Energy

A top Utility executive has embarrassed the company that runs Britain’s power supply – by exposing the high risk of power cuts this winter.

He says the risk of power shortages has been underestimated by ministers and the National Grid, with factory shutdowns and “politically unacceptable” price spikes more likely than had been feared, energy giant SSE has warned.
National Grid last month said that in a cold winter the UK’s electricity “margin” – the safety buffer between peak demand and supply – would fall to just 5pc, the lowest since 2007, as old power stations are switched off.
But Keith MacLean, SSE’s director of policy and research, warned: “We think that could easily flip to minus 5pc.”…

The United States is by far the world’s leader on microgrids. The nation now accounts for nearly two-thirds, or 62%, of global microgrid capacity that’s either planned or operational. The number of microgrids worldwide has increased from about 400 early last year to about 600 now, nearly half of which are in the U.S.

In a major feature USA Today puts the boot into Utility company failure to keep the lights on. Hurricane Sandy, along with other recent extreme weather events, “exposed the growing unreliability of the nation’s aging and “Balkanized” power grid,” said the paper. …

Ohira, Japan (Agence France Presse ) 19Oct

As the impact of Fukishima continues to terrify the Japanese people, a remote Toyota plant in northeastern Japan is poinitng the way forward after the devastating quake-tsunami more than two years after it was completely shut it down.

Employees roll out more than 100,000 Corolla and Yaris sedans a year and the factory looks like most operated by the world’s biggest automaker.

But the plant is unusual for something that cannot easily be seen: it produces its own power – and its own peppers.

A gas-fired power system supplies 7,800 kW of energy — about 70% of present needs — to help keep production moving, and virtually nothing is lost.

The factory recycles heat from the burning of gas and uses it to dry the paint on finished vehicles. Hot water from the gas turbine runs through pipes into a nearby greenhouse that grows green peppers, which will later be sold.

Solar panels also supply some power to the plant.

The factory is tapped into the local energy “micro-grid” and could supply the nearby village of Ohira in case of another disaster.…