SWEDEN’S GREEN ENERGY HUB TO BUILD BACK BETTER AFTER COVID-19


EIT InnoEnergy has partnered with Skellefteå Kraft, municipality-owned power company in Skellefeå, Sweden, to launch the Accelerate Skellefteå Project. The call for start- up project will offer applicants from across Europe the opportunity to grow their sustainable energy businesses in Sweden, as part of a green economic recovery post- COVID-19. Home to Northvolt’s battery


production plant – the largest single site investment in Europe – and investing in a multi-billion-euro development programme for smart and sustainable infrastructure, Skellefteå is quickly becoming an innovation hub for renewable


energy. This makes the city an attractive launch pad for energy start-ups. Launched in June, the call for


applications is searching for innovation start-ups across the entire energy value chain and will close on 23 August. Successful applicants will be part of a three- month tailored programme offering access to a broad range of services, such as supply chain development, business validation, revenue and pricing models, and technology and industrialisation support. The successful start-ups will also have the opportunity to collaborate closely with EIT InnoEnergy and Skellefteå Kraft to support the


city’s, and the entire region’s energy transition. Kenneth Johansson, CEO of EIT


InnoEnergy Scandinavia said: “At a time where, naturally, the conversation around the energy transition took a slight back seat, we are determined to continue to support start-ups to accelerate Europe’s green economic recovery. With the announcement of the European Green Deal, there has never been a better time to drive sustainable energy innovation. “By partnering with ambitious


municipalities like Skellefteå, that are striving for change, we can make an impact – paving the way for a greener future.


LOWER CARBON CONCRETE SETS A FIRM FOUNDATION FOR A GREENER FUTURE


Using lower carbon concrete at three London electricity construction sites has saved more than 220 tonnes of carbon emissions. Britain’s biggest electricity


distributor, UK Power Networks, is exploring new ways to tackle the net zero carbon challenge as part of its £600 million annual investment to upgrade power supplies and provide new network connections. Compared to ordinary concrete,


ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS), a by-product of steel production, uses a fifth of the energy to manufacture and produces less than a fifteenth of the CO2 emissions. A new electricity substation in west


London used 1,139m3 of concrete, incorporating 50 per cent GGBS cement replacement, saving 133


Chris Leese, director of MPA UK


tonnes of CO2 emissions. A second substation in north-west London used 563m3 of concrete, incorporating up to 50 per cent GGBS cement replacement, saving 50 tonnes of CO2 emissions. A third project, on electricity pylon foundations in east London, used 120m3 of GGBS (70 per cent of the mix), which saved a total of 44 tonnes of CO2 emissions.


Concrete, commented: “It’s extremely positive to see UK Power Networks specifying a GGBS concrete mix for these essential projects, which can significantly reduce the overall greenhouse gas emissions associated with the production of concrete. The increasingly widespread use of these mixes is just one of the ways that the concrete and cement industry is helping to support the circular economy and the transition to a net zero economy. It has been working towards a clear strategy to reduce its environmental impact for over a decade, with innovation having already helped to deliver a 53 per cent reduction in absolute carbon emissions since 1990.”


DIGITALISATION TO HOLD BACK WIND INDUSTRY FROM A


GREEN RECOVERY Owners and operators who look to make ‘quick digitalisation fixes’ rather than investing in smart digitalisation strategies are in danger of missing out on huge operations and maintenance (O&M) savings that are critical to wind farm profitability, says ONYX InSight, a leading provider of predictive maintenance solutions to the wind industry. The emergence of COVID-19


has accelerated the adoption of digitalisation practises. Some owners and operators that have previously overlooked digital technology in their operations now find themselves at a substantial disadvantage, struggling to deal with a wide range of market challenges. Even those who have previously invested are looking at ways to bolster the effects of their strategies as they look to take advantage of a predicted boost in renewable investments. In their new whitepaper ‘How


smart digitalisation will help you thrive in a post-pandemic world,’ ONYX InSight warns how the industry is at a crossroads when it comes to digitalisation adoption and how digitalisation has the potential to bring its own costs and downsides to the industry if applied ineffectively. Bruce Hall, CEO, ONYX InSight


said, “The issue with these services is they rely only on algorithms to identify the trends and anomalies that indicate operational issues, and lack the engineering expertise to provide accurate interpretation of the data.”


NEXANS WINS CONTRACT FOR CHICAGO’S RESILIENT ELECTRIC GRID PROJECT AMSC and ComEd, one of the


The REG system provides


Nexans has been awarded a contract by AMSC to produce a cable for the Resilient Electric Grid (REG) project in Chicago, US. The cable, together with a special jointing system, will be deployed in a Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) substation.


largest electric utilities in the U.S., entered into a commercial contract as part of the ongoing U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate’s initiative to secure the United States’ electric grid against extreme weather and other catastrophic events. The high current density of the REG cable is a key advantage for ComEd, as it enables a very compact installation footprint that is ideally suited for creating new power links in densely populated urban areas where space is at a premium.


protection against catastrophic effects resulting from the loss of critical substation facilities in urban areas by interconnecting and sharing excess capacity of nearby substations, while preventing high fault currents. The result is enhanced protection from cascading failures and widespread power outages on the power grid. The design selected for the REG project also has a low environmental impact as there is near zero thermal and electromagnetic fields. Using Amperium superconductor wire manufactured by AMSC, Nexans


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will manufacture the cable for the REG project at its specialized superconductor facility in Hannover, Germany. The cable installation in Chicago, US is scheduled for the end of 2020. “We are delighted to be working


with AMSC to take Chicago’s REG superconductor cable project to the next phase,” said Jérôme Fournier, chief technical officer for Nexans. “This project will provide further practical evidence that superconductors offer a fully realized, commercial solution to reinforce heavily-loaded power networks in urban areas worldwide.”


ENERGY MANAGEMENT | SPRING 2020 ENERGY MANAGEMENT | SUMMER 2020 5


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