News | Headlines
Hurricane Ida: power outages persist
USA Transmission & distribution ABC reported on 4 September that at least 11 people had died in Louisiana owing to the Category 4 storm that struck the mainland on 30 August. Other reports spoke of scores of casualties across the east of the country that eventually brought the figure to 111 as the hurricane made its way northwards towards the New England coast.
Even now Louisiana is struggling to recover from the devastation caused by Ida, which is reckoned the fifth-strongest in history to strike the US mainland, dumping more than 13 inches of rain in some southern regions in a few days and leaving whole neighbour- hoods under water.
Over 721 000 customers in the state were reported to be without power during the first few days, a situation made worse as the state sweltered under a heatwave.
However, power had been restored to nearly 328 000 people, as of 4 September, about 35% of the 948 000 customers who lost power because of Ida, according to energy supplier Entergy. Power was expected to be restored in the New Orleans area by 8 September, and it is believed that about 70% of the population were reconnected by that date, but in some districts power will not return before 29 September, a figure that has been revised since to ‘end of the month’. Entergy reported on 4 September that 22 567 electricity poles, 26 729 spans of wire
and 5261 transformers were damaged or destroyed in Louisiana and Mississippi – that is more poles damaged or destroyed than in Hurricanes Katrina, Zeta and Delta combined. But by 4 September six of the eight major transmission lines that deliver power into the New Orleans area had been restored. By 9 September a greater toll had been calculated – Ida’s 240 km/h winds had damaged or destroyed more than 30 000 power-line poles and nearly 6000 transformers across the region. And Ida was continuing to threaten the state as several areas were without power and heavy rain flooded low-lying regions.
Fortunately the storm did not entirely flood the city. Its flood-regulating levee system, fortified after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina 16 years ago, seemed to hold. However, what seems to have caused great surprise was that Ida ravaged Louisiana’s power grid, 30% of which has yet to be restored.
Ida is the sixth tropical cyclone to make landfall in Louisiana since the start of 2020, and scientists are worried that the frequency of the storms, combined with a failure by state and local officials to adapt infrastructure to climate change, will imperil the millions of people who live along the Louisiana coast. There are concerns about how much more this area can take, and yet continue to spring back.
Ørsted and T&T sign offshore wind MoU
Vietnam Wind power Ørsted and T&T Group, a leading Vietnamese cross-industry company, have signed a memorandum of understanding covering the launch a strategic collaboration on offshore wind in Vietnam.
The collaboration brings together a multi-GW pipeline of greenfield offshore wind projects located off the coasts of the Binh Thuan and Ninh Thuan provinces, Vietnam’s most suitable areas for offshore wind development. Both partners intend to apply their groups’ joint capabilities to mature this offshore wind pipeline and work to support the development of an effective regulatory framework for offshore wind and a successful new industry in Vietnam.
EDF to sell West Burton B
EDF has reached an agreement to sell its 1332 MW combined cycle gas turbine power station and 49 MW battery at West Burton B in Nottinghamshire to EIG. EIG is a prominent institutional investor in the global energy sector with $22.0 billion under management as of December 2020. Both parties aim to complete the transaction as soon as possible in 2021, subject to all applicable regulatory authorisations. West Burton B CCGT is EDF’s only gas-fired power station in the UK. Construction
started in 2008, and generation in 2013. The sale is in line with the EDF Group’s low carbon aims, as it concentrates its ownership on nuclear, hydro and renewables generation. Currently in the UK its portfolio includes eight nuclear power stations, thirty onshore wind farms and two offshore arrays.
With more than 3200 km of coastline and high, consistent, wind speeds, Vietnam has some of the best conditions for developing offshore wind in Asia. The World Bank Group estimates Vietnam’s offshore wind potential to be up to 500 GW. In addition to this potential, Vietnam’s rapidly growing demand for power means there is an urgent need for new large-scale reliable power sources in the coming decades. These factors, in combination with Vietnam’s strong supply chain potential, have convinced Ørsted and T&T Group that offshore wind has a central role to play in Vietnam’s future power mix.
Do Quang Hien, T&T Group president and general director, commented: “Ten years ago, we began researching and preparing for the development of renewable energy in order to be ready when the time was right. This has resulted in T&T’s completing several large solar PV projects and being on track to complete five big onshore wind projects by the end of this year. Energy is a strategic focus for the T&T Group, and with this collaboration with Ørsted … we look forward to accelerating our plans and bringing valuable experience and international investment capital to the offshore wind sector in Vietnam.” Matthias Bausenwein, president of Ørsted Asia Pacific, said: “This MOU is a major step for Ørsted in establishing a strong foothold in Vietnam and in showcasing our aspiration to be a reliable long-term partner in this country.”
8 | September 2021 |
www.modernpowersystems.com
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
