Canadian utilities are engaged in the North American transition towards competitive markets and are integrated with the American regional systems. The electricity supply industry in Canada is organised on a regional basis. The various utilities, responsible for electricity generation, transmission and distribution in each area, frequently trade power with each other via some of the […]
Author Archives: GEC
From the late 1970s to about 2002 the nuclear power industry did not grow but suffered some decline and stagnation and some orders from the 1970s were cancelled. New reactors were few and the number coming on line from mid 1980s little more than matched retirements, though output increased 60% due to improved load factors. […]
The cost of replacing the power delivery system in the US would be prohibitive. What can be done is to employ advanced technology to modernise and enhance the use of existing assets. The DOE has a vision of the grid in 2030 which builds on the existing electric infrastructure. The same types of equipment that […]
The development of cross-borders lines started earlier than many people think. In Europe it started by 1920, mainly to take advantage of Swiss hydropower. In most of continental Europe, cross-border interconnections took place before the creation national networks. The process of national interconnection slowed down and was restricted to the radial operation of power plants […]
Since 2006 nearly half of new discoveries have been in deep waters. For example, in 2010 oil discoveries were reported off the coast of Angola, Brazil, Ghana, Norway and in the US Gulf of Mexico, to name a few. Very few large reserves have been discovered in the past ten years. New discoveries of conventional […]
The reasons for the wide variations in penetration for electricity, water and gas meters are different, partly demographic and partly market based. 85% of households have an electricity supply and almost all of these end points are metered. Of the 15% of households which do not have electricity, two thirds or nearly a quarter of […]
The solar thermal industry has used low-tech technology until relatively recently and been largely concerned with small domestic and building applications for heating space or water, or cooking. However, the industry is now taking a more sophisticated direction and progressing to higher-tech applications involving relatively large electricity generation projects in a number of countries. Some […]
China is no doubt a major player in the transmission and distribution sectors, however, some have queried whether the Chinese level of investment will be sustainable and we have given this some thought. The elasticity of electricity demand in China with respect to GDP hovered around .8 up to 1999 when it jumped to 1.2 […]
Deregulation and privatisation in the power sector is now reaching a stage around the world when it is possible to discern some patterns and factors emerging, based on experience rather than hypothesis about what ought to happen. Some outcomes have been good but some have been bad, notably in North America, and market liberalisation has […]
Sub-Metering A largely untapped market, Sub-Metering is set to grow substantially in the coming years in various sectors. Though technology is already widespread in use in water and heat metering applications, electricity is becoming a growing market as well. The case for Sub-Metering is made in different types of markets with large urban built-up areas […]
