Around the Industry

Playing a major part in the ‘future of nuclear’, Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) are an intriguing development for the UK’s decarbonised future. Creating £60 per megawatt hour once mature SMR technology will play a key role in reinvigorating the UK energy industry. That being said, although there are strong targets and interest in the recent Government investment placed in new nuclear technologies, in order to drive this nuclear evolution forward, much more than just financial investment is required.

Local electricity network operators have joined forces to release a guide to help communities to get involved with innovation projects to support a smarter, cleaner energy system. The guide is being published by Energy Networks Association in partnership with community energy experts Regen. Independent research carried out by Pöyry has shown that network companies’ existing innovation projects could deliver up to £1.7bn of benefits by 2031.

UK Power Networks has revealed the next steps in its plans to transform its network into a smart, flexible grid. A new report: ‘What our stakeholders said’, summarises how the responses to the network’s 2017 Future Smart consultation, will inform its 2018/2019 Distribution System Operator (DSO) plans to support ‘a smart grid for all’ and deliver better outcomes for customers.

The IDTechEx Show serves its 2,500 delegates with a combination of closely related topics from sensors, flexible electronics, bioelectronics and IoT to energy storage and electric vehicles. As usual, this year’s event in Berlin 11th-12th April 2018 has important adjustments to reflect important new trends. For example, there is now an 'Off Grid Energy Independence' conference in the nine parallel conferences offered.

A group of student from Broadgreen International School in Liverpool had the wind in their sails as they visited Ørsted’s operations and maintenance site at Kings Wharf on Thursday. The multi-million pound facility, which opened last year, is the control room for two offshore wind farms off the coast of Liverpool, Burbo Bank, and Burbo Bank Extension.

  A substantial order has been received by Peikko Group’s Norwegian subsidiary Peikko Norge AS to deliver rock foundation technology to Hitra 2 Wind Park in the Trøndelag area, Central Norway. Peikko will deliver all steel components for the 26 foundations of the wind park. The deliveries comprise FATBAR Rock Anchors, tower adapter plates, drilling templates and foundation reinforcement.

A new energy technology development centre has been officially launched by Yorkshire ambassador Sir Gary Verity (pictured centre), praising Sheffield city region's focus on advanced manufacturing excellence. Sir Gary, Chief Executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, formally opened the new Sheffield-headquarters of Libertine FPE which will act as the hub of its research and development work for linear motor-generator technologies.

Berlin-based energy solutions provider for single and multi-family homes which fulfils the need for energy independence, Home Power Solutions (HPS) has announced the official start of sales and distribution of the energy storage system Picea, an all-in-one unit to supply year-round power from the consumer's own photovoltaic system, beginning in March. Customer orders will be recorded in a waiting list as of 1st March 2018. The first systems will be delivered from the fourth quarter 2018.

A significant role in the energy industry has been given to renewable energy technologies. Because of their prominence and growing importance to power supplies, it is vital for the industry to develop appropriate security, and specifically cyber security, strategies. A new report from the Renewables Consulting Group (RCG) and Cylance provides insight into cyber security for the renewable energy industry, focusing on threat and impact assessment, and on measures to improve cyber protection.

According to the Data for the Public Good report by the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) in December 2017, a digital twin of UK infrastructure is necessary to identify inefficiencies in national energy use. Here, Nick Boughton, sales manager at systems integrator Boulting Technology explains how to manage energy efficiency across sectors.