QUICK NEWS, March 1: UTILITIES PLANNING FOR SMART GRID; BP WIND’S 1,000TH TURBINE; AZ UTIL TO STORE 1.5MW OF SUN

UTILITIES PLANNING FOR SMART GRID
Utilities' Smart Grid Deployment Plans Show Nuance
Charles Newton, 23 February 2012 (Renew Grid)

"…[2012] is likely to be the first time global smart grid expenditures approach $10 billion…[but] the development of multiple systems, subsystems, equipment and devices to effectively monitor, measure, control and protect electricity grids has been under way for the past half century or longer. Each new generation of electrical equipment manufactured for electric power utilities and industrial companies has become more intelligent and powerful, with smaller footprints, than its predecessors.

"What's truly new is the attempt to better integrate so many disparate operational and engineering activities and to provide a more intelligent and visual approach to information management and telecommunications operations, as well as to include physical and cybersecurity safeguards as a foundation for an intelligent electricity grid…[or] a set of enabling technologies that will more easily and accurately inform utility management and staff by providing improved situational awareness through better visualization of real-time conditions…"

click to enlarge

"Eighty-four percent of all utilities surveyed responded that smart meters/advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) are a part of their smart grid plan…[J]ust 49% of all responding utilities indicated that dynamic pricing was an integral part of their smart meter implementation…Time-of-use (TOU) was the most often cited pricing model…The roles of control systems (e.g., SCADA) and substation automation were clear leaders in providing utilities with the greatest operating efficiencies relative to the investments…

"The top three overall factors that determine the success of smart grid initiatives are return on investment, communications network availability and IT technology availability…Just over a quarter of utilities overall said they plan on investing in V2G technology…Forty-one percent of all respondents are uncertain about whether or not they plan to implement V2G pilot projects. Thirty-six percent said they do not plan to try a pilot program…Most utilities do not have plans to invest in V2B technology. IOUs are an exception…"


BP WIND’S 1,000TH TURBINE
BP Wind Energy Inaugurates 150 MW Texas Wind Farm
23 February 2012 (North American Windpower)

"BP Wind Energy has marked the full commercial operation of the Sherbino 2 wind farm, the company's third wind facility in Texas."

click to enlarge

"The Sherbino 2 project, located in Pecos County, has a generation capacity of 150 MW, and is 100% owned and operated by BP…[T]he inauguration also marked the installation of its 1,000th wind turbine."


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNMclgXUUqw&feature=youtu.be
AZ UTIL TO STORE 1.5MW OF SUN
Electrovaya Delivers 1.5 Mwh Lithium Ion Battery-Based Energy Storage System To Arizona Public Service Company; Energy Storage Enables Intermittent Renewable Energy for Grid Applications
February 23, 2012 (Electrovaya Inc.)

"Electrovaya Inc…has delivered a 1.5MWh capacity Lithium Ion SuperPolymer® Battery Energy Storage System (“BESS”) to Arizona Public Service Company, that state’s largest electric utility. The BESS will be providing energy storage for a pilot program to study ways to optimize the integration of renewable energy sources to the grid."



"…Electrovaya…partnered with ABB, a leading global power and automation technology company, to provide the power conditioning and conversion equipment for the battery energy storage system…Energy storage can help…integrate more renewable energy onto [the APS] system…[by allowing the storage of] solar energy during the day and dispatch [of] it in the evening…"