News - Energy and New technologies http://dupontconsulting.de Wed, 08 May 2013 09:00:00 GMT Thu, 01 Sep 2011 09:00:00 GMT ]]> For those who follow this website's news and my blog, you’ve certainly noticed that I didn’t publish anything over the last few months. And it will unfortunately continue like this. I made an important professional commitment that do not allow me, for practical reasons, to continue my professional activities with Dupont Energy Consulting. To my clients: thank you for your continued confidence over the last two years. It was an exciting and fruitful time. See you elsewhere soon. http://www.dupontconsulting.de 130915-DEC Sun, 15 September 2013 09:00:00 GMT ]]> First 2013 semester was very busy, with very interesting projects. It was also a fruitful period for developing our professional network and to meet other professionals in the energy sector. Thank you all for the good collaboration and interesting discussions. See you in September. http://www.dupontconsulting.de 130723-DEC Tue, 23 July 2013 15:00:00 GMT ]]> Younicos and lithium-ion battery storage provider Samsung SDI announced on April 24, 2013 a strategic partnership to build competitive Megawatt-scale grid-tied battery parks. One week later, they announced their first project for the renewable power utility company Wemag AG in Schwerin, West Mecklenburg, Germany. The 5 WM & 5 MWh system shall level short-term fluctuations and regulate transmission network frequency, in order to allow safe integration of wind and solar power into the existing network. http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/details/beitrag/commercial-5-mw-battery-park-to-be-developed-in-germany_100011100/ 130508-Younicos Wed, 08 May 2013 09:00:00 GMT ]]> FIAMM installed its first Sodium-Nickel battery system for grid application in US. It aims to smooth out minute-by-minute the power output of a 1.2 MW photovoltaic plant located 5 km away. Although relatively small, 402 kW and 42 min at full capacity, this project gives FIAMM and the utility Duke Energy, North Carolina, the opportunity to test the system under real operating conditions. http://www.duke-energy.com/news/releases/2013020701.asp 130421-FIAMM Fri, 19 Apr 2013 14:00:00 GMT ]]> In this new post on our blog, we propose a simple but troubling analyse of Energy Efficiency (EE) market. EE does not fit usual business development strategies. A paradigm shift is necessary to convince shareholders to invest in EE. Please, read this small thought and give us your opinion or share your experience. http://dupontconsulting.wordpress.com/2013/04/09/energy-efficiency-paradigm-shift/ 130409-DEC Tue, 09 Apr 2013 10:00:00 GMT ]]> NGK insulators presents its NAS battery system at the Group Exhibit Hydrogen + Fuel Cells, at the Hannover Messe 2013 (Hall 27, Booth E 71). This huge exhibition focuses on core technologies and services that enable industrial production, innovation and efficiency. In the energy sector, it documents the complete value-adding chain from generation, supply, transmission and distribution to the transformation and storage of electricity. http://www.h2fc-fair.com/hm13/exhibitors/ngk.html 130408-NGK Mon, 08 Apr 2013 08:00:00 GMT ]]> In this new post on our blog, we review commercial power system simulation software tools, along with a brief history. In conclusion, major improvements took place in the last decade, but there is still room for improvement; in particular by defining standard exchange format between tools of different suppliers and by developing more user-friendly interfaces. http://dupontconsulting.wordpress.com/2013/04/01/review-of-power-system-simulation-software/ 130401-DEC Mon, 01 Apr 2013 14:00:00 GMT ]]> In this new post on our blog, we question the future of Smart Grid. Smart Grid is not hype anymore. People lost interest in it. Nevertheless, we predict that Smart Grid market will continue to enjoy two digits growth. Analysts will continue to give completely different market estimations and forecasts, and nobody will seems to care about this incoherence. But only one thing is certain, electricity bills will continue to increase. http://dupontconsulting.wordpress.com/2013/03/17/already-tired-of-smart-grid/ 130318-DEC Mon, 18 Mar 2013 08:00:00 GMT ]]> The Maghreb Renewable Energy Congress will take place in Rabat, Morocco, on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 21 and 22, 2013. The Congress includes this year the 4th annual Solar Maghreb Congress and the 2nd Annual Wind Power Maghreb Congress. The Director of Dupont Energy Consulting GmbH will present on the first day in the panel "Integration, transmission and exporting Green Electricity". Examples of questions that will be addressed in the panel: What are the most significant challenges for exporting Green Electricity to Europe: logistics? Technology? Political? Financial? How will the political situation of each nation impact these intercontinental connections: from funding to construction and into the future? Do the considerations of tariffs and volume of demand need to be taken into account at this stage of development? http://alturl.com/kke6a 130314-CONF Thu, 14 Mar 2013 17:00:00 GMT ]]> We regularly keep you informed on NAS batteries. Here are the latest news on the two main key players: NGK Insulators and General Electric; as well as a reference to a new interesting article. http://wp.me/p20VZ3-cG 130221-NAS Thu, 21 Feb 2013 18:00:00 GMT ]]> IRENA, the International Renewable Energy Agency, publishes the Global Atlas, a comprehensive information platform on the potential of renewable energy in the world. It provides resource maps from leading technical institutes worldwide and tools for evaluating the technical potential of renewable energies. It can function as a catalyst for policy development and energy planning, and can support investors in entering renewable energy markets. http://www.irena.org/globalatlas/ 130208-IRENA Fri, 08 Feb 2013 17:30:00 GMT ]]> During the next decade, about half of power engineers in the United States are expected to retire. Several fund programs help educate the next generation of engineers. The multimillion-dollar IEEE Power & Energy Society’s Scholarship Plus Initiative encourages undergrads to pursue careers in power engineering by awarding them scholarships and providing career experiences as undergraduates. The U.S. Department of Energy used $100 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to retarget programs toward smart-grid education. The department granted 54 awards to rebuild various university power and energy programs and fund research projects. http://theinstitute.ieee.org/ieee-roundup/opinions/ieee-roundup/filling-the-power-engineering-skills-gap 130115-IEEE Thu, 15 Jan 2013 10:00:00 GMT ]]> In this new post on our blog, we continue our investigation into smart metering. Height months of measurements confirm our previous analysis: Mainova smart meter is not a smart investment. The tariff difference between off-peak and peak periods is too small to compensate for additional monthly charges for the use of the smart meter. We hope your utility offers better financial conditions. http://wp.me/p20VZ3-7B 130103-DEC Thu, 03 Jan 2013 16:00:00 GMT ]]> We wish you all the best for 2013! 121221-DEC Fri, 21 Dec 2012 12:00:00 GMT ]]> The 7th Africa Power Forum will take place in Marakkech, Morocco, on Thursday and Friday, September 26 and 27. Don't forget to book the dates in your calendar! http://www.i-conferences.org/apf/apf.htm 121221-APF Fri, 21 Dec 2012 09:00:00 GMT ]]> On November 11, 2012, the high voltage power systems of Mali and Ivory Coast were connected for the first time. The new 225 kV overhead lines, that costed EUR 125 mio, stretch over 520 km from Ferkéssédougou in the North of Ivory Coast to Ségou in Mali, via Sikasso and Koutiala. Not only the two countries are now interconnected in a single power system, but also Senegal, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria and Niger. http://dupontconsulting.wordpress.com/2012/12/14/interconnection-mali-ivory-coast/ 121217-APF Mon, 17 Dec 2012 08:30:00 GMT ]]> DesignLine, a US bus manufacturer, has sold seven newly-designed fully electric 9.28m 45 passengers midi-buses to the City of Montreal. They should be in service by the end of 2013. FIAMM Sonick, an Italian battery company, supplies the sodium-nickel batteries. Siemens supplies motors and inverters. Buses cost C$843k each, about 40% above the standard price. Reduced energy and maintenance costs worth the investment, in particular for high usage vehicles like buses. Designline's e-buses are already in operation in Adelaide, Australia, and Abu Dhabi (UAE). http://www.stm.info/English/info/comm-12/a-co120502.htm 121121-Fiamm Wed, 21 Nov 2012 11:00:00 GMT ]]> On one hand, The General Electric's Durathon battery factory officially opened on July 10, 2012, with a total $170m investment. On the other, NGK will resume NAS batteries production from November 2012. There are now two big players on the molten salt batteries market. In this new post on our blog, we share our analysis. http://wp.me/p20VZ3-9R 121105-GE_NGK Mon, 5 Nov 2012 15:00:00 GMT ]]> NEDO recently announced the launch of a Smart Grid demonstration project in Los Alamos, New Mexico. It includes a 1 MW NAS batteries system from NGK Insulators. http://wp.me/p20VZ3-9v 121002-NAS Tue, 2 Oct 2012 09:00:00 GMT ]]> In this new post on our blog, we would like to conclude the debate about what the Smart Grid is. As it is impossible to agree on a definition accepted by all stakeholders, we simply propose not to use the term anymore and to say instead Information, Communication & Electricity Technologies (ICET). http://wp.me/p20VZ3-9e 121001-DEC Mon, 01 Oct 2012 15:00:00 GMT ]]> The 6th Africa Power Forum will take place in Marakkech, Morocco, on Thursday and Friday, September 27 and 28. The Forum focuses this year on Renewable Energies in Africa. The Director of Dupont Energy Consulting GmbH will present in the 3rd panel "Financing renewable energies". http://www.i-conferences.org/apf/apf.htm 120917-APF Mon, 17 Sep 2012 09:00:00 GMT ]]> You will find on our blog a summary of the situation of NGK's NAS batteries after the fire incident that occurred on September 21, 2011 : causes are now identified, countermeasures defined and under implementation, existing facilities upgraded to comply with new safety measures, new batteries production planned to be resumed at the earliest in October 2012. http://wp.me/p20VZ3-8U 120823-NAS Thu, 23 Aug 2012 12:00:00 GMT ]]> In this new post on our blog, we continue our investigation into smart metering. Three months of measurements confirm our previous analysis: Mainova smart meter is not a smart investment. The tariff difference between off-peak and peak periods is too small to compensate for additional monthly charges for the use of the smart meter. We hope your utility offers better financial conditions. http://wp.me/p20VZ3-7k 120809-DEC Thu, 09 Aug 2012 12:00:00 GMT ]]> A technical paper written in 2002 By Mr. Jamoulle and our Director Mr. Dupont has been referenced in the original paper "Optimal power flow: a bibliographic survey I", by Stephen Frank, Ingrida Steponavice and Steffen Rebennack, 24 avril 2012, Springer. It is explained "More recently, Jamoulle and Dupont [74] provided an overview of the historic development of RG and GRG methods for OPF in a technical report. Furthermore, the authors applied an RG method using a two-level optimization procedure that guarantees feasibility, ensures a monotonically decreasing objective, and enables near- Newton type convergence. Their method is similar to the GRG methods in that they allow variable base." http://rd.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12667-012-0056-y?no-access=true 120808-OPF Wed, 08 Aug 2012 09:00:00 GMT ]]> In a previous post on our blog, we wrote that we doubted that smart meter is a good investment for a private consumer. Our manager recently installed one at home. Now we have the data to prove it. And we share our findings with you. http://wp.me/p20VZ3-6h 120720-DEC Fri, 20 Jul 2012 10:00:00 GMT ]]> GE is hiring sales managers and field engineers for its new Durathon battery. This is a sign that the product will be soon launched on the market. The technology is based on sodium metal halide chemistry, which is similar to but not exactly the same as NGK Insulators's NAS batteries. http://jobs.gecareers.com/search?q=energy+storage+durathon 120629-GE Fri, 29 Jun 2012 09:30:00 GMT ]]> About six months ago, A123 Inc. announced rising losses and lowered annual revenue forecast. Now the situation is still financially critical. But efforts in R&D brings some hope. The company has developed a new lithium ion battery breakthrough technology called Nanophosphate EXT. The new batteries are capable of operating at extreme temperatures without requiring thermal management. http://www.chargedevs.com/content/news-wire/post/a123-systems-returns-death 120629-Ener1 Thu, 28 Jun 2012 20:00:00 GMT ]]> After months of silence, NGK finally communicates about the NAS battery fire incident that occurred on September 21, 2011. The cause: a single faulty cell. One of 15,360 cells composing a 2 MW block. Small cause, big effects. The solution: safety enhancement . No need for design change. Big incident, easy solution. Now, it's time to forget this dark period. Let's go back to work and implement plenty of new batteries. http://www.ngk.co.jp/english/news/2012/0607.html 120613-NAS Wed, 13 Jun 2012 08:00:00 GMT ]]> NGK Insulators Ltd. is the only company which manufactures high-temperature molten salt batteries. But some others companies are massively investing to fill the gap. Their could be ready to compete with NGK within a few years. The article briefly introduces these companies and shares some links for further readings. http://wp.me/p20VZ3-5u 120521-NAS Mon, 21 May 2012 07:00:00 GMT ]]> i-conference and Dupont Energy Consulting GmbH are proud to announce the launch of the first discussion group on LinkedIn in French dedicated to the African power sector. It aims to promote the exchange of ideas, experience and information amongst french-speaking stakeholders of the energy sector in Africa and around the world. It also acts as a permanent exchange platform of the Africa Power Forum held annually in Africa. http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=4432918 120508-APF Tue, 08 May 2012 14:00:00 GMT ]]> The 6th Africa Power Forum will take place in Marakkech, Morocco, on Thursday and Friday, September 27 and 28. The Forum focuses this year on Renewable Energies in Africa. The Director of Dupont Energy Consulting GmbH will present in the 3rd panel "Financing renewable energies". http://www.i-conferences.org/apf/apf.htm 120424-DEC Tue, 24 Apr 2012 10:00:00 GMT ]]> The last update about the fire incident that occurred on September 21, 2011 is now more than 3 months old. It is too long. NGK Insulators Ltd. should now communicate investigation results, even partial, otherwise the storage community will not consider anymore NAS batteries as a realistic option. http://www.ngk.co.jp/english/announce/index.html 120403-NAS Tue, 3 Apr 2012 07:00:00 GMT ]]> We recommend you to take a look at Google books Ngram Viewer. Visit our blog for examples how it can help you to identify business trends. http://wp.me/p20VZ3-4g 120330-Ngram Mon, 2 Apr 2012 17:00:00 GMT ]]> The Belgian utilities Electrabel launches in collaboration with fifthplay a new kind of smart meters, enabling end consumers to individually monitor, visualize, analyze and remotely control the consumption of their electrical devices via the internet. http://wp.me/p20VZ3-2V 120320-SmartEnergyBox Tue, 20 Mar 2012 09:00:00 GMT ]]> While Germany plans to shut down all nuclear plants by 2022, $14 billion are invested to build new ones in the state of Georgia. Who's wrong? http://www.southerncompany.com/nuclearenergy/construction.aspx 120220-Nuclear Mon, 20 Feb 2012 08:00:00 GMT ]]> Last year, Germany decided to shut down all nuclear reactors by 2022. Now Germans are asked to dig into their pocket to finance this bold policy. 9% increase on electricity bill in Frankfurt am Main. Who can top that? http://wp.me/p20VZ3-2r 120206-Nuclear Mon, 6 Feb 2012 07:00:00 GMT ]]> Ener1, a US lithium-ion batteries manufacturer, enters bankruptcy. A typical example of the difficulty to emerge in an emerging market and to set the right investment, development and commercial pace. http://www.examiner.com/green-transportation-in-national/ener1-enters-bankruptcy-with-cooperation-of-stakeholders-plans-restructuring 120127-Ener1 Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:00:00 GMT ]]> Dupont Energy Consulting GmbH is happy to share with you the comprehensive list of facilities and projects of NAS battery storage systems in the world. http://wp.me/p20VZ3-1O 120117-NAS Tue, 17 Jan 2012 08:00:00 GMT ]]> The next biggest batteries storage system in the world is suspended, but would be commissioned in April. It seems then that NGK Insulators is close to solve the problems raised by the fire incident of September 21, 2011. http://wp.me/p20VZ3-1A 120116-NGK Mon, 16 Jan 2012 09:00:00 GMT ]]> An excellent article on the issue of cloud computing's security. In general, we recommend you to read IEEE articles. http://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/networks/a-cloud-you-can-trust 120103-Cloud Tue, 03 Jan 2012 13:00:00 GMT ]]> This is the second in a series of articles, which explain why it is so difficult to promote wind farm projects in Sub-Saharan Africa. Each article illustrates one obstacle one usually faces. Today: the lack of wind measurements and accurate wind maps. http://wp.me/p20VZ3-1o 120102-Wind Mon, 02 Jan 2012 15:00:00 GMT ]]> NGK aims to resume the production of NAS batteries in mid-2012. Total cost expected to arise from the fire incident is estimated at ¥60 billion! http://wp.me/p20VZ3-1e 111219-NGK Mon, 19 Dec 2011 11:00:00 GMT ]]> This is the first in a series of articles, which explain why it is so difficult to promote wind farm projects in Sub-Saharan Africa. Each article illustrates one obstacle one usually faces. Today: the difficulty to agree on the feed-in tariff. http://wp.me/p20VZ3-Y 111219-Wind Mon, 19 Dec 2011 10:00:00 GMT ]]> A123 Systems Inc. develops and manufactures advanced lithium-ion batteries and energy storage systems that deliver high power and energy density, long life, and excellent safety performance. But employees are laid off. Losses are rising. Annual revenue forecast are lowered. http://tinyurl.com/d58ph66 111129-A123 Tue, 29 Nov 2011 20:00:00 GMT ]]> Two projects compete to be the first wind farm in activity in Africa. The 10 MW Katsina project in Nigeria and the 4.4 MW SNIM project in Mauritania. And the winner is... http://dupontconsulting.wordpress.com/2011/11/28/first-wind-farm-west-africa/ 111128-Wind Mon, 28 Nov 2011 10:00:00 GMT ]]> NGK INSULATORS, LTD. published a Q&A on the NAS battery fire on September 21 this year. NGK is extremely cautious. It decided to suspend NAS batteries production and asked all customers to stop using already installed systems. http://www.ngk.co.jp/english/announce/111031_nas.html 111122-NAS Tue, 22 Nov 2011 18:00:00 GMT ]]> You want to automate simple tasks you manually perform regularly on Internet. Try ifttt (if this then that). It put Internet to work for you by creating tasks that fit this simple structure: when something happens (this) then do something else (that). http://www.ifttt.com 111109-ifttt Wed, 9 Nov 2011 10:00:00 GMT ]]> NGK INSULATORS, LTD. has announced that it decided today to revise its forecasts of full-year consolidated financial results due to the enactment of safety countermeasures and other responses to a fire incident on September 21 this year relating to NAS (sodium-sulfur) batteries manufactured and sold by NGK. http://www.ngk.co.jp/english/news/2011/1028_01.html 111104-NAS Fri, 4 Nov 2011 11:00:00 GMT ]]> Knowledge management is a key issue in the energy sector. Aging personnel and ever evolving new technologies challenge companies. The belgian start-up Whatever sa/nv proposes a powerful and user-friendly solution: Knowledge Plaza allows you to capture the information that's important to your business or projects. http://www.knowledgeplaza.net/ 111103-Knowledge Plaza Thu, 3 Nov 2011 14:30:00 GMT ]]> We are now proposing RSS feeds. Subscribe and get selected information on the use of new technologies in the energy sector. http://dupontconsulting.de/news.xml 111103-Blog opening Thu, 3 Nov 2011 14:00:00 GMT ]]> We are happy to announce that the company Dupont Energy Consulting GmbH is born today. http://www.dupontconsulting.de 110901-DEC Thu, 1 Sep 2011 10:00:00 GMT