavilion.

Don’t missSession Highlights:

Opening Keynote sessions

Chairperson: Sarah McNamara, Chief Executive Officer, Australian

Energy Council

Welcome AddressOfficial Welcome by: Minister Lily D’Ambrosio - Victorian

Government Minister of Energy, Environment and Climate Change

The State of the Australian Power IndustryPresented by: Paul Simshauser, Executive General Manager, Infigen

Energy

The Energy Charter Panel: Collaboration for ChangePanellists inlcude:

Rosemary Sinclair, Chief Executive Officer, Consumers Australia

John Cleland, Chief Executive Officer, Essential Energy

Andrew Bills, Chief Executive Officer, CS Energy

Rebecca Kardos, Chief Executive Officer, Aurora

Andrew Richards, Chief Executive Officer, Energy Users Association

of Australia

Nevenka Codevelle, Chair of Industry Working Group

Australian Utility Week 59

special report

Changing Global Energy Ecosystems

A global perspective on the integration of new energy sources into

the existing system to deliver reliable and affordable power

Presented by: Scott Strazik, Chief Executive Officer, GE Gas Power,

GE Australia

NoteworthyThe Sharing Economy and Energy DistributionHow do distribution companies unlock the potential of peer to peer

trading and other “behind the meter”

Presented by: Rob Amphlett Lewis, Executive GM Strategy

Regulation, AusGrid

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Renewables and the Changing GridDERMS, Microgrids and the Future of Grid Management

Presented by: Patrick Lee, Chief Executive Officer, PxiSE


Strategies for Managing an Aging Fleet – A Utility Case StudyPresented by: Justin Pivec, Global Business Development Manager,

Asset Performance, AVEVA

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Smart Energy Water Roundtable

(booking is required, limited seating available)


The Digital Power Plant & Power Plant OptimizationHosted by UNIPER Enerlytics

Generation Theatre


DiUS will be presenting one of this year’s TechTalks, quick

fire TechTalks, quick fire 10-minute presentations that provide

technology solutions and innovations to the sector.

Technology & Innovation Zone


The Future will be DistributedHow the Yackandanda minigrid, part of the Hume Energy Hub, will

form a more advanced DER model.

Presented by Chad Hymas, General Manager Commercial

Services, Ausnet Services


Transmission & Distribution Theatre.Renewable energy now accounts for more than 20% of Australia’s

power, creating new challenges and opportunities for network

companies as they manage intermittent power on a grid built for a

different era. Additionally, microgrids, community energy and edge of

grid intelligence offer opportunities. This theatre will focus on these

issues as well as more traditional topics such as inspection and

monitoring.


Training PartnerThe Australian Power Quality & Reliability Centre (APQRC) at the

University of Wollongong is the Training Partner of this year’s event.

It will be offering a continuing education course to run alongside the

conference.

Connecting Renewable Energy to the GridPresented by Professor Sarath Perera, Technical Director, APQRC,

UoW

Generation Theatre


Integrating Renewable Energy into the Distribution System, Presented by Sean Elphick, Research Director, APQRC, UoW

Transmission & Distribution Theatre


Please check times for the various sessions highlighted against the most up-to-date programme to avoid disappointment.


special report

Speaker Highlights: Stephen Davy, Chief Executive Officer

HYDRO TASMANIA

Steve is Chief Executive Officer at Hydro Tasmania and has

been with the business since 2005. Steve is Deputy Chair of the

Australian Energy Council and was previously a member of the

AEMC Reliability Panel.

John Cleland, Chief Executive OfficerESSENTIAL ENERGY

John is an experienced leader with executive commercial experience

in large and complex organisations across diverse industry sectors

including energy distribution, rail, resources, transportation and

logistics, and agribusiness. Since his appointment as Essential

Energy CEO in July 2016, John has initiated a major transformation

of the business, with an uplift in strategic and commercial capabilities,

technology, processes and performance.

Andrew Bills, Chief Executive OfficerCS ENERGY

Andrew commenced as CS Energy’s Chief Executive Officer in

October 2018. He has more than 20 years’ experience in the energy

and infrastructure industry where he has worked in trading, retail,

generation, LPG, solar, and renewables.

Rebecca Kardos, Chief Executive OfficerAURORA ENERGY

Rebecca joined Aurora Energy in February 2014 as CEO-designate

preceding the commencement of Aurora Energy as a stand-

alone retail business on 1 July 2014. Prior to this, Rebecca was

General Manager Retail at Synergy in Western Australia, with overall

responsibility for some one million residential and non-contestable

small to medium business customers.

Angela Lam, Head of TechnologyHORIZON POWER

Angela is a skilled IT Executive with over two decades of experience

across the private sector and government; industries include,

utilities – energy, mining & resources, finance & insurance, gaming &

entertainment, law enforcement and the Judicial sector.

Alex Wonhas, Chief System and Design OfficerAUSTRALIA ENERGY MARKET OPERATOR

Alex joined AEMO in this role in January 2019, and is responsible for

delivering AEMO’s expanded focus on system design, development

and engineering. He joins AEMO with over 15 years of experience

in the energy sector, most recently from international engineering

and advisory firm Aurecon where he was Managing Director Energy,

Resources and Manufacturing.

Rosa Milano, Sales Manager APAC Energy StorageGE RENEWABLE, GE AUSTRALIA

Rosa joined the Energy Storage business of General Electric in 2014,

after several years in the Middle East area where she managed startups

in the large constructions EPC sector. In GE, she quickly grew her

domain expertise in the Energy Storage space, moving from a first

assignment as Project and Programs Manager to the role of Commercial

Operations Leader for Europe, and lately in 2017 her current assignment,

that she covered spending most of her time in the APAC Region.

Rob Amphlett Lewis, Executive General Manager, Strategy & RegulationAUSGRID

Rob has more than 15 years’ experience in energy markets and

utilities infrastructure in Australia and the United Kingdom. At Ausgrid

Rob is responsible for the development and implementation of the

corporate strategy. He works closely and collaboratively with the

regulatory and stakeholder community to deliver outcomes from

regulatory determinations which deliver for customers and investors,

both now and in the future. Rob is also responsible for the leadership

of the corporate affairs function.

John Grimes, Chief Executive OfficerSMART ENERGY COUNCIL

John is the Chief Executive of the Smart Energy Council, a not for

profit organisation which is the national voice for the solar, storage

and smart energy industry.

Hannah McCaughey, Executive General Manager, People and Transformation AUSGRID

Hannah is responsible for IT, data, procurement, People and

Culture, employee relations, and transformation at Ausgrid.Hannah

is passionate about transforming Ausgrid to better serve customers’

needs. SEI

Australian Utility Week

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special report

Australia’s biggest behind-the-meter storage project goes liveUK energy storage company redT has switched on a 1MW facility at Australia’s largest university – marking the country’s largest behind-the-meter commercial and industrial installation to date.

The storage solution at Monash University’s Clayton Campus

is intended to balance renewable energy supply for tens of

thousands of daily visitors.

“Our partnership with Monash University demonstrates the

economic benefits of decentralised, flexible, energy storage

infrastructure solutions at commercial and industrial scale,” said

redT chief executive Scott McGregor.

The Biomedical Teaching and Learning Building at Monash

University contains Australia’s largest commercial behind-the-meter

battery storage system, opening the path to the building becoming

100% energy efficient. The project is the award-winning centrepiece

of Monash’s industry-leading $135 million shift to net-zero

emissions and 100% renewables.

By Kelvin Ross, Editor, Power Engineering International “To be doing so in Australia – a key territory with an abundance

of solar potential and increasingly decentralised energy network

– shows how technology can unlock cheap, reliable, renewable

energy generation on a global scale.”

Australia added more stored power capacity than any other nation

in 2017 – 246MW – boosted by high retail electricity rates, while

the UK topped European installations in the same year with 117MW

capacity and looks set to follow Australia’s lead.

redT’s energy storage machines at Monash University use patented

vanadium redox flow technology, a form of liquid energy storage

originally invented in Australia in 1985.

The storage machines, situated on the roof of the university’s new

Biomedical Learning and Teaching Building, couples redT’s own

vanadium redox flow technology with conventional lithium-ion

batteries as part of a ‘hybrid’ system.

Monash is the first Australian university to commit to a target of net

zero carbon emissions by 2030. Scott Ferraro, director of the Net

Zero Initiative at the university, said the storage solution “is one of

the core components of the microgrid being developed as part of

our Net Zero Initiative, enabling us to dispatch renewable energy

more effectively across the campus and help achieve our goal of

net zero emissions by 2030”.

Clayton Campus sees an average of 55,000 visitors per day with

energy needs equivalent to those of a small town, much of which is

supplied by the university’s own 4MW solar park. SEI

Monash University has a goal of net zero carbon emissions by

2030. The goal is that all buildings and operations will only be

powered by renewable energy sources.

Here are some of the ways it plans on doing it:

• Reducing energy consumption by converting more than 68,000

light fittings to LED; improving insulation and sealing of buildings

and upgrading more than 150 boilers and chillers to electric super-

efficient heat pumps.

• Generating and buying renewable energy by building Australia’s

largest urban solar farm, turning every practical rooftop and

carpark on the campuses into a solar power generator and

purchasing 100% of its energy from renewable sources.

• Innovative energy storage and renewable energy usage

by building an on-site microgrid at the University’s Clayton

Campus, reducing energy demand and creating an energy

innovation ecosystem within the Clayton Innovation Precinct.

Net Zero in action


special report

Could the solar boom bust the grid?This article looks at the growth of solar energy generation in Australia, its benefits and challenges posed to grid operators due to the inability of traditional energy infrastructure to accommodate increased capacity from distributed resources. The article provides recommendations to address challenges stemming increased grid-DER integration.

A ccording to the Australian Energy Market Operator the

average daily peak generation of rooftop photovoltaic (PV)

increased 25% from 3110MW to 3878MW between

Q4 2017 and Q4 2018.

The increase in solar PV generation is attributed to a record amount

of installed rooftop solar capacity over 2018, which made up 74%

of total solar generation in Q4 2018.

The Clean Energy Regulator estimated that 1.6GW of solar capacity

was installed across Australia over 2018, with more than 1GW of

this capacity expected in the National Electricity Market, the system

connecting electricity transmission grids of the eastern and southern

Australia states and territories to create a cross-state wholesale

electricity market.

RegulationThe speed and magnitude of our solar PV uptake is expected to

continue skyrocketing following increased focus to expand portfolios

of renewables by utility companies and an increase in both private

and public funding in addition to the adoption of favourable policies

by regulators as part of efforts to address climate change.

In Victoria and New South Wales (NSW), political parties offered

rooftop solar rebate and battery storage subsidies.

Recently, the NSW Labour Opposition promised to deliver the

biggest renewables rollout of 7GW of renewable energy.

Network challengesHowever, the growth of the country’s renewable energy portfolio

is expected to pose challenges for grid operators, as the current

electricity infrastructure was not designed with the intention for

electricity to move in two directions.

While it is not impossible for electricity to flow backwards, it is tricky

to manage the grid on a technological level, especially when there is

a lot of distributed electricity feeding back into the grid in the same

area. Transformers may become saturated due to increased voltage

from exportation. So what challenges do networks face when the

local part of the grid is full?

Maintaining grid stabilityNetworks will face new technical and operational challenges in

managing the future grid. The two main technical issues caused by

large amounts of solar being fed back into the grid include:

Voltage spikes on low voltage lines could damage network and

consumer equipment and result in networks needing to temporarily

shut down solar inverters to restore voltage to normal limits. Presently,

because of limited visibility of data, there is little ability for low voltage

networks to manage distributed energy resource (DER) export and

the constraints in their networks that lead to high levels of DER

causing them to breach technical obligations, such as voltage limits.

Thermal overloading of substation transformers or fault

currents caused by net reverse (upstream) flows.

South Australia Power Networks (SAPN) conducted a pilot project

in Salisbury which included integrating consumer onsite energy

storage and solar generation to address voltage spikes and

overloading of substation tranformers.

The study revealed that for customers installing solar systems of

5kW or more, even with batteries, energy exports are still typically

significantly exceeding imports as most customers’ batteries are fully

charged by about midday.

SAPN projects that zone substation reverse flows will be emerging

across South Australia by 2020, and by 2050, distributed solar load

flows on high voltage feeders could potentially exceed asset ratings

at times of minimum demand.

Network impacts will arise first in the low voltage network, where the

effect of increasing penetration of solar and other DER is to increase


special report

the dynamic range of power flows between peak demand and peak

export and the rate with which the system can swing from one end

of this range to the other.

Hence, investments such as changes to network configurations or

equipment become necessary to maintain grid stability and reduce

risks. But, who should pay for these investments?

According to the country’s standard for electrical and general

safety installation for inverter energy systems, AS/NSZ 4777, most

networks will allow system sizes as per the below:

1 Single phase connection (most homes): Up to 5kW

2. Three-phase connection (some homes and many businesses):

Up to 30kW

Another important implication of size limitations is solar feed-in

tariff eligibility. ‘First in best dressed’ access policy applies – so

once certain (very localised) saturation levels are reached, new

customer connections within the same area may not be allowed

to export into the grid due to technical network constraints. New

solar customers will naturally expect to be able to get connected

to the grid and take advantage of feed-in tariffs to the same

extent as their neighbours. But this is not always possible and it

is raising questions of ‘solar equity’. Questions like ‘Why should

my neighbours be able to export up to 5kW but I am restricted to

0kW because I connected after them?’ and ‘Do they pay more

than me for this privilege’? The governing National Electricity

Rule 6.1.4 states that ‘a distribution NSP must not charge a

distribution network user, distribution use of system charges for

the export of electricity generated by the user into the distribution

network’. This leads to significant constraints as it bans

export charging.

Legitimate questions are being raised about the local access

regime and whether it remains fit for purpose. The reality is,

the ‘first in best dressed’ approach needs assessment and

innovative approaches considered – for example, sharing of

export capacity among all customers, with energy potentially

tradeable or auctioned.

Customers applying to install solar should always contact their local

distributor to check network capacity before they make the decision

to invest; and solar companies with an interest in their business

should be advising them to do so.

CurtailmentCurtailment or the restriction of a customer’s generation capacity

because of weakness in the grid in an area is a growing issue

in Germany and China. It becomes essential to protect whole-

of-system security, safety and power reliability. In Germany,

grid operators are being forced to dramatically increase

operating costs to stabilise a centralised grid that was never

built for fragmented renewable production. While in China the

government has been trying to adjust the timing of construction

and has set up an early warning system forcing regions suffering

from excess capacity growth to slow down the pace of

new approvals.

Considering these international scenarios, curtailment could

become an issue in Australia, particularly as DER uptake

accelerates as solar and battery subsidy policies take full effect.

In Australia, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO)

manages curtailment in large-scale generation in the National

Electricity Market. While you would think new solar customers in

Australia would prefer occasional curtailment to blanket export

restrictions, distribution businesses do not have capacity to curtail

at the local level. This poses the question of how curtailment in

small-scale generation will be managed in future in order to ensure

power system security and fairness for customers.

Promises versus challengesIt is essential that Australia establishes an effective mechanism

to properly integrate solar and storage into the grid so customer

exports aren’t restricted and they are able to get full benefit from

their DER.

Energy Networks Australia has developed the Energy Network

Transformation Roadmap to facilitate the development of a pathway

forward for network businesses to accommodate distributed energy

throughout their networks.

Energy Networks Australia is soon to launch DER connection

guidelines, which will provide technical guidance for standardising

rooftop solar connections for all Australian network businesses.

At a political and government level, policies and programmes must

consider network and whole-of-system challenges. If they don’t, not

only will customer expectations not be met, the system simply won’t

cope. The solar boom could go bust. SEI

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Monishka Narayan is a programme coordinator at Energy Networks Australia. Previously, worked with Charles Darwin University as a Research fellow developing organic, hybrid and perovskite solar cells.


special report

Falling behind ‘down under’As in many developed countries, Australia’s grid infrastructure is ageing but state-led infrastructure modernisation has been ongoing since 2009.

The year marked the start of smart metering in the country,

when Victoria implemented its mandatory AU$2.24 billion,

2.8 million meter rollout, the country’s first advanced metering

infrastructure (AMI) project.

The rollout has been considered the most advanced to date and

only Western Australia has joined Victoria in completing rollouts to

date. Nationwide, state-led programmes were implemented by the

country’s energy regulator in December 2017.

Australia is behind the curveThere are roughly 3.3 million smart meters installed across the

national electricity market, out of a total 13.6 million meters,

accounting for less than a quarter of the country. Estimates say

that the national programme should be completed by 2023, but

upgrading to the new technology is optional for consumers.

An October 2018 report by Australian smart city experts Delos Delta

and Topfer & Associates led to the release of a policy paper advising

the Australian government on the state of smart metering, its role in

smart cities, and how to the rollout could “get back on track”.

The paper entitled “The Smart Meter Revolution: How Australia Fell

Behind, and How We Can Get Back On Track” was damning in its

assessment of smart metering in the country.

Delos Delta’s managing director, and former energy executive

for Central-Australia’s government, Brook Dixon, described the

country’s electricity environment as “…embarrassing and unstable.

Not only are consumers missing out on the opportunity to take

control of their electricity usage and monthly bills, but we have also

stalled our push to become a Smart City global leader.”

According to Paul Topfer, CEO of Topfer & Associates,

“smart metering deployments were significantly undermined following

the Victorian experience; however the lessons are now obvious, and

the industry is well placed to deliver the promised customer benefits.

We just need policy makers to step up to the challenge!”

ControversyHowever, the rollouts, led by publically-owned distributors, have met

with large amounts of controversy, and limited success.

An auditor-general report found that the Victoria rollout offered no real

benefits to consumers, but carried a potential cost of AU$319 million.

Victoria residents kicked back at the rollout, raising concerns around

the cost of electricity increasing, and being charged more in times

of peak demand, along with privacy concerns surrounding the

sharing of their energy consumption data.

Residents have no visibilityCustomer visibility of consumption data is non-existent. To date,

the success of the Victoria rollout hinges on customer-benefits like

reduced metering charges, and support for new technologies, but

cost savings from energy monitoring have been non-existent.

Not only are consumers missing out on the opportunity to take control of their electricity usage and monthly bills, but we have also stalled our push to become a Smart City global leader.

Brook Dixon, former energy executive for Central-Australia’s government, MD - Delos Delta


special report

Local utility AusNet Services has generated savings in excess of

AU$26 million per annum. Competitor utility Jemena reported 2016

customer savings of AU$1,654, 890 by preventing approximately

4,105 truck visits to metered sites.

Energy Networks Australia (ENA), however, said in 2018 that the

Victoria rollout put the state ahead of the rest of the country.

“Metering charges have reduced dramatically and the technology

has begun to offer Victorian energy customers a distinct

‘first-mover advantage’, as the benefits of advanced metering

now flow through,” an ENA spokeswoman said.

Uptake in other states has been slower. As at the end of the

first quarter of 2018, New South Wales, South Australia,

Queensland and Tasmania had 400,000 smart meters installed,

and most of these were part of solar rooftop installations for

prosumers. Western Australia’s installations totalled 47,000 in the

same period.

“The rate of installation has been low – around 3,500 – in the

months since December 2017, which is in line with expectations,”

the spokeswoman said.

So what can be done to meet the challenges?

Data protectionThe federal government has been working on a major reform package

that will provide consumers and third parties simple access to data,

in three key sectors: banking, electricity and telecommunications.

There is a further possible vulnerability though – the assumption that

third-parties such as data platform solutions companies and energy

suppliers will create the platforms themselves, creating another

possible disconnect or stumbling block for consumers.

Reforms are envisioned to include the formulation of a new

database by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) that

will be openly accessible by industry stakeholders. This basic

information is expected to comprise information such as the

consumer’s name, address, email, phone number, current retailer

and tariff details, electricity distributor, and details regarding any

installed renewables or energy storage.

Overcoming the consumption data visibility challengeThis is arguably the main benefit of smart metering to consumers,

as planned use and variable tariffs are both options; but to achieve

this, consumers need useful information and tariff comparisons,

preferably free of any additional charges.

The main consumer benefit of a smart meter is to reduce electricity

bills. But to do this, consumers need easy access to their daily

electricity usage data, which can then be translated into useful

information that enables them to compare tariffs. Consumers ought

to be able choose such value-added services from third party

providers by granting access to this data.

Currently the federal government’s Energy Made Easy website is

run by the Australian Energy Regulator, and proposals have been

made to revise the site to standards similar to Victoria’s Switch

On and North America’s Green Button programme.

It is hoped that consumers, both residential and commercial, will be

able to make full use of the technology prior to the finalisation of the

rollout, but until then, the rollout will likely still leave some Australians

unable to say “No worries” for a while yet. SEI

The market for smart meters is in its infancy and needs careful monitoring and evaluation as it develops.

Sangeetha Chandrashekeran, deputy director: the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute at the University of Melbourne

Australian Utility Week

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special report



PREPARING FOR ELECTRIFICATION – DOING IT RIGHTUdi Merhav looks at how utilities are modernising their business models and infrastructure to incorporate the electric vehicles services into their business operations to create new revenue streams, meet emerging consumer demand as well as achieve energy transition goals that include reducing carbon footprints.

As the march to a more sustainable energy future continues to gather momentum, a singular theme is appearing: electrify transportation.

But to effectively capitalise on the transportation electrification revolution, utilities need to play a central role in not only supplying the electricity required (which increases revenues) but also improving their customer programmes, service offerings and communication methods.

As consumer EV sales continue to climb, forward-thinking utilities are already incorporating electrification into their service offerings. Southern California Edison’s transportation electrification (TE)

programmes include rebate rewards that subsidise the cost of installations, while also offering customers enrolment in an EV rate, Time-of-Use (TOU) rate, or a different tiered rate plan. Tiered options serve the purpose of not only providing customer choice but have also been proven to assist utilities in managing charging by pushing loads off-peak to avoid building additional power plants. Ohio’s AEP and Colorado’s Xcel Energy are offering customers discounts on EV chargers and other rewards. And European power providers are offering even more aggressive incentives, with Enel, Engie, Centrica, and EDF purchasing EV charging companies to accelerate the deployment of public charging stations as well as DC fast chargers.

While these examples showcase promising advancements, the complex thinking and planning that brought these initiatives to fruition could remain elusive, as one pilot or programme wouldn’t fit all utilities. Instead, utilities might also look to the success of non-EV programmes in distributed solar, smart meter deployment, or connected home devices, to identify useful elements they can bring forward into their EV initiatives.

Benefit-driven communication is keyWhen introducing any new technology or service, it’s essential to understand that customers resist change, and utilities must excite their customers and work towards their interest, as much as their own. Smart meter deployments that met with resistance (such as those currently in the UK) failed to communicate to customers what benefits they would realise from the new devices.

Similar resistance has been shown to happen with new or potential EV owners, as drivers who do not understand how rates for EVs work fear that their use of more electricity will cost more money. And as a result, they choose not to sign up and therefore can’t take advantage of EV rates.



And for the utility, non-adopters prevent them from using this economic lever to drive customer charging behaviour toward off-peak times of the day when power is cheaper and in less demand.

These experiences illustrate why it is critical that electrification programmes first offer real and tangible benefits to EV drivers, and then clearly communicate those benefits. Additionally, programmes are successful when they continue to adapt to market and customer preferences over time, keeping them relevant and enticing.

While the mechanics will look different for various EV programmes, the challenges to adoption are similar. For instance, if utilities only offer residential EV charging installation rebates, but don’t address challenges faced by customers living in multi-unit dwellings, they risk alienating a segment of customers. Additionally, opinions are divided whether all the utility’s customers should subsidise targeted utility programmes related to EVs, or if EV drivers should bear the total financial burden.

Another example of the need for communication that adapts to the consumer market is the growth of utility owned-community solar projects, which grew 112% between 2016 and 2017. Community solar programmes are initiatives that offer a utility customer the option to purchase a share in an existing solar array and receive a portion of that system’s power for their use, allowing customers to use solar without buying an array of their own.

Community solar programmes started slowly, because they lacked clear frameworks and terms, resulting in a reluctance to participate by customers. Without subscribers, financiers were reluctant to lend. The industry collaborated on solutions to these complications,

which led to legal and transactional frameworks and the establishment of utility best practices. When Colorado, Minnesota, and Massachusetts pioneered the implementation of these new solutions, private sector developers flocked to take advantage of the new programmes.

Furthermore, utilities would be wise to ensure programmes are not too rigid. While customer choice made community solar accessible, it also became a hindrance. According to Utility Dive, long-term contracts, inflexible payment options, and unpredictable pricing have served as considerable obstacles to specific community solar programmes. These drawbacks counteracted the freedom of choice customers felt they should receive from the programmes.

When developing a new transportation electrification programme, it’s important to remember – it’s new! Customers will want to ease into adoption. So forgo any long-term commitments, and develop more risk-free, easy-entry pilot programmes for customers.

Customer service designed to transform the marketWhile it may seem obvious, it’s important to remember that you’re offering a service, not just selling electricity. Your mission centres around making new energy programmes easy to adopt for the end-user.

Xcel Energy’s (Xcel) multi-state programme outlines this well. It’s an EV charging programme where Xcel owns and operates the smart EV chargers. If the customer moves, the charger stays for the next occupant. Supplying equipment gives customers the feeling that this is truly a service where Xcel has everything handled. It also offers Xcel the freedom to manage the chargers as they see fit. As new technology emerges, it is free to replace old charging devices with improved ones.

A service-centred approach applies to commercial fleets as well. These electric buses and delivery trucks can dramatically increase electricity sales to utilities. However, the new points of load can also stress the local grid if utility service infrastructure is not upgraded at the depot.

ABOUT THE AUTHORA seasoned technology executive and entrepreneur, Udi Merhav founded energyOrbit in 2006 after 15 years spent designing and implementing e-commerce and information technology solutions for high growth sectors including online legal services, financial services and energy efficiency / demand side management. With business development expertise in Asia Pacific markets, he worked in a variety of roles setting up joint ventures with Chinese companies and is a co-founder and co-investor in India-based Orit Innovations Ltd., providing Salesforce.com consulting services. Udi holds an Undergraduate Degree in Chinese Regional Studies and a Master’s Degree in International Studies from the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA

While fleet owners and depot managers are well versed in managing fossil fuel prices, they may not be experts in managing kilowatts. Utilities have an opportunity to support fleets throughout the process of preparing their facilities to handle larger electric loads for charging eTrucks and eBuses. This includes providing education on new rate tiers and demand charges they could encounter, to covering the costs of the electrical service upgrades at their depots.

Elements of the move to transportation electrification have not come swiftly for the utilities, and as a result, new startups are rising to fill the gap. AMPLY Power is offering fleets a Charging-as-a-Service business model, where they manage all aspects of a fleet’s charging infrastructure and billing through a price-per-mile compensation model.

Technology and collaboration are vitalThere are many parties involved in bringing new technology programmes to the market, and transportation electrification isn’t any different. For example, many utilities already organize and manage their energy efficiency and distributed energy programmes through cloud-based web portals, and many of these systems could track incentive and rebate programmes for EV initiatives as well. For those programmes still managed on spreadsheets, the move to developing an EV programme is a good time to consider moving all programme management, tracking and reporting from spreadsheets to a robust and scalable digital solution.

Regardless of where utilities are in the process of developing transportation electrification programmes, it is critical they do not design them in a vacuum. By leveraging best practices of the past, and keeping the customer’s perspective in mind throughout the development process, utilities can provide both residential and commercial customers with programmes and services that encourage and reward the adoption of more electric vehicles in their service territories. Doing so will result in new revenue streams for utilities, fewer greenhouse gas and carbon emissions for the planet, and a better overall transportation electrification experience for the customer. SEI


NEW TECHNOLOGY

EVS ON THE GRID – CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIESAdam Pigott, engineering manager, Kinect Energy Group, discusses EV charging, its applications, challenges and opportunities for utilities.

While electric vehicles (EVs) currently account for a very small fraction of the cars on the road, sales are rising and

that trend will only accelerate as prices fall and range increases. This will inevitably impact any business that has an employee or customer car park. Consequently organizations need to consider the impact of EV charging and future EV trends on their energy strategy. This is particularly the case for businesses who may need to install multiple charging or rapid charging infrastructure at their premises.

Many businesses will be unaware that installing significant numbers of EV charging points is likely to have implications for their existing electricity supply, which may need upgrading to cope with the increased demand.

As car manufacturers strive to reduce EV charging times in order to make the ‘refuelling’ process more akin to that of a conventional car, the power requirements of the chargers are increasing. Early rapid chargers were in the order of 50kW to 100kW; however, the latest generation is already up to 300kW. When contrasted with a typical SME power requirement of 80kW, the scale of the issue becomes apparent.

Whilst an SME would more likely install slow charging infrastructure in the range of 3 – 7kW each, in selected circumstances we are already seeing some organisations planning for rapid charger installation. In one particular instance, rapid charging will necessitate a capacity upgrade some 30 times that of the current supply. Such an upgrade is not a paperwork exercise and will require major network reinforcement, at significant cost.

Those installing slow charging are not necessarily immune from such issues. Whilst a single 3kW charging point may have little impact on a premise’s electricity supply, 100 such charging points will. Even if the necessary capacity is present, the next issue becomes the electricity consumed.

A single 3kW point charging an EV for eight hours will consume 24kWh, currently costing around £3 a day. When a single employee asks for an EV charger to be installed, a business may well be happy to absorb this energy cost. When half the workforce has an EV, will that same business be happy to absorb the cost of firstly installing the charging points, and secondly the energy consumed? If that one employee becomes 50, the daily electricity

cost rises to £150 and over the course of a year that cost is over £35,000.

It may be easy to think that the scenario described above is a long way off, but the automotive market is shifting. Governmental policy and simple economics will see increased EV adoption rates as vehicle costs fall, choice widens, and battery range improves. Some in the industry are already citing that the current crop of ‘affordable’ EVs have already achieved cost parity with their fossil fuelled brethren, when purchase/lease, operating costs and residual values are considered.

Consequently, it is paramount that any business with a staff or customer car park has an EV policy that considers: whether EV charging will be offered and, if so, the number of charging points and power of each; any impact on the existing electricity supply; who incurs the energy cost; and ultimately, if energy costs are to be recovered, how this will be achieved.


NEW TECHNOLOGY

Businesses acting now will not only be better prepared for the inevitable question from either a staff member, visitor or customer of ‘Where can I charge my car?’ but may find competitive advantage in deploying EV charging infrastructure. Furthermore, some businesses, especially those that install significant numbers of EV chargers, may even be able to derive an additional revenue stream from applying a margin to the energy supplied, or providing Vehicle to Grid (V2G) services in the future.

Will the grid cope?Given the increasing demands EVs will place on the local distribution, national transmission and generation infrastructure of the electricity system, there is a very strong possibility that the grid (or aspects of the network) won’t keep pace with the ultimate rate of EV adoption. Consequently, we are likely to see the evolution of smart charging.

Instead of charging as soon as it is plugged in, the EV or charger will examine parameters relating to local and national demand, price signals, time of day, the customer’s charging preferences and battery charge state, and then decide on the most optimal time to charge. Customers who are most flexible around when this happens will probably pay a lower price for the electricity, whereas people who want to be able to recharge their vehicle immediately will be able to do so but at a higher cost.

Mobile battery storageA natural extension of smart charging will be Vehicle to Grid. V2G describes a system whereby plug-in EVs, including battery electric vehicles (BEVs), hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) or plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) have the ability to export electricity

to the utility provider. With the EV owner’s consent, a utility provider could effectively draw electricity from V2G connected cars.

Owing to the variable output of all sources of electricity generation, especially renewables, the operators of the grid are increasingly looking for providers of balancing services – organisations that can either absorb power when generation outstrips demand, or supply power when demand is higher than generation. The batteries in EVs are ideal to provide such balancing, assuming power is able to flow in either direction.

As EVs become more mainstream, the collective capacity of their batteries and ability to store electricity will be huge. Significant numbers of EV owners who allow access to even a small percentage of their EV’s battery will collectively provide an enormous balancing resource that has a significant value.

As with smart charging, V2G will be largely driven by financial incentive – allowing access to a small percentage of the EV’s battery will probably result in the vehicle owner being directly compensated or given preferential energy rates for charging.

Such a dynamic system that includes smart charging and V2G will also bring with it operational challenges. EVs will not always charge at the same location through the same electricity supply. Consequently, how the benefits of smart charging and V2G along with the actual cost to charge are apportioned between the vehicle owner and the owner of the charging point and electricity supply are currently unclear.

To achieve smart charging, V2G and appropriately apportion the benefits and costs, the quantity of data analysis and the financial decisions that will need to be taken in real-time will likely necessitate

…the EV or charger will examine parameters relating to local and national

demand, price signals, time of day, the customer’s charging preferences and

battery charge state, and then decide on the most optimal time to charge.


NEW TECHNOLOGY

ABOUT THE AUTHORAdam Pigott is engineering manager for Kinect Energy Group. Based in London, and with 19 years’ experience working in the energy sector, Pigott heads up the engineering arm of Kinect Energy Group’s sustainability team, delivering physical energy, cost and carbon reductions to Kinect’s customers. He specialises in the delivery of measured energy savings, frequently without the requirement of investment in new equipment.

a fully automated process. It will require extensive telemetry throughout the electrical distribution system and in the EV, along with real-time information relating to the electricity price, grid frequency, predicted generation availability, weather data and EV owner preferences.

From an EV owner perspective, the process will need to be sufficiently simple and ideally visual, to allow them to see the status of the EV at any given time and feel in control of the process, regardless of the complexity behind the scenes. In much the same way as the online portals provide customers with complete oversight of their energy status, from simple overview of use and spend to complex analysis, EV owners will need similar oversight of energy use, cost and benefit.

In all likelihood we envisage an app-driven system where the EV owner will set basic

parameters regarding when they want to use the vehicle and the range they require, and the system will operate to ensure the vehicle charges sufficiently at the lowest cost by charging and discharging as required. Alternatively, an override would allow maximum, instant charging at a higher price for the faster availability.

Evolution There is currently a lot of discussion and enthusiasm for behind-the-meter battery

storage to provide balancing services; however, this vocal enthusiasm in not seemingly translating into many installations.

Furthermore, we suspect that when EVs and particularly V2G become mainstream, the requirement for standalone storage will disappear altogether. Currently with behind-the-meter battery storage, a business case needs to be built, weighing the battery installation cost against the return from the provision of balancing services.

With EVs, the battery purchase has been made anyway as part of the EV (or leased as part of the EV), so using an EV battery for motive power and balancing services would appear to be a much more viable option than investing in stationary batteries for a single purpose.

While the battery capacity of a single EV is likely to be much smaller than a behind-the-meter battery, and only a small proportion would be accessible for discharge, the number of EV batteries available will, in time, quickly eclipse the total availability of standalone batteries. If EV adoption accelerates at the pace many believe, and V2G follows suit, the market for behind-the-meter battery storage could quietly die before it has the chance to become mainstream.

The wide-scale adoption of EVs will bring challenges to the electrical infrastructure; however, in many regards, the flexibility afforded by the batteries will in itself go some way to solving those challenges. Furthermore, as electricity generation turns increasingly to intermittent renewables and away from conventional, dispatchable, fossil-fuelled generation, the collective battery capacity of EVs will be key in maintaining a stable, greener, grid in the future.

What we’re starting to see is the tip of a rapidly approaching iceberg. Issues around EV infrastructure and strategy are already impacting some customers and the wider business community needs to be conscious that they will, inevitably, impact them too.

Just because you can’t see hundreds of EVs when you look out of the window today doesn’t mean that the rise in their adoption is a long way into the future. It is already happening and there is a real danger that organizations who don’t start planning their EV energy strategy will get left behind. SEI

Many businesses will be unaware that installing significant numbers of

EV charging points is likely to have implications for their existing

electricity supply.


NEW TECHNOLOGY

THE ROAD TO CONDUCTIVE CONVERGENCEThe road to clean energy transportation has been an exciting one, marked by significant milestones in electric vehicle design, production, performance and increasingly, autonomy, writes Philip Gordon.

With global EV sales in the Western hemisphere alone expected to increase exponentially, the transition is

clearly upon us, but there’s got to be some bad with the good, and that has taken the form of concerns around EV range, charging infrastructure, battery manufacturing costs, and the limitations of these.

These are challenges facing both commuters and utilities, and in a broader sense, municipalities, governments and industry regulators, but what if there was an alternative technology that solves the problems of battery cost, charging infrastructure and range anxiety in one fell swoop?

Welcome to the world of inductive road technology.

The premise is over 100 years old – the idea of running a conducting surface either below or above a vehicle, which then provides power to an internally-stored power-plant. Electric street trams are one example, but perhaps a closer likening would be to the Scalelectrix track on the dinner tables of our memories, where electric contacts on a vehicle are coupled to a conductive track, completing a circuit and driving an electric motor.

The journey to JinanChina accounts for half of all EV sales globally, with sales of electric, fuel-cell or hybrid vehicles expected to surpass one million in 2019, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

That’s part of the reason why the city of Jinan is set to become the test-bed for an ‘intelligent

highway’, paved with solar panels, map sensors and electric battery rechargers that will be embedded in transparent concrete, over a 1,080 meter-long stretch of road which sees traffic of over 45,000 vehicles daily.

According to the builder, Qilu Transportation Development Group, the solar panels generate enough electricity to power not just the highway’s lights, but also an additional 800 homes in the surrounding area.

That’s just the start. The Chinese government has set a target for 10% of all vehicles to be self-driving (autonomous) by 2030, and the inductive road may be key to achieving it.

Qilu wants to include technologies that would speed up the adoption of automated, electric vehicles – inductive charging from the road surface, and real-time, high-accuracy traffic updates and mapping to direct self-driving traffic.

“The highways we have been using can only carry vehicles passing by, and they are like the 1.0-generation product,” said Zhou Yong, the company’s general manager. “We’re working on the 2.0 and 3.0 generations by transplanting brains and a nervous system.”

China’s government wants what it calls an intelligent transportation system, and the development of intelligent road system and autonomous vehicles are focus areas for them, according to Yuan Peng, deputy head of the transportation ministry’s science and technology department.

“The ministry will help offer smart roads for the smart cars that are coming,” Yuan said.

The smart road consists of three layers, with a shell of transparent material that allows sunlight to reach the solar cells inside. The first, or top, layer has space to thread charging wires and sensors that recharge an electric vehicle as it drives, but it also houses sensors that monitor traffic flow, temperature and weight load. The solar panels, which run across two lanes, are thinner than a coin’s edge.

The technology is viable, but the test road is too short to deliver effective charging at present.

“From the angle of the technology itself, charging is not a problem,” Zhou said. “The vehicles that can be charged wirelessly aren’t used on roads yet.”

Researchers first started working on the project a decade ago, but the actual building of the new road took just 55 days to complete.

The stretch of road in Jinan cost about $1,000 per square meter to build, but the threshold for mass adoption of the technology is about $450 per square meter


NEW TECHNOLOGY

The road has an estimated life span of 15 years, equalling that of traditional highways.

The stretch of road in Jinan cost about $1,000 per square meter to build, but the threshold for mass adoption of the technology is about $450 per square meter, according to Qilu.

“In the future, when cars are running on these roads, it will be like human beings,” Zhou said. “The road will feel and think to figure out how heavy the vehicles are and what kind of data is needed.”

The Scandinavian solutionAs advanced as China’s project may be, it’s not a world-first, at least not in the true purpose of inductive road technology. That honour goes

to Sweden, which has just recently announced the opening of the first such road in the world. The approximately 2km long stretch of electric rail embedded in a public road near Stockholm has gone a lot further than just a test too – it’s prompted the country’s national roads agency to draft a national rollout of the technology. Sweden has the goal of transitioning completely to clean energy by 2035, and will require a 70% reduction in fossil-fuel use in vehicles to achieve this aim.

The system differs vastly from the Jinan project in every respect bar one – they’re both expected to charge EVs. The Swedish system, rather than relying on an embedded top layer of the road surface, has two tracks of rail. A moving arm suspended from the

bottom of the vehicle connects to the rails, powering it.

Power is only provided when a vehicle is on the road itself, and in motion, and current stops when the vehicle overtakes, or tries to overtake. Consumption can be measured and billed per vehicle.

Hans Säll, chief executive of the Swedish eRoadArlanda consortium behind the project, noted that there are roughly half a million kilometres of roadway in the country, of which 20,000km are highways. “If we electrify 20,000km of highways that will definitely be enough,” he added. “The distance between two highways is never more than 45km and electric cars can


already travel that distance without needing to be recharged. Some believe it would be enough to electrify 5,000km.”

Säll said: “There is no electricity on the surface. There are two tracks, just like an outlet in the wall. Five or six centimetres down is where the electricity is. But if you flood the road with salt water then we have found that the electricity level at the surface is just one volt. You could walk on it barefoot.”

But is it viable?The eRoad Arlanda project is exciting, and the Jinan pilot arguably even more so, given its potential to support autonomous transport, and provide an additional source of grid resilience, but the cost of each is massive.

The eRoad Arlanda project reportedly cost €1,000,000 per kilometre to build, and the Jinan project was estimated to cost over €893,000 per square kilometre. Although both cost estimates would become cheaper at scale, the sheer level of disruption to roadways and commerce is undeniable should a national rollout of this technology take place, regardless of location.

Secondly, it may be argued that one of the main challenges solved by inductive roads, that of helping reduce the need for large batteries in EVs, is solving itself. The cost of Lithium-ion batteries has dropped massively in recent years. According to McKinsey, the price of a typical EV battery pack has dropped by 85% since 2010, and drops by

18% each time demand for the technology doubles. Other pundits argue that a vehicle essentially remains stationary for most of its useful life, so why not use the charging infrastructure currently being developed instead of starting over?

The answer may be that the technology needs more timeAn alternative to both the Chinese and Swedish projects is inductive transmission. This is used in technologies like wireless mobile phone chargers where conductors are set in a charged surface to create an electromagnetic field, which transmits power to conductors in the phone itself.

A Canadian company, Bombardier, has already demonstrated the technology in vehicles, and US company Qualcomm has designed a system currently in use in Formula E, which provides racers with a complementary boost of power to supplement, rather than replace, their on-board batteries.

A new Swedish inductive charging project was also recently announced. The Swedish Transport Administration has partnered with Smart Road Gotland to construct an inductive EV charging system pilot project on a 1.6km stretch of road between the airport and the city centre of Visby. The road will have coils deployed 8cm under the surface and will be activated only when corresponding vehicles drive on the road.

Meanwhile, in March this year, Norway’s Fortum announced it was working to provide wireless charging to taxis within Oslo, saying that the company aims to install wireless charging using induction technology. Charging plates are installed in the ground where the taxi is parked and a receiver is installed in the taxi. This allows for charging up to 75kW. The project will be the first wireless fast-charging infrastructure for electric taxis anywhere in the world, and will also help the further development of wireless charging technology for all EV drivers.

“Fortum Charge & Drive has long been working with the taxi industry to enable electrification of the taxi fleet. The greatest hurdle has proved to be the infrastructure: It is too time-consuming for taxi drivers to find a charger, plug in and then wait for the car to charge. The wireless fast-charging project aims to solve these issues and thereby reduce climate emissions from the taxi sector – not only in Norway but in the entire world.”

Regardless of the system, or integration of systems that prove to be the most viable in the future, it seems the best ideas from our past can find a home in our present. SEI

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DRIVEN BY STORAGE – THE JOURNEY TO RENEWABLES DOWN UNDERIt’s been hailed by many as the ‘Leatherman’ of the smart energy industry. Storage which can be used for peak demand management at utility level, or commercial and residential prosumers looking to operate more sustainably or go off-grid.

Australia has taken a leading role globally in the transition to smart, renewable energy, and given the abundance of sunshine, solar has

seen near-record adoption, with over 1.8 million residential houses incorporating rooftop solar, representing approximately 36% of the country’s 8.2 million households.

The utility and commercial-level adoption of solar and storage has also been impressive, with the latest September 2018 report from Australia’s Smart Energy Council (SEC) noting over 52,500 on-grid and off-grid energy storage systems installed in Australia at the end of 2016, and 20,000 energy storage systems planned for completion in 2017.

As at the end of 2018, 55 large-scale energy storage projects were identified, representing over 4GWh of storage. Of these, 19 had been completed, with another 36 at a financial close.

A high-growth forecast by the Australian Smart Energy Council (SEC) sees this number eclipsed – forecasting 450,000 energy storage systems in place by 2020, and this growth extending to employment. At present, according to the report, around 2,000 people are employed in the energy storage sector, with over 35,000 Australians predicted to work in the industry by 2020.

These are all positive numbers, but one finding by the SEC reveals the actual state-of-readiness in the region.

“The lack of accurate and complete data on the location, number, size and type of energy storage systems in Australia demonstrates the urgent need for an industry-led national energy storage systems database.”

The SEC wasn’t alone in that assessment. The country’s ‘peak national body’ representing transmission and distribution organisations, Energy Networks Australia (ENA), called for

clearer guidelines and a more consistent approach to grid connections of solar PV and battery storage in the country.

This led to ENA’s issuance of the ‘Distributed Energy Resources (DER) Grid Connection Guidelines Framework and Principles’, in an effort to standardise renewables installation on the grid.

ENA CEO Andrew Dillon said that as Australia adopts a more decentralised energy mix, consistency would be a key factor, noting that energy networks have, given the increased uptake of solar and other renewables, developed their own technical requirements and connection processes.

Dillon said: “This has led to inconsistencies between networks, which has been identified as a major concern by stakeholders in numerous industry reports including the CSIRO/Energy Network Australia Electricity Network Transformation Roadmap. These guidelines are being developed to establish uniformity around voltage, legal frameworks and technical standards to enable fair, easy and efficient grid connection.”

The CSIRO roadmap forecasts that savings from battery-based storage could save the country as much as AU$101 billion by 2050 and completely eliminate greenhouse gas emissions.

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The framework is expected to be published in late-2019.

State-driven adoption is key to growthAustralia’s renewable energy target aspires to reach 33,000 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of renewable energy in use by 2020. According to the SEC, state government policies and programmes are critically important to driving investment in energy storage. To date, the Australian Central Territories (ACT) of Victoria, Queensland and South Australia have been the leaders in the journey to storage. • Australian Capital Territory (ACT) has been

the most aggressive adopter to date, targeting a 100% transition to renewables by 2020. ACT has also taken the most aggressive stance in terms of energy storage funding, with a $25 million Next Generation Battery Storage scheme aiming to provide subsidised battery storage for 5,000 Canberra homes and businesses by 2020.

• New South Wales is making steps in the right direction, but at present no state policy exists to ensure that the region reaches its goal of aligning to Australia’s Renewable Energy Target (RET) to ensure that at least 33,000 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of Australia’s electricity comes from renewable sources by 2020.

• Victoria was the first region in the country to adopt smart metering, and is looking to stay ahead of the curve thanks to the construction of two large-scale battery storage plants: namely the Tesla 25 MW/50 MWh battery integrated with Edify Energy’s Gannawarra Solar Farm; and Fluence’s 30 MW/30 MWh system at Ballarat.

The projects have received support from Australia’s Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) through a $25m grant from ARENA nd a further $25m grant from the Victorian Government, and the state has set a goal of 20% renewables by 2020, and 40% by 2025.

• Queensland has offered no-interest loans and rebates to drive uptake of battery-storage technology and have commenced a 100MW reverse auction for energy storage as part of a 400MW renewables auction. Residential customers are also offered an AU$50 incentive for registering with the state’s database of distributed energy resources.

• South Australia has brought a 100MW/129MWh lithium-ion battery online and has proposed an AU$100 million programme to facilitate battery-storage in 40,000 homes. The state also has an AU$150 million Renewable Technology Fund, which has targeted renewable energy projects in the region.

• Tasmania is currently undertaking a feasibility study into pumped hydro storage, called the “Battery of the Nation, as well as a proposed AU$200,000 micro-grid pilot project.

States such as Western Australia, the Northern Territory and even New South Wales’ lack of formal policy for solar and storage are likely to leave them behind in terms of progress to renewables.

Challenges to meetAustralia currently has no formal policy or national standards in place to regulate storage adoption in the country. A draft standard was released by Standards Australia – ASNZS 5139 – but a significant number of industry and public submissions have gummed up any further progress.

There are encouraging signs however. Australia’s Chief Scientist Dr Alan Finkel stated in a June 2018 report to national government, that the “financial equation is straightforward” for adding batteries to home solar systems and has said that it already makes financial sense for home PV system owners to combine them with energy storage systems.

As at 2017, noted Finkel, solar feed-in to the grid earned the average homeowner approximately AU$0.08 per kWh, while retail prices are around AU$0.30 per kWh. Storing the electricity generated and consuming it onsite instead therefore represents potentially major savings.

The Finkel Review (Independent Review into the Future Security of the National Electricity Market, June 2017) made a significant contribution to the development of energy policy in Australia, and all the recommendations made, with the exception of a Clean Energy Target, have been accepted by the Australian Government.

Some argue that the 2017 report underestimated the role small-scale storage will play by 2020, but it states: “[B]attery storage is poised to be the next major consumer-driven deployment of energy technology. Upfront costs for solar photovoltaic systems with storage are currently high, with long payback periods for most consumers. Bloomberg expects the average payback period for residential consumers to fall below 10 years in the early 2020s, with around 100,000 battery storage systems to support rooftop solar

photovoltaic generation predicted to be installed by 2020.”

In relation to large-scale energy storage, the Finkel Review’s recommendation to require some new generators to have energy storage could significantly increase the number of large-scale energy storage projects up to and beyond 2020, although it may also drive up the cost of large-scale renewable energy projects, making them less viable.

Finkel has recommended better market designs to incentivise peak shifting of solar and other forms of generation, which could be easily achieved with battery energy storage.

The Australian Minister for Energy and the Environment, Josh Frydenberg, has hailed the success of the storage market claiming that Australia is a world leader for installed capacity of batteries, when grid-scale projects such as Tesla-Neoen’s 129MWh Hornsdale battery project in South Australia and other federally-funded projects are taken into account.

“We are now not only the world leader in the use of rooftop solar, but also the world leader in the installation of residential battery storage by power capacity. As more renewable energy – mainly in the form of solar and wind power – enters our electricity grid, the need for energy storage solutions grows,” Frydenberg said.

Standardisation aims at installers and inspiring consumer confidenceGermany is still considered by many to be the leader in annual sales of storage systems, as confirmed by a report from Delta-ee and the European Association of Storage of Energy (EASE), which found that as many as 37,000 home systems were installed in the country in 2017.

Both Australia and Germany are clearly the fastest movers in the market, one driven by wind, the other by abundant sunshine, but consumer confidence will be key to driving growth according to both SEPA and Finkel.

The Australian Council of Learned Academies (ACOLA), which has worked with Finkel on his more recent reports, said back in November 2017 that “consumer confidence” is needed to capture the country’s big opportunity to use energy storage effectively and develop a sustainable industry.

Expert advisory and certification body DNV GL said it has been contracted to lead the creation of a new standard, the Australian Battery Performance Standard, intended to make residential and commercial consumers more comfortable with battery storage technology and help consumers make informed, empowered decision. SEI

NEW TECHNOLOGY



NEW TECHNOLOGY

AUGMENTED REALITY: TRANSFORMATION IN UTILITY OPERATIONSIn the utility space, “big data” is bringing in actionable insights and values but the key to augmented reality is providing valuable insights by making the right data available to the right person at the right time and place in a manner that is simple and intuitive.

Augmented reality (AR) is a technology that superimposes digital information and media, such as 3D models and videos,

upon the real world through smartphone, tablet, PC, or connected glasses. AR can be defined as a live, direct or indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented or overlaid by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data. AR may benefit investor-owned, municipal and cooperative utilities in improving business processes. It can speed power restoration and help address the challenge of an aging, retiring utility workforce by facilitating the preservation of institutional knowledge. According to the industry experts, the energy and the utility sector are expected to spend more than $15 billion annually by 2020 on AR technology.

AR and VR technologies are enabling an outcome based combination of competency and real-time risk assessment that has resulted in this multi-billion dollar segment within the wide spectrum of automation solutions the energy and utility sector is increasingly gearing up for. In the long run, these emerging technologies like AR, VR, AI, robotics and digital transformation will bring in acceleration in revenue growth, increase organizations’ agility and improve risk management.

The utility industry faces some significant workforce challenges ahead as the baby boomers retire, which was highlighted by a 2017 Department of Energy utility workforce assessment. Industry hiring managers often report that lack of candidate training,

experience, or technical skills are major reasons why replacement personnel can be challenging to find – especially in electric power generation.

AR can be used in training employees and assisting new workers. 2D diagrams of complex components can be enriched with 3D models. Employees can rotate and interact with the 3D models to gain a better understanding of the equipment. This enables more in-depth training and faster information retention. Employees tend to improve their proficiency faster than with conventional training methods. Another opportunity is to expedite equipment maintenance. With augmented reality, technicians in the field have immediate access to expert knowledge. They can access complete documentation for all the operation’s equipment on their tablets. Technicians can overlay a 3D model on an actual piece of equipment. They may also view the internal components of equipment and explore its inner workings. System repairs and upgrades are faster than ever before. Also the AR would provide data showing the asset type, its product number, maintenance history and so forth to streamline ordering replacements. The field technician can immediately order the correct parts and mobilise the crew with the specific skills to expedite repairs and power restoration much faster than a manual response can.

The Electric Power Research Institute is working with large utilities such as Duke Energy, Consolidated Edison, EDF, Korea Electric Power Corporation and others on how AR could fit into the industry’s workforce. Many AR device manufacturing firms are also making huge investments in

AR such as Atheer, DAQRI, Google, Microsoft, ODG and Magic Leap among others AR sunglasses, helmets and other devices are being developed and experimented with for various applications. There are developments on different AR devices from heads-up displays (HUD), holographic displays, smart glasses to handheld/smartphone based. There are also systems being designed that combine GIS technology with AR to display infrastructure such as pipes, lines, cables and other assets in-field and in real time. These devices are so efficient that an eye-flick or tap or audio command can call up the instruction manual. Don’t recognize a part? An instant search mechanism is at hand. Want a demo – a video will play. Need back-up? The gadget will call a colleague.

The energy and utility sectors are expected

to spend more than $15 billion

annually by 2020.


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Additionally, the device will facilitate a drone capable not just of inspecting pipelines, masts and power lines, but also collecting copious amount of data for myriad usage and analytics appear in demand. The utility segment is expecting to achieve a 15% – 20% increase in efficiency with augmented reality.

AR also comes into play when a field technician is in place but lacks the knowledge, experience or access to data required. An AR equipped mobile device or glasses would enable a subject matter expert to advise the field technician on what steps to take. The technology also improves operational safety, allowing for better visualisation of underground assets and complex components, reducing accidents. Automation vendors are claiming plant and output downtime reduction by as much as 30%, and as a domino effect, an uptick in throughput by as much as 10 times over. Other specific use cases cited include supply chain logistics, asset location and inspection, remote assistance, visualisation of equipment and structures with layered data, visualisation of buried and other hidden assets and situational awareness.

There are various data sources that can provide feed to the AR systems. They may be from consumers through their mobile devices, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV)/unmanned aerial systems (UAS) along with

UAV sensors, communication capabilities and on-the-ground or remote pilots. In addition, new sources of data, both internal to a utility and external to it, are likely to make their appearance in the near future.

The Internet of Things (IoT) will also play its role by putting together disparate devices, networks and databases to provide data-driven insights. Asset management, outage management systems, distribution management systems, geographic information systems and other existing utility applications will improve with new data sources by integrating the existing and new utility systems. These in turn will improve the AR overlays and virtual subject matter expert as well.

Augmented reality (AR) – and its variants virtual reality, assisted reality and mixed reality – is set to take off in a big way and offers to bring in new value to the energy sector. The enterprise is ripe for disruption

from AR, which promises to make workflows more efficient and safer, and workers more productive. With systems and devices now having reached an affordable price point, these solutions that enable knowledge-sharing and make workplace productivity tools are great opportunities for investment on the technological front.

Successful implementation of AR requires utilities to establish a proper governance structure by a committee that allows the technology to develop and flourish at organizational scale. The technology is in its nascent stage and most of the organizations lack in-house AR/VR expertise. It is crucial for the organization to conduct specialised training in building internal capabilities. The organization can also outsource or partner with specialised teams and institutions to leverage talent and technology. A centralised unit can lead the overall planning and execution, improving governance and making the best use of resources. SEI

ABOUT THE AUTHORAmit Sharma is practice head for the consulting division energy segment at GDRC. He manages the Power, Nuclear and Smart Grid teams at GlobalData and works with companies on issues within these industries that affect their performance.

ABOUT THE COMPANY:GlobalData is a leading global provider of commercial energy consultancy services and market intelligence.

ADVERTISERS INDEX

Page No Advertiser

45 .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. Clarion Global Power & Energy Series

IFC ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ Conlog

67 .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. European Utility Week + Powergen Europe

3 .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... Eve Energy

61 .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. GETAC Technology Corporation

57 .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. Global Power and Energy Elites

17 .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. Gruner AG

25 .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. Holley Technology Ltd.

31 .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. KG Technologies

OFC, 4-5 ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................... Megger Limited

55 .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. Mingguang Wanjia Lianzhong Electronics

39 .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. MTE Meter Test Equipment

47 .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. Shenzhen Kaifa Technology Co., Ltd,

OBC .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. Shenzhen Star Instrument

13 .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. Tadarin Batteries

IBC ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ Trans- Africa Projects

15 .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. Utility Systems

5 .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... Vitzrocell

11 .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. Wenzhou NCR Industrial Co., Ltd.

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