Author Archives: GEC

Smart Meters

Major smart meter manufacturers have a history in the traditional metering market and were earlier movers into the smart meter market. All either produce more than meter products and/or have formed collaborations with other smart grid companies to have connections at all parts of the smart grid chain. In addition the meters they offer are […]

Nuclear Power

Two of the mainstream generating technologies nuclear power and coal-fired generation are experiencing re-emergence after some years of stagnation or decline. Some countries that relied heavily on indigenous coal have phased it out, either because of declining reserves of economically recoverable coal or for environmental reasons. Coal has been stigmatised for environmental reasons, but it […]

Nuclear power in Poland

Poland has substantial energy reserves, mostly coal and in 2008 imported 27% of TPES. The government decided in 2005 to diversify energy resources and to reduce carbon and sulphur emissions by introducing nuclear power, with the first plant coming on-line soon after 2020. 11.5 GW of nuclear capacity was initially proposed but may be too […]

Oil Prices

Generally, oil prices have been rising since the turn of the 21st century, de making unconventional oil resources more economically viable. Wars, cuts in production, price controls and economic crises are a few examples of factors affecting oil prices, along with factors affecting demand such as uncharacteristically warm winters reducing demand for heating. Suez Crisis: […]

OPEC

OPEC is an intergovernmental Organization that was formed in 1960. It was set up as a reaction to an international oil market dominated by ‘Seven Sisters’ multinational companies. Based on the ‘inalienable right of all countries to exercise permanent sovereignty over their natural resources in the interest of their national development’ The four founding members […]

The Early Origins of Electricity Transmission and Distribution

Although primitive uses of electricity and magnetism had been known for centuries its real possibilities were discovered in the hundred years leading up to the last quarter of the 19th century. Names like Benjamin Franklin, Michael Faraday, James Watt, Luigi Galvani, Nicola Tesla, and Alessandro Volta resonate from the schoolroom, as the men who uncovered […]

McCloskey Coal Information Services (MCIS) NWE Steam Coal Marker Price

The MCIS NWE Steam Coal Marker is a long established price indicator, first quoted in January 1991, and produced on a monthly basis until earlier this year when the frequency was changed to weekly postings. For historical comparison and indexation purposes, the monthly price is taken from the first price quoted each month. The monitored […]

Future Coal Trading Patterns

Trading patterns are expected to change in the near-term with an increase in exports from Australia, Mongoliam Western Canada and Russia to China and from South Africa and Australia to India. Demand and thus exports to Europe from all regions is expected to decline, and the South American market is expected to rely more on […]