NEWS
Swap your genset copper conductors for aluminium ones to deter copper thieves
NATIONAL GRID SECURES 312MW OF TURN-DOWN DSR
Metal theft is one of the fastest growing crime types internationally. This is noteworthy because most industrialised countries have witnessed general reductions in acquisitive crime over the last decade. Precise estimates on the extent of metal theft nationally are difficult to obtain because of the absence of a designated metal theft crime category. The UK Home Office estimate that there were around 100,000 police recorded metal thefts in 2010/11. According to British Transport Police recorded crime data, the levels of copper theft - in particular - have increased rapidly. Significant increases in the price of many metals - mainly attributed to a global supply-demand imbalance - are recognised as the main contributor to the surge in UK metal thefts. This is supported by research analysing the relationship between copper price and copper cable theft from the British Railway Network. Together with the wide availability of metals, it is argued that price increases have generated greater opportunities for offenders to sell stolen metals at financially rewarding prices at a low risk of detection. INMESOL is an important international manufacturer of generator sets and has been looking into this particular issue of copper components in its equipment. A spokesman for INMESOL told UKPN: "Aluminium conductors are being used more and more in genset installations. The theft of copper has also increased worldwide. Unfortunately, the international trade in copper makes it easy to sell it, which means this material is an attractive target for thieves.” The spokesman comments: “Aluminium is a different story since it is not as expensive, and therefore less worthwhile to steal. The solution to the problem of connecting aluminium conductors - which are quite rigid - to a genset is something we hacve discussed on our blogs. “Changing one metal for another is something which has been accepted positively by our customers due to the fact it provides an easier connection between the genset and the electrical connection, giving them a possibility of different access and considerable room to connect any kind of conductor, either of a copper or aluminium content. Over the past two years we can see that there are now more installations which use aluminium conductors instead of the traditional copper ones. If we compare figures from last year, demand for these machines has, in fact, tripled this year."
Around 312MW of turn-down demand side response (DSR) has been secured by National Grid as part of its capacity auction. The Transitional Auction (TA), which supports the Capacity Market, cleared at £45/kW/year for delivery in 2017/18. A total of 372.987MW entered the auction, out of which 312.171 have been awarded contracts. Winners include UK Power Reserve, Limejump, EnerNOC UK, EDF Energy, KiWi Power, Smartest Energy and Tata Steel UK. As part of the scheme, participants will reduce power usage, especially when demand increases during peak times – between 9am to 11am or 4pm and 8pm. The Association for Decentralised Energy (ADE) estimates businesses will earn just above £14 million in revenue, helping them to manage their energy costs and boost their competitiveness “simply by turning down or shifting non- critical processes”.
Demand turn down includes tem- porarily switching off unneces- sary lighting, pumps and motors. Robert Owens, VP Asset Optimisation adds: “With such a high price now set from the TA auction, we do have concerns that DSR will struggle to com- pete alongside existing and peaking generators in the next auction and are concerned that a significant drop in price may mean we lost momentum. We would like to see confirmation from National Grid that support will be provided to help DSR gather more momentum and make a significant contribution to the UK’s energy mix.” The results will have to be approved by the Secretary of State before contracts are signed.
NEW CONTRACT GUARANTEES 14MW OF GAS GENERATED POWER FOR A NEW DATA CENTRE IN IRELAND
Aggreko has signed a two-year contract to supply 14 MW of gas- generated power to a new data centre in Ireland. Aggreko will install an additional 4 MW as contingency power on standby to ensure uninterrupted supply for periods of repair and maintenance, bringing the total installation to 18 MW.
Aggreko will use its ‘ next generation’ gas generators; these will be installed onsite in April 2017 and be operational by the end of June. The gas gensets will be the primary source of power for the data centre until it can be connected to the main utility grid network in 2019. A local piped gas supply will be used by Aggreko to fuel the multi- megawatt package. The onsite power specialists are also currently pro- viding smaller diesel generator systems for temporary onsite power, for cabins and other locations during the construction phase of the site. “We are delighted to be able to support this data centre with its opera- tional power needs until it is able to connect to the grid,” said Billy Durie, Head of European Sector and Account Development for Aggreko. “Data centres are being constructed at such a speed that in some countries the local infrastructure just cannot keep up with demand. Temporary gas-generated power makes perfect sense for data centres that need to be operational before a con- nection is available from the local power supplier, or simply where there is not enough capacity from the grid.” Gas generation for short-to-medium term hire is ideal for data centres, as not only are they more cost effective to run than stan- dard diesel units, but they are also cleaner and much more environmentally friendly.
MARCH ‐ APRIL 2017 UK POWER NEWS 3
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