Headlines | News
Power cuts as USA and Canada are hit by winter storms
N America T&D
A major winter storm has brought heavy snow and ice to parts of the USA and Canada, and prompted weather warnings for more than 80 million people. The BBC reported on 18 January that more than 145 000 people were without power in some south-eastern states, and thousands of airline flights were cancelled.
The US National Weather Service (NWS) says more than 30cm of snow is expected in some areas. Virginia, Georgia, and North and South Carolina have all declared states of emergency. Snow and ice could result in “dangerous travel, power outages, and tree damage”, the NWS warned. There were also forecasts of possible coastal flooding in some areas, including in New
York City and parts of Connecticut, with warnings that roads and infrastructure could be affected. In Canada’s Ontario province, which shares a border with New York state, officials issued storm warnings on 17 January for much of the south. Toronto, the capital of the province and Canada’s largest city, was forecast to get 20cm of snow.
hydrogen storage concept World’s first offshore
Tractebel and its partner companies have developed the world’s first offshore infrastructure and processing facilities concept for the storage of hydrogen in offshore caverns. The design study outlines what is said to be an innovative solution for large-scale hydrogen storage on the high seas: namely a scalable offshore platform for the compression and storage of up to 1.2 million cubic metres of hydrogen. Underground salt caverns will be used as storage and buffer for the hydrogen produced offshore, before the gas is transported via the pipeline network to the onshore grid. The offshore platform complex consists of a wellhead platform
for the operation of the caverns and a series of compression platforms that enable a staged increase in capacity. If required, the
plant can also be expanded in the future by additional modules. The study assumes a capacity equivalent to converting 2 GW of green offshore wind power into hydrogen. The storage and compressor platforms process 400 000 Nm3 is stored at a pressure of up to 180 bar.
Germany retires more reactors and lignite plants
Germany Nuclear power Germany’s nuclear and coal phase-out programmes both took a step towards their completion on the last day of 2021, when the country decommissioned several GW of nuclear and lignite capacity. The three nuclear reactors Grohnde, Gundremmingen C and Brokdorf, with a total capacity of just over 4 GW, were taken off the grid on 31 December. The three remaining reactors are due to be in operation until the end of 2022. These are Isar 2, Emsland and Neckarwestheim 2.
The end of 2021 also brought the shutdown of 300 MW lignite-fired units in the Rhenish lignite mining area, namely RWE’s Neurath B, Niederaussem C and Weisweiler E units, as part of Germany’s coal phase out. “This [together with the 1.3 GW Gundremmingen C NPP] represents a further step in our rigorous efforts to implement the legally mandated phase-out of nuclear power and coal,” commented RWE Power CEO Dr Frank Weigand.
In 2022, another 1600 MW of lignite power will be decommissioned. “In the period from 2020 to
2022, RWE is shutting down [conventional] power plants with a total capacity of more than 7000 MW” the company wrote in a press release, adding that it plans to invest €50 billion by 2030 in the expansion of renewables, batteries, storage, hydrogen and flexible backup capacities. At RWE’s Gundremmingen nuclear reactor, around 440 out of 600 employees will stay for the post-operation and dismantling of the site. In the Rhineland mining area, around 3000 jobs will be cut along the entire process chain of mining, maintenance, admin and power generation.
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$100m fund for grid-scale battery storage in Australia
Australia Energy storage A competitive funding round worth A$100 million (£53.5m) has been announced to support next generation grid-scale batteries in Australia. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) will provide the funding to new battery energy storage projects of 70 MW or larger capacity that are equipped with advanced inverters to support the grid. Funding will also be available for existing grid-scale batteries seeking to retrofit advanced inverter capability. Advanced
inverters enable grid scale batteries to provide the system stability services traditionally provided by coal or gas generation. At least three projects are expected to be supported in the latest funding round, with a maximum grant of A$35 million per per project. ARENA CEO Darren Miller said: “Grid-scale batteries and other types of energy storage technology will be vital to support our future electricity system powered by renewables. This funding round will demonstrate the role of
advanced inverters in grid-scale batteries to provide system stability, facilitating a more efficient transition and accelerate the uptake of renewable generation.
“We’ve seen promising signs that advanced inverters can support system stability but it is clear that public sector investment is still needed to prove the technology at scale. We’re confident that ARENA funding will help drive the uptake of this technology and provide valuable lessons that will benefit the industry as a whole.”
www.modernpowersystems.com | January/February 2022 | 7
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