Mixed Greens: Alstom gets smarter, in grid deal with Toshiba

Alstom Grid – the grid management division of French energy giant Alstom – has signed a MoU with Japan’s Toshiba, which will see the two companies explore the possibilities for a cooperation and collaboration in the nascent smart grid business. Energy Business Review reports that the two firms intend to provide electricity management solutions supporting wide-scale integration of renewable energy sources into the grid, in diverse regions and environments. The partnership will also look into ways to promote the smart grid business globally.

Alstom develops smart grid systems by interconnecting all equipment and players on the grid, supergrid projects by transporting large amounts of electricity across energy highways, and new-generation digital substations instantly analysing and regulating the electricity passing through the substation. Last week, Alstom Grid showcased its latest innovations for future power grids, with five product launches at the biennial forum of the global electrical power industry, CIGRE, in Paris.

Alstom is already producing high voltage direct current (HVDC) technologies through its  Line Commutated Converter (LCC) and Voltage Source Converter (VSC) to connect offshore wind farms to the mainstream grid and to build the super grids that will be necessary to support future long-distance transmission. Toshiba is expected to bring its strengths in power distribution equipment and a product line-up that includes smart meters and advanced storage batteries, into the equation.

In other news…

The UK government has announced plans for a new £13 million “energy storage R&D centre” at the University of Warwick, which aims to boost development of electric and hybrid vehicle batteries. BusinessGreen reports that the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) has provided £9 million for the new facility, which is designed to bolster the UK expertise in electrochemistry.

Israel-based electric car infrastructure company Better Place has revealed plans to use debt and equity to fund a €100 million expansion of its Dutch network of stations. Bloomberg Finance reports that the company’s founder and CEO, Shai Agassi, say Better Place will increasingly shift to debt financing after proving its business model with networks in Denmark and Israel. The company aims to raise 10-15 per cent of its required investments through equity and plans to install 40 stations in the Netherlands.

China-based Trina Solar, one of the world’s top three solar PV manufacturers, is opening a new sales and business development office in Santiago, Chile, through which the company plans to serve commercial, utility and off-grid customers in emerging market of Latin America.

India’s renewables development agency (IREDA) has revealed that its Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) initiative has so far commissioned 255MW of PV capacity and 2.5MW of CSP under batch 1 of the Phase 1 program. JNNSM plans to commission an additional 38MW of PV capacity and 497.5MW of CSP under batch 1, as well as 350MW of PV capacity under batch 2.

Meanwhile, PV Tech reports that Greece has installed 75MW of PV in July compared to 97MW in PV Capacity in June, taking mainland Greece installed PV capacity total to 801MW.

In Japan, a consortium of seven companies, including Toshiba and Hitachi-Zosen, has formed to build several hundred MW of offshore wind farms over the next decade. The companies will develop 7.5MW of pilot projects before starting work on commercial wind farms. REcharge News reports that Hitachi-Zosen – which will be responsible for floating the structures – aims to invest $1.5 billion in the projects, which could total 300MW.

And oil giant Shell is partnering with Chevron Corp. and Marathon Oil Corp to build a carbon capture and storage project for Canada’s oil sands. Bloomberg reports that Shell’s Quest venture in north Edmonton, slated for 2015, will be designed to store more than 1 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide a year from Shell’s Scotford upgrader, cutting emissions by 30 per cent from the plant processing oil mined from the area’s tar sands.