Systems | EnergyNorthwest.com

Economics Drive Design of DER Systems

October 5, 2020

The post Economics Drive Design of DER Systems appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Distributed energy systems are transforming the way power is produced and distributed. The decentralized model of power generation, where energy is produced closer to where it will be used, rather than at a large plant elsewhere and sent through the traditional grid, has several advantages, including reducing transmission losses and lowering carbon emissions.

An Oct. 1 session of Experience POWER, supported by POWER magazine, titled “Economics of Distributed Energy Systems,” brought together a panel of industry executives to discuss the many economic factors that need to be considered when developing a distributed energy project. The session provided an overview of those considerations, beginning with the design of cost-effective distributed generation systems. It also looked at the economics and carbon trade-off of enabling photovoltaic integration with storage, along with systems that integrate renewables with hybrid energy storage.

The panel of industry executives included Peter Lilienthal, CEO of HOMER Energy, and developer of HOMER’s hybrid power optimization software.…

Good Water Treatment Systems Need Both Equipment and Chemistry [PODCAST]

December 26, 2019

| No Comments

| Industry News

The post Good Water Treatment Systems Need Both Equipment and Chemistry [PODCAST] appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Proper water treatment is vital to successful power plant operation. The water treatment system must be designed appropriately, implementing a suitable water chemistry program, and operated and monitored correctly. Having adequate training and utilizing the services of a knowledgeable partner can be invaluable.

Three water industry experts from U.S. Water, a Kurita company, were recent guests on The POWER Podcast. Kevin Milici, vice president of Marketing and Technology; Nathan Bach, vice president of Engineering Services and Equipment, and Joe Tirreno, vice president of Strategic Corporate Accounts shared insight from their years of experience helping customers develop sound water treatment solutions.

Bach noted that many older power plants are shifting from primary ion exchange, that is, cation-anion mixed beds, to membrane treatment systems for their demineralized water needs. Meanwhile, some that may have had older-generation membrane treatment systems, such as reverse osmosis (RO) and electrodeionization (EDI) systems, have been upgrading to include ultrafilters ahead of the RO to reduce fouling and extend membrane life or utilizing two-pass RO units to reduce the loading on EDIs.…

Using Extreme Visibility to Protect Industrial Control Systems [PODCAST]

October 29, 2019

| No Comments

| Industry News

The post Using Extreme Visibility to Protect Industrial Control Systems [PODCAST] appeared first on POWER Magazine.

What does it mean to have “extreme visibility” in an operational technology (OT) environment? According to Claroty, a New York-based company that offers cybersecurity products for industrial control systems, it’s having the ability to see all assets on a network, knowing what they are, and understanding what functions they perform. The company says the more organizations know about their OT network assets, the better equipped they will be to detect and investigate suspicious behavior.

“In order to really understand how to protect these networks, you really have to have your finger on the pulse of the threat landscape,” Dave Weinstein, Chief Security Officer with Claroty, said as a guest on The POWER Podcast.

“With respect to industrial control systems, nation-state actors continue to monopolize, if you will, the threat landscape. That is to say that the barriers to entry are sufficiently high enough at this point to prevent your average script kiddie or high school hacker from doing serious damage to, for example, the electrical grid,” Weinstein said.…

Large Public Power Systems Are Evolving [PODCAST]

September 2, 2019

| No Comments

| Industry News

The power grid is changing across the U.S. More distributed energy resources are being added every day. That brings challenges for power utilities, but also opportunities.

John Di Stasio, president of the Large Public Power Council (LPPC), which represents 27 of the largest locally governed and operated not-for-profit electric systems in the U.S., was a guest on The POWER Podcast and discussed how the changes are affecting his organization’s members.

As large infrastructure developers and asset owners, the LPPC’s members are uniquely affected by certain policies in Washington, D.C. Di Stasio, who previously served as general manager and CEO of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) from June 2008 through April 2014, said his group has been focused on tax, infrastructure, cybersecurity, environmental regulation, electrification, and grid modernization initiatives.

Di Stasio noted that the U.S. power grid was originally designed as a central station system with one-way power flow from generators to consumers. “Now, we’re looking at much more distributed generation potentially, and also the fact that two-way power flow provides some additional opportunities and capabilities for consumers, also some additional complexity,” Di Stasio said.…

$28 Million in DOE Funding Available for Advanced Energy Systems R&D

June 13, 2017

| No Comments

| Industry News

The Department of Energy (DOE) is offering approximately $ 28 million in cost-shared funding for research and development of advanced energy systems. According to three separate funding opportunity announcements (FOAs), the department is looking for research into advanced combustion systems, advanced turbines, and gasification.

“Advanced energy conversion systems are designed to enable efficient, low-cost, and near-zero emission energy from existing and new fossil fuel power plants,” a DOE release says.

University Turbine Systems Research

The University Turbine Systems Research (UTSR) program has available $ 5.15 million to fund laboratory/bench scale research and development projects in six technical topic areas:

Low-NOx combustion technology development for “air-breathing” advanced turbines
Advanced cooling technology development for “air-breathing” advanced turbines
Advanced materials technology development for “air-breathing” advanced turbines
Big data analytics
Advanced instrumentation
Pressure gain combustion

DOE anticipates awarding funding for six to nine projects. Up to three awards are expected in each of the first three topic areas, and one per topic in the last three areas.…

New Technology Offers Hope for Cost-Effective Carbon Capture and Storage Systems

October 13, 2016

| No Comments

| Industry News

Academics at the University of Sheffield—a public research university in the UK—have begun two new carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects, searching for cheaper methods of capturing carbon dioxide (CO₂) from fossil-fueled power plants.

The work is being funded by the European Commission’s (EC’s) Horizon 2020 Low Carbon Energy program.

Solvents Could Be Game-Changing

The “ROLINCAP” project received €3.2 million to explore how new chemical solvents could be used in a “rotating packed bed” process, which is designed to accelerate chemical reactions. The method may allow CO₂ to be captured more efficiently, with smaller equipment than was previously required.

“Our European consortium will work with experts from South Korea to develop technologies for post-combustion carbon capture and storage. We will explore new solvents and new techniques for process intensification, which I hope will lead to cheaper, more efficient carbon capture,” said Meihong Wang, Professor of Energy Systems in the Department for Chemical and Biological Engineering.

Carbon Clean Solutions Ltd.…