In an opinion article published by the Financial Times this week, IEA Executive Editor - Fatih Birol rebuts three myths that are circulating about the current global energy crisis, stressing the importance of separating fact from fiction at this perilous time. first fallacy The first fallacy he addresses in the opinion article, which is also available to read in full on LinkedIn, is that Russia is winning the energy battle. Russia may have benefitted from spikes in oil and gas prices tri...

Two professors have called on businesses to invest in technological solutions to tackle their energy costs. ZPN Energy offers just those solutions. Energy optimization Prof David Bailey, of the Business Economics, University of Birmingham, and Prof Phil Tomlinson, Deputy Director of Centre for Governance, Regulation, and Industrial Strategy (CGR&IS), at the University of Bath, have said in an article that businesses need to look at technology as a means to tackl...

International Energy Agency’s (IEA) contributions to Indonesia’s G20 Presidency include Net Zero Roadmap for Indonesia and new report on Security of Clean Energy Transitions. IEA Executive Director - Fatih Birol addressed energy ministers from the world’s biggest economies at the G20 Energy Transitions Ministerial Meeting in Bali, Indonesia, where he urged them to prioritize actions to ensure secure, affordable and sustainable energy, in response to the crisis the world curren...

Indonesia has a viable path to reaching its target of net zero emissions by 2060, bringing major benefits to its citizens in the process such as more secure and affordable energy supplies, according to a new IEA report. But key policy reforms and international support will be crucial to the success of the clean energy transition in the world’s fourth most populous country as it enters a new phase of its economic development. IEA’s Energy Sector Roadmap The IEA’s Energy Secto...

Due to unprecedented increases in international energy market prices and their impact on wholesale gas prices, Electric Ireland on 1st September 2022 has announced plans to increase residential electricity bills by 26.7 percent and gas bills by 37.5 percent with effect from 1st October 2022. The increases equate to €37.20 per month on the average residential electricity bill and €42.99 per month on the average residential gas bill, based on the estimated annual bill as defined by the...

Volta Trucks, the pioneering and disruptive full-electric commercial vehicle manufacturer and services provider, has completed a rigorous program of hot weather testing of its full-electric 16-ton Volta Zero. Taking place over six weeks at the purpose-built Nardo Technical Center in Southern Italy, the hot weather testing program was designed to ensure that the Volta Zero will deliver outstanding levels of reliability and durability when series production of customer specification vehicles star...

Volta Trucks, the disruptive full-electric commercial vehicle manufacturer and services provider, and DB Schenker, one of the world’s major logistics service providers and the pioneer in European land transport, have together completed the first test phase of the full-electric Volta Zero in Europe. For the first time, a Design Verification prototype - Volta Zero operated on roads and in real distribution environments in Paris. Volta Zero In 2021, both companies confirmed an intense part...

Volta Trucks, the disruptive full-electric commercial vehicle manufacturer and services provider, has confirmed that the first Volta Zero vehicle has been completed at the company’s contract manufacturing facility in Steyr, Austria. Volta Zero vehicle The landmark vehicle, the first of a series of second-generation ‘Production Verification’ prototypes, will form part of a Pilot Fleet of trucks. These will be loaned to customers for extended periods in late 2022 and early 202...

Volta Trucks, the disruptive full-electric commercial vehicle manufacturer and services provider, has appointed Adam Chassin as its Chief Commercial Officer with immediate effect. Having received nearly €300 million of investment funding to date, and with the first prototype purpose-built full-electric medium-duty trucks for last-mile delivery now being tested by customers, Volta Trucks is poised to supercharge its commercial growth across Europe.  Extensive industry experience ...

Though it may go out the window with the next PM appointed, the current UK government is planning to reform the way energy is sold on the wholesale markets, so cheaper renewable energy prices get passed onto consumers. This could well bring about new usage patterns across the board that are similar to those used by people using micro-generation and storage at home. The government consultation announced last week is intended to help tackle the cost of living crisis by passing on the lower c...

RWE Offshore Wind Poland, a subsidiary of RWE Renewables, has chosen UL Solutions, an experienced certifier for its F.E.W. Baltic II offshore wind farm. UL Solutions will certify the design fundamentals of the 350 MW project, which will be built in the Polish Baltic Sea about 55 kilometers from the shore, covering an area of 41 square kilometers, at a water depth of 30–50 meters. Ongoing local content strategy Lukas Prietz, Project Director of the F.E.W. Baltic II Wind Farm Project at...

Major economies sharply increased support for the production and consumption of coal, oil and natural gas, with many countries struggling to balance longstanding pledges to phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies with efforts to protect households from surging energy prices, according to analysis released today by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the International Energy Agency. New OECD and IEA data show that overall government support for fossil fuels in 51 c...

Data is at the heart of modern railway infrastructure. Both freight and passenger trains require robust communications to transfer location data between rolling stock systems, between trains, and between trains and control centers. Furthermore, modern passenger trains are equipped with convenience and entertainment functions such as internet access, information display screens, charging sockets, and vending machines. Wireless standards Due to the variety of these use cases, railway networks u...

Two fast-growing companies are joining forces to accelerate the mobility transition: gridX, the smart grid company recently acquired by E.ON, announced a collaboration with Charge Construct, a holistic charging infrastructure provider based in Ingolstadt, Germany. With the dynamic load management (DLM) solution based on gridX technology, Charge Construct aims to become one of the leading full-service providers for charging infrastructure in Germany and the DACH region. gridX and Charge Constru...

“With the acquisition of Alpha Solar, we are expanding our presence in Poland, one of our focus markets, and are taking a leading market position in solar. The experienced development team joining RWE and the attractive project pipeline are a perfect match with our existing business. RWE is already one of the world's leading renewable energy companies and this transaction underlines our ambition to grow rapidly and sustainably,” said Markus Krebber, CEO of RWE AG. European renewable...

Panasonic Corporation of North America announced a new warranty for customers who purchase a complete solar system consisting of Panasonic solar panels and its EverVolt® 2.0 Energy Storage System (ESS), the newest innovation in its Total Home Energy Solutions portfolio. EverVolt AllGuard All System Warranty  The EverVolt AllGuard All System Warranty is the first warranty from Panasonic to bundle protection for the EverVolt 2.0 ESS with coverage of a solar panel system. It offers...

Even after a legacy of supporting technologies, energy harvesting (the ability to scavenge energy from any source that physics affords us) has only graduated from emerging to emerging. This can be attributed to the drastic reduction in system power budgets resulting from Moore’s law and MEMS.  Can users imagine an entire sensor network, processor, and wireless communication (including a display!) with a system power budget of only a few milliwatts? Users no longer have to. Waste vs....

Household electricity prices are rising ever higher, and more and more end customers are investing in PV systems for self-generation. This means that gigawatts of photovoltaic and battery capacity will be installed in the coming months and years. However, these assets will most likely never make a contribution to the German power system, as their participation in wholesale and system service markets is blocked by regulation. Increased generation and opportunity Costs for balancing power and r...

EU member states have agreed that from 2035 onward, only new cars and vans with zero CO2 emissions will be permitted. Even without this new goal, 65 million electric vehicles (EVs) were expected to be on European roads by 2030, a figure that will double by 2035. If they stick to the EU Commission’s recommendation of having one charging point for every 10 electric cars, a phenomenal ramp-up in EV charging stations is needed to be able to charge these vehicles. With exponentially more...

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a buzzword associated with everything nowadays, from condition-monitoring systems for preventive maintenance to smart, self-powered labels for tracking assets including all commercial and industrial widgets. This piece of content is a concerted effort to separate the wheat from the chaff by identifying terminology and application opportunities to focus on the power perspective of IoT and help understand how a power-centric mindset can be applied at various levels...

If users invested in infrastructure to make the home fully electric, well done! They have taken a major step in reducing carbon emissions which means a greener planet for us all.   Making the switch to an all-electric home means users may have noticed an increase in the electricity bill. This is completely normal. Having electricity as the sole energy source will naturally increase the bill. But Electric Ireland is here to help customers take control of their energy usage b...

The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) has just released estimates that a household that moves over to an electric car and uses energy savings equipment could save more than £1,600 a year over another that uses gas and a fossil-fuelled car. This goes to prove that systems to improve your energy efficiency can start paying for themselves in very short order. ECIU Estimates With inflation and energy price hikes, a household using an electric car and with better insulation saved a...

Despite a slowing global economy and lockdowns in China, soaring natural gas prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are propping up the world’s use of coal this year. The world’s consumption of coal is set to rise slightly in 2022, taking it back to the record level it reached nearly a decade ago, according to an IEA report, which notes that significant uncertainty hangs over the outlook for coal as a result of slowing economic growth and energy market turbulence. Ener...

The International Energy Agency has been warning for many months that the world is experiencing the first truly global energy crisis in history and the coming months will be particularly challenging. natural gas crisis The natural gas crisis in Europe has been building for a while, and Russia’s role in it has been clear from the beginning. In September 2021, five months before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the IEA pointed out that Russia was preventing a significant amount of gas f...

Decarbonization goals in the energy sector are causing a rapid surge in electricity demand. In the EU, demand will increase, on average, by 1.8% each year over the next decade. electric cars A whopping 40-50 million heat pumps and 50-70 million electric cars are expected to be added to the grid within that time frame. This makes the modernization and expansion of the electricity distribution grid one of the biggest challenges the EU faces. According to Eurelectric, it’s...

The world’s electricity demand growth is slowing sharply in 2022 from its strong recovery the previous year as economic growth weakens and energy prices soar following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the IEA’s latest Electricity Market Report. Global electricity demand Global electricity demand is expected to grow by 2.4% in 2022 after last year’s 6% increase, bringing it in line with its average growth rate over the five years before the COVID-19 pandem...

RWE and the Dutch-Norwegian company - SolarDuck signed a collaboration agreement to develop the use of floating solar parks at sea. To accelerate the learnings on SolarDuck’s floating solar technology, RWE will invest in a first offshore pilot in the North Sea.  The project is a first step in the collaboration and lays the foundation for a larger demonstration project at the Dutch offshore wind farm - Hollandse Kust West (HKW). RWE is tendering for this project, and has included Sola...

The mobile modular energy provider - Aggreko is pleased to announce the renewal of its long-standing partnership with entertainment company Cirque du Soleil. Aggreko will support the world’s largest contemporary circus producer on a global scale at their Big Top shows, using their world-renowned mobile, temporary power supplies. mobile modular energy supplier The contract renewal sees Aggreko continue to be a key supplier for major Québec based organizations until 2024. Aggreko w...

A Police and Crime Commissioner, Chris Nelson of Gloucestershire Constabulary came out to the world as an EV sceptic this week. This article will take his comments made to the Local Democracy Service and show how wrong he is. PCC Chris Nelson’s Comments The BBC reported Nelson’s EV skeptical views that can be summed up in one comment by him: "I wouldn't want them to run out of power, simply because he or she is in an electric car”. In a little more detail, Nelson added, "The...

Panasonic Energy Co., Ltd., a Panasonic Group company, and Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly jointly announced that the state of Kansas has approved an Attracting Powerful Economic Expansion (APEX) state incentive application submitted by Panasonic Energy Co., Ltd. The agreement would make the state the location for a proposed US-based lithium-ion battery manufacturing facility, pending approval by Panasonic Holdings Corporation Board of Directors. Significant economic activity Panasonic Energy plans t...