Premier warns NDP, Greens that delaying Site C dam could cost $600M

Australian VRF Battery Market sees a commercial-scale solar and storage demonstration by Energy Made Clean, Sumitomo Electric, and TNG, integrating vanadium redox flow systems with microgrids for grid-scale renewable energy reliability across Australia.

Key Points

A growing sector deploying vanadium redox flow batteries for scalable, long-life energy storage across Australia.

✅ Commercial demo by EMC, Sumitomo Electric, and TNG

✅ Integrates solar PV with containerized VRF systems

✅ Targets microgrids and grid-scale renewable reliability

Carnegie Wave Energy’s 100 per cent owned subsidiary, Energy Made Clean, is set to develop and demonstrate a commercial-scale solar and battery storage plant in Australia, after entering into a joint venture targeting Australia’s vanadium redox flow (VRF) battery market.

Carnegie said on Tuesday that EMC had signed a memorandum of understanding with Japanese company Sumitomo Electric Industries and ASX-listed TNG Limited to assess the potential applications of VRF batteries through an initial joint energy storage demonstration project in Australia.

The deal builds on a June 2015 MOU between EMC and emerging strategic metals company TNG, to establish the feasibility of Vanadium Redox batteries. And it comes less than two months after Carnegie took full ownership of the Perth-based EMC, which has established itself as one of the Australia’s foremost micro-grid and battery storage businesses, reflecting momentum in areas such as green hydrogen microgrids internationally.

Energy Made Clean’s main role in the partnership will be to identify commercial project site opportunities, while also designing and supplying a compatible balance of plant – likely to include solar PV – to integrate with the VRF containerised system being supplied by Sumitomo.

The demonstration will be of commercial size, to best showcase Sumitomo’s technology, the companies said; with each party contributing to their core competencies, and subsequently cooperating on the marketing and sales of VRF batteries.

As we have noted on RE before, vanadium redox flow batteries are tipped to be one of the key players in the booming global energy storage market, alongside innovations like gravity storage investment, as more and more renewable energy sources are brought onto grids around the world.

The batteries are considered uniquely suited to on- and off-grid energy storage applications, and emerging models like vehicle-to-building power, due to their scalability and long asset lives, with deep and very high cycling capability.

Australia, as well as being a key market for battery storage uptake, has seen a recent grid rule change that could impact big batteries, and has been noted for its potential to become a top global producer of vanadium – a metal found in a range of mineral deposits.

A number of Australian companies are already active in the local vanadium redox flow battery market, including miner Australian Vanadium – which recently inked a deal with Germany battery maker Gildemeister Energy Storage to sell its CellCube range of VRF batteries – and Brisbane based battery maker Redflow.

Energy Made Clean CEO John Davidson said the signing of the MOU would bring key industry innovators together to help revolutionise the vanadium redox flow battery market in Australia.

“This strategic MoU represents a compelling three-way tie-up of an emerging miner, a manufacturer and an integrator to accelerate the development of a major new energy growth market,” Davidson said.  

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NB Power seasonal electricity rates face backlash amid smart grid delays, meter reading limits, and billing dispute risks, as consultants recommend AMI smart meters for accurate winter-summer pricing, time-of-use alignment, and consumer protection.

Key Points

NB Power seasonal electricity rates raise winter prices and lower summer prices to match costs, using accurate AMI metering.

✅ Requires midnight meter reads without AMI, increasing billing disputes.

✅ Shifts costs to electric-heat homes during high winter demand.

✅ Recommended to wait for smart grid AMI for time-of-use accuracy.

A consultant hired by NB Power is warning of significant consumer "backlash" if the utility is made to establish seasonal rates for electricity, as seen in B.C. and Quebec smart meter disputes among customers.

The consultant's report even suggests customers might have to read their own power meters at midnight twice a year — on April Fool's and Halloween — to make the system work.

"Virtually all bills will have errors ... billing disputes can be expected to increase, as seen in a $666 smart meter bill in N.S. that raised concerns, possibly dramatically, and there will be no means of resolving disputes in a satisfactory way," reads a report by Elenchus Research Associates that was commissioned by NB Power and filed with the Energy and Utilities Board on Thursday.

NB Power is in the middle of a year-long "rate design" review ordered by the EUB that is focused in part on whether the utility should charge lower prices for electricity in the summer and higher prices in the winter to better reflect the actual cost of serving customers.

New network of meters needed

Elenchus was asked to study how that might work but the company is arguing against any switch until NB Power upgrades its entire network of power meters, given old meters in N.B. have raised concerns.

Elenchus said seasonal rates require an accurate reading of every customer's power meter at midnight on March 31 and again on Oct. 31, the dates when power rates would switch between winter and summer prices.

A consultant's report says NB Power doesn't have the manpower to properly read meters if it brings in seasonal rates. (CBC)

But NB Power does not have the sophisticated infrastructure in place to read meters remotely, or the manpower to visit every customer location on the same day, so Elenchus said the utility would have to guesstimate bills or rely on the technical savvy and honesty of customers themselves.

"Customers could be asked to read their own meters late in the day on March 31 (and October 31)," suggested the report. "Aside from the obvious inconvenience and impracticality of that approach, NB Power would have no means of verifying the customers' meter reads."

Residential customers would see hike

Another looming controversy with seasonal rates is that it would raise costs for residential customers, especially to those who heat with electricity, a pressure seen with a 14% rate increase in Nova Scotia recently.

Elenchus estimated seasonal rates would add nearly $6 million to the cost of residential bills overall, with the largest increases flowing to those with baseboard heat.

Electric heat customers consume the majority of their power during the five months that would have the highest prices and Elenchus said that is another reason to wait for better power meters before proceeding.

NB Power has an ambitious plan to bring in a new meter system, and the consultant's report recommends waiting for that to happen before switching to seasonal rates. (Google Street View)

NB Power has an ambitious plan to upgrade meters and related infrastructure as part of its transformation to a "smart grid," but it is a multi-year plan.

Once in place the utility would be able to read meters remotely hour to hour, allowing power rates to be adjusted for times of the day and days of the week as well as seasonally.

Consumers will also have in-home pricing and consumption displays to help them manage their bills.

Elenchus said waiting for those meters will give electric heat customers a chance to avoid higher seasonal costs by letting them shift power consumption to lower-priced parts of the day.

"The introduction of seasonal rates would be more acceptable once AMI (advanced metering infrastructure) has been deployed," concludes the report.

A final hearing on NB Power's rate design, where seasonal rates and other changes will be considered, amid a power market overhaul debate in Alberta that industry is watching, is scheduled for next April.

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CrashOverride malware is a Russian-linked ICS cyberweapon targeting power grids, SCADA systems, and utility networks; linked to Electrum/Sandworm, it threatens U.S. transmission and distribution with modular attacks and time-bomb payloads across critical infrastructure.

Key Points

A modular ICS malware linked to Russian actors that disrupts power grids via SCADA abuse and forced breaker outages.

✅ Targets breakers and substation devices to sustain outages

✅ Modular payloads adapt to ICS protocols and vendors

✅ Enables timed, multi-site attacks against transmission and distribution

Hackers allied with the Russian government have devised a cyberweapon that has the potential to be the most disruptive yet against electric systems that Americans depend on for daily life, according to U.S. researchers.

The malware, which researchers have dubbed CrashOverride, is known to have disrupted only one energy system — in Ukraine in December. In that incident, the hackers briefly shut down one-fifth of the electric power generated in Kiev.

But with modifications, it could be deployed against U.S. electric transmission and distribution systems to devastating effect, said Sergio Caltagirone, director of threat intelligence for Dragos, a cybersecurity firm that studied the malware and issued a recent report.

And Russian government hackers have shown their interest in targeting U.S. energy and other utility systems, with reports of suspected breaches at U.S. power plants in recent years, researchers said.

“It’s the culmination of over a decade of theory and attack scenarios,” Caltagirone warned. “It’s a game changer.”

The revelation comes as the U.S. government is investigating a wide-ranging, ambitious effort by the Russian government last year to disrupt the U.S. presidential election and influence its outcome, and has issued a condemnation of Russian power grid hacking as well. That campaign employed a variety of methods, including hacking hundreds of political and other organizations, and leveraging social media, U.S. officials said.

Dragos has named the group that created the new malware Electrum, and it has determined with high confidence that Electrum used the same computer systems as the hackers who attacked the Ukraine electric grid in 2015. That attack, which left 225,000 customers without power, was carried out by Russian government hackers, other U.S. researchers concluded. U.S. government officials have not officially attributed that attack to the Russian government, but some privately say they concur with the private-sector analysis.

“The same Russian group that targeted U.S. [industrial control] systems in 2014, including the Dragonfly campaign documented by Symantec, turned out the lights in Ukraine in 2015,” said John Hultquist, who analyzed both incidents while at iSight Partners, a cyber-intelligence firm now owned by FireEye, where he is director of intelligence analysis. Hultquist’s team had dubbed the group Sandworm.

“We believe that Sandworm is tied in some way to the Russian government — whether they’re contractors or actual government officials, we’re not sure,” he said. “We believe they are linked to the security services.”

Sandworm and Electrum may be the same group or two separate groups working within the same organization, but the forensic evidence shows they are related, said Robert M. Lee, chief executive of Dragos.

The Department of Homeland Security, which works with the owners of the nation’s critical infrastructure systems, did not respond to a request for comment Sunday.

Energy-sector experts said that the new malware is cause for concern, but that the industry is seeking to develop ways to disrupt attackers who breach their systems, including documented access to U.S. utility control rooms in prior incidents.

“U.S. utilities have been enhancing their cybersecurity, but attacker tools like this one pose a very real risk to reliable operation of power systems,” said Michael J. Assante, who worked at Idaho National Labs and is a former chief security officer of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, where he oversaw the rollout of industry cybersecurity standards.

CrashOverride is only the second instance of malware specifically tailored to disrupt or destroy industrial control systems. Stuxnet, the worm created by the United States and Israel to disrupt Iran’s nuclear capability, was an advanced military-grade weapon designed to affect centrifuges that enrich uranium.

In 2015, the Russians used malware to gain access to the power supply network in western Ukraine, but it was hackers at the keyboards who remotely manipulated the control systems to cause the blackout — not the malware itself, Hultquist said.

With CrashOverride, “what is particularly alarming . . . is that it is all part of a larger framework,” said Dan Gunter, a senior threat hunter for Dragos.

The malware is like a Swiss Army knife, where you flip open the tool you need and where different tools can be added to achieve different effects, Gunter said.

Theoretically, the malware can be modified to attack different types of industrial control systems, such as water and gas. However, the adversary has not demonstrated that level of sophistication, Lee said.

Still, the attackers probably had experts and resources available not only to develop the framework but also to test it, Gunter said. “This speaks to a larger effort often associated with nation-state or highly funded team operations.”

One of the most insidious tools in CrashOverride manipulates the settings on electric power control systems. It scans for critical components that operate circuit breakers and opens the circuit breakers, which stops the flow of electricity. It continues to keep them open even if a grid operator tries to close them, creating a sustained power outage.

The malware also has a “wiper” component that erases the software on the computer system that controls the circuit breakers, forcing the grid operator to revert to manual operations, which means driving to the substation to restore power.

With this malware, the attacker can target multiple locations with a “time bomb” functionality and set the malware to trigger simultaneously, Lee said. That could create outages in different areas at the same time.

The outages would last a few hours and probably not more than a couple of days, Lee said. That is because the U.S. electric industry has trained its operators to handle disruptions caused by large storms, alongside a renewed focus on protecting the grid in response to recent alerts. “They’re used to having to restore power with manual operations,” he said.

So although the malware is “a significant leap forward in tradecraft, it’s also not a doomsday scenario,” he said.

The malware samples were first obtained by ESET, a Slovakian research firm, which shared some of them with Dragos. ESET has dubbed the malware Industroyer.

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San Diego Gas & Electric EV incentives deliver $10,000 utility discounts plus a $200 EV Climate Credit, stackable with California rebates and federal tax credits on BMW i3 and Nissan Leaf purchases through participating dealers.

Key Points

Utility-backed rebates that cut EV purchase costs and stack with California and federal tax credits for added savings.

✅ $10,000 off BMW i3 or Nissan Leaf via SDG&E partner dealers

✅ Stack with $7,500 federal and up to $4,500 California rebates

✅ $200 annual EV Climate Credit for eligible account holders

For southern California residents, it's an excellent time to start considering the purchase of a BMW i3 or Nissan Leaf electric car as EV sales top 20% in California today.

San Diego Gas & Electric has joined a host of other utility companies in the state in offering incentives towards the purchase of an i3 or a Leaf as part of broader efforts to pursue EV grid stability initiatives in California.

In total, the incentives slash $10,000 from the purchase price of either electric car, and an annual $200 credit to reduce the buyer's electricity bill is included through the EV Climate Credit program, which can complement home solar and battery options for some households.

SDG&E's incentives may be enough to sway some customers into either electric car, but there's better news: the rebates can be combined with state and federal incentives.

The state of California offers a $4,500 purchase rebate for qualified low-income applicants, while others are eligible for $2,500

Additionally, the federal government income-tax credit of up to $7,500 can bring the additional incentives to $10,000 on top of the utility's $10,000.

While the federal and state incentives are subject to qualifications and paperwork established by the two governments, the utility company's program is much more straight forward.

SDG&E simply asks a customer to provide a copy of their utility bill and a discount flyer to any participating BMW or Nissan dealership.

Additional buyers who live in the same household as the utility's primary account holder are also eligible for the incentives, although proof of residency is required.

Nissan is likely funding some of the generous incentives to clear out remaining first-generation Nissan Leafs.

The 2018 Nissan Leaf will be revealed next month and is expected to offer a choice of two battery packs—one of which should be rated at 200 miles of range or more.

SDG&E joins Southern California Edison as the latest utility company to offer discounts on electric cars as California aims for widespread electrification and will need a much bigger grid to support it, though SCE has offered just $450 towards a purchase.

However, the $450 incentive can be applied to new and used electric cars.

Up north, California utility company Pacific Gas & Electric offers $500 towards the purchase of an electric car as well, and is among utilities plotting a bullish course for EV charging infrastructure across the state today.

Two Hawaiian utilities—Kaua'i Island Utility Cooperative and the Hawaiian Electric Company—offered $10,000 rebates similar to those in San Diego from this past January through March.

Those rebates once again were destined for the Nissan Leaf.

SDG&E's program runs through September 30, 2017, or while supplies of the BMW i3 and Nissan Leaf last at participating local dealers.

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Uber Elevate eVTOL Batteries enable electric air taxis with advanced energy storage, lithium-ion cell quality, safety engineering, and zero-emissions performance for urban air mobility, ride-hailing aviation, and scalable battery pack development.

Key Points

Battery systems for Uber's electric air taxis, maximizing energy density, safety, and cycle life for urban air mobility.

✅ Ex-Tesla battery leader guides pack design and cell quality

✅ All-electric eVTOL targets zero-emissions urban air mobility

✅ Focus on safety, energy density, fast charge, and lifecycle

Celina Mikolajczak, a senior manager for battery pack development at Tesla, has been hired by Uber to help the ride-hail company’s “flying car” project get off the ground. It’s an important hire because it signals that Uber plans to get more involved in the engineering aspects of this outlandish-sounding project.

For six years, Mikolajczak served as senior manager and technical lead for battery technology, cell quality, and materials analysis. She worked with Tesla’s suppliers, tested the car company’s lithium-ion batteries for long-term use as the age of electric cars accelerates, oversaw quality assurance, and conducted “failure analysis” to drive battery cell production and design improvements. In other words, Mikolajczak was in charge of making sure the most crucial component in Tesla’s entire assembly line was top of the line.

Now she works for Uber — and not just for Uber, but for Uber Elevate, the absurdly ambitious air taxi service that hinges on the successful development of electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles. There are practically zero electric planes in service today, and definitely none being used in a commercial ride-hail service. The hurdles to getting this type of service off the ground are enormous.

Her title at Uber is director of engineering and energy storage systems, and today marks her first week on the job. She joins Mark Moore, the former chief technologist for on-demand mobility at NASA’s Langley Research Center, who joined Uber almost a year ago to help lend a professional appearance to Elevate. Both serve under Jeff Holden, Uber’s head of product, who oversees the air taxi project.

Uber first introduced its plan to bring ride-sharing to the skies in a white paper last year. At the time, Uber said it wasn’t going to build its own eVTOL aircraft, but stood ready to “contribute to the nascent but growing VTOL ecosystem and to start to play whatever role is most helpful to accelerate this industry’s development.”

Instead, Uber said it would be partnering with a handful of aircraft manufacturers, real estate firms, and government regulators to better its chances of developing a fully functional, on-demand flying taxi service. It held a day-long conference on the project in Dallas in April, and plans to convene another one later this year in Los Angeles. In 2020, Uber says its aerial service will take off in three cities: LA, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Dubai.

UBER’S TAKING A MORE PROMINENT ROLE

Now, Uber’s taking a more prominent role in the design and manufacturing of its fleet of air taxis, which signals a stronger commitment to making this a reality — and also more of a responsibility if things eventually go south, as setbacks like Eviation's collapse underscore.

Perhaps most ambitiously, Uber says the aircraft it plans to use (but, importantly, do not exist yet) will run on pure battery-electric power, and not any hybrid of gasoline and electricity. Most of the companies exploring eVTOL admit that battery’s today aren’t light enough or powerful enough to sustain flights longer than just a few minutes, but many believe that battery technology will eventually catch up, with Elon Musk suggesting a three-year timeline for cheaper, more powerful cells.

Uber believes that in order to sustain a massive-scale new form of transportation, it will need to commit to an all-electric, zero-operational emissions approach from the start, even as potential constraints threaten the EV boom overall. And since the technology isn’t where it needs to be yet, the ride-hail company is taking a more prominent role in the development of the battery pack for its air taxi vehicles. Mikolajczak certainly has her work cut out for her.

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Renewables Beat Brown Coal in Australia, as solar and wind surged to nearly 10,000 GWh, stabilizing the grid with battery storage during peak demand, after Hazelwood's closure, Green Energy Markets reported.

Key Points

It describes a 2017-18 summer when solar, wind, and storage generated more electricity than brown coal in Australia.

✅ Solar and wind hit nearly 10,000 GWh in summer 2017-18

✅ Brown coal fell to about 9,100 GWh after Hazelwood closure

✅ Batteries stabilized peak demand; Tesla responded in milliseconds

Renewable energy generated more electricity than brown coal during Australia’s summer for the first time in 2017-18, according to a new report by Green Energy Markets.

Continued growth in solar, as part of Australia's energy transition, pushed renewable generation in Australia to just under 10,000 gigawatt hours between December 2017 and February 2018. With the Hazelwood plant knocked out of the system last year, brown coal’s output in the same period was just over 9,100 GWh.

Renewables produced 40% more than gas over the period, and was exceeded only by black coal, reflecting trends seen in U.S. renewables surpassing coal in 2022.

#google#

The report, commissioned by GetUp, found renewables were generating particularly large amounts of electricity when it was most needed, producing 32% more than brown coal during summer between 11am and 7pm, when demand peaks.

Coal in decline: an energy industry on life support

Solar in particular was working to support the system, on average producing more than Hazelwood was capable of producing between 9am and 5pm.

A further 5,000 megawatts of large-scale renewables projects was under construction in February, supporting 17,445 jobs, while renewables became the second-most prevalent U.S. electricity source in 2020.

GetUp’s campaign director, Miriam Lyons, said the latest renewable energy index showed renewables were keeping the lights on while coal became increasingly unreliable, a trend echoed as renewables surpassed coal in the U.S. in recent years.

“Over summer renewables kept houses cool and lights on during peak demand times when people needed electricity most,” Lyons said. “Meanwhile dirty old coal plants are becoming increasingly unreliable in the heat.

“These ageing clunkers failed 36 times over summer.

“Clean energy rescued people from blackouts this summer. When the clapped-out Loy Yang coal plant tripped, South Australia’s giant Tesla battery reacted in milliseconds to keep the power on.

“It’s clear that a smart electricity grid based on a combination of renewable energy and storage is the best way to deliver clean, affordable energy for all Australians.”

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