VOLUME 20 ISSUE 2 MARCH/APRIL 2017

Big Data
and
Renewables Tech transfer from oil
and gas to wind

Storage Solar Baseloads Data Points

Comparing long- Pursuing Updates from Utilities conducting
duration storage 100 percent the geothermal, blockchain pilots
technologies. renewables in the hydro and biomass across the globe.
South Pacific. industries.

p. 11 p. 19 p. 23 p. 16

1703REW_C1 1 3/1/17 9:54 AM

 For more information, enter 1 at REW.hotims.com

Spice Solar® and Built-in-Racking® are registered trademarks of Spice Solar, Inc. U.S. Patent # 9,231,518, other U.S. and foreign patents pending.

1703REW_C2 2 3/1/17 9:54 AM

 contents

Credit: Eraxion/Bigstock.com
features 4
COVER STORY
19
SOLAR
23GEOTHERMAL,
HYDRO, BIOMASS
Data Technology A Renewable Energy
Transfer from O&G Journey in the Pacific Around the Baseloads:
to Wind Power Data The pursuit of 100 percent What’s New in the
analytics service providers renewable energy in the Geothermal, Biomass
that work with offshore oil Pacific involves good and Hydropower
and gas companies are now planning and skilled Industries A quick
looking to translate their navigation and holds the check-in on the renewable
experience to offshore wind. promise of rich rewards. technologies that will keep
Jennifer Delony Dusan Nikolic the lights on when the
world runs on 100 percent
renewables. Jennifer Runyon

11
STORAGE
A Longer Look at
Long-duration Energy
Storage Trying to compare
different types of energy On RenewableEnergyWorld.com
storage is a bit like trying RenewableEnergyWorld.com and our social media communities
to compare the color green help you stay connected to news, opinion and technology
to the color blue. Here we updates from the renewable energy industry. Visit us online to:
take a stab at defining the
market potential for long- • Like our Facebook page • Subscribe to our
duration energy storage and maybe even catch e-Newsletters
and offer considerations for us live at an event • Purchase a market
potential buyers of this new • Read today’s featured article research report
technology. Jennifer Runyon
• Join our LinkedIn group

departments & columns

3 Editor’s Letter 27 Last Word
The Only Thing Constant Is Change The Myth of the Utility Death Spiral:
Five Ways Big Data Will Change the
16 Data Points Power Industry for the Better
Utilities and Blockchain Pilots
– A Global Snapshot 28 Advertisers index

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 From t he Editor

PUBLISHER Stephanie Kolodziej

CHIEF EDITOR Jennifer Runyon
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Jennifer Delony
PRODUCTION

P
ART DIRECTOR Kelli Mylchreest
PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Mari Rodriguez
SENIOR ILLUSTRATOR Chris Hipp
AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT
MANAGER Emily Martin
AD SERVICES MANAGER Toni Pendergrass

www.pennwell.com
EDITORIAL OFFICES Predicting change is nearly impossible. I noticed when I was research-
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1703REW_3 3 3/1/17 9:57 AM

 COV E R S TO RY

Offshore Energies:

Data Technolog
Transfer from O
to Wind Power
JENNIFER DELONY, Associate Editor

Organizations are collecting more information than

they ever have in the past, and energy companies are
no exception. One estimate puts the amount of data
collected on an offshore oil rig at 2 terabytes per day.

As data analytics service providers

work more and more with offshore oil
and gas companies, they are now looking to
translate their experience to offshore wind.

More and more, these companies are turning to analyt-

ics service providers to make sense of their data within
their business processes. Now, those analytics provid-
ers are looking at ways to translate their experience in
oil and gas to the growing wind energy market.
ABS Group works with offshore oil and gas com-
panies to deliver analytics services that help answer
operational questions with the data those compa-
nies collect. The Houston-based solutions provid-
er also works in the project certification phase

4 MARCH/APRIL 2017 RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD

1703REW_4 4 3/1/17 9:57 AM

 Credit: Eraxion/Bigstock.com.

ogy
O&G
er

RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MARCH/APRIL 2017 5

1703REW_5 5 3/1/17 9:57 AM

 Platforms Ellen and Elly offshore near Long
Beach, Calif. Credit: US Bureau of Safety and
Environmental Enforcement | Flickr.

for offshore wind to help developers identify and mitigate risk. aggressive targets translating
ABS Group Vice President of Power Business Development Tom to the O&M phase of projects
Adams believes that the company can leverage its experience in as well.
risk mitigation for offshore wind and its work with offshore oil “Anything that can help
and gas analytics to bring big data analytics to the operational achieve those targets or
phase of offshore wind projects. make them more certain to
“Our involvement in offshore wind in this particular area is be achieved is going to be in
early days — it’s something of great interest to us and we think a demand,” Adams said.
growing focus and priority for the offshore wind industry global- Srikanta Mishra, Ph.D.,
ly,” Adams said. “There are several drivers that lead us to believe Institute Fellow and chief sci-
that a high level of sophistication and analytical ‘horse power’ entist for energy at Battel-
will be needed.” le, believes the application of
One of the main drivers he sees in the latest large-scale off- data analytics in three spe-
shore wind projects is the very aggressive cost that the develop- cific areas of offshore oil and
ers are bidding for their power. gas environments — forecast-
“We see that on the front end on the capital investments side ing, equipment performance
and the EPC phase, which we’re more heavily involved in these and predictive maintenance
days as a project certification service provider,” he said. — is “readily translated” to
The cost of building offshore wind farms is coming down tre- offshore wind energy.
mendously as the scale of new projects has grown. Those costs In terms of forecasting,
are moving very aggressively through all parts of the sup- Mishra said, offshore wind
ply chain, and ABS Group sees the same cost pressures and farm operators would be

6 MARCH/APRIL 2017 RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD

1703REW_6 6 3/1/17 9:57 AM

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 Cov e r s to ry

interested in making predictions of weather, temperature or pre- was available on its wind tur-
cipitation, for example, together with inputs such as wind speed bine generators and moved it
and wind direction. into OSIsoft’s scalable, open
“You can learn from the past and build models that can say data infrastructure, called
with some degree of accuracy what is going to be the wind speed PI, to do condition-based
and direction in the next hour and the next 24 hours,” he said. maintenance. Dong Energy
“Those can be important inputs with respect to how the grid also moved that data into its
accepts what is coming from the wind energy generator.” asset management system so
With respect to performance, having sensors that monitor that its managers could cre-
ate work orders. In addition,
the company used its data to
“Anything that can help achieve established a map that pro-
those [cost] targets or make them vided a visual status of the
wind turbines.
more certain to be achieved Integrating its data into the
three technologies allowed
is going to be in demand.” the wind farm managers to
have a visual of what was
—Tom Adams, ABS Group happening in a particular
wind farm, and drill down
the behavior of turbines on an individual basis, and the wind into a specific wind turbine
farm collectively, can be a valuable process, he said. Analysis to see the work flow status on
of that data can determine the conditions in which the turbines that machine, Crosby said.
have under-performed in the past and be applied to operations Dong Energy saved 20 million
in the future. euro per year as a result of
He said that the same type of analyses can be applied for pre- that integration initiative.
dictive maintenance of individual turbine components to identify According to Crosby, moni-
conditions, such as pressure, temperature, wind speed, and pre- toring and understanding the
cipitation, when equipment has failed. health of an asset, and bring-
Battelle works with companies to bring multiple sources of ing that visually to managers
data into one easy-to-use platform that allows operators to learn within an organization, sup-
from their data and then use that knowledge to make decisions. ports similar business prob-
Through its Elucidata service, Battelle gives energy companies lems, no matter the business.
access to a large group of subject matter experts across a variety “One is oil rigs and one is
of domains. wind turbines,” he said.
Data management provider OSIsoft’s experience working with One of the real strengths of
offshore oil rigs on condition-based maintenance helped the com- PI is that it allows managers
pany support Dong Energy in using data and analytics to under- to perform predictive analyt-
stand how to do the maintenance that was needed on its offshore ics — projecting and forecast-
wind turbines at the right time and the lowest cost. ing before an event, accord-
According to Chris Crosby, principal – global nuclear and ing to Kevin Walsh, industry
renewable energy for OSIsoft, Dong Energy took the data that principal – T&D, for OSIsoft.

8 MARCH/APRIL 2017 RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD

1703REW_8 8 3/1/17 9:57 AM


PI has different mod-
ules that allow for the input
of mini-analytic calcula-
tions based on certain attri-
butes or time frames to cre-
ate an operational “band,” he
said. If operations go outside
of that band — for example,
plus or minus 1 percent — for
more than three minutes in
a row, PI notifies managers
that an alarm-level event is
imminent. This feature gives
managers a visual on possi-
ble problems before they hap-
pen — a huge advancement in
data functionality.
What’s Next for Big Data?
Down the road, there are
all sorts of applications for
1703REW_9 9
Dong Energy’s Gunfleet Sands offshore
wind farm, south-east of Clacton-on-Sea,
Essex, England. Credit: Steve Graby | Flickr.
business analytics, according to ABS Group’s Matt Mowrer,
director of applied technology and data analytics.
“I think we’ll move beyond just looking at historical data to
predictive analytics and then on to prescriptive analytics,” he
said. “I really see that on the risk side, where I’m not just provid-
ing alarms to operators about anomalous conditions based on
multiple data feeds, but actually giving them the recommended
action to minimize the time it takes them to make the decision
and also hopefully eliminate bad decisions.”
Also down the road, he added, could be the development of
augmented reality for operations and maintenance workers,
where they are in the physical environment and they have access
to a virtual environment.
He said that, from a wearable technology perspective, such as
Google glass, operations and maintenance workers can access
maintenance procedures, and have an interface where they
interact with equipment to minimize time spent troubleshooting
or identifying tools and procedures.
“You’re seeing these things on the consumer side, and I
think there’s some natural industrial applications for them,”
said Mowrer. ◑
RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MARCH/APRIL 2017 9
3/1/17 9:57 AM
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 S TO R AG E
A Longer Look at
Long-duration Energy Storage
Trying to compare
different types of
energy storage is a bit like
trying to compare the
color green to the color
blue. Here we take a stab
at defining the market
potential for long-
duration energy storage
and offer considerations
for potential buyers of
this new technology.
JENNIFER RUNYON, Chief Editor
Flow battery at Stone Edge Farm in Calif. Credit: ESS.
1703REW_11 11
According to a recent report “Beyond Four Hours: The Tran-
sition to a More Flexible, and Valuable, Long-duration Ener-
gy Storage Asset,” 80 percent of market participants define
long-duration energy storage (LDS) as an asset than can pro-
vide at least 3 hours of energy storage. But even that defi-
nition of LDS was not the same for everyone, according to
Jason Deign, author of the report.
“There really is a fair degree of uncertainty right now,” he
said, adding, “when you say long-duration storage the field is
wide open.”
Deign interviewed energy project developers and key play-
ers at utilities to get a sense of what potential buyers of this
type of asset were thinking. He wanted to understand if and
how soon they would consider purchasing an LDS asset;
where they believed LDS already makes sense and where
it might make sense in the future; and what their concerns
might be about implementing the technology.
Deign began his survey by asking partic-
ipants about what energy technology they
would consider for long-duration storage and
found the answers were also unclear.
“You have a lot of people saying they like
flow batteries” he said but added “we had
one guy say, ‘I hate flow batteries; I wouldn’t
touch them.’
“We had people saying thermal, cryo-
genic, and these are all really viable,” he
said. Deign said there is almost too much
choice out in the field and not enough oper-
ating data to understand what works, how it
works and where.
“If you are looking to pick winners, it’s
really difficult because you’re not just talk-
ing about different options within a given
technology group, there are actually differ-
ent technology groups. It’s not like saying
RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MARCH/APRIL 2017 11
3/1/17 9:57 AM
 S to r ag e

which kind of PV is best, • For grid constraint management, especially demand and
it’s like saying which kind supply shifting to avoid having to pay for new transmission
of renewable energy is infrastructure
best because the difference • For islands or remote microgrids.
between say thermal [stor- For example, Hawaii with its 40 percent solar penetration and
age] and batteries is [like the lack of net-metering is an excellent test bed for energy storage.
difference] between solar AES is currently building a 28-MW solar PV power plant that
and wind or small hydro.” will include a 20 MW five-hour duration energy storage system
on former sugar cane land. The system will be the largest solar-
Current Markets for LDS plus-utility-scale-battery system in the state of Hawaii.
There are four use case iden- In addition, respondents said there could be a use for LDS in
tified in the report in which the commercial and industrial market for rate-based arbitrage,
respondents said LDS might peak tariff avoidance and reducing demand charges and to coun-
be used: teract net-metering limitations.
• To avoid duck curves in Deign found it most surprising that respondents said that
areas with a high penetra- already needed LDS or anticipated needing it in the near future.
tion of wind and solar “I thought people would say there were thinking of needing it
• For grid-tied community or in 3-4 years’ time and I had some people saying ‘look I need this
commercial and industrial stuff now.’”
microgrids, where storage
can be attached to renew- Biggest Concerns? Usage Data, Business Models and Cost
able generation for grid The biggest obstacle for energy storage providers and poten-
resiliency tial buyers is determining the business model. Today more
questions about LDS exist
Comparison of Pumped Storage Power Plant and Li-Ion Battery Storage Plant
than answers. What will
Pumped Storage Plant Li-Ion Battery Storage Plant
help answer those questions?
Deployment. New entrants into
the field are going to have to
form partnerships with utili-
>50,000 Number of load cycles 3,000–5,000 ties in order to find test beds
60–80 years Life time 15 years where they can deploy technol-
0 Project duration & permits +
ogy and understands its bene-
++ Total raw material costs 0
++ Annual operating costs 0
fits, said Deign.
++ Added value to the nation 0 Portland, Oregon based ESS
0 Land surface consumption 0 is doing just that. The company
+ Total carbon footprint 0
announced in late 2016 that it is
0–30 € Total cost per kWh 200–400 €
building a 400-kWh IFB system
Basis for comparison More Significantly
0
with the other technology
+ advantageous
++ better solution for UC San Diego where it will
be installed in a microgrid test
Assuming a li-Ion battery storage power plant with the same maximum facility. Sempra will be monitor-
power and the same storage capacity as a pumped storage power plant ing the performance of the IFB
(e.g. minimum 8 full load hours in turbine mode). Credit: Voith. at this site. A second ESS system

12 MARCH/APRIL 2017 RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD

1703REW_12 12 3/1/17 9:57 AM

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CONFERENCE REGISTRATION
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 S to r ag e
is destined for a renewable
energy test facility in Lub-
bock, Texas where DNV-GL
will perform third party test-
ing on the IFB as it shifts
wind power daily.
On the cost side, Dr. Klaus
Krueger, Head of Plant &
Product Safety and Innova-
tion Management at Voith
said no one is comparing the
raw material costs of chem-
ical batteries to pumped
hydro energy storage but
they should be. Krueger has
been traveling all over the
world giving seminars about
pumped storage to those
interested in learning about
it. When he shows them the
the life cycle cost compari-
sons including CO2 footprints
their eyes light up.
14 MARCH/APRIL 2017 RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD
1703REW_14 14
Wind/pumped storage hybrid
power plant in Gaildorf,
Germany. Credit: Voith.
“They have a lot of a-ha moments,” he said.
Krueger said that the cost of utilitizing hydro storage capacity
can be almost as low as zero dollars per kWh whereas “the rock
bottom cost of Li-Ion battery storage power plants is about $70 to
$80 per kWh just because of raw materials.”
He added: “For instance Canada has opportunities for stor-
age capacity at almost zero cost. Why? They can connect exist-
ing lakes with different elevations and do pumped storage, so the
storage is already there in the reservoirs with natural inflows”
Krueger recommends that once a utility decides it needs LDS it
should first look to its neighbors to determine if any hydro storage
exists or could exist at minimal cost. If neighboring states or coun-
tries have significant storage capacity, then building interconnec-
tors is the best course of action in terms of costs and revenues.
“Germany is investing in transmission lines,” he said. Add-
ing that the country is building interconnectors between itself
and Norway and Sweden because those regions have massive
amounts of hydro storage that can benefit the German grid.
Krueger acknowledged that pumped hydro cannot solve all
energy storage issues but does believe it can be used in more plac-
es than utilities are currently aware. He said that in the U.S. there
is “Tesla hype,” which hinders discussions on pumped hydro as an
option for energy storage.
3/1/17 9:57 AM
 S to r ag e

“This is why I give cours-
es,” he said.
According to Krueger
medium-sized battery banks
will play an important role
in megacities; e.g. for emer-
gency cases as backup power
for large hospitals or airports
or for load leveling and peak
shaving.
“You can install them
near large consumers or
critical infrastructures,” he
said, explaining that suit-
able topology and height
variation are necessary for
pumped storage, which can
complicate permitting. That
said, there are other innovative cases where smaller forms of
pumped hydro and other renewable energy sources can pair
together nicely. He pointed to Gaildorf, Germany where the first
wind/pumped storage hybrid power plant in the world is under
construction. The project uses the wind farms’ four towers and
bases as water reservoirs and three reversible Francis machines
with a total capacity of 16 MW for generation.
If there is a surplus of power, the pumped storage power sta-
tion switches to pumping mode moving water from a lower res-
ervoir to the higher storage basin in the wind towers. If the
demand for electricity in the grid rises, water is released from
the upper basin to the bottom via a penstock and causes the
pump turbines to generate. Within seconds, electricity is fed
back into the grid.
Today there is no “one-size-fits-all” long-duration energy stor-
age solution and Krueger believes there probably never will be.
“You will find everything coexisting,” he said. “Utilities will
need to consider each project and evaluate the correct solution.” ◑

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 UTILITIES AND

nt s
a BLOCKCHAIN PILOTS
dat
poi A GLOBAL SNAPSHOT

Power company:
Vector
Pilot location:
New Zealand
Working with Perth startup, Power Ledger, Vector aims to
sign up 500 solar households, schools and community
groups in Auckland to a blockchain energy trading
platform. The trial aims to start Q4.

Power company:
Alliander
Pilot location:
Holland
On the Island of Texel, they are aiming for an off-grid
solution with backup extended to the wholesale market.
In this pilot, smart meters are linked to blockchain
technology for “real-time” settlement.

Power company:
Marubeni
Pilot location:
Japan
Marubeni is rolling out bitcoin payments for customers
in Chubu, Kanto and Kansai regions, ultimately the
company aims to offer bitcoin payment options to one
million electric customers within the first year.

16 MARCH/APRIL 2017 RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD

1703REW_16 16 3/1/17 9:57 AM

 AS WE ENTER 2017, WE ARE SEEING
PROGRESSIVE UTILITY PILOTS IN
EUROPE, ASIA, AND NEW ZEALAND

Power company:
RWE/innogy
Pilot location:
Germany
Slock.it’s blockchain Energy P2P sharing project
Share&Charge went into live Beta in September.
The pilot targets EV charging with smart contracts that
authenticate and manage the billing process.

Power company:
Fortum
Pilot location:
Finland
Fortum aims to enable consumers to control appliances
over the Internet in connected homes and view
blockchain as a micro demand response enabler at the
device level.

Power company:
Wien Energie
Pilot location:
Austria
Wien Energie, Austria’s largest utility conglomerate, is
taking part in a new blockchain trial focused on energy
trading alongside two other utilities.

CREDIT: Indigo Advisory Group 2017

RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MARCH/APRIL 2017 17

1703REW_17 17 3/1/17 9:57 AM

 January 23-25, 2018
Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center | San Antonio, TX
DISTRIBUTECH.COM
#DTECH2018

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 SOLAR

A Renewable Energy
Journey in the Pacific
The pursuit of high penetration of renewable
energy in the Pacific involves good planning
and skilled navigation to stay safe and on course,
and holds the promise of rich rewards.

DUSAN NIKOLIC, Contributor renewable energy. However,

transitioning to higher levels
Throughout the Pacific, island communities are embracing of renewable energy in power
ambitious renewable energy targets, many as high as 100 per- systems requires confidence
cent over the next decade or two. This isn’t surprising, given that the renewables can pro-
that these islands are already experiencing significant climate vide the energy security, self-
change impacts, and recognize the environmental benefits of sufficiency and system stabil-
reducing or replacing carbon-intensive diesel power generation. ity required by these remote
There are also sound economic benefits to reducing reli- communities.
ance on expensive diesel fuel, which remains the single largest Renewable energy technol-
expense for power generation in these remote locations. ogies may pose some challeng-
The answer to meeting targets, while also reducing car- es for reliability and quality
bon emissions and costs, lies in power systems that use only of power supply, but reme-
dies can be found in enabling
technologies. In an isolated
The island of Yap. power system, matching the
Credit: Entura. renewable technologies with
the right enabling technolo-
gies at the right moment needs
detailed planning.

Every Journey Needs a Map

Entura has been helping a
number of Pacific island com-
munities embark on their
renewable energy journeys.
Through this experience,
we’ve developed a map of the
key stages of the journey:
Stage 1: Planning —
Explore the status of current

RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MARCH/APRIL 2017 19

1703REW_19 19 3/1/17 9:57 AM

 Solar
power generation assets,
determine what needs to
be improved, understand
the renewable resource,
and investigate the cost and
options for funding it.
Stage 2: Begin harvest-
ing the ‘low-hanging fruit’
— introduce renewables that
will work without enablers or
network upgrades, and with-
out changing the control phi-
losophy. At this stage, renew-
ables are used to mostly load
offset, and could reach up to
20 percent of the island’s total
energy demand.
Stage 3: Expand — To
progress toward 35 percent,
we need to adjust the system’s
operating philosophy to inte-
grate large-scale renewables,
and introduce the appropriate
enabling technologies.
Stage 4: Enable — This
stage marks the largest
change in how the island
20 MARCH/APRIL 2017 RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD
1703REW_20 20
power system is operated. To move beyond 50 percent renew-
ables, we stop, review, and adjust course where needed. At this
stage, power systems become very complex to operate and main-
tain because high renewable penetration can only be achieved
through a delicate balance of multiple new enabling technolo-
gies working in sync. The island community could find itself
investing more in enabling technologies than in renewable ener-
gy at this stage, but this could result in a higher renewable ener-
gy contribution. It is also crucial to consider changes to energy
delivery, the utility’s relationships with customers and its proce-
dures, and to building its personnel capabilities.
Stage 5: Finishing the journey — The ‘last renewable mile’ is
usually the most expensive one, so this last stage means identify-
ing enabling technologies and techniques that can bridge the gap
between 70-80 percent and 100 percent renewable contribution,
without significant increases in the cost of electricity.
Yap’s Journey to 25 Percent Renewables
Yap State Public Service Corporation wanted to reduce Yap’s
heavy reliance on imported diesel for power generation and
enable the island to rely as much as possible on indigenous,
renewable resources through an integrated high-penetration
renewable energy remote area power system (RAPS).
After decades of operating on diesel only, the system will soon
reach 25 percent renewable energy contribution. Once com-
pleted, the goal is to enable Yap to experience up to 70 percent
instantaneous renewable penetration when conditions allow, and
to deliver an annual fuel saving
of up to US $500,000.
Entura began working Yap in
2014 to help plan its renewable
journey by embarking on Stage
1. Since then, the company has
helped the Yap utility to reach
Stage 2 by integrating small
amounts of solar and by building
its capability to install and main-
tain solar arrays.
The author in a solar The Yap renewable ener-
field on one of the Cook gy development project is now
Islands. Credit: Entura. entering Stage 3. Major under-
takings at this stage include
3/1/17 9:57 AM

Stage 1 Planning
• Power system and renewable
resource investigation
• Define power system goals
and strategy for the journey
Stage 4 Expansion of renewables and enablers
• Up to 70% renewables
• Integrate large-scale enablers and complex control systems
• Major changes to utility operation and maintenance procedures
The stages toward 100 percent renewable energy integration. Credit: Entura.
installing a new breed of
high-renewable-supporting
diesel generators; three 275-
kW cyclone-proof wind tur-
bines; an island-wide solar-
controlling communications
network for 500-kW distrib-
uted solar PV; and a central-
ized control system.
On Course for 100% Renew-
ables In The Cook Islands
The Cook Islands is a group
of 15 small islands in the
South Pacific, northeast of
New Zealand. Entura is help-
ing the Cook Islands to reduce
reliance on diesel fuel and
achieve greater energy secu-
rity, self-sufficiency and sus-
tainability through develop-
ing renewable power systems
on six islands. The country’s
1703REW_21 21
Solar
Stage 2 Introduction Stage 3 Expansion of renewables
of renewables and introduction of enablers
• Up to 15% renewables • Up to 35% renewables
• Small-scale renewables • Integrate large-scale renewables
• Minor changes to system • Introduce enabling technologies
operation
• Changes to operational philosophy to
prioritize renewables
Stage 5 Approaching
100% renewables
• Add “Last mile” enablers
• Asset management
journey begins
goal is 100 percent renewable energy by 2020.
The islands of Mauke, Mitiaro, Mangaia and Atiu have small
average loads of around 100 kW each. After careful planning,
upgrades to the distribution grid and programs to train and
build local capacity, these islands will quickly reach Stage 5 of
their journeys, operating at almost 100 percent renewable energy
using solar PV and batteries, with diesel providing backup dur-
ing longer periods of renewable energy resource deficiency.
A fifth island, Aitutaki, is currently at Stage 1, finalizing the
planning of its renewable journey. It will rapidly jump to Stage 3 as
1 MW of solar PV, a 0.5 MW power battery, new diesel generator
and centralized control system start working together to deliver a
power system with a renewable contribution of up to 25 percent.
Rarotonga is the largest, main island in the Cook Islands and
operates a complex power system requiring meticulous strate-
gic planning. This power system is already at Stage 2, with a
renewable contribution surpassing 10 percent due to the con-
tribution of residential and commercial solar. Entura is help-
ing the Rarotongan utility move toward Stage 3 by introducing
an additional 1 MW of solar PV and enabling technologies such
as energy storage, which will help the system absorb even more
renewable energy. ◑
Dusan Nikolic is a senior consultant at Entura.
RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MARCH/APRIL 2017 21
3/1/17 9:57 AM
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 G E OT H E R M A L , H Y D RO , B I O M A S S
Around the Baseloads: What’s
New in the Geothermal, Biomass
and Hydropower Industries
A quick check-in
on the renewable
technologies that
will keep the lights
on when the
world runs on 100
percent renewables.
JENNIFER RUNYON
No country will ever get to 100
percent renewable energy with-
out using geothermal, biomass,
hydropower or a combination
of the three. These technolo-
gies are able to provide energy
around the clock, (baseload) and
The 44-year-old coal-fired Lynemouth Power Station will soon convert not existing or fragmented with
to a biomass-fueled power plant. Credit: Emerson.
1703REW_23 23
do not depend on the sun shining or the wind blowing. The
one exception to this rule is hydropower, which can have its
output reduced or increased during seasonal fluctuations
in water supply. For the most part, however, it is only with
these baseload renewable energy sources that countries can
ever hope to become completely powered by renewables.
Here’s a look at what’s happening in these important renew-
able energy sectors.
Geothermal — New Guide offers
Deep Insight into the Global Market
The International Renewable Energy Association (IRENA)
and the Global Geothermal Alliance in partnership with Ice-
landic Law Firm BBA in January published a handbook
intended to provide insight into the legal frameworks gov-
erning exploration, exploitation and production of electric-
ity from geothermal resources, in the 16 countries where
geothermal energy is currently being harnessed or a known
resource is available.
The 170-page guide should
be a great help to organizations
that are interested in geother-
mal and need to unravel the
complex and sometimes even
non-existent regulations sur-
rounding geothermal energy.
From the guide:
The regulatory framework in
respect of the exploration and
development of geothermal ener-
gy is in many countries either
provisions located in the various
RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MARCH/APRIL 2017 23
3/1/17 9:57 AM
 G e ot h e r m a l , h y d r o , B i o m a s s

sectors of legislation. Many “The future belongs to renewable energy sources, and there-
countries rely on laws relat- fore we’re now converting the last of our coal-fired power sta-
ing to other energy sources, tions to sustainable biomass. The decision is in line with our
such as mining. Furthermore, vision to lead the way in the transformation to a sustainable
in certain cases no particu- energy system and create a leading green energy company,” said
lar administrational author- Henrik Poulsen, CEO, in a press release.
ity is entrusted with geother- DONG has converted five of its coal-fired power plants to run
mal matters. on biomass already and has plans to convert two additional
The report gives a snap- plants to biomass in the near future.
shot of progress in each of In the UK, biomass to coal conversions continue. In Janu-
the 16 countries where any ary, Emerson announced that it was awarded a contract from
geothermal activity is tak- EPH Lynemouth Power to help convert the 44-year-old coal-fired
ing place (Iceland, Canada, Lynemouth Power Station to a new biomass-fueled power plant.
Chile, Ethiopia, France, Ger- When the conversion is complete in late 2017, the 390-MW
many, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, plant, near Newcastle in the United Kingdom, will be fueled by
Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand, approximately 1.4 million tons of wood waste per year.
Philippines, Turkey, United
States and Vietnam) and then Hydropower – An Important Energy Storage Asset
answers 15 questions about Pumped hydropower offers perhaps the best of both worlds:
each country’s laws and reg- an emission-free source of renewable energy that can either
ulations for development. store or generate power. With the uptake of intermittent
The questions range from renewables, utilities, power providers and grid operators
permitting, to taxation and around the world are increasingly exploring the how pumped
land leasing, through to obli- hydropower could improve the operation of their grid.
gations for developers, and In Chile, power generators recently released a report that
licensing. The authors hope stressed the importance of energy storage to stabilize the grid
that the guide will help move — the report cited California as an example to follow. Fur-
the world closer to a sustain- ther, the report said that Chile’s 2016 electric power transmis-
able future. sion law will help create a regulatory framework from which
energy storage will benefit. Chile’s Espejo de Terapaca 300-
Biomass – Helping the MW pumped storage/600-MW solar PV power plant is current-
Transition Away from Coal ly wending through the planning process. Once built, it will be
Dong Energy announced the largest combined solar and pumped hydropower plant of its
plans to exit coal at its power kind in the world.
stations by 2023. Dong is a In Canada, Voith recently conducted a technical training sem-
Danish utility and the leader inar for employees about how pumped storage plants can con-
in offshore wind farm devel- tribute to grid stability in North America. The topics covered in
opment, having built more the seminar included the technical and economic advantages
than 3 GW of the offshore of pumped storage for balancing load and generation as well as
wind capacity that is now providing reliable available capacity. Dr. Klaus Krueger, head of
online with much more in its R&D at Voith conducted the training and said he had also given
pipeline. similar seminars in South Korea and China. ◑

24 MARCH/APRIL 2017 RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD

1703REW_24 24 3/1/17 9:57 AM

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Last
the
WORD
The Myth of the Utility Death Spiral:
Five Ways Big Data Will Change
the Power Industry for the Better
Utilities are dead. Or, at least that’s
what the news would like you to
believe. Instead, they are in the midst
of a transformation, driven by tech-
nologies that are allowing distribut-
ed resources to take over some of the
work performed by large, centralized
assets, just like PCs changed the role
of mainframes and data centers. Big
Data will play an outsized role in this
Bill McEvoy and transformation. Here are five ways
Miguel Chavero that the impact is having its effect.
are Industry Principals
in the utilities group Predictive Maintenance
at OSIsoft. Many utility providers perform sched-
uled maintenance on equipment,
but scheduled maintenance is both
expensive and inefficient. Predictive
maintenance allows them to better
allocate resources while cutting costs
and reducing service disruptions.
Dong Energy, a leading provid-
er of wind energy, has implemented
a condition-based maintenance pro-
gram to better coordinate mainte-
nance trips with wind and wave con-
ditions, reducing the total number of
trips. Just cutting unscheduled main-
tenance visits from four to two per
year could save the company approxi-
mately €20 million annually. SF Pub-
lic Utilities Commission expects to
save 9,000 hours of employee time.
RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MARCH/APRIL 2017
1703REW_C3 3
Renewables Integration
Arizona Public Services (APS) is a
leading solar utilities provider that
operates nine solar power plants, 59
commercial scale arrays, and 1,500
APS-owned residential rooftop sys-
tems. Using Big Data from its resi-
dential rooftop systems, APS can now
see how residential solar systems can
impact the grid. Using historical data,
APS is now moving towards predic-
tive analytics that will help it fore-
cast solar power generation up to one
week in advance.
Capital Efficiency
Xcel Energy has created an
advanced wind forecasting system
to improve its ROI from its renew-
able turbines. Over the past six
years, Xcel estimates that Big Data
has helped lower the mean aver-
age error in its forecasts by 38 per-
cent and saved approximately $46
million dollars through reduced
gas consumption and lower mainte-
nance costs.
Software Development
Utility providers have a pletho-
ra of skills, but software develop-
ment isn’t one that typically comes
to mind. Often, utility providers are
27
3/1/17 9:52 AM
 a market of one when it comes to software sys-
tems, so many of them develop solutions in-
house that are customized to fit their needs.
Today, as utility providers look to capitalize on
Big Data, some are spinning off internal appli-
cations into viable businesses that use this
data to offer extended — and beneficial — ser-
vices to customers.
For example, Edison International now oper-
ates Edison Energy, an independent adviso-
ry and services company that helps custom-
ers manage energy portfolios. The company is
built on $100 million dollars of startup acquisi-
tions and operates separately from Edison Inter-
national and focuses on things like lowering
costs for customers. PJM and Tepco are similarly
looking at ways to commercialize new services
through in-house technologies.
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1703REW_C4 4
Customer Service and Social Media
Social media can be a company’s best friend or
its worst enemy. For utility providers, custom-
ers are often the first to report outages, and they
do it publicly on social media channels. With
increasing regulatory pressure placed on cus-
tomer satisfaction, utilities must meet perfor-
mance metrics around customer satisfaction.
Vitens, a Netherlands-based supplier of drink-
ing water, is typically notified by customers
when there are pressure, leakage, or outage
issues. But being notified by customers meant
that it was always one step behind issues that
arose. Big Data helped it implement a program
that would alert it to issues before customers.
For utilities, the rise of Big Data is only the
beginning of the revolution. As efficiency and
delivery become even more crucial to provid-
ers’ ability to deliver resources to customers at
a competitive price, they will turn to Big Data to
improve existing business models to deliver util-
ities in a cost-effective way. ◑
Adver t iser ’s Index
For more information on the products and services
found in this issue click here.
Asia Power Week 2017…13
Distributech 2017…18
ETA…28
ICCI 2017…25
Power-Gen Africa 2017…22
Power-Gen International 2017…7
Renewable Energy World India 2017…10
Solar Promotion…2
Spice Solar…CV2
Surrette Battery Co. Ltd. …15
The Adveritser’s Index is published as a service. The publisher
does not assume any liability for errors or omissions.
3/1/17 9:53 AM