News | Headlines ERCOT unveils grid reliability roadmap
USA Transmission & distribution The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has delivered its ‘Roadmap to Improving Grid Reliability’ to governor Greg Abbott, and members of the Texas Legislature and the Public Utility Commission (PUC). The Roadmap is a comprehensive plan that addresses operational improvements to the Texas power grid, including important legislative changes, objectives outlined in the governor’s letter of 6 July, and other reforms.
“Change is required for ERCOT to continue to reliably serve the millions of customers and businesses that depend on us,” said ERCOT interim president and CEO Brad Jones. “We have extensively reviewed our processes to better serve Texans and will continue to work very closely with the PUC to ensure we’re aligned in these efforts. These changes will benefit all Texans and support continued economic growth for the state of Texas.”
In developing the Roadmap, Brad Jones
and ERCOT worked with the PUC, customers, former regulators, retired industry executives, environmental advocates and market participants to ensure all areas for improvement were considered and included. The 60-item Roadmap is available on
ERCOT.com will be updated regularly through the end of the year. It includes both existing and new initiatives, including: ● Taking a more aggressive operating approach. ERCOT is bringing more generation online sooner if it is needed to balance supply and demand. The grid operator is also purchasing more reserve power, especially on days when the weather forecast is uncertain.
● Requiring CEO certifications. After a rule change, all market participants who own or operate generation resources and/or transmission/distribution power lines will be required to submit a letter signed by their CEO twice a year certifying that their companies have completed their
weatherisation preparations to protect the electric grid for the summer and winter seasons.
● Adding new requirements for generation owners. ERCOT is proposing a new market rule that requires generators to provide operational updates more frequently.
● Assessing on-site fuel supplies. ERCOT is reviewing the need for on-site fuel supplies for some generators.
● Performing unannounced testing of generation resources. This testing helps verify that generators have provided accurate information about their availability.
● Addressing transmission constraints in Rio Grande Valley. ERCOT and the PUC are initiating a process to address RGV transmission limitations and provide increased market access for resources in the Valley. This will improve reliability for customers during normal conditions and high-risk weather events.
Construction costs for US solar generation still falling USA Solar energy
The annual capacity-weighted average construction costs for solar photovoltaic systems in the United States continued to decrease in 2019, dropping by a little less than 3%, according to the latest data from the US Energy Information Administration on newly constructed utility-scale electric generators. The average costs for wind turbines remained relatively stable in 2019, increasing $9/kW, or a little less than 1% from the 2018 average. Costs for natural gas-fired generators showed the largest change from 2018 to 2019, increasing $241/kW, or almost 29%.
Together, these technologies accounted for over 98% of the total capacity added to the US electric grid in 2019. US investment in all
forms of new electric-generating capacity in 2019 decreased by 4.9% compared with 2018.
Solar construction costs averaged $1796/ kW in 2019, a 2.8% decrease from 2018. The decrease was driven by falling costs for crystalline silicon axis-based tracking panels, which fell to $1497/kW in 2019. Crystalline silicon axis-based tracking panels made up almost half of the solar capacity added in the United States in 2019, at 2.5 GW. Among solar technologies, crystalline silicon fixed-tilt panels had the highest average cost in 2019, at $2242/kW.
Total U.S. wind capacity additions were 39% greater in 2019 than in 2018, although the average construction cost for onshore wind turbines remained about the same. The
average construction cost for onshore wind turbines was $1391/kW in 2019, compared with $1382/kW in 2018.
The average construction cost for wind farms with more than 200 MW of capacity, which accounted for the largest share of wind capacity additions in 2019, decreased by 1.3% to $1252/kW.
Among wind, solar, and natural gas technologies, natural gas received the least US investment in 2019, accounting for 26% of total electric-generating capacity investment across all energy sources. Most natural gas electric-generating capacity installed in 2019 was in combined-cycle facilities. Average combined-cycle construction costs increased from $858/kW in 2018 to $948/kW in 2019, a 10% increase.
Hitachi ABB Power Grids to become Hitachi Energy Japan Business news
Hitachi ABB Power Grids has announced that it will be ‘evolving’ to become Hitachi Energy from October this year. The decision to change name has board and shareholder consent and coincides with the business’ first-year anniversary since it started operations on 1 July, 2020. Hitachi has an 80.1 % stake in the joint venture and ABB holds the balance.
Toshiaki Higashihara, executive chairman and CEO of Hitachi, said, “With climate change and increasing natural disasters, there is a need to solve three social issues worldwide: environment, resilience, and security and safety. “Hitachi ABB Power Grids provides a variety of solutions that solve these social issues, and by changing the company name to Hitachi Energy, we are further strengthening our
4 | July/August 2021 |
www.modernpowersystems.com
commitment to the realisation of a sustainable society.”
From October, Hitachi will change its corporate brand to the Hitachi brand and use it for external and internal communications. The business formally registered Hitachi Energy Ltd on 30 June, and is now undertaking the formal process for the change of names globally.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89
