NEMA endorses Building STAR proposal

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The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) has joined a coalition of 80 contractor groups, unions, manufacturers, businesses, financial services companies, and energy-efficiency advocates to advance the adoption of Building STAR.

Building STAR is a proposal to makeover America's commercial and apartment building infrastructure with more energy-efficient technologies, creating thousands of jobs in the construction, manufacturing, and other high-skilled sectors on the economy.

"Building STAR will provide significant rebates to focus on commercial sectors hurt most by the current economic downturn," said NEMA President and CEO Evan R. Gaddis. "By making our buildings more energy efficient, we reduce energy waste and operating costs as well as create good jobs, particularly among small businesses that would perform the vast majority of work."

Introduced March 4 as S. 3079, Building STAR Energy Efficiency Rebate Act of 2010, the bill is a package of rebates and financing incentives for building owners to upgrade their property's energy efficiency, including interior and exterior lighting, energy management, HVAC, motors, and drives. It is estimated that the prospective $6 billion in funding for the Building STAR program would spur $18 to $24 billion in total program spending, creating up to 200,000 jobs, particularly for the hard-hit construction industry, as well as manufacturing and other industries.

"Building STAR is the kind of performance-based incentive that attracts broad bipartisan support and delivers real results in the near term," said Gaddis. "We urge Congress to include Building STAR in upcoming jobs legislation.”

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Electrifying: New cement makes concrete generate electricity

Cement-Based Conductive Composite transforms concrete into power by energy harvesting via triboelectric nanogenerator action, carbon fibers, and built-in capacitors, enabling net-zero buildings and self-sensing structural health monitoring from footsteps, wind, rain, and waves.

 

Key Points

A carbon fiber cement that harvests and stores energy as electricity, enabling net-zero, self-sensing concrete.

✅ Uses carbon fibers to create a conductive concrete matrix

✅ Acts as a triboelectric nanogenerator and capacitor

✅ Enables net-zero, self-sensing structural health monitoring

 

Engineers from South Korea have invented a cement-based composite that can be used in concrete to make structures that generate and store electricity through exposure to external mechanical energy sources like footsteps, wind, rain and waves, and even self-powering roads concepts.

By turning structures into power sources, the cement will crack the problem of the built environment consuming 40% of the world’s energy, complementing vehicle-to-building energy strategies across the sector, they believe.

Building users need not worry about getting electrocuted. Tests showed that a 1% volume of conductive carbon fibres in a cement mixture was enough to give the cement the desired electrical properties without compromising structural performance, complementing grid-scale vanadium flow batteries in the broader storage landscape, and the current generated was far lower than the maximum allowable level for the human body.

Researchers in mechanical and civil engineering from from Incheon National University, Kyung Hee University and Korea University developed a cement-based conductive composite (CBC) with carbon fibres that can also act as a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG), a type of mechanical energy harvester.

They designed a lab-scale structure and a CBC-based capacitor using the developed material to test its energy harvesting and storage capabilities, similar in ambition to gravity storage approaches being scaled.

“We wanted to develop a structural energy material that could be used to build net-zero energy structures that use and produce their own electricity,” said Seung-Jung Lee, a professor in Incheon National University’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, noting parallels with low-income housing microgrids in urban settings.

“Since cement is an indispensable construction material, we decided to use it with conductive fillers as the core conductive element for our CBC-TENG system,” he added.

The results of their research were published this month in the journal Nano Energy.

Apart from energy storage and harvesting, the material could also be used to design self-sensing systems that monitor the structural health and predict the remaining service life of concrete structures without any external power, which is valuable in industrial settings where hydrogen-powered port equipment is being deployed.

“Our ultimate goal was to develop materials that made the lives of people better and did not need any extra energy to save the planet. And we expect that the findings from this study can be used to expand the applicability of CBC as an all-in-one energy material for net-zero energy structures,” said Prof. Lee, pointing to emerging circular battery recycling pathways for net-zero supply chains.

Publicising the research, Incheon National University quipped: “Seems like a jolting start to a brighter and greener tomorrow!”

 

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Ontario tables legislation to lower electricity rates

Ontario Clean Energy Adjustment lowers hydro bills by shifting global adjustment costs, cutting time-of-use rates, and using OPG debt financing; ratepayers get inflation-capped increases for four years, then repay costs over 20 years.

 

Key Points

A 20-year line item repaying debt used to lower rates for 10 years by shifting global adjustment costs off hydro bills.

✅ 17% average bill cut takes effect after royal assent

✅ OPG-managed entity assumes debt for 10 years

✅ 20-year surcharge repays up to $28B plus interest

 

Ontarians will see lowered hydro bills for the next 10 years, but will then pay higher costs for the following 20 years, under new legislation tabled Thursday.

Ten weeks after announcing its plan to lower hydro bills, the Liberal government introduced legislation to lower time-of-use rates, take the cost of low-income and rural support programs off bills, and introduce new social programs.

It will lower time-of-use rates by removing from bills a portion of the global adjustment, a charge consumers pay for above-market rates to power producers. For the next 10 years, a new entity overseen by Ontario Power Generation will take on debt to pay that difference.

Then, the cost of paying back that debt with interest -- which the government says will be up to $28 billion -- will go back onto ratepayers' bills for the next 20 years as a "Clean Energy Adjustment."

An average 17-per-cent cut to bills will take effect 15 days after the hydro legislation receives royal assent, even as a Nov. 1 rate increase was set by the Ontario Energy Board, but there are just eight sitting days left before the Ontario legislature breaks for the summer. Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault insisted that leaves the opposition "plenty" of time for review and debate.

Premier Kathleen Wynne promised to cut hydro bills and later defended a 25% rate cut after widespread anger over rising costs helped send her approval ratings to record lows.

Electricity bills in the province have roughly doubled in the last decade, due in part to green energy initiatives, and Thibeault said the goal of this plan is to better spread out those costs.

"Like the mortgage on your house, this regime will cost more as we refinance over a longer period of time, but this is a more equitable and fair approach when we consider the lifespan of the clean energy investments, and generating stations across our province," he said.

NDP critic Peter Tabuns called it a "get-through-the-election" next June plan.

"We're going to take on a huge debt so Kathleen Wynne can look good on the hustings in the next few months and for decades we're going to pay for it," he said.

The legislation also holds rate increases to inflation for the next four years. After that, they'll rise more quickly, as illustrated by a leaked cabinet document the Progressive Conservatives unveiled Thursday.

The Liberals dismissed the document as containing outdated projections, but confirmed that it went before cabinet at some point before the government decided to go ahead with the hydro plan.

From about 2027 onward -- when consumers would start paying off the debt associated with the hydro plan -- Ontario electricity consumers will be paying about 12 per cent more than they would without the Liberal government's plan to cut costs in the short term, even though a deal with Quebec was not expected to reduce hydro bills, the government document projected.

But that was just one of many projections, said Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault.

"We have been working on this plan for months, and as we worked on it the documents and calculations evolved," he said.

The government's long-term energy plan is set to be updated this spring, and Thibeault said it will provide a more accurate look at how the hydro plan will reduce rates, even as a recovery rate could lead to higher hydro bills in certain circumstances.

Progressive Conservative critic Todd Smith said the "Clean Energy Adjustment" is nothing more than a revamped debt retirement charge, which was on bills from 2002 to 2016 to pay down debt left over from the old Ontario Hydro, the province's giant electrical utility that was split into multiple agencies in 1999 under the previous Conservative government.

"The minister can call it whatever he wants but it's right there in the graph, that there is going to be a new charge on the line," Smith said. "It's the debt retirement charge on steroids."

 

 

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An NDP government would make hydro public again, end off-peak pricing, Horwath says in Sudbury

Ontario NDP Hydro Plan proposes ending time-of-use pricing, buying back Hydro One, lowering electricity rates, curbing rural delivery fees, and restoring public ownership to ease household bills amid debates with PCs and Liberals over costs.

 

Key Points

A plan to end time-of-use pricing, buy back Hydro One, and cut bills via public ownership and fair delivery fees.

✅ End time-of-use pricing; normal schedules without penalties

✅ Repurchase Hydro One; restore public ownership

✅ Cap rural delivery fees; address oversupply to cut rates

 

Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath says her party’s hydro plan will reduce families’ electricity bills, a theme also seen in Manitoba Hydro debates and the NDP is the only choice to get Hydro One back in public hands.

Howarth outlined the plan Saturday morning outside the home of a young family who say they struggle with their electricity bills — in particular over the extra laundry they now have after the birth of their twin boys.

An NDP government would end time-of-use pricing, which charges higher rates during peak times and lower rates after hours, “so that people aren’t punished for cooking dinner at dinner time,” Horwath said at a later campaign stop in Orillia, “so people can live normal lives and still afford their hydro bill.”

#google#

An NDP government would end time-of-use pricing, which gives lower rates for off-peak usage, Howarth said, separate from a recent subsidized hydro plan during COVID-19. The change would mean families wouldn't be "forced to wait until night when the pricing is lower to do laundry," and wouldn't have to rearrange their lives around chores.

The pricing scheme was supposed to lower prices and help smooth out demand for electricity, especially during peak times, but has failed, she said.

In order to lower hydro bills, Horwath said an NDP government would buy back shares of Hydro One sold off under the Wynne government, which she said has led to high prices and exorbitant executive pay among executives. The NDP plan would also make sure rural families do not pay more in delivery fees than city dwellers, and curb the oversupply of energy to bring prices down.

Critics have said the NDP plan is too costly and will take a long time to implement, and investors see too many unknowns about Hydro One.

"The NDP's plan to buy back Hydro One and continue moving forward with a carbon tax will cost taxpayers billions," said Melissa Lantsman, a spokesperson for PC Leader Doug Ford.

"Only Doug Ford has a plan to reduce hydro rates and put money back in people's pockets. We'll reduce your hydro bill by 12 per cent."

Ford has said he will fire Hydro One CEO Mayo Schmidt, and has dubbed him the $6-million-dollar man.

Horwath has said both Ford and Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne will end up costing Ontarians more in electricity if one of them is elected come June 7. Their "hydro scheme is the wrong plan," she said.

 

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TagEnergy Launches France’s Largest Battery Storage Platform

TagEnergy France Battery Storage Platform enables grid flexibility, stability, and resilience across France, storing wind and solar power, balancing supply and demand, reducing curtailment, and supporting carbon neutrality with fast-response, utility-scale capacity.

 

Key Points

A utility-scale BESS in France that stores renewable energy to stabilize the grid, boost flexibility, and cut emissions.

✅ Several hundred MW utility-scale capacity for peak shaving.

✅ Fast-response frequency regulation and voltage support.

✅ Reduces fossil peaker use and renewable curtailment.

 

In a significant leap toward enhancing France’s renewable energy infrastructure, TagEnergy has officially launched the country's largest battery storage platform. This cutting-edge project is set to revolutionize the way France manages its electricity grid by providing much-needed flexibility, stability, and resilience, particularly as the country ramps up its use of renewable energy sources and experiences negative prices in France during periods of oversupply,

The new battery storage platform, with a total capacity of several hundred megawatts, will play a crucial role in facilitating the country's transition to a greener, more sustainable energy future. It marks a significant step forward in addressing one of the most pressing challenges of renewable energy: how to store and dispatch power generated from intermittent sources such as wind and solar energy.

The Role of Battery Storage in Renewable Energy

Battery storage systems are key to unlocking the full potential of renewable energy sources. While wind and solar power are increasingly important in reducing reliance on fossil fuels, their intermittent nature—dependent on weather conditions and time of day—presents a challenge for grid operators. Without an efficient way to store surplus energy produced during peak generation periods, when negative electricity prices can emerge, the grid can become unstable, leading to waste or even blackouts.

This is where TagEnergy’s new platform comes into play. The state-of-the-art battery storage system will capture excess energy when production is high, and then release it back into the grid during periods of high demand, supporting peak demand strategies or when renewable generation dips. This capability will smooth out the fluctuations in renewable energy production and ensure a constant, reliable supply of power to consumers. By doing so, the platform will not only stabilize the grid but also increase the overall efficiency and utilization of renewable energy sources.

The Scale and Scope of the Platform

TagEnergy's battery storage platform is one of the largest in France, with a capacity capable of supporting a wide range of energy storage needs across the country. The platform’s size is designed to handle significant energy loads, making it a critical piece of infrastructure for grid stability. The project will primarily focus on large-scale energy storage, but it will also incorporate cutting-edge technologies to ensure fast response times and high efficiency in energy release.

France’s energy mix is undergoing a transformation as the country aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. With ambitious plans to expand renewable energy production, particularly from offshore wind such as North Sea wind potential, solar, and hydropower, energy storage becomes essential for managing supply and demand. The new battery platform is poised to provide the necessary storage capabilities to keep up with this shift toward greener, more sustainable energy production.

Economic and Environmental Impact

The launch of the battery storage platform is a major boon for the French economy, creating jobs and attracting investment in the clean energy sector. The project is expected to generate hundreds of construction and operational jobs, providing a boost to local economies, particularly in the areas where the storage facilities are located.

From an environmental perspective, the platform’s ability to store and release renewable energy will greatly reduce the country’s reliance on fossil fuels, decreasing greenhouse gas emissions. The efficient storage of solar and wind energy will mean that more clean electricity can be used, with solar-plus-storage cheaper than conventional power in Germany underscoring cost competitiveness, even during times when these renewable sources are not producing at full capacity. This will help France meet its energy and climate goals, including reducing carbon emissions by 40% by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

The development also aligns with broader European Union goals to increase the share of renewables in the energy mix. As EU nations work toward their collective climate commitments, energy storage projects like TagEnergy’s platform will be vital in helping the continent achieve a greener, more sustainable future.

A Step Toward Energy Independence

The new battery storage platform also has the potential to enhance France’s energy independence. By increasing the storage capacity for renewable energy, France will be able to rely less on imported fossil fuels and energy from neighboring countries, particularly during periods of high demand. Energy independence is a key strategic goal for many nations, as it reduces vulnerability to geopolitical tensions and fluctuating energy prices.

In addition to bolstering national security, the platform supports France’s energy transition by facilitating the deployment of more renewable energy. As storage capacity increases, grid operators will be able to integrate larger quantities of intermittent renewable energy without sacrificing reliability. This will enable France to meet its long-term energy goals while also supporting the EU’s ambitious climate targets.

Future of Battery Storage in France and Beyond

TagEnergy’s launch of France’s largest battery storage platform is a monumental achievement in the country’s energy transition. However, it is unlikely to be the last of its kind. The success of this project could pave the way for similar initiatives across France and the wider European market. As battery storage technology advances, and affordable solar batteries scale up, the capacity for storing and utilizing renewable energy will only grow, unlocking new possibilities for clean, affordable power.

Looking ahead, TagEnergy plans to expand its operations and further invest in renewable energy solutions. The French market, along with growing demand for storage solutions across Europe, presents significant opportunities for further development in the energy storage sector. With the continued integration of renewable energy into the grid, large-scale storage platforms will play an increasingly critical role in shaping a low-carbon future.

The launch of TagEnergy’s battery storage platform marks a pivotal moment for France’s renewable energy landscape. By providing critical storage capacity and ensuring the reliable delivery of clean electricity, the platform will help the country meet its ambitious climate and energy goals. As technology advances and the global transition to renewables accelerates, with over 30% of global electricity now coming from renewables, projects like this one will play an essential role in creating a sustainable, low-carbon energy future.

 

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CT leads New England charge to overhaul electricity market structure

New England Grid Reform Initiative aligns governors with ISO New England to reshape market design, boost grid reliability, accelerate renewable energy and offshore wind, explore carbon pricing and forward clean energy markets, and bolster accountability.

 

Key Points

Five states aim to reform ISO New England markets, prioritize renewables and reliability, and test carbon pricing.

✅ Governors seek market design aligned with clean energy mandates

✅ ISO-NE accountability and stakeholder engagement prioritized

✅ Explore carbon pricing and forward clean energy market options

 

Weeks after initiating a broad overhaul of utility regulation within its borders, Connecticut has recruited four New England states, as Maine debates a 145-mile transmission line project to rework the regional grid that is overseen by ISO New England, the independent system operator charged with ensuring a reliable supply of electricity from power plants.

In a written statement Thursday morning, Gov. Ned Lamont said the current structure “has actively hindered” states’ efforts to phase out polluting power plants in favor of renewable sources like wind turbines and solar panels, while increasing costs “to fix market design failures” in his words. Lamont’s energy policy chief Katie Dykes has emerged as a vocal critic of ISO New England’s structure and priorities, in her role as commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

“When Connecticut opted to deregulate our electricity market, we wanted the benefits of competition — to achieve lower-cost energy, compatible with meeting our clean-energy goals,” Dykes said in a telephone interview Thursday afternoon. “We have a partner [in] ISO New England, to manage this grid and design a market that is not thwarting our clean-energy goals, but achieving them; and not ignoring consumers’ concerns. ... That’s really what we are looking to do — reclaim the benefits of competition and regional cooperation.”

Lamont and his counterparts in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont and Maine plan to release a “vision document” in their words on Friday through the New England States Committee on Electricity, after New Hampshire rejected a Quebec-Massachusetts transmission proposal that sought to import Canadian hydropower.

The initial documents made no mention of New Hampshire, which likewise obtains electricity through the wholesale markets managed by ISO New England and has seen clashes over the Northern Pass hydropower project in recent years; and whose Seabrook Station is one two nuclear power plants in New England alongside Dominion Energy’s Millstone Power Station in Waterford. Gov. Chris Sununu’s office did not respond immediately to a query on why New Hampshire is not participating.

Connecticut and the four other states outlined a few broad goals that they will hone over the coming months. Those include creating a better market structure and planning process supporting the conversion to renewables; improving grid reliability, with measures such as an emergency fuel stock program considered; and increasing the accountability of ISO New England to the states and by extension their ratepayer households and businesses.

ISO New England spokesperson Matt Kakley indicated the Holyoke, Mass.-based nonprofit will “engage with the states and our stakeholders” on the governors’ proposal, in an email response to a query. He did not elaborate on any immediate opportunities or challenges inherent in the governors’ proposal.

“Maintaining reliable, competitively-priced electricity through the clean energy transition will require broad collaboration,” Kakley stated. “The common vision of the New England governors will play an important role in the discussions currently underway on the future of the grid.”

 

Renewable revolution
ISO New England launched operations in 1999, running auctions through which power plant operators bid to supply electricity, including against long-term projections for future needs that can only be met through the construction or installation of new generation capacity.

ISO New England falls under the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rather than the states whose electricity supplies it is tasked with ensuring. That has led to pointed criticism from Dykes and Connecticut legislators that ISO New England is out of touch with the state’s push to switch to renewable sources of electricity.

Entering October, ISO New England published an updated outlook that revealed 60 percent of proposed power generators in the region’s future “queue” are wind farms, primarily offshore installations like the proposed Park City Wind project of Avangrid and Revolution Wind from Eversource. But Dykes recently criticized as unnecessary an NTE Energy plant approved already by ISO New England for eastern Connecticut, which will be fueled by natural gas if all other regulatory approvals are granted.

The six New England states participate in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative that caps carbon emissions by individual power plants, while allowing them to purchase unused allowances from each other with that revenue funneled to the states to support renewable energy and conservation programs. FERC is now considering the concept of carbon pricing, which would levy a tax on power plants based on their emissions, and it also faces pressure to act on aggregated DERs from lawmakers.

ISO New England is investigating the concepts of net carbon pricing and a “forward clean energy market” that would borrow elements of the existing forward capacity market, but designed to meet individual state objectives for the percentage of renewable power they want generated while ensuring adequate electricity is in place when weather does not cooperate.

The Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority is collecting on its own initiative industry input on modernization proposals, as New York regulators open a formal review of retail energy markets for comparison, that would add up to hundreds of millions of dollars, including utility-scale batteries to store power generated by offshore wind farms and solar arrays; and “smart” meters in homes and businesses to help electricity customers better manage their power use.

The New England Power Pool serves as a central forum for plant operators, commercial users and others like the Connecticut Office of Consumer Counsel, amid Massachusetts solar demand charge debates that affect distributed generation policy, with NEPOOL’s chair stating Thursday morning the group was still reviewing the governors’ announcement.

“NEPOOL has been engaged this year in meetings ... exploring the transition to a future grid in New England and potential pathways forward to support that transition,” stated Nancy Chafetz, chair of NEPOOL, in an email.

Connecticut’s issues with ISO New England boiled over this summer on the heels of a power-purchase agreement between Millstone owner Dominion and transmission grid operators Eversource and United Illuminating, which contributed to a sharp increase in customer bills.

A few weeks ago, Lamont signed into law a “Take Back the Grid” act that allows the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority to factor in Eversource’s and Avangrid subsidiary United Illuminating’s past performance in maintaining electric reliability, in addition to any future needs for revenue based on needed upgrades. The law included an element for Connecticut to initiate a study of ISO New England’s role.

Eversource and Avangrid have voiced support for the switch to “performance-based” regulation in Connecticut. Eversource spokesperson Mitch Gross on Thursday cited the company’s view that any changes to the operation of New England’s wholesale power markets should occur within the existing ISO New England structure.

“We also recommend any examination of potential alternatives includes a thorough evaluation that ensures unfair costs would not be imposed on customers,” Gross stated in an email.

In a statement forwarded by Avangrid spokesperson Ed Crowder, the United Illuminating parent indicated it intends to have “a voice in this process” with the goal of continued grid reliability amid increased adoption of clean energy sources.

 

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How Ukraine Unplugged from Russia and Joined Europe's Power Grid with Unprecedented Speed

Ukraine-ENTSO-E Grid Synchronization links Ukraine and Moldova to the European grid via secure interconnection, matching frequency for stability, resilience, and energy security, enabling cross-border support, islanding recovery, and coordinated load balancing during wartime disruptions.

 

Key Points

Rapid alignment of Ukraine and Moldova into the European grid to enable secure interconnection and system stability.

✅ Matches 50 Hz frequency across interconnected systems

✅ Enables cross-border support and electricity trading

✅ Improves resilience, stability, and energy security

 

On February 24 Ukraine’s electric grid operator disconnected the country’s power system from the larger Russian-operated network to which it had always been linked. The long-planned disconnection was meant to be a 72-hour trial proving that Ukraine could operate on its own and to protect electricity supply before winter as contingencies were tested. The test was a requirement for eventually linking with the European grid, which Ukraine had been working toward since 2017. But four hours after the exercise started, Russia invaded.

Ukraine’s connection to Europe—which was not supposed to occur until 2023—became urgent, and engineers aimed to safely achieve it in just a matter of weeks. On March 16 they reached the key milestone of synchronizing the two systems. It was “a year’s work in two weeks,” according to a statement by Kadri Simson, the European Union commissioner for energy. That is unusual in this field. “For [power grid operators] to move this quickly and with such agility is unprecedented,” says Paul Deane, an energy policy researcher at the University College Cork in Ireland. “No power system has ever synchronized this quickly before.”

Ukraine initiated the process of joining Europe’s grid in 2005 and began working toward that goal in earnest in 2017, as did Moldova. It was part of an ongoing effort to align with Europe, as seen in the Baltic states’ disconnection from the Russian grid, and decrease reliance on Russia, which had repeatedly threatened Ukraine’s sovereignty. “Ukraine simply wanted to decouple from Russian dominance in every sense of the word, and the grid is part of that,” says Suriya Jayanti, an Eastern European policy expert and former U.S. diplomat who served as energy chief at the U.S. embassy in Kyiv from 2018 to 2020.

After the late February trial period, Ukrenergo, the Ukrainian grid operator, had intended to temporarily rejoin the system that powers Russia and Belarus. But the Russian invasion made that untenable. “That left Ukraine in isolation mode, which would be incredibly dangerous from a power supply perspective,” Jayanti says. “It means that there’s nowhere for Ukraine to import electricity from. It’s an orphan.” That was a particularly precarious situation given Russian attacks on key energy infrastructure such as the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and ongoing strikes on Ukraine’s power grid that posed continuing risks. (According to Jayanti, Ukraine’s grid was ultimately able to run alone for as long as it did because power demand dropped by about a third as Ukrainians fled the country.)

Three days after the invasion, Ukrenergo sent a letter to the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E) requesting authorization to connect to the European grid early. Moldelectrica, the Moldovan operator, made the same request the following day. While European operators wanted to support Ukraine, they had to protect their own grids, amid renewed focus on protecting the U.S. power grid from Russian hacking, so the emergency connection process had to be done carefully. “Utilities and system operators are notoriously risk-averse because the job is to keep the lights on, to keep everyone safe,” says Laura Mehigan, an energy researcher at University College Cork.

An electric grid is a network of power-generating sources and transmission infrastructure that produces electricity and carries it from places such as power plants, wind farms and solar arrays to houses, hospitals and public transit systems. “You can’t just experiment with a power system and hope that it works,” Deane says. Getting power where it is it needed when it is needed is an intricate process, and there is little room for error, as incidents involving Russian hackers targeting U.S. utilities have highlighted for operators worldwide.

Crucial to this mission is grid interconnection. Linked systems can share electricity across vast areas, often using HVDC technology, so that a surplus of energy generated in one location can meet demand in another. “More interconnection means we can move power around more quickly, more efficiently, more cost effectively and take advantage of low-carbon or zero-carbon power sources,” says James Glynn, a senior research scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University. But connecting these massive networks with many moving parts is no small order.

One of the primary challenges of interconnecting grids is synchronizing them, which is what Ukrenergo, Moldelectrica and ENTSO-E accomplished last week. Synchronization is essential for sharing electricity. The task involves aligning the frequencies of every energy-generation facility in the connecting systems. Frequency is like the heartbeat of the electric grid. Across Europe, energy-generating turbines spin 50 times per second in near-perfect unison, and when disputes disrupt that balance, slow clocks across Europe can result, reminding operators of the stakes. For Ukraine and Moldova to join in, their systems had to be adjusted to match that rhythm. “We can’t stop the power system for an hour and then try to synchronize,” Deane says. “This has to be done while the system is operating.” It is like jumping onto a moving train or a spinning ride at the playground: the train or ride is not stopping, so you had better time the jump perfectly.

 

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