Eskom resorts to land expropriation

Vehicle-to-Grid Revenue helps EV owners earn income via V2G, demand response, and ancillary services by exporting stored energy, supporting grid balancing, smart charging, and renewable integration with two-way charging infrastructure.

Key Points

Income EV owners earn by selling battery power to the grid for balancing, response, and flexibility services.

✅ Earn up to about $1,530 annually in Denmark trials

✅ Requires V2G-compatible EVs and two-way smart chargers

✅ Provides ancillary services and supports renewable integration

Electric car owners are earning as much as $1,530 a year just by parking their vehicle and feeding excess power back into the grid, effectively selling electricity back to the grid under V2G schemes.

Trials in Denmark carried out by Nissan and Italy’s biggest utility Enel Spa showed how batteries inside electric cars could, using vehicle-to-grid technology, help balance supply and demand at times and provide a new revenue stream for those who own the vehicles.

Technology linking vehicles to the grid marks another challenge for utilities already struggling to integrate wind and solar power into their distribution system. As the use of plug-in cars spreads, grid managers will have to pay closer attention and, with proper management, to when motorists draw from the system and when they can smooth variable flows.

For example, California's grid stability efforts include leveraging EVs as programs expand.

“If you blindingly deploy in the market a massive number of electric cars without any visibility or control over the way they impact the electricity grid, you might create new problems,” said Francisco Carranza, director of energy services at Nissan Europe in an interview with Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

While the Tokyo-based automaker has trials with more than 100 cars across Europe, only those in Denmark are able to earn money by feeding power back into the grid. There, fleet operators collected about 1,300 euros ($1,530) a year using the two-way charge points, said Carranza.

Restrictions on accessing the market in the U.K. means the company needs to reach about 150 cars before they can get paid for power sent back to the grid. That could be achieved by the end of this year, he said.

“It’s feasible,” he said. “It’s just a matter of finding the appropriate business model to deploy the business wide-scale.’’

Electric car demand globally is expected to soar, challenging state power grids and putting further pressure on grid operators to find new ways of balancing demand. Power consumption from vehicles will grow to 1,800 terawatt-hours in 2040 from just 6 terawatt-hours now, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

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Germany renewable energy milestone 2019 saw wind, solar, hydropower, and biomass outproduce coal and nuclear, as low gas prices and high CO2 costs under the EU ETS reshaped the electricity mix, per Fraunhofer ISE.

Key Points

It marks H1 2019 when renewables supplied 47.3% of Germany's electricity, surpassing coal and nuclear.

✅ Driven by high CO2 prices and cheap natural gas

✅ Wind and solar output rose; coal generation declined sharply

✅ Flexible gas plants outcompeted inflexible coal units

In Lippendorf, Saxony, the energy supplier EnBW is temporarily taking part of a coal-fired power plant offline. Not because someone ordered it — it simply wasn't paying off. Gas prices are low, CO2 prices are high, and with many hours of sunshine and wind, renewable methods are producing a great deal of electricity as part of Germany's energy transition now reshaping operations. And in the first half of the year there was plenty of sun and wind.

The result was a six-month period in which renewable energy sources, a trend echoed by the EU wind and solar record across the bloc, produced more electricity than coal and nuclear power plants together. For the first time 47.3% of the electricity consumers used came from renewable sources, while 43.4% came from coal-fired and nuclear power plants.

In addition to solar and wind power, renewable sources also include hydropower and biomass. Gas supplied 9.3%, reflecting how renewables are crowding out gas across European power markets, while the remaining 0.4% came from other sources, such as oil, according to figures published by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems in July.

Fabian Hein from the think tank Agora Energiewende stresses that the situation is only a snapshot in time, with grid expansion woes still shaping outcomes. For example, the first half of 2019 was particularly windy and wind power production rose by around 20% compared to the first half of 2018.

Electricity production from solar panels rose by 6%, natural gas by 10%, while the share of nuclear power in German electricity consumption has remained virtually unchanged despite a nuclear option debate in climate policy.

Coal, on the other hand, declined. Black coal energy production fell by 30% compared to the first half of 2018, lignite fell by 20%. Some coal-fired power plants were even taken off the grid, even as coal still provides about a third of Germany's electricity. It is difficult to say whether this was an effect of the current market situation or whether this is simply part of long-term planning, says Hein.

Activists storm German mine in anti-coal protest

It is clear, however, that an increased CO2 price has made the ongoing generation of electricity from coal more expensive. Gas-fired power plants also emit CO2, but less than coal-fired power plants. They are also more efficient and that's why gas-fired power plants are not so strongly affected by the CO2 price

The price is determined at a European level and covers power plants and energy intensive industries in Europe. Other areas, such as heating or transport are not covered by the CO2 price scheme. Since a reform of CO2 emissions trading in 2017, the price has risen sharply. Whereas in September 2016 it was just over €5 ($5.6), by the end of June 2019 it had climbed to over €26.

Ups and downs

Gas as a raw material is generally more expensive than coal. But coal-fired power plants are more expensive to build. This is why operators want to run them continuously. In times of high demand, and therefore high prices, gas-fired power plants are generally started up, as seen when European power demand hit records during recent heatwaves, since it is worth it at these times.

Gas-fired power plants can be flexibly ramped up and down. Coal-fired power plants take 11 hours or longer to get going. That's why they can't be switched on quickly for short periods when prices are high, like gas-fired power plants. In the first half of the year, however, coal-fired power plants were also ramped up and down more often because it was not always worthwhile to let the power plant run around the clock.

Because gas prices were particularly low in the first half of 2019, some gas-fired power plants were more profitable than coal-fired plants. On June 29, 2019, the gas price at the Dutch trading point TTF was around €10 per megawatt hour. A year earlier, it had been almost €20. This is partly due to the relatively mild winter, as there is still a lot of gas in reserve, confirmed a spokesman for the Federal Association of the Energy and Water Industries (BDEW). There are also several new export terminals for liquefied natural gas. Additionally, weaker growth and trade wars are slowing demand for gas. A lot of gas comes to Europe, where prices are still comparatively high, reported the Handelsblatt newspaper.

The increase in wind and solar power and the decline in nuclear power have also reduced CO2 emissions. In the first half of 2019, electricity generation emitted around 15% less CO2 than in the same period last year, reported BDEW. However, the association demands that the further expansion of renewable energies should not be hampered. The target of 65% renewable energy can only be achieved if the further expansion of renewable energy sources is accelerated.

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Doug Ford's Hydro One firing vow targets CEO pay, the utility's board, and privatization, amid Ontario politics over electricity rates, governance, and control, raising questions about legal tools, contracts, and impacts on customers and taxpayers.

Key Points

Ford vows to oust Hydro One's CEO and board to curb pay and signal rate restraint, subject to legal and governance limits.

✅ Province lacks direct control post-privatization

✅ Possible board removals to influence executive pay

✅ Impact on rates, contracts, and shareholders unclear

Ontario PC Leader Doug Ford is vowing to fire the head of Hydro One, and its entire board if he's elected premier in June.

Ford made the announcement, calling President and CEO Mayo Schmidt, Premier "Kathleen Wynne's $6-Million dollar man," referring to his yearly salary and bonuses, which now add up to $6.2 million.

"This board and this CEO are laughing themselves to the bank," Ford said.

However, it's unclear how Ford would do that since the province does not control the company anymore.

"We don't have the ability to go out and say we are firing the CEO at Hydro One," PC energy critic Todd Smith said while speaking to reporters after Ford's remarks.

#google#

However, he said "we do have tools at our disposal in the tool box. The unfortunate thing is that Kathleen Wynne and the Liberals have just let those tools sit there for the last couple of years and [have] not taken action on things like this."

Smith declined to provide details about what those tools are, but suggested Ford would have the right to fire Hydro's board.

He said that would send a message "that we're not going to accept these salaries."

Smith says the Ontario gov still has the right to fire Hydro One board. What about their contracts? Pay them out? Smith says they don't know the details of people's contacts

We will not engage in politics,' Hydro One says

A Hydro One spokesperson said the amount customers pay to compensate the CEO's salary is the same as before privatization — two cents on each monthly bill.

"We will not engage in politics, however our customers deserve the facts," said the email statement to CBC Toronto.

"Nearly 80 per cent of the total executive compensation package is paid for by shareholders."

Ontario NDP MPP Peter Tabuns says Ford is pro-privatization, and that won't help those struggling with high hydro bills. (Michelle Siu/The Canadian Press)

Peter Tabuns, the NDP's energy critic, said his government would aim to retake public control of Hydro One to cap CEO pay and control the CEO's "outrageous salary."

But while he shares Ford's goal of cutting Schmidt's pay, Tabuns blasted what he believes would be the PC leader's approach.

"Doug Ford has no idea how to reign [sic] in the soaring hydro bills that Ontario families are facing — in fact, if his threats of further privatization include hydro, he'll drive bills and executive salaries ever higher," he said in an email statement.

The only plan we've heard from Doug Ford so far is firing people and laying off people.- Glenn Thibeault, Energy Minister

​Tabuns says his party would aim to cut hydro bills by 30 per cent.

Meanwhile, Liberal Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault said Ford's plan will do nothing to address the actual issue of keeping hydro rates low, comparing his statement Thursday to the rhetoric and actions of U.S. President Donald Trump.

"The only plan we've heard from Doug Ford so far is firing people and laying off people," Thibeault said.

"What I'm seeing a very strong prevalence to is the person running the White House. He's been doing a lot of firing as well and that's not been working out so well for them."

Wynne government has taken steps to cut hydro bills, including legislation to lower electricity rates in Ontario.

Hydro prices have shot up in recent years prompting criticism from across Ontario. Wynne made the controversial move of privatizing part of the utility beginning in 2015.

By Oct. 2017, the Ontario Liberal government's "Fair Hydro Plan" had brought down the average household electricity bill by a 25% rate cut from the peak it hit in the summer of 2016. The Wynne government has also committed to keep rate increases below inflation for the next four years, but admits bills will rise significantly in the decade that follows as a recovery rate could drive costs higher.

Ford blasted the government's moves during a Toronto news conference, echoing calls to scrap the Fair Hydro Plan and review other options.

"The party's over with the tax payer's money, we're going to start respecting the tax payers," Ford said, repeatedly saying the money spent on Hydro One salaries is "morally indefensible."

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Hydro One Power Restoration showcases outage recovery after a severe windstorm, with crews repairing downed power lines, broken poles and crossarms, partnering with utilities and contractors to boost grid resilience and promote emergency kit preparedness.

Key Points

A coordinated response by Hydro One and partners to repair storm damage, restore outages, strengthen grid resilience.

✅ Crews repaired downed lines, broken poles, and crossarms

✅ Partners and contractors aided rapid outage restoration

✅ Investments improve grid resilience and emergency readiness

Hydro One crews have restored power to more than 277,000 customers following back-to-back storms, with impacts felt in communities like Sudbury where local crews worked to reconnect service, including a damaging windstorm on that caused 57 broken poles, 27 broken crossarms, as well as downed power lines and fallen trees on lines. Hydro One crews restored power to more than 140,000 customers within 24 hours of Friday's windstorm, even as Toronto outages persisted for some customers elsewhere.

'We understand power outages bring life to a halt, which is why we are continuously improving our storm response, as employee COVID-19 support demonstrated, while making smart investments in a resilient, reliable and sustainable electricity system to energize life for families, businesses and communities for years to come,' said David Lebeter, Chief Operating Officer, Hydro One. 'We thank our customers for their patience as our crews worked tirelessly, alongside our utility partners and contractors, including Ontario crews in Florida, to restore power as quickly and as safely as possible.'

Hydro One thanks all of its utility partners and contractors who assisted with restoration efforts following the windstorm (alongside similar Quebec outages that highlighted the broader impact), including Durham High Voltage, EPCOR, ERTH Power, K-Line Construction Ltd., Lakeland Power Distribution Ltd., North Bay Hydro, Sproule Powerline Construction Ltd. and Valard Construction.

Hydro One encourages customers to restock their emergency kits following these storms, which utilities such as BC Hydro have also characterized as atypical, and to be aware of support programs like our pandemic relief fund that can help during difficult periods, to ensure they're prepared for an emergency or extended power outage.

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EasyPower Webinars deliver expert training on electrical power systems, covering arc flash, harmonics, grounding, overcurrent coordination, NEC and IEEE 1584 updates, with on-demand videos and email certificates for continuing education credits.

Key Points

EasyPower Webinars are expert-led power systems trainings with CE credit details and on-demand access.

✅ Arc flash, harmonics, and grounding fundamentals with live demos

✅ NEC 2020 and IEEE 1584 updates for compliance and safety

✅ CE credits with post-webinar email documentation

We've ramped up webinars to help your learning while you might be working from home, and similar live online fire alarm training options are widely available. As usual, you will receive an email the day after the webinar which will include the details most states need for you to earn continuing education credit, amid a broader grid warning during the pandemic from regulators.

EasyPower's well known webinar series covers a variety of topics regarding electrical power systems. Below you will see our webinars scheduled through the next few months, reflecting ongoing sector investments in the future of work across the electricity industry.

In addition, there are more than 150 videos that were recorded from past webinars in our EasyPower Video Library. The topics of these videos include arc flash training, short circuit, protective device coordination, power flow, harmonics, DC systems, grounding, and many others.

AUGUST WEBINARS

Active & Passive Harmonic Filters in EasyPower

By Tao Yang, Ph.D, PE, at EasyPower

In this webinar, Tao Yang, Ph.D, PE, from EasyPower provides a refresher course on fundamental concepts of harmonics study and the EasyPower Harmonics module. He describes the two major harmonics filters, both active and passive, and their implementation in the EasyPower Harmonics module. As passive filters are widely used in the industry, he covers four kinds of typical passive filters: notch, first order, second order, and C-type filters, including their implementation in EasyPower and their tuning processes. He uses live examples to demonstrate the modeling and parameter tuning for both active and passive filters using simple EasyPower cases.

Date: Thursday, August 13, 2020
Time: 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Pacific
Register: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1359680676441129997

Cracking the Code for Arc-Flash Mitigation

By Mark Pollock at Littelfuse

The National Electrical Code (NEC) outlines several arc-flash mitigation options, aligning with broader arc flash training insights across the industry. This presentation, given by Mark Pollock at Littelfuse, reviews the arc-flash mitigation options from the NEC 2020, and some updates to the IEEE 1584-2018 standard. In addition to understanding the codes, we’ll discuss the return on investment for the various mitigation options and the importance of arc-flash assessments in your facility. 

Date: Thursday, August 20, 2020
Time: 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Pacific
Register: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/107117029724512527

Ground Fault Coordination in EasyPower

By Jim Chastain, Support Engineer at EasyPower

The PowerProtector™ module in EasyPower simplifies the process of coordinating protective devices. In this refresher webinar, Jim Chastain demonstrates the procedure to coordinate ground fault protection for both resistance-grounded and hard-grounded systems.

Date: Tuesday, August 25, 2020
Time: 8:00 AM - 8:30 AM Pacific
Register: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/561389055546364429

SEPTEMBER WEBINARS

Overcurrent Coordination and Protection Basics

By James Onsager and Namrata Asarpota at S&C Electric

Coordination of overcurrent protective devices is necessary to limit interruptions to the smallest portion of the power system in the event of an overload or short-circuit. This webinar, given by James Onsager and Namrata Asarpota at S&C Electric, goes over the basics of Time Current Curves (TCCs), types of overcurrent protective devices (for both low-voltage and medium-voltage systems), and how to coordinate between them. Protection of common types of equipment such as transformers, cables and motors according the National Electrical Code (NFPA 70, NEC) is also discussed, alongside related fire alarm training online resources available to practitioners. 

Date: Thursday, September 3, 2020
Time: 10:00 AM -11:00 AM Pacific
Register: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6345420550218629133

Static Discharge Awareness and Explosion Protection

By Christopher Coughlan at Newson Gale, a Hoerbiger Safety Solutions Company

For any person responsible for the safety of employees, colleagues, plant equipment and plant property, one of the most potentially confusing aspects of providing a safe operating environment is understanding and safeguarding again static discharge, with industry leadership in worker safety highlighting best practices. In this webinar given by Christopher Coughlan at Newson Gale, a Hoerbiger Safety Solutions Company, he discusses how to determine if your site’s manufacturing or handling processes have the potential to discharge static sparks into flammable or combustible atmospheres. 

Date: Thursday, September 17, 2020
Time: 10:00 AM -11:00 AM Pacific
Register: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7225333317600833296

XGSLab New Feature - Seasonal Analysis For Grounding Systems

By David Lewis, P.E, Electrical Engineer, Grounding and Power Systems at EasyPower

In regions where the frost depth meets or exceeds the depth of a grounding system, the grounding system’s performance may be dramatically reduced, possibly creating hazardous conditions. The latest XGSLab release 9.5 provides a powerful new tool to analyze grounding system performance that considers the seasonal variation in soil characteristics. In this webinar, given by David Lewis, an electrical engineer at EasyPower, we describe the effect that seasonal variation can have on a grounding system and we step you through the use of the Seasonal Analysis tool. 

Date: Tuesday, September 25, 2020
Time: 8:00 AM -8:30 AM Pacific
Register: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6805488101896212751

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Manitoba-Minnesota Transmission Project faces NEB certificate review, with public hearings, Indigenous consultation, and cross-border approval weighing permit vs certificate timelines, potential land expropriation, and Hydro's 2020 in-service date for the 308-MW intertie.

Key Points

A cross-border hydro line linking Manitoba and Minnesota, now under NEB review through a permit or certificate process.

✅ NEB recommends certificate with public hearings and cabinet approval

✅ Stakeholders cite land, health, and economic impacts along route

✅ Hydro targets May-June 2020 in-service despite review

A recommendation from the National Energy Board could push back the construction start date of a $453-million hydroelectric transmission line from Manitoba to Minnesota.

In a letter to federal Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr, the regulatory agency recommends using a "certificate" approval process, which could take more time than the simpler "permit" process Manitoba Hydro favours.

The certificate process involves public hearings, reflecting First Nations intervention seen in other power-line debates, to weigh the merits of the project, which would then go to the federal cabinet for approval.

The NEB says this process would allow for more procedural flexibility and "address Aboriginal concerns that may arise in the circumstances of this process."

The Manitoba-Minnesota Transmission Project would provide the final link in a chain that brings hydroelectricity from generating stations in northern Manitoba, through the Bipole III transmission line and, like the New England Clean Power Link project, across the U.S. border as part of a 308-megawatt deal with the Green Bay-based Wisconsin Public Service.

When Hydro filed its application in December 2016, it had expected to have approval by the end of August 2017 and to begin construction on the line in mid-December, in order to have the line in operation by May or June 2020.  

Groups representing stakeholders along the proposed route of the transmission line had mixed reactions to the energy board's recommendation.

A lawyer representing a coalition of more than 120 landowners in the Rural Municipality of Taché and around La Broquerie, Man., welcomed the opportunity to have a more "fulsome" discussion about the project.

"I think it's a positive step. As people become more familiar with the project, the deficiencies with it become more obvious," said Kevin Toyne, who represents the Southeast Stakeholders Coalition.

Toyne said some coalition members are worried that Hydro will forcibly expropriate land in order to build the line, while others are worried about potential economic and health impacts of having the line so close to their homes. They have proposed moving the line farther east.

When the Clean Environment Commission — an arm's-length provincial government agency — held public hearings on the proposed route earlier this year, the coalition brought their concerns forward, echoing Site C opposition voiced by northerners, but Toyne says both the commission and Hydro ignored them.

Hydro still aiming for 2020 in-service date

The Manitoba Métis Federation also participated in those public hearings. MMF president David Chartrand worries about the impact a possible delay, as seen with the Site C work halt tied to treaty rights, could have on revenue from sales of hydroelectric power to the U.S.

"I know that a lot of money, billions have been invested on this line. And if the connection line is not done, then of course this will be sitting here, not gaining any revenue, which will affect every Métis in this province, given our Hydro bill's going to go up," Chartrand said.The NEB letter to Minister Carr requests that he "determine this matter in an expedited manner."

Manitoba Hydro spokesperson Bruce Owen said in an email that the Crown corporation will participate in whatever process, permit or certificate, the NEB takes.

"Manitoba Hydro does not have any information at this point in time that would change the estimated in-service date (May-June 2020) for the Manitoba-Minnesota Transmission Project," he said.

The federal government "is currently reviewing the NEB's recommendation to designate the project as subject to a certificate, which would result in public hearings," said Alexandre Deslongchamps, a spokesperson for Carr.

"Under the National Energy Board Act, an international power line requires either the approval by the NEB through a permit or approval by the Government of Canada by a certificate. Both must be issued by the NEB," he wrote in an email to CBC News.

By law, the certificate process is not to take longer than 15 months.

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