Canberra switches on its virtual 1MW power plant

Reposit Power phone app (Source - One Step off the Grid)

Australian internet of things company Reposit Power and network operator ActewAGL Distribution said on Thursday, 30 November, they had switched on a virtual battery made up of behind the meter energy storage installed in Canberra homes that could deliver more than 1MW of power to the ACT grid, supporting it at times of peak demand.

It’s the latest of a raft of battery storage demand response projects that are firing up around the country, pulling together Australia’s rapidly growing distributed solar and battery storage resources to help get the National Energy Market through the coming summer – as well as through the transition to renewables. The providers are paid a premium rate of 100c/kWh for their home battery power.

For full article see: Canberra switches on its own Big Battery - 1MW of household variety demand response. One Step off the Grid, November 30, 2017.
See also:
- Canberra trials world’s largest residential ‘virtual’ power plant. ACT Government, November 30, 2017.
- How I learned to slash my power bill, with solar and storage.
- My House as I am part of this virtual power plant as well.

Postscripts:
- Canberra Virtual Power Plant awarded top engineering honours. Reposit Power, September 19 2018.
- Ausgrid seeks to expand virtual power plant to cut back on network costs. RenewEconomy, May 22 2019.

Tesla semis to be ordered by Walmart and Loblaw: this truck changes everything

Source: Tesla

This Tesla electric semi trailer doesn’t jack-knife, can do 0-100kms in 6 seconds (without load), can go up inclines at a steady 100 km/hr (with load), has a cool centralised driving position, wrap-around armoured glass windows, touch screens, and doesn’t pollute. It beats diesel trucks in just about every measurable way. The range can be with a 500 mile (800km) option (fully loaded), or a 300 mile option. In North America, at first, there will be a network of “megachargers” that will be able to give the truck 400 miles of range in 30 minutes.

Tesla claims significantly lower maintenance costs (similar to EV passenger cars) and is offering charging at fixed electricity prices, thus virtually guaranteeing operating costs for truck fleet operators and 1 million miles of break-down free use. A company could save tens of thousands of dollars if the Tesla semi is, as Musk said, 25 cents cheaper to operate per mile than a standard diesel truck. The average number of miles driven a year per large truck is just over 100,000, according to industry analysts. That means each Tesla semi could save a company at least $US25,000 a year.

However, Don Ake, vice president of commercial vehicles at FTR, an industry economics research firm, said: “The 500-mile (800 km) range between charges that Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk promised ...... for the Tesla semi is about half the range between fill-ups of a diesel Class 8 truck. Heavy batteries cut payload and add cost, potential deal killers for fleet buyers focused on operating cost per mile.”

At least two companies are to order the semis for pilot studies. Walmart is to order 15 and Loblaw 25. Loblaw, a Canadian grocery chain, earlier this month committed to have a fully electric fleet as part of the company’s commitment to reduce its carbon footprint by 2030. That would involve adding 350 zero-emission vehicles and more than 2,500 trailers to the fleet.

For further reading please see:
Darth Vader or not, the Tesla truck changes everything. RenewEconomy,
Walmart to order 15 Tesla semi trucks, Canadian Grocer Loblaw to order 25. CleanTechnica,
Wal-Mart says it’s preordered 15 of Tesla’s electric tractor trailers. CNBC,
Loblaw says it ordered 25 Tesla electric trucks, wants fully electric fleet by 2030. Financial Post.

100% percent electric buses to be in Chinese city by end 2017

Image from CleanTechnica

The move to electric vehicles (EVs) in China is happening quickly with reduction of pollution and greenhouse gas emissions the main motivators. Shenzhen city with a population of 11.9 million people has a love of EVs and already has 14,000 electric buses but plans to have its entire bus fleet electric by the end of this year.

Read more: 100% Electric bus fleet for Shenzhen (population 11.9 million) by end of 2017. By Nicolas Zart, 12 Nov 2017, CleanTechnica.

Graphs of my home energy use and costs updated

Home Energy Graphs: left usage from the grid and right energy costs (supply + service - feed in tariff)

With the arrival of my spring bill, I have added the data for that quarter to my graphs on My House page. On the left is the average daily energy use from the grid and on the right are the costs of the energy supply plus the service fees less the feed in tariffs.

I moved into the house in May 2015 and gradually added solar panels, solar hot water (thus quitting gas), home battery and double-glazed windows. The reduction in energy use and costs was achieved while charging a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) and cordless electric lawn mower.

For features of my house and explanation of graphs, see My House. For the details of estimated costs of charging my PHEV by using renewables and the grid, see My Car.

Postscript: A similar outcome: How I learned to slash my power bill, with solar and storage. One Step off the Grid, March 14, 2018.

Victorian water treatment plant now has large-scale solar on its utility water tank

Solar panels on utility water tank, Wannon Water, Hamilton, Victoria. (photo from One Step off the Grid)

Victorian utility, Wannon Water, is laying claim to the first large-scale solar system to be put on a utility water tank in Australia, with a 100kW array newly installed on its water treatment plant at Hamilton.

Wannon Water says this initiative will help to unlock the future potential for this type of installation for the Australian water sector. It expects the 344 “high-efficiency” panels on the roof of the clear water storage tank will reduce the plant’s demand on the electricity grid by 25 per cent and cut greenhouse gas emissions by 150,000 kilograms each year.

It expects the A$120,000 system to pay for itself in seven years through reduced energy use, and will mean that on some days the entire water treatment plant can be powered by renewable energy.

Read more: Victoria utility installs first large-scale solar system on water tank. By Giles Parkinson, November 15, 2017 from One Step off the Grid.

Two mini hydro electricity systems to help the ACT reach 100% in renewables

Googong Dam Mini Hydro (photo from Icon Water)

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) has a goal to have 100% renewable electricity by 2020. This sustainable electricity will supply Canberra’s population of over 400,000 people. It is well on the way to achieve that goal with the main contributors being a number of large-scale solar and wind farms.

However, small initiatives and a mixture of approaches to providing renewable energy all contribute as do these two mini hydro systems. They were commissioned by Icon Water which is owned by the ACT Government and provides water and sewerage services to the territory.

The Googong Dam Mini Hydro system generates 600 kW to power the water treatment plant, pump station and Googong Dam. The hydro system uses the gravity fed environmental flows from the dam to run two turbines and generators.

The Mount Stromlo Mini Hydro system generates 630 kW of electricity which is connected to the grid. The gravity fed water to power the system is a bypass of the west main inlet from Bendora Dam which is at 80 metres higher elevation. The mini hydro is located in a small building at the bottom of the Mount Stromlo Water Treatment Plant.

EU to slash vehicle carbon emissions by one third more.

The European Union is to slash vehicle carbon emissions one third more from 2021 through 2030. Europe already has tough standards for reducing carbon-dioxide emissions in current and future vehicles.

Under the newly adopted plan, passenger cars and light trucks must cut CO2 emission by 15 percent over their 2021 levels by 2025, and by 30 percent by 2030.

The EU commission acknowledged that these levels would be hard to meet, and would increase the cost of cars sold to all buyers. It estimated that by 2030, an average new car could cost roughly €1,000 (US$1,160, A$1,530) more, and an average light van about €900 (US$1,050, A$1,377) more. As is common with such rules, savings in fuel costs over the vehicles' lifetimes would make up for the additional upfront cost several times over.

The region's auto industry is at "a turning point," said EU internal market commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska, noting in particular China's plan to end sales of gasoline and diesel-powered cars at some point in the future. The United Kingdom and France are also to phase out diesel and petrol-fuelled cars by 2040.

See more detail from: EU to slash vehicle carbon emissions one third more from 2021 through 2030, by John Voelcker, Green Car Reports, 10 Nov 2017.

Wave energy to the electricity grid: new Australian renewable energy projects

CETO renewable wave energy generator (from Carnegie Clean Energy).

Two enterprises in Australia have developed the technology to convert wave energy to electricity for the grid.

One is CETO developed by Carnegie Clean Energy, Perth, Western Australia. CETO is named after a Greek sea goddess and harnesses the renewable energy present in our ocean’s waves and converts it into zero-emission electricity and zero-emission desalinated water.

Carnegie has been asked to give a 15MW commercial demonstration of CETO 6 at the world-class Wave Hub facility off the coast of Cornwall in the United Kingdom.

See also: Carnegie Wave wins $15.5m towards 15MW UK facility, by Sophie Vorrath, 7 Nov 2016.

Also Carnegie is currently contracted to deliver a renewable energy roadmap for Mauritius, including technical, commercial and financial feasibility of high penetration renewable energy; an assessment of the Mauritian wave energy resource and the identification of a preferred site for a commercial CETO wave energy project and the design of a microgrid powered desalination plant on the Mauritian island of Rodrigues.

See also: Carnegie completes plans for Mauritius wave, solar + storage microgrid. By Sophie Vorrath, 29 May 2017.

The other wave energy development is by BPS, based in Sydney, which has developed the bioWAVE concept and is running a pilot project off Port Fairy in Victoria. The Port Fairy Pilot Wave Energy Project involves the design, construction, installation and testing of a full-scale bioWAVE pilot plant equipped with a 250kW O-Drive module. It is being tested during 2017.

Postscript: Carnegie jacks up CETO capacity in bid to take wave power mainstream, by Sophie Vorrath, 14 Nov, 2017.

Flinders Island to switch on a renewable energy hub

Flinders Island hybrid energy hub (photo from ABC News: Rhiannon Shine)

A Tasmanian island (Australia) is about to swap fossil fuel for renewable energy as its major power source.

Flinders Island off Tasmania's north-east coast has traditionally been powered solely by diesel fuel, which has been expensive to transport to the island.

In December, Hydro Tasmania will flick the switch over to its Hybrid Energy Hub, which will enable the island to be powered by 60 per cent renewable energy on average. The hub will provide a combination of solar, wind and battery storage with diesel generators as a back up. When conditions are right the diesel generators will be switched off.

The island has a goal to be 100% renewable in the future by adding tidal energy to the hub. Tasmania has a goal to be self-sufficient in renewable electricity by 2022.

For more information see the full article from ABC News by Rhiannon Shine, 5 Nov 2017.