The Ministry of Economic Affairs MOEA is mulling plans to increase electricity prices but has no timetable for doing so, the Bureau of Energy s
Asked if a price hike will take effect in May as reported in the local media, the bureau's deputy director-general Wang Yunn-ming said at a press conference that the plan is still being reviewed and the MOEA has no timeframe for its implementation.
The issue was raised after Wu Tsai-yi, president of Taiwan Research Institute and an independent board member of Taiwan Power Co. Taipower, said Monday that the MOEA is considering raising electricity prices twice this year, which will result in an overall 20 percent hike.
The proposal has been submitted to the Cabinet for approval, Wu was quoted as saying in the local media.
Taipower Vice President Huang Hsien-chang said that largely because of rising fuel prices in the past three years, the state-run company has incurred losses of NT$117.9 billion US$3.9 billion since 2006 and will lose an estimated NT$110 billion this year.
Taipower "cannot survive" unless electricity prices are raised, he said.
The last electricity price hike was in October 2008 and even then, it reflected only half of the rising costs, Huang said.
Since then, the price of coal has risen 53 percent and natural gas 25 percent, which has largely wiped out any gains, he said.
Meanwhile, Democratic Progressive Party DPP legislative caucus convener Chen Ting-fei called on Taipower to come up with a plan to improve its operation and to make its fuel purchasing prices more transparent.
Nighttime Thermoelectric Generator converts radiative cooling into renewable energy, leveraging outer space cold; a Stanford-UCLA prototype complements solar, serving off-grid loads with low-power output during peak evening demand, using simple materials on a rooftop.
Key Points
A device converting nighttime radiative cooling into electricity, complementing solar for low-power evening needs.
✅ Uses thermocouples to convert temperature gradients to voltage.
✅ Exploits radiative cooling to outer space for night power.
✅ Complements solar; low-cost parts suit off-grid applications.
Two years ago, one freezing December night on a California rooftop, a tiny light shone weakly with a little help from the freezing night air. It wasn't a very bright glow. But it was enough to demonstrate the possibility of generating renewable power after the Sun goes down.
Working with Stanford University engineers Wei Li and Shanhui Fan, University of California Los Angeles materials scientist Aaswath Raman put together a device that produces a voltage by channelling the day's residual warmth into cooling air, effectively generating electricity from thin air with passive heat exchange.
"Our work highlights the many remaining opportunities for energy by taking advantage of the cold of outer space as a renewable energy resource," says Raman.
"We think this forms the basis of a complementary technology to solar. While the power output will always be substantially lower, it can operate at hours when solar cells cannot."
For all the merits of solar energy, it's just not a 24-7 source of power, although research into nighttime solar cells suggests new possibilities for after-dark generation. Sure, we can store it in a giant battery or use it to pump water up into a reservoir for later, but until we have more economical solutions, nighttime is going to be a quiet time for renewable solar power.
Most of us return home from work as the Sun is setting, and that's when energy demands spike to meet our needs for heating, cooking, entertaining, and lighting.
Unfortunately, we often turn to fossil fuels to make up the shortfall. For those living off the grid, it could require limiting options and going without a few luxuries.
Shanhui Fan understands the need for a night time renewable power source well. He's worked on a number of similar devices, including carbon nanotube generators that scavenge ambient energy, and a recent piece of technology that flipped photovoltaics on its head by squeezing electricity from the glow of heat radiating out of the planet's Sun-warmed surface.
While that clever item relied on the optical qualities of a warm object, this alternative device makes use of the good old thermoelectric effect, similar to thin-film waste-heat harvesting approaches now explored.
Using a material called a thermocouple, engineers can convert a change in temperature into a difference in voltage, effectively turning thermal energy into electricity with a measurable voltage. This demands something relatively toasty on one side and a place for that heat energy to escape to on the other.
The theory is the easy part – the real challenge is in arranging the right thermoelectric materials in such a way that they'll generate a voltage from our cooling surrounds that makes it worthwhile.
To keep costs down, the team used simple, off-the-shelf items that pretty much any of us could easily get our hands on.
They put together a cheap thermoelectric generator and linked it with a black aluminium disk to shed heat in the night air as it faced the sky. The generator was placed inside a polystyrene enclosure sealed with a window transparent to infrared light, and linked to a single tiny LED.
For six hours one evening, the box was left to cool on a roof-top in Stanford as the temperature fell just below freezing. As the heat flowed from the ground into the sky, the small generator produced just enough current to make the light flicker to life.
At its best, the device generated around 0.8 milliwatts of power, corresponding to 25 milliwatts of power per square metre.
That might just be enough to keep a hearing aid working. String several together and you might just be able to keep your cat amused with a simple laser pointer. So we're not talking massive amounts of power.
But as far as prototypes go, it's a fantastic starting point. The team suggests that with the right tweaks and the right conditions, 500 milliwatts per square metre isn't out of the question.
"Beyond lighting, we believe this could be a broadly enabling approach to power generation suitable for remote locations, and anywhere where power generation at night is needed," says Raman.
While we search for big, bright ideas to drive the revolution for renewables, it's important to make sure we don't let the smaller, simpler solutions like these slip away quietly into the night.
Duke Energy Carolinas Solar RFP draws 3.9 GW of utility-scale bids, oversubscribed in DEP and DEC, below avoided cost rates, minimal battery storage, strict PPA terms, and interconnection challenges across North and South Carolina.
Key Points
Utility-scale solar procurement in DEC and DEP, evaluated against avoided cost, with few storage bids and PPA terms.
✅ 3.9 GW bids for 680 MW; DEP most oversubscribed
✅ Most projects 7-80 MWac; few include battery storage
✅ Bids must price below 20-year avoided cost estimate
Last week the independent administrator for Duke’s 680 MW solar solicitation revealed data about the projects which have bid in response to the offer, showing a massive amount of interest in the opportunity.
Overall, 18 individuals submitted bids for projects in Duke Energy Carolinas (DEC) territory and 10 in Duke Energy Progress (DEP), with a total of more than 3.9 GW of proposals – more nearly 6x the available volume. DEP was relatively more over-subscribed, with 1.2 GWac of projects vying for only 80 MW of available capacity.
This is despite a requirement that such projects come in below the estimate of Duke’s avoided cost for the next 20 years, and amid changes in solar compensation that could affect project economics. Individual projects varied in capacity from 7-80 MWac, with most coming within the upper portion of that range.
These bids will be evaluated in the spring of 2019, and as Duke Energy Renewables continues to expand its portfolio, Duke Energy Communications Manager Randy Wheeless says he expects the plants to come online in a year or two.
Lack of storage
Despite recent trends in affordable batteries, of the 78 bids that came in only four included integrated battery storage. Tyler Norris, Cypress Creek Renewables’ market lead for North Carolina, says that this reflects that the methodology used is not properly valuing storage.
“The lack of storage in these bids is a missed opportunity for the state, and it reflects a poorly designed avoided cost rate structure that improperly values storage resources, commercially unreasonable PPA provisions, and unfavorable interconnection treatment toward independent storage,” Norris told pv magazine.
“We’re hopeful that these issues will be addressed in the second RFP tranche and in the current regulatory proceedings on avoided cost and state interconnection standards and grid upgrades across the region.”
Limited volume for North Carolina?
Another curious feature of the bids is that nearly the same volume of solar has been proposed for South Carolina as North Carolina – despite this solicitation being in response to a North Carolina law and ongoing legal disputes such as a church solar case that challenged the state’s monopoly model.
E.ON Digital Transformer Stations modernize distribution grids with smart grid monitoring, voltage control, and remote switching, enabling bidirectional power flow, renewables integration, and rapid fault isolation from centralized grid control centres.
✅ Real-time voltage and current data along feeders and laterals
✅ Remote switching cuts outage duration and truck rolls
✅ Supports renewables and bidirectional power flows
E.ON plans to commission 2500 digital transformer stations in the service areas of its four German distribution grid operators - Avacon, Bayernwerk, E.DIS and Hansewerk - by the end of 2019. Starting this year, E.ON will solely install digital transformer stations in Germany, aligning with 2019 grid edge trends seen across the sector. This way, the digital grid is quite naturally being integrated into E.ON's distribution grids.
With these transformer stations as the centrepiece of the smart grid, it is possible to monitor and control using synchrophasors in the power grid from the grid control centre. This helps to maintain a more balanced utilisation of the grid and, with increasing complexity, ensures continued security of supply.
Until now, the current and voltage parameters required for safe grid operation could usually only be determined at the beginning of a power line, where there is usually a grid substation in place. Controlling current flow and voltage in the downstream system was physically impossible.
In the future, grids will have to function in both directions: they will bring electricity to the customer while at the same time collecting and transmitting more and more green electricity via HVDC technology where appropriate. This requires physical data to be made available along the entire route. To ensure security of supply, voltage fluctuations must be kept within narrowly defined limits and the current flow must not exceed the specified value, while reducing line losses with superconducting cables remains an important consideration. To manage this challenge, it is necessary to install digital technology.
The possibility of remotely controlling grids also reduces downtimes in the event of faults and supports a smarter electricity infrastructure approach. With the new technology, our grid operators can quickly and easily access the stations of the affected line. The grid control centres can thus limit and eliminate faults on individual line sections within a very short space of time.
Black Hills Energy Corriedale Wind Farm Expansion earns regulatory approval in Wyoming, boosting capacity to over 52MW near Cheyenne with five turbines, supporting Renewable Ready customers and wind power goals under PUC and PSC oversight.
Key Points
An approved Wyoming wind project upgrade to over 52MW, adding five turbines to serve Renewable Ready customers.
✅ Adds 12.5MW via five new wind turbines near Cheyenne
✅ Cost increases to $79m; prior estimate $57m
✅ Approved by SD PUC after Wyoming PSC review
US company Black Hills Energy has received regulatory approval to increase the size of its Corriedale wind farm in Wyoming, where Wyoming wind exports to California are advancing, to over 52MW from 40MW previously.
The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission approved the additional 12.5MW capacity after the Wyoming Public Service Commission determined the boost was within commission rules, as federal initiatives like DOE wind energy awards continue to support the sector.
Black Hills Energy will install five additional turbines, raising the project cost to $79m from $57m, amid growing heartland wind investment across the region. Corriedale will be built near Cheyenne and is expected to be placed in service in late 2020.
Black Hills said that during the initial subscription period for its Renewable Ready program, applications of interest from eligible commercial, industrial and governmental agency customers were received in excess of the program's 40MW, underscoring the view that more energy sources can make stronger projects.
Black Hills Corporations chief executive and president Linden Evans said: “We are pleased with the opportunity to expand our Renewable Ready program, allowing us to meet our customers’ interest in renewable wind energy, which co-op members increasingly support.
“This innovative program expands our clean energy portfolio while meeting our customers’ evolving needs, particularly around cleaner and more sustainable energy, as projects like new energy generation coming online demonstrate.”
Great Britain electricity generation spans renewables and baseload: wind, solar, nuclear, gas, and biomass, supported by National Grid interconnectors, embedded energy estimates, and BMRS data for dynamic imports and exports across Europe.
Key Points
A diverse, weather-driven mix of renewables, gas, nuclear, and imports coordinated by National Grid.
✅ Baseload from nuclear and biomass; intermittent wind and solar
✅ Interconnectors trade zero carbon imports via subsea cables
✅ Data from BMRS and ESO covers embedded energy estimates
Great Britain has one of the most diverse ranges of electricity generation in Europe, with everything from windfarms off the coast of Scotland to a nuclear power station in Suffolk tasked with keeping the lights on. The increasing reliance on renewable energy sources, as part of the country’s green ambitions, also means there can be rapid shifts in the main source of electricity generation. On windy days, most electricity generation comes from record wind generation across onshore and offshore windfarms. When conditions are cold and still, gas-fired power stations known as peaking plants are called into action.
The electricity system in Great Britain relies on a combination of “baseload” power – from stable generators such as nuclear and biomass plants – and “intermittent” sources, such as wind and solar farms that need the right weather conditions to feed energy into the grid. National Grid also imports energy from overseas, through subsea cables known as interconnectors that link to France, Belgium, Norway and the Netherlands. They allow companies to trade excess power, such as renewable energy created by the sun, wind and water, between different countries. By 2030 it is hoped that 90% of the energy imported by interconnectors will be from zero carbon energy sources, though low-carbon electricity generation stalled in 2019 for the UK.
The technology behind Great Britain’s power generation has evolved significantly over the last century, and at times wind has been the main source of electricity. The first integrated national grid in the world was formed in 1935 linking seven regions of the UK. In the aftermath of industrialisation, coal provided the vast majority of power, before oil began to play an increasingly important part in the 1950s. In 1956, the world’s first commercial nuclear reactor, Calder Hall 1 at Windscale (later Sellafield), was opened by Queen Elizabeth II. Coal use fell significantly in the 1990s while the use of combined cycle gas turbines grew, and in 2016 wind generated more electricity than coal for the first time. Now a combination of gas, wind, nuclear and biomass provide the bulk of Great Britain’s energy, with smaller sources such as solar and hydroelectric power also used. From October 2024, coal will no longer be used to generate electricity, following coal-free power records set in recent years.
Energy generation data is fetched from the Balancing Mechanism Reporting Service public feed, provided by Elexon – which runs the wholesale energy market – and is updated every five minutes, covering periods when wind led the power mix as well.
Elexon’s data does not include embedded energy, which is unmetered and therefore invisible to Great Britain’s National Grid. Embedded energy comprises all solar energy and wind energy generated from non-metered turbines. To account for these figures we use embedded energy estimates from the National Grid electricity system operator, which are published every 30 minutes.
Import figures refer to the net flow of electricity from the interconnectors with Europe and with Northern Ireland. A positive value represents import into the GB transmission system, while a negative value represents an export.
Hydro figures combine renewable run-of-the-river hydropower and pumped storage.
Biomass figures include Elexon’s “other” category, which comprises coal-to-biomass conversions and biomass combined heat and power plants.
Britain Electricity Demand During Lockdown is around 10 percent lower, as industrial consumers scale back. National Grid reports later morning peaks and continues balancing system frequency and voltage to maintain grid stability.
Key Points
Measured drop in UK power use, later morning peaks, and grid actions to keep frequency and voltage within safe limits.
✅ Daily demand about 10 percent lower since lockdown.
✅ Morning peak down nearly 18 percent and occurs later.
✅ National Grid balances frequency and voltage using flexible resources.
Daily electricity demand in Britain is around 10% lower than before the country went into lockdown last week due to the coronavirus outbreak, data from grid operator National Grid showed on Tuesday.
The fall is largely due to big industrial consumers using less power across sectors, the operator said.
Last week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered Britons to stay at home to halt the spread of the virus, imposing curbs on everyday life without precedent in peacetime.
Morning peak demand has fallen by nearly 18% compared to before the lockdown was introduced and the normal morning peak is later than usual because the times people are getting up are later and more spread out with fewer travelling to work and school, a pattern also seen in Ottawa during closures, National Grid said.
Even though less power is needed overall, the operator still has to manage lower demand for electricity, as well as peaks, amid occasional short supply warnings from National Grid, and keep the frequency and voltage of the system at safe levels.
Last August, a blackout cut power to one million customers and caused transport chaos as almost simultaneous loss of output from two generators caused by a lightning strike caused the frequency of the system to drop below normal levels, highlighting concerns after the emergency energy plan stalled.
National Grid said it can use a number of tools to manage the frequency, such as working with flexible generators to reduce output or draw on storage providers to increase demand, and market conditions mean peak power prices have spiked at times.
