“Europe will do whatever it takes to keep its competitive edge.”

So said von der Leyen during her 2023 State of the European Union (SOTEU) address, announcing the EVs inquiry as one of two inititiatives to do just that, the other being a support package for the Union’s wind sector.

State of the EU

Referring to the importance of the European Green Deal at the start of her term in 2019, von der Leyen led her State of the Union address with the importance of the energy sector in enhancing Europe’s position as a competitive global player.

“Four years ago, the European Green Deal was our answer to the call of history and this summer, the hottest ever on record, was a stark reminder of that.”

Referencing the extreme wildfires and flooding experienced this year in Greece and Spain, as well as chaotic extreme weather in Bulgaria and other member states, von der Leyen emphasised how, although much has been done towards net zero, “our work is far from over.

“This is the reality of a boiling planet. The European Green Deal was born out of this necessity to protect our planet, but it was also designed as an opportunity to preserve our future prosperity.”

EV inquiry

This initiative, placing Europe again on the map against global energy competition majors such as the US and China, has been in the works through 2023 via tabled policies such as the Net-Zero Industry Act and the Critical Raw Materials Act.

However, although placing Europe on the map as a leading energy player will be key, von der Leyen also cautioned against isolating competitors:

“Our industries and technology companies like competition. They know that global competition is good for business and that it creates and protects jobs here in Europe. But competition is only good as long as it is fair.”

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Hence, the investigation into imported electric vehicles (EVs):

“Take the EV sector. It is a crucial industry for the clean economy with a huge potential in Europe, but global markets are now flooded with cheaper Chinese electric cars; their prices kept artificially low by huge state subsidies.

“This is distorting our market and as we do not accept this distortion from the inside of our market, we do not accept this from the outside.

“I can announce today that the Commission is launching an anti-subsidy investigation into electric vehicles coming from China (…) Europe is open to competition, but not for a race to the bottom.”

This, adds von der Leyen, is part of a strategy to “de-risk, not decouple” trade practices in the EU, a way to boost the Union’s competitiveness while retaining beneficial relations.

According to Reuters reportage, one of many reactions to the announcement of the EVs inquiry was from Sigrid De Vries, head of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), who commented on how “China’s apparent advantage and cost-competitive imports are already impacting European auto makers’ domestic market share, with a massive surge in electric vehicle imports in recent years.

“Von der Leyen’s announcement is a positive signal that the European Commission is recognising the increasingly asymmetric situation our industry is faced with, and is giving urgent consideration to distorted competition in our sector.”

Also commenting was Germany’s VDA Automotive Industry Assocation, which cautioned how “damage must be causally quantifiable and the community interest must be taken into account. Possible backlash from China must also be taken into account.

“One thing is clear: an anti-subsidy investigation alone will not help to solve the existing challenges with regard to the competitiveness of the European landscape. Policymakers in Brussels and Berlin must create the framework conditions to ensure that the transformation succeeds.”

The other initiative is focused on the wind sector, which has been “facing a unique mix of challenges and this is why we will put forward a European wind power package, working closely with industry and member states.”

The package, according to von der Leyen, will go towards fast-tracking permitting, improving the Union’s auction systems, boosting skills and supply chains and enabling eased access to finance.

The V2G self-consumption station is operational within Qilian Mountain National Park’s long-term national research base, providing continuous support for ecological patrols and clean, low-carbon energy utilisation within the park.

According to NIO in a press release, the system marks the first global photovoltaic self-consumption system with V2G (vehicle to grid), composed of photovoltaic power stations, bidirectional V2G charging piles and all-electric vehicles.

V2G systems allow EVs to serve as distributed mobile energy units, charging during low-demand periods and supplying power during peak times.

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The technology, through the deployment of source-network-storage-load, states NIO, achieves local self-production and self-marketing of green energy and minimises the impact on the external environment.

V2G bidirectional charging piles offer EV charging services; with the reverse discharge function, surplus vehicle-stored energy is supplied back to the grid for nighttime or emergency use within the park.

Photovoltaic power energises the system, with an annual average output of about 690,000kWh, fully covering the EV energy consumption within the park.

Surplus energy can cater to over 50% of other power needs, resulting in an estimated annual carbon reduction of around 55 tonnes.

Clean Parks initiative

NIO and WWF previously collaborated together to support the ecological construction of Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park, as well as Giant Panda National Park, and became strategic partners of the Clean Parks ecological co-conservation plan in April 2022.

The V2G announcement marks the commencement of the third phase of the Clean Parks and WWF ecological co-conservation programme.

The self-consumption facilities were established by Clean Parks in collaboration with NIO, Astronergy and One Earth Nature Foundation in Qilian Mountain National Park, China, on the eve of the Second National Park Forum, under the coordination of the Qinghai Forestry and Grassland Bureau and the WWF.

Commissioning was announced alongside renewables developer Atlas Renewable and telcomm company China Tianying (CNTY).

Located outside of Shanghai in Rudong, Jiangsu Province, China, the 25MW/100MWh EVx GESS is built adjacent to a wind farm and a national grid interconnection site in the hopes of balancing the country’s national energy grid through long duration storage of renewable energy.

Commissioning began in June on the power electronics and what the company calls “new ultra-efficient ‘ribbon’ lifting systems”, they stated in a press release announcing the commissioning.

The system is expected to be fully grid interconnected in Q4 2023 as planned with local state grid authorities, which Energy Vault states will make EVx the world’s first commercial, utility scale non-pumped hydro GESS.

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“Happy to share our continued progress and a critical milestone achieved with our partners Atlas Renewable and China Tianying related to commencement of commissioning activities of the world’s first EVx gravity energy storage system,” said Robert Piconi, chairman and chief executive officer of Energy Vault.

Added Eric Fang, CEO of Atlas Renewable: “We remain focused on an efficient system commissioning process in order to begin storing and dispatching renewable energy to China’s national grid in full alignment with local and state grid authorities.

“This first deployment of Energy Vault’s EVx technology will serve as a model for global decarbonisation technology partnerships, and as we have previously announced, are already working on multi-GWh deployments of Energy Vault’s gravity technology in China to support and ideally accelerate China’s current 30-60 net carbon neutral plans.”

The announcement follows recognition of Energy Vault’s GESS within the National Energy Administration of China’s roster of significant technical equipment projects scheduled for 2023 within the energy sector.

Stated CNTY in a press release on the Administration’s roster: “With the continuous increase in the proportion of new energy installed capacity (…) the high proportion of renewable energy connected to the grid has put forward higher requirements for the power grid’s peak regulation, frequency regulation and consumption capabilities.

“China Tianying’s ‘100MWh complete set of gravity energy storage equipment’ is currently the world’s largest complete set of gravity energy storage equipment. Its basic technical route is to use new energy such as wind and solar power or grid valley and flat power to raise the gravity block to a certain height, so as to convert the electric energy into potential energy for storage.”

According to Energy Vault, the EVx system is expected to have round trip efficiency (RTE) above 80%.

In its first annual market review, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has noted a significant surge in planned clean tech projects, leading to a 30% rise in investments centred around developing critical minerals in 2022. And the supply might be able to meet the demand.

The market for minerals that help power electric vehicles, wind turbines, solar panels and other technologies key to the clean energy transition has doubled in size over the past five years, according to the report which was released today.

The first annual IEA Critical Minerals Market Review, released alongside a new online data explorer, shows that record deployment of clean energy technologies is propelling huge demand for minerals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel and copper.

Over the last five years, finds the Agency, the energy sector was the main factor behind a tripling in overall demand for lithium, a 70% jump in demand for cobalt and a 40% rise in demand for nickel.

The market for energy transition minerals reached $320 billion in 2022, they added, and is set for continued rapid growth.

During the review’s release, IEA executive director Fatih Birol commented: “A secure and affordable clean energy transition will be critically hinging on the availability of critical minerals around the world.

“The market response, increasing investments, is an important signal that the markets are buying into [the energy transition], that the clean energy transition will be faster in the years to come and that we will need more critical minerals.”

Birol elaborated on worries that were expressed within the report, namely on diversification, specifically around the refining segment that continues to be dominated by China, as well as the emission intensity of production, which has been increasing.

Increasing investments

According to the report, investments in critical mineral development rose 30% last year, following a 20% increase in 2021. Among the different minerals, lithium saw the sharpest increase in investment with a jump of 50%, followed by copper and nickel.

The report finds that, should all planned critical mineral projects worldwide be realised, supply could be sufficient to support the national climate pledges announced by governments. However, the risk of project delays and technology-specific shortfalls leaves little room for complacency about the adequacy of supply.

More projects would in any case be needed by 2030 in a scenario that limits global warming to 1.5 °C.

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Earlier this year the IEA released a report on supply chains, finding diversity of supply as a critical concern – a finding that remains with the market review, which finds many new project announcements coming from already dominant countries.

Compared to three years ago, they stated, the share of the top three critical mineral producers in 2022 either remained unchanged or increased further, especially for nickel and cobalt.

Data explorer

Accompanying the announcement of the review is the new IEA Critical Minerals Data Explorer, an open interactive online tool that allows users to access and navigate the IEA’s data and projections for critical minerals.

In this first version, the tool provides users with access to the IEA’s demand projections under various scenarios and technology trends. Supply-side information will be added in future updates.

This week, the North African country’s government and Chinese-European electric mobility company Gotion High-Tech signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish the factory.

They said it would be a first of its kind for Africa. 

The project, estimated to cost $6.4 billion, aims to strengthen Morocco’s position as a leader in the automotive industry in Africa. 

It is poised to generate an estimated 25,000 job opportunities over 10 years, according to a press release.

Local media said the agreement was signed on the sidelines of the first edition of GITEX Africa by Morocco’s Minister Delegate in charge of investment, convergence, and evaluation of public policies, Mohcine Jazouli, and the President of GOTION High-Tech Li Zhen.

Jazouli said the factory will contribute to Morocco’s renewable energy and electric transport sector and solidify its reputation as an automotive industry powerhouse.

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The partnership aims to accelerate Morocco’s transition from fossil fuels to clean and decarbonised energy sources.

It is to focus on the use of solar and wind energy while exploring effective means of energy storage.

According to the US’ International Trade Administration, Morocco has high renewable energy potential, in both solar and wind.

“Due to Its geographical location between Europe and the rest of Africa, Morocco plans to be a leader in the production of green fuels for domestic use and export… particularly through the production of green hydrogen.  

“The Ministry of Energy estimates that Morocco will be able to achieve a valuable share of the green hydrogen market, between 2% and 4% of global production by 2030.”

Li said Morocco has significant resources in the renewable energy field that should be properly developed.

Originally published by Yunus Kemp on ESI-Africa.

Eni’s €2.2 billion share buyback

Rome-based energy company Eni has announced the first tranche of a share buyback programme, totalling €2.2 billion ($2.4 billion).

The First Tranche will concern up to a maximum of 62 million of Eni’s shares (approximately 2% of share capital), up to a total maximum of €1 billion ($1.1 billion) and to set up a share portfolio to serve extraordinary financial transactions, as for example convertible bond issues.

The purchases will be executed on the Euronext Milan through an authorised agent, who will act independently.

The share buyback will be executed over a period of 12 months and may be increased to a total maximum of €3.5 billion ($3.8 billion), in case of upside scenarios.

Therefore, after the First Tranche, a further phase of purchases will be launched to complete the overall planned buyback program.

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Series B for utility-driven robotics

ANYbotics, a Swiss robotics developer, has announced a $50 million Series B funding round led by international deep tech investors Walden Catalyst and NGP Capital with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, Aramco Ventures, Swisscom Ventures, Swisscanto Private Equity alongside other existing investors.

The investment comes as demand for robotic solutions surges in heavy industries such as utilities, as well as oil & gas, chemicals, power, mining and metals & minerals.

Faced with an ageing workforce and labour shortages, these industries increasingly rely on innovative robotics solutions to streamline operations, reduce environmental impact and increase worker safety.

The funds will be used to scale the company’s deployments internationally, fuel the development of new capabilities, and enhance its position in robotic inspection solutions.

According to ANYbotics, their ANYmal robot platform returns value in operational deployment and is used by market leaders such as PETRONAS, Shell, SLB, Outokumpu, Siemens Energy, BASF and Vale.

“This funding validates our unique approach to addressing fundamental challenges of operating complex industrial facilities,” said Péter Fankhauser, ANYbotics co-founder and CEO. “Our legged robots have already proven their value in increasing productivity and safety.

“With this investment, we will expand internationally and accelerate the development of our robots’ AI capabilities such as manipulation for maintenance work to revolutionize automated industrial operations.”

‘Smartening’ the grid is driving investments

KPMG’s report, Smarter Grids: Powering decarbonisation through technology investment, examines the policies that support smart grids’ implementation and the investments incentivised by these enabling policies.

Wei Lin, partner and head of ESG for KPMG China, commented on the report’s findings: “Energy independence and the need to decarbonise the economy by progressively moving away from fossil fuels reliance is a key policy and business opportunity driver.

“Many countries not only have strategic roadmaps for expanding renewable energy generation, but they are also charting pathways for alternate energy options including green hydrogen and energy storage. These changes have contributed to the renewed urgency to strengthen the electricity grid.”

Ebele Angela Onyeabo, associate director of climate and sustainability at KPMG China, added how “sustainable finance is increasingly targeting the clean technologies of the future.

“Banks, asset managers, institutional investors, utilities and corporates are in many ways exploring opportunities for decarbonising their portfolio as well as their processes. Investing in and integrating smart grids technology offers a clear path to substantial carbon reduction critical to energy transition.”

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China’s vertically integrated market

The report looks at the cases of the UK, US and, of particular interest, China.

Reliable electricity, states KPMG China – a subsidiary of the global consulting firm – is critical to economic growth in the country, which generated over 8,500TWh of electricity last year, accounting for one-third of global output.

State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) dominate the investment landscape.

Specifically, the SGCC (State Grid Corporation of China) – the country’s biggest market player and the largest electric utility company in the world – has been upping investments into electricity networks and transmission lines over the years, upscaling smart grid compliant UHVDC (Ultra High Voltage Direct Current) and flexible AC transmission lines.

They have also focused on advancements in distribution smart grid infrastructure to foster demand side management and drive uptake in electric vehicle, vehicle to grid and smart metering technology.

Through such investment, the report puts forth how ‘smartening’ the grid has benefited from access to green finance in China, which has resulted in greater access to green bonds and other financial tools, which the report states are critical for enabling the country to achieve its carbon neutrality goals through energy efficiency.

Increasing interconnection between domestic and international policies, they state, has also sped up growth of a “transparent, standardised green bond market, enabling key players to attract private investment through various financing tools.”

Variability within the country’s vertically integrated market, they add in the report, allows for the inflow of private investments to support smart grid development.

Additionally, according to KPMG’s 2022 CEO Outlook, based on a survey of over 1,300 global CEOs, long-term digital transformation and ESG make up two of the top four trends impacting businesses globally.

Smart grids, they state, straddle these two issues in a way that impacts stakeholders across sectors.

For the latest in finance and investments announcements coming out of the energy industry, make sure to follow Smart Energy Finances, our weekly column.

I will also be attending European Sustainable Energy week (EUSEW) from 20 to 23 June in Brussels, Belgium. Will I see you there?

Cheers,
Yusuf Latief
Content Producer, Smart Energy International

Follow me on LinkedIn

The motor giant will begin this year in the US and Canada, followed by other regions around the globe.

The aim is to have the full network in place before the end of the decade, when Mercedes-Benz intends to go all-electric wherever market conditions allow.

Mercedes-Benz charging hubs will be located in key cities and urban population centres, close to major arteries, retail and service destinations, including participating Mercedes-Benz dealership sites.

The aims of the network is to establish over 10,000 high power chargers worldwide across North America, Europe, China and other main markets.

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Rollout kickoff in North America

At CES 2023 in Las Vegas, Mercedes-Benz announced that the rollout of its high power charging network will start this year with 400 hubs in North America and Canada.

The collaboration partners here include MN8 Energy, one of the largest solar energy and battery storage owners and operators in the US, and ChargePoint, an EV charging network technology company.

The three will develop the fast charging network with more than 2,500 ChargePoint DC fast charging ports.

MN8 and Mercedes-Benz will jointly finance and operate the charging hubs, which will be powered by ChargePoint’s hardware and software solutions.

The Mercedes-Benz hubs will primarily be powered by ChargePoint Express Plus, stated by ChargePoint as one of the most advanced high power DC fast charge platforms built for businesses looking to scale up their EV charging operations.

Consisting of a modular design and liquid-cooled cables, the Express Plus system can deliver up to 500kW per port, depending on the configuration, and is designed to scale to meet future demand as EV adoption and vehicle capability grows.

“With this partnership, we are expanding upon our existing relationships with Mercedes-Benz and MN8 to deliver a seamless charging experience for drivers, and turnkey charging solutions at no upfront cost to site hosts,” said Pasquale Romano, CEO, ChargePoint.

“We believe the expansion of charging hubs like these will enable the emergence of a new 30-minute retail economy…that combines charging and commerce, giving drivers a superior experience to charge quickly and easily.”

The project is intended to forge effective industry research on applications of clean energy in outer space and to create new energy-related industries, according to the company, which has a background in photovoltaic technologies.

Following the establishment of the Future Energy Spacelab, LONGi plans to test its new products and their reliability in the space environment.

At the same time the intention is to simulate the space environment on the ground to monitor changes of performance in the products and thereby develop the theoretical and experimental knowledge to promote their practical application.

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In a statement LONGi vice president Li Wenxue is quoted as saying that scientific and technological progress is the core competitiveness of China’s photovoltaic industry.

“With our efforts, we hope that space technology can help future energy development, build a modern energy system and promote the carbon neutral target of the whole world, so that science and technology can truly beautify our life and benefit all mankind.”

The statement also quotes Martin Green, Professor at the University of New South Wales in Australia, often known as the ‘father of modern photovoltaics’ for his leadership in the development of the passivated emitter and rear cell PV technology as saying: “It’s very exciting to see the establishment of LONGi Future Energy Spacelab. I wish LONGi and its partners all the best in the new journey.”

LONGi has not specified the timescale for the establishment or provided any other details of the Future Energy Spacelab.

In other developments LONGi has claimed new cell efficiency world records of 26.56% for a p-type heterojunction (HJT) cell and 26.09% for an indium-free HJT cell, the former up almost 0.5% over the previously announced September 2022 record.

Nokia is extending its relationship with the world’s largest power utility through the selection of its Optical Transport Network (OTN) solutions, which will be used by SGCC across its power grid infrastructure.

SGCC will deploy Nokia’s optical technology across Hubei, Hunan and Jiangxi provinces, which is hoped to create an OTN backbone with the capacity, operational efficiency and intelligence required to support the Chinese power grid and provide highly-reliable service to its customer base.

SGCC supplies electrical power to more than 1.1 billion people across 26 provinces, covering 88% of Chinese national territory.

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Nokia: IoT and smart grid complexity

As power utilities such as SGCC adopt the Internet of Things (IoT) in the creation of smart grids, both bandwidth and complexity increase.

The Nokia solution, which consists of Nokia’s family of 1830 Photonic Service Switch-x (PSS-x) P-OTN, is hoped to enable SGCC to improve the overall reliability of the power grid and achieve a significant reduction in daily operating costs.

Through automation, the utility aims to be able to monitor electrical power production and distribution status in real time, using IoT sensors throughout their infrastructure. SGCC is also able to harness new energy sources such as solar, water and wind by connecting and monitoring these energy generation and storage systems across its wide geography.

The Nokia optical transport portfolio provides scalable WDM (Wavelength Division Multiplexing) capabilities from 100G to 600G per wavelengths, which aims to eliminate the need for costly, disruptive replacements and minimise product waste.

Markus Bochert, president of Nokia Greater China, said: “The Nokia solution is one of the most agile and efficient optical transport networks available today.

“With this mission-critical network, the State Grid Corporation of China now has the flexibility to transition beyond 100G when and how it chooses, leveraging unmatched operational and environmental efficiencies as it automates and modernises across its geographies.”

Deployment of the EVx gravity energy storage technology is being coordinated in partnership with tech investment company Atlas Renewable, EIPC (a policy oriented NGO of the Investment Association of China), alongside environmental services firm China Tianying (CNTY) and selected provincial and local governments.

Gravity solutions and ERCs

According to Energy Vault, their gravity-based solutions are based on the physics and mechanical engineering fundamentals of pumped hydroelectric energy storage (PHS).

However, it replaces water with custom-made composite blocks, or “mobile masses”, that can be made from local soil, mine tailings, coal combustion residuals (coal ash) and end-of-life decommissioned wind turbine blades.

It aims to incorporate a modular and flexible building design not limited to the geological constraints of PHS plants. 

The company further cites how the solution applies the principles of gravity and potential energy, combining materials science and machine-vision software to autonomously orchestrate the charge, storage and discharge of electricity in grid-scale applications.

The EVx is also used as a “building block” for the company’s ERCs, which – according to Energy Vault – consist of scalable and modular system architecture built to scale to manage energy disruptive climate events such as wildfire or extreme weather.

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Energy Vault Commissioning

The commissioning comes in months after Energy Vault and Atlas Renewable signed a licensing and royalty agreement in February this year for the deployment of the tech in China, which followed a $50 million equity investment.

The companies then commenced construction of a first 25MW/100MWh system outside Shanghai in the province of Rudong, which broke ground in March 2022 earlier this year.

Robert Piconi, chairman and chief executive officer, Energy Vault stated: “Together with Atlas Renewable, CNTY and the EIPC, we are making significant progress ahead of our original plans on the deployment of the first 100MWh EVx system to support grid resiliency and delivery of renewable energy to the Chinese national grid, as well as additional development and deployment of additional EVx systems in China as this announcement demonstrates.”

Atlas Renewable, CEO Eric Fang added: “China understands that its investment in producing renewable power must be balanced with the ongoing costs of producing that power and the critical need to store renewable power.

“Losing electrical power between production and consumption represents the fundamental challenge to address: estimates range from 6-10% national power loss in transmission and competition to access the grid. Energy Vault solves several critical issues in electrical power management by utilising its gravity storage technology along with its AI software orchestration solutions that help with economic dispatching of power and power grid efficiency.”

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Storage amid potential crisis

Additionally, the storage solution and ERCs, which are cited by the company for their capability to manage energy disruptive climate events such as wildfire or extreme weather, are being deployed weeks after the country experienced record-breaking heat waves and a looming energy crisis.

According to the Guardian, although the country’s worst heat wave to date has been somewhat mitigated by much-needed rain, the consequences will potentially rear their heads in the country’s energy management.

The resulting demand for energy, after millions turned to air conditioning, led to severe power shortages across cities and provinces. Authorities suspended or rationed electricity supply to factories, shopping malls, high-rises and public transport.

As demand for energy rises and a potential crisis looms; the introduction of gravity storage at scale for industrial parks will hopefully yield some much-needed grid congestion-related rewards.

Horizon Power – DERMS for rural microgrids

Western Australian regional power distributor has launched a plan to deploy distributed energy resource management systems (DERMS) at its more than 30 microgrids across the state over the next two years.

The plan follows a pilot – believed a first for Australia – with the implementation of a DERMS to orchestrate the Onslow microgrid, which demonstrated enabling more than four times the amount of rooftop solar to be installed than in a traditional energy system as well as the potential, in a 100-minute run, to deliver 100% green power from solar PV and batteries.

“This is the technology that will underpin the transition to 100% renewable towns,” asserts Horizon Power’s General Manager Technology & Digital Transformation, Ray Achemedei.

Generally, DERMS have been implemented in grid-connected microgrids for islanding control among other applications. With approximately 60% of Horizon Power’s energy systems currently dealing with limits on rooftop solar, the DERMS deployment should increase solar access for customers.

The deployment is set to start early next year and be completed by mid-2024.

China’s State Grid – 3 second rural outage recovery

China’s State Grid Corporation is reported to have reduced the recovery from outages in residential communities down to three seconds from the six to ten hours that traditionally has been required with the implementation of artificial intelligence-based self healing.

The South China Morning Post citing the national Science and Technology Daily has reported that a month-long test run took place at residential community with more than 200 families in Urumqi in Xinjiang region to demonstrate the system’s effectiveness – and making the community one of the most ‘sensored’ locations in the country.

“In the past these sensors and related data transmission technology were only available for high voltage power lines. Now they are making ways into neighbourhoods,” an unnamed engineer was quoted as saying.

According to the report, blackouts are rare in China, especially in the cities, but despite the efficiency of workers can still take hours to fix.

State Grid has been using AI in its daily operations for years but its application has been restricted mainly to the backbone networks or to prevent outages for industrial users.

Micro-engineering electrodes to cut battery costs

New, easily fabricated, high performance carbon microlattice electrodes could soon be used to make cheaper batteries powered by readily available sodium ions as an alternative to lithium-ion, according to researchers at Japan’s Tohoku University.

Using 3D stereolithography to print microlattice structures made from resin, which are then shrunk by carbonising them via pyrolysis, the researchers have been able to produce hard carbon anodes that allow fast transportation of energy generating ions – getting around the traditional approach of requiring thicker electrodes that in turn restrict the ion movement.

The researchers’ next aim to use this same approach to make a cathode, and ultimately to use these finely architected electrodes for making high performing, cost effective sodium-ion batteries.

The finer the lattice structure, the researchers found its performance improved, suggesting that as 3D printers gain increasing resolution, sodium-ion batteries could eventually outperform their lithium-ion counterparts.

New materials to drive the energy transition

Toyota Research Institute and Northwestern University have launched a collaboration on what they call “the world’s first nanomaterial ‘data factory’” to discover and develop new materials that can power the clean energy transition.

The methodology utilises AI to search sets of nanoparticle combinations of usable elements in the periodic table to find the best materials for a given application – the first of which is focussed on discovering new catalysts to make fuel cell vehicles more efficient and reduce the reliance on expensive rare materials such as platinum and iridium.

The partners believe the methodology goes far beyond the traditional trial and error with its potential to explore vast parameter sets and that it will have wide-ranging applications in the future.

The basis for the ‘data factory’ is Northwestern’s Megalibraries containing large-scale materials structural data.

“This groundbreaking research marks an inflection point in how we discover and develop critical materials,” said Chad Mirkin, director of the International Institute for Nanotechnology at Northwestern of the partnership.

The day after this tragedy, the Chinese State Council Safety Committee Office and the Emergency Management Ministry held a meeting to address the incident and redeploy the current national gas safety precautions.

In association with the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Emergency Management Ministry promoted the fair trade markets, requesting the installation of gas leakage alarm devices, practically solving gas security problems and preventing such accidents.

Goldcard’s 5G NB-IoT natural gas alarm device received extensive attention.

With over 20 years of engagement in the gas industry and continuous exploration and practice in gas safety technology, Goldcard developed the wireless gas alarm. This technology is suitable for various environments including homes, catering, malls, hotels, schools, and office buildings.

When natural gas concentration reaches the alarm threshold, it will trigger the sound and light alerting signals, and the alarm will be sent to linkage equipment, informing the gas companies, the community offices, and the end users simultaneously.

Plug and play are one of the NB-IoT natural gas alarm’s biggest attractive points. It can work independently without a gateway, and it supports remote alarm, concentration reporting, remote silencer, device expiration reminder, etc. Users can see the gas security situation at home in real-time, predicting potential leakage risks ahead of time.

Main Advantages

• Dedicated IoT network, in-time and reliable service

A built-in NB-IoT card, automatic connection to the network. Alarm messages, with gas concentration value and danger levels, can be timely received on SMS, WeChat official accounts, and mini-programs. Users can turn off the alarm remotely via their WeChat APP. Moreover, alarms can be sent simultaneously to up to ten family members or related personnel.

• High sensitivity and low false alarm

The gas sensor is able to detect gas leakage in ultra-low concentrations (250ppm). In combination with the full-range temperature compensation and false report prevention system, increases the anti-interference ability and reduces false alarms.

• Dust-proof and water-repellent design to extend the service life

Multi-layer labyrinth air intake design avoids water vapor condensation entering the device. The sensor positioned at the back effectively reduces the direct sweep of oil smoke. The entire structure achieves IP 51 protection level. 

• Lockdown potential risks, guarantee gas security

Continuously and automatically collecting gas concentration data in the environment, and storing maximum hourly value. Users can inquire about historical data and alarms through the WeChat App. This enables them to discover and predict potential leakage risks, handle them in time, and prevent accidents.

• Configurable sensitivity, reassuring and free from worry

The detecting sensitivity can be adjusted according to the real gas environment. It can be customized to the most suitable alarm sensitivity, ensuring security, and reducing fake or late reports.

• Intelligent linkage, avoid bigger losses

When a natural gas leak is detected, and the alarm is triggered, the linked IoT gas meter will automatically activate the shut-off valve. This will activate the smart exhaust fan to reduce possible risks.

Goldcard has coordinated with gas companies, promoting smart and safe kitchen construction in communities and villages, to enable the solutions of real safeguards for residents.

Visit Goldcard: www.china-goldcard.com

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) found that substantial analysis and coordinated effort will be needed over the next 40 years to set the enabling conditions in place for China’s new energy system.

Drawing on IRENA’s existing, technology-focused studies, the report – China’s Route to Carbon Neutrality: Perspectives and the Role of Renewables – offers key insights and identifies priority actions together with 13 recommendations.

Recommendations include reforming power networks and increasing the electrification in end-use sectors, among others.

Power network reformation

On the matter of power network reformation, the report draws attention to the inherent risks that accompany renewable sources of energy being integrated into the power grid.

Due to their variability, “power systems will need to become much more flexible to allow for the integration of high shares of variable renewable electricity,” states the report.

And to achieve this, the country’s energy system needs to be increasingly decentralised, digitalised and electrified.

“China needs to consider how to change and re-optimise its power system from the traditional centralised system that currently dominates into a hybrid configuration that combines both centralised and distributed power generation systems. China also needs a more flexible inter-regional energy and electricity market to sustain the transition.”

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Increasing electrification

IRENA finds in their latest report a need to not only increase the pace of electrification but also to avoid un-coordinated electrification. This, they state, potentially threatens to increase system peaks and harm transmission and distribution networks.

“Smart electrification enabled by good planning and digitalisation will be a necessity to reduce peak loads, thus minimising the need for investments in enhancing grid options or adding more generation capacity.

“Increasing the flexibility of the loads to better match the outputs of variable renewables would help to increase the use of variable renewable electricity in the power mix and allow other sectors to use renewable electricity. This can be achieved through, for example, load shifting, smart technologies and the production and storage of green hydrogen.”

The insights from China’s Route to Carbon Neutrality: Perspectives and the Role of Renewables come in as the global superpower aims for its carbon emissions to peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.

As the world’s biggest producer and consumer of energy, the country is also the world’s “largest market for renewables”, stated Dolf Gielen, director of IRENA’s Innovation and Technology Centre in Bonn, Germany. “And its energy transition has profound global implications.”

While the recommendations from the report provide an encouraging level of detail, the agency has stated that more is needed. In particular, closer collaboration between IRENA and relevant Chinese institutions, and discussions with Chinese policy makers, will help maximise the value of the work, said the agency in a statement.

The new framework agreement focuses on sharing experiences on the green energy transition and building capacity within the State Grid Corporation of China to integrate over 1,000GW of variable renewable energy by 2030.

Furthermore, the agreement aims to support China in its goal of reaching carbon-emission peaks before 2030 and becoming climate neutral by 2060.

One of the focus areas will be the development of the Chinese power market and ancillary services.

Energinet has extensive experience from energy system operation and power market liberalisation. The partnership will see them sharing experiences to contribute to a faster transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

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Thomas Egebo, CEO at Energinet, commented on the partnership in a statement, “With a new framework agreement between State Grid and Energinet, the close collaboration will continue, and I hope that our experiences and insights can deliver the decisive parts in reaching our common ambitions in accelerating the green transition.”

Stig Uffe Pedersen, Deputy Director General at The Danish Energy Agency, stated, “We appreciate the good and longstanding collaboration between Denmark and China, which started more than 15 years ago.

“Denmark has shown it is possible and cost effective to integrate large shares of variable renewable energy, while maintaining (…) security of supply. We are pleased that Energinet can assist State Grid Corporation of China on [their] green energy transition through its comprehensive technical experiences.”

China is the world’s largest energy consumer, accounting for approximately 28% of the world’s CO2-emissions and 50% of total coal consumption. This illustrates the country’s potential for accelerating the green transition.

Such figures also indicates the need for and potential in Sino-Danish cooperation for a collective acceleration of the green energy transition.

This news is the latest in what has been a bilateral governmental partnership between Denmark and China since 2006. The partnership is led by The Danish Energy Agency in close cooperation with the Danish Embassy in Beijing. It is funded by the official energy partnership between Denmark and China.

As a part of this governmental cooperation, Energinet has been supporting the State Grid Corporation of China since 2010. Their support has largely involved promoting the green transition by converting to cleaner ways of producing energy.

Energy Vault has signed a license and royalty agreement under which the company will be paid $50 million by Atlas Renewable. The license enables Atlas Renewable to deploy, operate and maintain Energy Vault’s gravity energy storage technology in China.

The agreement represents the first gravity-based storage partnership between a US and a Chinese company for the deployment of the technology in China.

China Tianying is investing $100 million in Energy Vault, combined with the $50 million from Atlas Renewable, providing Energy Vault with a total of $200 million in capital to fund its operations in China, Hong Kong and Macau.

The three companies will start with the deployment of a 100MWh energy storage system in the second quarter of 2022 in Rudong Jiangsu province outside Shanghai, China.

Energy Vault’s energy management platform will also be integrated with the storage system to optimise the efficiency of the plant.

Energy Vault (EV) uses waste materials such as excavated soil at customer construction sites, mine tailings, coal combustion residuals (coal ash), and fiberglass to make its long-duration energy storage systems.

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The technology is based on physics and mechanical engineering fundamentals of pumped hydro which replaces water with custom-made, environmentally-friendly composite blocks that do not lose storage capacity or degrade over time.

This means the firm’s solution is cost-effective and environmentally friendly to enable the use of renewable energy from times when demand is low to times when capacity is mostly needed during peak periods, according to the statement.

China has set a target to reach carbon peak in 2030 and carbon neutrality in 2060. To achieve the target, China has a goal to deploy 1,200GW of wind and solar by 2030 which will require energy storage to be fully leveraged.

At the same time, renewable energies are expected to account for 90% of all energy generation by 2050, a milestone that requires grid-scale energy storage capacity to increase by ten times in the next ten years, according to the statement.

Eric Fang, Chief Executive Officer of Atlas Renewable, noted further, “EV’s technology removes a key obstacle to full utilization of energy produced globally from green energy sources. Following China’s commitment to achieving Carbon Peak in 2030 and Carbon Neutrality in 2060: Renewable Energy Storage is and will be the answer.”

The top five themes include:

Economic growth

The anticipated decrease in China’s GDP from 8.1% in 2021 to 5.4% in 2022 will pressure overall energy demand growth in 2022, according to Wood Mackenzie.

Yanting Zhou, principal economist at Wood Mackenzie said: “China’s Covid policy is one of the biggest uncertainties impacting its economy and energy demand. Our base case assumes Covid restrictions remain tight until the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party in November. Travel restrictions will increase before and during the Winter Olympics and the Party Congress which will impact gasoline and jet fuel demand.”

However, in the event of regional outbreaks, the Chinese government is expected to implement lockdowns which will result in decreases in energy demand.

As the year progresses, global economies are expected to increase re-opening of economies resulting in an increase in export demand for China. This will push China to expand its industrial activities to meet the growing demand, a move that will also drive a rise in energy demand, according to the research firm.

Energy projects listed in the country’s 14th Five-Year Plan are expected to receive government funding for implementation as China aims to revive its economy, states Wood Mackenzie.

Stability in energy prices

Increases in gas prices and oil prices globally and in coal prices locally in 2021 have led to the Chinese government developing and enacting policies that will ensure energy security in the short term, according to Wood Mackenzie.

In 2021, China recorded a 50% increase in energy commodities imported by importing $366 billion worth of commodities due to increases in gas and oil prices. As a result, the country is expected to reduce its dependence on oil and gas imports to avoid the impact of fluctuations in global prices on its economy.

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Shortages in coal and increases in prices during the second and third quarters of 2021 resulted in power outages and economic slowdown in China. Such events pushed China to expand its local coal production to meet demand resulting in decreases in coal prices at the end of 2021. Wood Mackenzie predicts the prices of coal to continue to decline in 2022.

However, overall power prices for industrial sectors will increase despite lowered spot coal prices due to power price liberalisation, which is now allowing inflation pressure at the industrial level to be passed on to consumers, states Wood Mackenzie.

The energy transition

The energy transition is expected to gain momentum in 2022 with both the government and energy sector players seeking to develop and implement renewable energy deployment, coal reductions measures, and ways to increase the share of gas in the energy mix.

Research director Miaoru Huang said: “China may have resorted to stabilise coal supply in the short term and balancing competing energy goals is still challenging, but it does not mean it is diverting away from its long-term climate change goals. China is set to accelerate the pace of matured technology adoption in 2022.”

The research firm states that China will increase solar and wind energy capacity deployment by 20% in 2022 compared to 2021 by adding up to 120GW of capacity. Between 2021 and 2025, renewables are expected to account for more than 50% of new capacity additions.

The number of electric vehicles in China is expected to reach 4.8 million units in 2022, a 45% increase compared to units on the road in 2021.

Repeat of supply chain disruption due to ‘dual-control’ targets unlikely

The ‘dual-control’ scheme adopted by China to reduce the impact of shifts in energy prices globally on the country’s economy is expected to remain a key policy tool to promote energy efficiency and guide economic restructuring.

Much uncertainty on China-US relations, but there are hints of positive beginnings

Collaboration on liquefied natural gas and climate change mitigation, promoted during November’s COP26 summit in Glasgow, will pave way for new negotiations for partnerships between the two countries, according to Wood Mackenzie.

At COP26, Chinese companies inked seven LNG deals with US suppliers with a peak annual contracted volume of 10.5 million tonnes per annum, or total volumes of some 170 million tonnes over the delivery periods, worth over $50 billion.

A new US-China trade deal might be signed in 2022 and energy security and decarbonisation might be key areas of focus by the two countries, reiterated Wood Mackenzie.

The report, Smart Cities: Key Technologies, Environmental Impact & Market Forecasts 2022-2026, states that the global annual spending on smart city projects will increase from $35 billion in 2021 to $70 billion, with the majority of the spending directed towards improving grid resilience and intelligence through smart technologies.

According to Juniper Research, smart grid technologies will result in over 1,000TWh of electricity savings in 2026, the equivalent energy required to power Greater London for 5 years.

The research firm forecasts smart city projects will achieve energy savings of up to $96 billion in 2026, an achievement that will drive increased rollouts as cities will seek to improve their energy sustainability and achieve a higher return on investments.

Amongst the 50 cities assessed on transportation and infrastructure, energy and lighting, city management and technology, and urban connectivity progress, China’s Shanghai has been named the world’s number one smart city for 2022.

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Shanghai, owing to its Citizen Cloud, has managed to centralise consumer shopping, ensuring access to over 1,000 smart city services and products.

The city has been identified as a leader in the rapid deployment of smart city applications including data management platforms.

Digital tools for utility management and public services have become common in many cities across Asia; a development that resulted in an increase in the number of Asian cities making it onto the ‘leading smart cities’ ranking.

South Korea’s Seoul came in second to Shangai, whilst Beijing made it to number four.

Spain’s Barcelona has been ranked third whilst New York made it to number 5.

Mike Bainbridge, co-author of the report said: “Many cities have deployed technology and data to help local authorities reduce environmental impact and energy usage.

“The top cities in our recent ranking are finding innovative ways to leverage that technology to deliver observable benefits for their citizens as well.”

The launch comes as utility companies are ramping up investments in digitalisation to ensure real-time management of grid networks and energy consumption and in the process help consumers save energy and lower bills.

Such developments are leading to improved customer services and helping utility firms to accelerate the penetration of renewables for decarbonisation.

The CRYOBattery technology will be used as a long-duration energy storage mechanism to enhance grid reliability and decarbonisation.

SPERI will pilot the technology in partnership with solutions company Sumitomo at the Binhai Power Station in Jiangsu, China.

Two configurations will be tested, one a 50MW/4hr system and the second a 50MW/8hr long-duration energy storage system.

The aim is to explore how long-duration energy storage can help shift renewable energy use to times when it is most needed, reduce renewables curtailment and enable energy flexibility for grid reliability.

The development comes as the need for long-duration storage facilities is set to accelerate to allow greater integration of renewable energy into grid networks.

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Expanding storage capacity and employing long-duration systems are critical for China, the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases from power generation, the largest consumer of coal and the world’s biggest deployer of renewable energy.

This means more renewable energy capacity can be utilitised to meet growing energy demand from industrialisation and can replace the country’s growing fleet of coal generators.

According to State Power Investment Corporation, which has a total of 74GW of renewables capacity from the company’s 190GW, the company will have the potential to expand its portfolio of low-carbon capacity by deploying long-duration storage systems.

Chen Honghai, President, SPERI said: “We are pleased to engage with Sumitomo SHI FW for this important demonstration study of LDES, which is the cornerstone of China’s energy transition plan to be carbon neutral by 2060.”

Tom Steitz, senior vice president of energy storage at Sumitomo added: “Long Duration Energy Storage is emerging as a critical need for electric grids to become 100% renewable. This collaboration with SPERI is an important step towards making this a reality.”

The announcement comes as China has set a target to deploy 30GW of new energy storage capacity by 2025.

In 2020 China’s storage portfolio reached 35GW, according to the China Energy Storage Alliance.

TotalEnergies and CTG will establish a joint venture company that will install some 11,000 high-power EV chargers by 2025 as well as provide e-mobility services in Wuhan and Hubei province.

The joint venture will take advantage of TotalEnergies’ experience in e-mobility and CTG’s expertise in green energy production and supply.

The two will install 60KW and 120KW EV chargers on the premises of B2B customers and for public charging. Each station will be able to host 20 to 50 Evs, according to a statement.

The MoU between the two falls is part of the companies’ effort to expand their offerings in the new energy and smart mobility business cases and to help China move closer to its 2060 carbon-neutral target.

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Alexis Vovk, President Marketing & Services at TotalEnergies, said: “Hubei province is a natural ground to launch this cooperation, as both our companies are established there, and to contribute to the development of sustainable mobility in China and to accompany the ongoing growth of Electric Vehicles in the country. This partnership with CTG opens new doors to TotalEnergies for a long term and widened cooperation with a leader of China’s electric energy.”

Dr Jin Heping, Chief Information Officer of CTG Group, responsible for Technology and Innovation, added: “New energy vehicles’ charging is an important part of new infrastructures’ construction. It has a broad development prospect, with a strong demand for technological iteration. There is such demand for technological innovation in the fields of big data platforms, equipment system integration and solar energy storage and charging microgrids.

“Through the cooperation with TotalEnergies, we would like to extend our upstream expertise in clean power generation and power supply to the downstream retail and mobility services business, while creating at the same time a model of technological innovation in the field of new energy vehicle charging. We are looking forward to learn from each other, and to establish a long-term relationship with TotalEnergies in other energy sectors in China and worldwide.”

CTG is China’s largest clean energy corporation and the world largest hydro-power producer with more than 30GW of hydro, wind and solar power generation capacities in China and overseas.

TotalEnergies is currently present in the EV charging market in Singapore, Amsterdam and its region (22,000), Antwerp (3,000), Paris (2,300) and London (1,700).

The utility, which provides services to consumers in 273 cities in China, signed a cooperation agreement with the AI firm, which will enable the use of cloud and digital solutions to meet carbon emissions reductions goals, according to the statement.

China Gas will be spending 936 million yuan ($145.1 million) to move its operations to Baidu’s AI cloud platform under the first phase of the partnership. This will enable the utility to build customised smart grid and energy monitoring, gas usage prediction and smart customer service applications.

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The two parties will kickstart their partnership by establishing the China Gas Digital Technology Committee that will set up the utility’s digitalisation roadmap and ensure that the company’s business cases and technologies are in line with industry standards. Baidu will also develop advanced digital management systems within the AIoT, big data and AI segments for the utility.

This will enable China Gas to prepare for future business models and be able to meet changing consumer demands.

The two will also work together to help the government and enterprises co-operate on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, as well as create an ecosystem that enables the participation of consumers, automakers, technology firms and manufacturers in enhancing the operations of the grid network, in climate change mitigation and developing new mechanisms that are capable of delivering the energy transition and smart grids.

Baidu will also train China Gas’ professionals.

Yong Huang, executive president of China Gas, said the project is part of efforts by the utility to leverage advanced solutions to improve services to its 40 million customers.

Haifeng Wang, Baidu’s Chief Technology Officer, added: “We are in a golden era in which digital technology and traditional industries are deeply integrated.”

The power outages are a result of an increase in the prices of coal and energy demand. According to Eastern Fortune, coal prices for power production have increased by 65% between July and September in China.

As a result, coal plants’ costs increased by 140 CNY ($21.68) / MWh compared to four months ago. Residential consumers have reported a lack of heating, and lifts and traffic lights not working as a result of the power outages.

Power restrictions have been announced for industrial customers in 10 Chinese provinces in recent weeks, according to the BBC. Dongguan city in Guangdong Province mandated industrial consumers to completely stop power consumption between 22 September and 26, according to Azure International.

The BBC reported that the power outages are likely to last until spring next year, and become “the new normal” with more than 100 million residential consumers predicted to have been affected so far. However, the Chinese government is expected to ramp up its production of coal to reduce prices and source coal from Inner Mongolia to address the crisis.

The development comes days after Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, announced that the country will cease funding coal power production projects overseas in a bid to help mitigate climate change. {China pledges to stop funding overseas coal projects}.

However, media outlets, and climate change and energy analysts questioned why no commitments were made to reduce reliance on coal locally. With the current development, it is clear China still heavily relies on coal and needs to explore other avenues such as gas and renewables in its energy transition journey.

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If China continues with its heavy reliance on coal, will the country be able to meet its 2060 carbon neutral target? Where will the world stand in its fight against climate change considering China consumes 50% of the world’s coal?

However, China is not the only country or region being affected by blackouts due to increases in energy commodity prices. Europe and Latin America are facing similar challenges due to increases in natural gas prices and drought, respectively.

China is not the only country turning back to coal to secure energy supply at a time when calls to expand reliance on renewables is increasing. Europe has also turned to coal in the past weeks to address the soaring energy prices, according to the International Energy Agency.

The Commission, the state body overseeing economic development, is partnering with State Grid Corporation as well as the Southern Power Grid Corporation and the two power trading exchanges in Beijing and Guangzhou to develop a renewable platform and market rules for green energy trading.

In a statement, the Commission points to the several reasons that emerged in its investigations that indicate the time is ripe for the initiative. One is a demand from enterprises, with some indicating a willingness to pay more for green power.

Another is a willingness to build a renewable trading marketplace. Others are the availability of the blockchain technology and the demonstration that trading can be organised.

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In addition, there is a consensus on all sides that renewables trading is important both to meet carbon emission targets – peaking before 2030 and neutrality before 2060 – and to integrate the growing penetration of renewable energies that will comprise the majority of the future power system.

“Strong measures must be taken to develop new energy sources”, says a Commission statement.

“We must deepen the reform of power system and make innovation in the system mechanism and market construction. Through the development of green power transactions, there will be a willingness to assume more social responsibility on the part of the user”.

The Commission proposes to launch the pilot in areas where there is strong interest in consuming renewable energies. Once launched it will be expanded to other regions interested in renewable power trading

Aspects that will be investigated in the pilot include the trading organisation, scheduling, settlement and price mechanisms among others to provide services that are user friendly and reflect the full value of the power being traded.

Renewables trading is among the most widely implemented use cases of blockchain in the energy sector, with projects across the globe.

State Grid has previous blockchain experience with projects to the Chinese firm Hyperchain (Hangzhou Qulian Technology) to develop a blockchain IoT deployment solution and another with Wanchain (Guangzhou Wanglu Technology) to develop a data management solution.

The National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration announced the target as part of efforts to move energy storage from an initial commercialisation phase to large-scale development.

The provincial government is encouraging existing and new renewable energy projects to be integrated with energy storage systems with an output capacity of between 2 hours and 4 hours. In addition, these projects will need to be integrated with the grid.

Increased deployment of energy storage technologies will enable the coal-intensive region to transition to renewable energy resources and reduce its carbon footprint.

A report released by Energy Foundation China states that carbon emissions in Inner Mongolia continue to rise and the province has the highest per-head emissions in China compared to other regions.

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Inner Mongolia has in the past decades invested heavily in the extraction and use of its coal resources with little effort put into renewable energy infrastructure development, according to China Dialogue.

Between 2015 and 2020, Inner Mongolia produced 1.34 billion tonnes of coal, a quarter of the total produced in China. In 2019, the province produced 84% of its electricity from coal with 50% of the coal produced in 2019 directed towards power and heat production. And as such, massive investments in renewables will be required for the region to move away from being coal-based.

At the same time, reducing the region’s energy intensity, which keeps rising due to increased industrial activities, will enable an increased penetration and use of energy storage and renewables for secure energy supply whilst reducing carbon emissions.

Whilst other Chinese provinces reduced energy intensity and consumption, Inner Mongolia’s increased by 9.5% between 2016 and 2019, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

However, following this year’s order by the National Energy Administration for Inner Mongolia to halt all approvals and new construction of coal power plants for local use, the new target for energy storage deployment is a step forward for the region in expanding its renewable energy and low-carbon energy solutions markets.

The provincial government has even announced plans to install seven wind and solar energy projects to power the production of green hydrogen. The plan is to produce 500,000 tonnes of green hydrogen per annum by 2025 and have more than 10,000 hydrogen-powered vehicles on the roads, according to the Argus.

Battery swapping for electric vehicles, in which a depleted battery is replaced with a fully charged one, was a model tested a decade ago to overcome the then slow charging times and enable drivers to continue their journeys with limited delay.

But the concept failed for several reasons, including the costs of establishing the infrastructure and the lack of standardisation and vehicle compatibility.

But now it appears to be set for a revival, particularly for large fleet use, according to new data compiled by Lux Research.

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In a study comparing battery swapping and fast charging installations to support a fleet of 100 electric taxis in two countries, the UK and China, Lux found the costs to be broadly competitive in the UK and slightly more competitive in China due to higher average travel distance.

In the UK the annual equivalent costs are calculated in the range $800,000-900,000 for both scenarios, with slightly lower cost for fast charging with on-site storage compared without. In China the estimated cost of fast charging is over $1 million with that of battery swapping around $800,000.

These two countries were selected with the strong focus on decarbonising taxis in the UK and China as the world’s largest EV market.

Taxi fleets also are considered a promising applications as they usually consist of one vehicle manufacturer and operate over a limited geography.

Another issue is that frequent fast charging of batteries can increase the rate of degradation, resulting in potential high battery replacement costs.

“Battery swapping can address two main challenges with fast charging,” comments Christopher Robinson, Director of Research at Lux Research and lead author of the study.

“It slowly charges depleted batteries to minimize grid impact and battery degradation, and it allows for faster addition of range in electric vehicles.”

Lux notes that China is currently the leader in battery swapping, with current incentive schemes making them more cost-effective than fast charging alternatives, and infrastructure is being deployed to support both electric taxi fleets and private EV drivers.

As such, activity in the region should be closely watched as a leading indicator of adoption elsewhere.

The latest report from ResearchAndMarkets.com, Molten Salt Thermal Energy Storage Market – Forecasts from 2021 to 2026, predicts a compound annual growth rate of 15.65% over the forecast period.

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The main factors responsible for the growth of the market are an increase in energy consumption, government initiatives to drive renewables uptake, as well as the decrease in the cost per kilowatt for the storage of energy.

According to the report, the deployment of renewable energy technology in many markets decreased at the start of 2020 by policy uncertainty, lack of funding and COVID-19. However, it is estimated that in 2021, the economy will be revived and many delayed projects will resume driving technology growth.

In the case of concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies, in both central receiver direct-storage plants and parabolic trough indirect-storage plants, molten salt is commercially used. CSP is considered to be a strong factor driving growth in this market.

Key regional developments

According to the research, the Asia Pacific region, with China and India leading the market, will be dominating the molten salt thermal energy storage market.

• China is one of the largest users of molten salt thermal energy storage systems. In 2019 China accounted for half of the global newly installed concentrated solar power capacity.
• Botswana’s government has announced a plan to build 200MW of CSP capacity by the year 2026.
• Coupled with research in the sector, the US and Europe have developed self-aligning heliostat technology which will help boost the performance and reduce the CSP costs. This will in turn stimulate market growth in these regions.

Molten salt is 33 times cheaper when compared to lithium-ion batteries. A shift to molten salt technology is likely to be spurred by the growing environmental concerns associated with li-ion batteries.

The report is available for download.

CNNC has built up a portfolio of nuclear projects such as the Changjiang initiative to address long-term power shortage issues by providing clean, low emissions power. A 650,000 kW unit can produce 5 billion kWh electricity annually, equivalent to reducing standard coal consumption by 1.5 million tons, cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 3.74 million tons and sulfur dioxide by 29,000 tons.

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According to CNNC, this project is the world’s first commercial onshore small modular reactor (SMR) to start construction. It marks a strategic cooperation agreement between CNNC and the Hainan government to reduce China’s fossil energy consumption, and promote energy saving and emission reductions.

The project uses CNNC’s Linglong One technology. Also known as ACP100, it is a multi-purpose pressurized water reactor (PWR) design developed as a result of more than 10 years of independent research and development.

In 2016, the Linglong One design became the first SMR to pass a safety review by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Each Linglong One unit has a power generating capacity of 125,000kW. After being completed, it will have an annual power generation capacity of 1 billion kWh, meeting the energy demands of 526,000 households.

CNNC suggests in a statement that this SMR demonstration project will enable the implementation and verification of SMR technology, speed up the improvement of China’s independent innovation capabilities in the field of SMRs, and lay the foundations for future large-scale construction.

SMR technology is considered safer, quicker to build, and more flexible in deployment than its larger, nuclear solutions, and can therefore be used as a clean distributed energy source.

Two critical aspects of the growing population include firstly, the amount of waste being generated and the associated impact on much-needed biodiversity, and secondly the fact that all these people will require access to resources such as energy.

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By highlighting these two specific aspects, we note the vital importance of developing the waste-to-energy market thereby addressing these two urgent concerns.

Startling stats:

• Currently, the population is growing by 1.10 per cent per year, yielding an additional 83 million people annually
• 2.5 billion will be living on the African continent
• By 2050 the world’s cities will generate 3.4 billion tonnes of solid waste per annum
• By 2050, 68% of the world’s population of more than nine billion will live in urban areas
• According to the United Nations, at least 13% of the world’s population still do not have access to modern electricity

However, in better news, the Waste Management Market size is expected to grow from an estimated $423.4 billion in 2021 to $542.7 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 5.1%, during the forecast period. This is according to the newly released report from MarketsandMarkets, Waste Management Market by Waste, Service, End User and Region – Global Forecast to 2026.

One of the key drivers for the waste management market is the increasingly stringent regulations of governments worldwide for better management of waste and to ensure environmental protection. Managing waste is vital to protect biodiversity and reduce emissions, and clearly needs to be a priority of governments around the world.

Kate Stubbs, Business Development and Marketing Director at Interwaste, points to the fact that South Africa alone generates 122 million tonnes of waste per annum. “This is about R25.2 billion worth of waste being generated, and approximately 90% of this goes directly to landfill. Thus only 10% of this waste is being recycled – and these are resources which could have been fed back into the economy by means of recycling, repurposing, and reusing,” she says.

“We have to place more focus on changing the ‘throw away culture’ that many businesses, individuals, and households have, if we want to support a healthier planet, and preserve and restore biodiversity around the globe.”

In order to protect the planet’s biodiversity as the population grows while satisfying peoples need for electricity, making an impact

In the spirit of celebrating the role of waste in generating energy, we pay homage to waste-to-energy plants making an impact by using trash as a fuel for power generation.

Shenzhen East: Referred to as the world’s largest waste-to-energy plant, this megacity is based in Shenzhen, southern China. The plant processes up to 5,000 tonnes of waste each day, will combust roughly a third of the city’s daily domestic waste and also generate some renewable energy via 40,000 square metres of solar panels on its roof.
China has the largest installed waste-to-energy capacity of any country, with more than 300 plants in operation.

Reppi: Based in Addis Abbaba, Ethiopia, and hailed as Africa’s first waste-to-energy plant, the plant burns the city’s rubbish at a temperature of up to 1,800 degrees Celsius and converts it into 185 million KW of electricity. The Reppie WtE facility started full construction in September of 2014. It processes over 1,400tons of waste every day which feeds power to the Ethiopian national grid.

Nashik: This WtE plant is situated in the province of Maharashtra, India. The 6000 sq.m plant has a 30 tonne/day capacity, started operating in December, 2017 and generates 2,500m3 biogas and 3300 kWh per day.

According to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy in India, the country’s total estimated energy generation potential from urban and industrial organic waste in India is approximately 5690MW, and the government plans to implement policies to exploit this potential as much as possible, by promoting technology and projects that recover the energy from Biogas/BioCNG from agricultural, industrial and urban waste.

In order to ensure a sustainable future for the world’s growing population, the relationship between waste and electricity must be exploited. It’s the epitome of a circular economy and needs to be urgently prioritised to satisfy the ever-growing demands of our ever-growing population.

The agreement between IRENA and Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment will enhance cooperation on the energy transition between the two to ensure China moves closer to its 2030 carbon emissions reductions and 2060 carbo-neutrality targets. China has pledged to peak emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.

.As part of the MoU, the two have agreed to:

• Explore ways and make suggestions to promote the implementation of the country’s climate actions.

• Exchange knowledge, international experiences and experience on renewable energy development, market trends and policy development

• Strengthen co-operation on the promotion of climate finance and investment

• Promote technology innovation

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IRENA and State Grid Corporation of China partner on grid transformation

IRENA is expected to learn best practices for renewable energy market deployment from China. In 2020, China deployed the most capacity compared to any other country, accounting for a 40% share of the global market with 85GW added to the country’s energy mix. Today, China accounts for close to a third of globally installed renewables capacity owing to low power costs, mature supply chains and good quality renewable resources places.

IRENA estimates that renewables have the potential of supplying over 90% of China’s electricity needs by 2050 with more than 60% coming from solar and wind.

Francesco La Camera, director-general of IRENA, said: “China is a close partner in accelerating a renewable-based energy transition nationally and around the world.

“Taking into account the fundamental role renewable energy plays in achieving the Paris Agreement goals, this MoU will strengthen our collaboration on China’s efforts to achieve its decarbonisation objectives. By closely working together, we can also enhance international co-operation to the benefit of other countries undergoing a transition. By combining our forces, IRENA and MEE will work towards promoting sustainable development in the context of the energy transition.”

After over a century of almost unchanged operation, the power grid is undergoing an evolution which will see it transformed out of current recognition.

The drivers are two-fold. One is the growing availability of smart grid technologies evolving largely from the earlier development of smart meters. The other is the need to drive towards net zero carbon economies with wide-scale renewable energies replacing traditional fossil-fuel generation.

This in turn is bringing new challenges to power grids, many of which are already ageing and unable to cope with the integration of high levels of intermittent sources such as wind and solar.

The situation is particularly acute in countries such as China, where the demand has been growing on the back of the rapid socioeconomic development of the recent years.

For example, in Sichuan province in China’s southwest, total power consumption reached 286.52 billion kWh in 2020, up by 8.7% year-on-year to register the fastest growth among the provinces supplied by the country’s State Grid.

“Power grids face many challenges, including insufficient interactions between resources and load, dependency on redundancy to ensure safety, shrinking balance capacity and lack of efficiency improvement measures,” says an expert from State Grid Sichuan Information & Telecommunication Company’s Operation Inspection Centre.

Power generation and grid companies have taken actions to meet rising demand. But there is still a lack of user participation and policy guidance for power storage, while market mechanisms such as access, transactions and settlement also need to be improved.

To solve these problems, traditional power grids need to transform towards flexible interaction between energy resources, grids, loads and storage. For its approach, State Grid has embarked on a programme to build an ‘energy internet’ by digitalizing its grids.

The energy internet will build a multi-end interconnection and interaction system and involves using technologies like big data, cloud, IoT, mobile, AI and blockchain, along with conducive market factors to improve grid security, operating efficiency and society’s overall energy efficiency.

Optical communications

At the core of the utility digital transformation is the communication network and State Grid has selected Huawei’s OSUFlex OTN technology.

OSUFlex is the latest generation of fibre technologies offering features such as a simplified architecture and ubiquitous connectivity.

Liquid OTN inherits the hard pipe of OTN and introduces a service oriented flexible ‘OSUFlex’ container, which makes the bandwidth granularity smaller and more than halves the encapsulation layers. This reduces the footprint by 70% and the power consumption by 50% while the 2Mbit/s bandwidth granularity supports 100-fold more connections

Single site latency is reduced by 70% and 200Gbit/s bandwidth provides full utilization for flexibility and efficiency.

“Traditional technology has hit its bandwidth bottleneck and cannot support the growth of digital services and legacy technologies are being phased out and the power sector needs a new technology that meets the needs of digital power grids,” says the State Grid chief engineer.

“Our research has shown that the new OSUFlex OTN technology is a valid choice for power sector private communications networks.”

In addition to the technological benefits, OSUFlex technology inherits the traditional time-division multiplexing (TDM) technology roadmap and industry direction, while adding synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH) features to OTN technology, thus combining the advantages of SDH and OTN.

With these, OSUFlex can carry various services such as PCM, SDH and packet services in one network and independent pipes can be configured for services of different systems, which improves their security.

As examples, power production requires teleprotection E1 services with strictly 10ms latency, while video surveillance does not have strict latency requirements but does require large bandwidth and scalability.

Communications requirements that OSUFlex will support for State Grid include cloud interconnection, smart power delivery at transmission and distribution levels, Internet of Things connections, smart power consumption communications with consumers and smart operations and maintenance.

State Grid has forecast that by 2025, more than 1 billion devices will be deployed across its grid, collecting over 100TB of data per day.

Thus massive exchange of information is coming as the collection points move closer to the users and the control latency is reduced to real-time.

OSUFlex standardization

With its choice of OSUFlex, State Grid also has worked with Huawei, China Telecom, Power Construction of China and Siemens on the standardization of the technology.

The process was formalized in June 2020 with the approval by the IEEE of the P2893 working group under the chairmanship of Hongzhen Yang, which began work in August 2020.

The standard specifies a communication layer, OSUFlex to provide small service channels in optical transport networks. The main features of the OSUflex communication layer are providing massive OSUflex connections to directly carry power services into an optical transport network, enabling the flexible bandwidth and hitless bandwidth adjustment for each OSUflex connection, direct mapping of services into OSUflex with the capabilities of high-bandwidth efficiency, low latency, low latency jitter and high-precision clock synchronization for power system applications.

For more on Huawei’s liquid optical transport technology and its benefits and opportunities in the smart grid, visit the website.

The plan, a coordinated effort between DOE, the electricity industry, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), has been announced as the Biden Administration has lifted the ban on Chinese-manufactured power system equipment.

“The United States faces a well-documented and increasing cyber threat from malicious actors seeking to disrupt the electricity Americans rely on to power our homes and businesses,” said Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm in a statement. “It’s up to both government and industry to prevent possible harms—that’s why we’re working together to take these decisive measures so Americans can rely on a resilient, secure, and clean energy system.”

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“The safety and security of the American people depend on the resilience of our nation’s critical infrastructure. This partnership with the Department of Energy to protect the US electric system will prove a valuable pilot as we continue our work to secure industrial control systems across all sectors,” said CISA Director (Acting) Brandon Wales.

Over the next 100 days, DOE’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER), in partnership with electric utilities, will continue to advance technologies and systems that will provide cyber visibility, detection, and response capabilities for industrial control systems of electric utilities.

The initiative will modernise cybersecurity defenses and:

• Encourage owners and operators to implement measures or technology that enhance their detection, mitigation, and forensic capabilities;
• Include concrete milestones over the next 100 days for owners and operators to identify and deploy technologies and systems that enable near real time situational awareness and response capabilities in critical industrial control system (ICS) and operational technology (OT) networks;
• Reinforce and enhance the cybersecurity posture of critical infrastructure information technology (IT) networks; and
• Includes a voluntary industry effort to deploy technologies to increase the visibility of threats in ICS and OT systems.

In addition, DOE released a new Request for Information (RFI) to inform future recommendations for supply chain security in U.S. energy systems. The RFI is coupled with the DOE revoking the “Prohibition Order Securing Critical Defense Facilities.” This process is aimed at strengthening the domestic manufacturing base and will allow the procurement of some types of bulk power system equipment from China.

Listen to:
Podcast episode #9: Cybersecurity risk management and supply chains

In light of these amendments, the Department expects that utilities continue to act in a way that minimises the risk of installing electric equipment and programmable components that are subject to foreign adversaries’ ownership, control, or influence.