Power Network News

Moises DelToro at GE Vernova’s Power Conversion business, discusses how deploying a Ship’s Electric Grid is a flexible way to accommodate growing energy demands for naval and coast guard vessels.A new age of electrificationWe’re in a new naval era and it is reshaping views about fleet mixes and capabilities. Modern fleets need to be mission-configurable, highly capable for military advantage, adaptable for technology insertion, but still affordable. The growing demand for vessel power is increasingly an enabler for mission systems, not just for platform propulsion.

Port of Toulon, which handles over 1.6 million ferry and cruise passengers annually, has committed to ABB Shore Connection technology at a key stage in its sustainability drive.With around 1,300 yearly calls from ferries and cruise vessels right in the heart of the city, the port of Toulon plays an important role in developing the attractiveness of the region for business and tourists. The port is also central to the “Zero-smoke stopovers” plan by the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (Région Sud PACA)…

With the recovery in oil prices, deepwater and ultradeep water oil and gas (O&G) projects are the focus of renewed interest. Project viability will come down to a continued focus on cost, but also productivity through high-performing assets. And electrification is set to drive a dramatic impact of these high-tech production facilities for more efficient operations.Following a prolonged downturn in prices, a flicker of life has returned to offshore production projects with oil recovering to around $70/barrel.

A consortium of global and domestic funds, backed by investors including China Investment Corp, agreed to buy Australia's busiest port for a higher-than-expected A$9.7 billion ($7.3 billion), a sign that tough equity markets are helping fuel appetite for infrastructure. Australian leaders will also hope the deal shows they still welcome Chinese investment in infrastructure. The federal government last month blocked the sale of the country's biggest power network, Ausgrid, to state-owned State Grid Corp of China and Hong Kong-listed Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings on security concerns.

The U.S. Navy conducted a series of cooperative air defense test exercises with the Spanish navy that culminated in live missile firing events using the latest Aegis Weapon System baseline July 20-21. The event was not only the first interoperability test of the latest Aegis Baseline 9.C1 with a foreign ship, but also the first combined Combat Systems Ship Qualification Trial with that country's navy since 2007. Guided-missile destroyer USS Arleigh Burke (DDG 51) and Spanish frigate Cristobol Colon (F 105) participated in the testing. In addition to live missile firing events, Tactical Data Link interoperability exercises were held July 12-14. "While our combat systems suites are slightly different, the way we operate and execute missions are quite similar," said Cmdr.

ABB to deliver advanced integrated automation and electrical solution for largest Italian public work project of the last century. ABB will supply the complete integrated electrical and automation system for Mo.S.E. (the Italian acronym for experimental electro mechanic module), a flood barrier system designed to block the high tides and storm surges that enter the Venetian Lagoon year after year through three inlets and regularly flood the historic center of Venice. ABB received the automation order in 2015 and the electrical order in early 2016. Together the orders total more than $38 million. The innovative solution will utilize ABB’s Internet of Things…

Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co. Ltd (ZPMC) has commissioned Siemens to equip the latest diving support vessel being built for Toisa Ltd. with complete drive and power systems. According to Siemens, the solution is designed to improve the vessel’s reliability and maneuverability, as well as reduce fuel consumption, so lowering overall operating costs. The integrated drive system (IDS) used in the vessel, with a length of approximately 146 meters, conforms with the international certification standards of DNV GL.

MacArtney Underwater Technology supplied SubConn underwater connectivity solutions for the bow mounted sonar systems that are essential to the impressive undersea threat detection and response capability of the advanced FREMM frigates currently operated by the French, Italian and Moroccan navies. In close cooperation with naval defense technology contractors; Thales (France) and WASS (Italy), MacArtney has designed and delivered the outboard and inboard cable and connector solutions that interface all sonar elements and connect these to the on board communications and power network.

ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has won an order worth around $55 million from Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA), the leading power utility in United Arab Emirates (UAE), to build a substation that will integrate power from the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum solar park. The order was awarded in the third quarter of 2014. The gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) substation will enhance transmission capacity, boost power supplies and strengthen the reliability of the grid. The 100 megawatt (MW) Phase II of the solar power plant in Seih Al Dahal, about 50 kilometers (km) south of Dubai, is scheduled to commence generation in 2017. The solar park is one of the biggest renewable energy projects in the Middle East and North Africa.

Deep in a Swiss mountain, workers have blasted out a cathedral-sized hole for a power plant that will help keep Europe's lights on, but the profit outlook for the 1.9 billion Swiss franc ($2.1 billion) project has darkened since its construction began in 2008. The Nant de Drance plant, and others like it, is being undermined by cheap renewable solar and wind energy, which up-ends its business model of pumping water uphill at night when power prices are low and releasing it to make electricity when prices peak in the daytime - a process known as pumped storage. These pumped storage plants are designed to balance Europe's power supply grids as they can switch on and off at the flick of a switch, unlike nuclear or coal-fired power plants.

The Port of Los Angeles will begin generating one megawatt of electricity via 71,500 square feet of solar panels on its World Cruise Center rooftop by the end of 2009. A $9m construction contract was recently approved by the Board of Harbor Commissioners for this first phase of a multi-year solar power generation initiative. Three additional phases are expected to occur in within five years, ultimately generating 10 megawatts of power through 1.16 million square feet of solar panels. This initial project is expected to generate more than 100 jobs at the Port during construction, which is expected to be completed in late 2009. City officials estimate that the rapidly growing solar industry creates 200 to 400 jobs in research…

American Superconductor Corporation issued an update on recent advances in the utilization of high temperature superconductor (HTS) wires in electric power applications, including power generation, transmission and distribution, and ship propulsion electric motors. http://www.gepower.com/corporate/en_us/aboutgeps/releases/102802.pdf ). AMSC. which AMSC has been named the primary wire supplier. the transmission and distribution grid in the U.S. amounts of electricity at higher levels of reliability. highest levels within the electric industry and government. applied to upgrade power networks. reliability and power flows through existing grids. technology for relieving grid congestion and upgrading power networks. decline over the last 30 years. Huber and Mills comment that " ...