Energy infrastructure Features for December 2009

Energy infrastructure Features Archive

What will the Feed-in Tariff in Britain look like?

Robin Priestley looks at whether the UK is finally getting its act together and adopting a feed-in tariff to rival that of countries like Germany...

Short-term energy storage: adaptable flexibility Short-term energy storage: adaptable flexibility

Energy storage options can be segmented by the length of storage that they offer. Long-term storage such as hydro reservoirs may store energy for many months and have an important impact on the overall energy budget, while small-time storage such as capacitors can help avoid flickering of the light when net companies switch between different electricity suppliers. In this article Bent Sørensen assesses a selection of short-term energy storage devices and their fields of application.

Rise of the superconductor, Part 2 Rise of the superconductor, Part 2

In the ‘Rise of the superconductor’, we highlighted the use of superconductor technology and its potential to transform the economics of wind power. In Part 2, Jack McCall of AMSC outlines how superconductors could help the USA get to grips with its grid modernisation issues.

USA update: Transmission top of the agenda? USA update: Transmission top of the agenda?

In 2008, the United States Department of Energy (DoE) reported that the US could generate 20% of its electricity from wind energy by 2030, though noting that transmission issues represented a key challenge in meeting this target. One year on, some political steps have been taken – but what happens next? Don C. Smith examines the current status of the transmission issue and forecasts the possible road ahead.

Comment: US FERC - does the rhetoric match the results?

No top US Federal official has been more pro-renewables, at least in his rhetoric, than Jon Wellinghoff, the chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). But has this talk resulted in action?