energy storage publishing

The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has revised its rules to class energy storage as a power source that can be connected to the grid.

The FERC has amended Order 792 that previously only applied to small generators to also include energy storage. The order now includes storage in the category of resources eligible to interconnect to the power grid under the Small Generator Interconnection Procedures (SGIP) and/or Fast Track Process.

On issuing Order 792 the FERC said it had made the revision “to ensure that the rates, terms and conditions under which public utilities provide interconnection service to Small Generating Facilities remain just and reasonable and not unduly discriminatory.”

The Electricity Storage Association (ESA) welcomed the news and commended the FERC for acknowledging that energy storage should participate in this class and that rules and policies should evolve. ESA Chairman Darrel Hayslip said: “These reforms are good news for storage project developers and further facilitate the deployment of storage on the power grid.”

China Racing has announced it will be taking part in the Formula E Championship electric vehicle race series in 2014. China Racing is the second of ten teams to be confirmed for the zero-emission race after UK-based Drayson Racing Technologies.

The teams will race on street circuits in ten cities across the world in electric cars. The cars for the inaugural year are being designed by McClaren, Spark Racing Technology and Dallara. All teams have the opportunity to use the customer car for the first year and encouraged to build their own cars for races in the following years. With support from Chinese automotive makers China Racing hopes to build a team car within three years.

(L-R): CEO Team China Racing – Steven Lu, Chairman Team China Racing - Yu Liu, FIA President - Jean Todt, First Secretary of the Chinese Embassy - Mr. Liang JianSheng, CEO Formula E Holdings - Alejandro Agag.

Alejandro Agag, Chief Executive Officer of Formula E Holdings said: “China has enormous potential for the expansion of electric vehicles as a tool to fight pollution in cities. We think the FIA Formula E Championship can be a powerful tool to make electric cars popular with the Chinese public, particularly the younger generations. Having a Chinese team with us in the Championship will be key to succeeding in that challenge.”

Energetix subsidiary Energetix Pnu Power has received a UK patent for an important method relating to the core technology within its compressed air uninterruptible power supply products.

The patent - titled 'Lubrication of Positive Displacement Expanders' - describes the method by which efficiency of the conversion of compressed air into electrical power can be optimised with minimal lubrication of mechanical components. Pnu Power produces back-up power solutions, using compressed air, for utility switching, telecommunications, data centres and other mission critical industrial operations.

Energetix says the grant of this patent provides additional protection to the company's core product platform and builds on the company's intellectual property portfolio relating to its Pnu Power technology.

The company has a core patent granted in 20 countries which protects its compressed air driven UPS system as well as two further patents providing additional protection. 

An energy efficient heating system offering efficiency savings of up to 20% could be key in the transition to low-carbon energy systems in Europe. This is according to a report commissioned by SSE (UK energy generators and distributors) and Dimplex (a global heating solutions firm).

The smart electric thermal storage (SETS) system works by storing up renewably produced energy when production is high but demand is low. The report indicated SETS could provide up to 54GW of additional flexible storage capacity across Europe by 2050, enabling renewable electricity to be stored when demand is low and used to heat homes when needed.

The system, first brought to the market by SEE and Dimplex in a product called Quantum, is intended to replace out-dated night storage heaters with something more efficient and with better room temperature control as well as being designed for smart grid integration.

The report found that if all 27 EU countries replaced storage heaters with SETS, savings of 7.4TWh of electricity and three mega-tons of CO₂ could be made each year. If used in all electrically heated homes as much as 148GW could be provided by 2050.

Stuart Mackenzie, Managing Director of Dimplex, added: “Quantum offers consumers with electric storage heaters the opportunity to reduce their running costs by up to 27%. It’s also a Green Deal approved measure, so the capital cost outlay can be substantially reduced.”