Categoria: Energia

Author: Rinnovabili.it

By Alchemist-hp (talk) (www.pse-mendelejew.de) – Own work, FAL, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11530303

Catodo organico, la rivoluzione per le batterie Li-Ion

(Rinnovabili.it) – Una batteria a ioni litio senza cobalto e nichel ad alte prestazioni potrebbe parzialmente riscrivere la geopolitica dell’approvvigionamento di materie prime per l’accumulo. A tentare l’impresa è oggi un gruppo di ricercatori del Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), creatore di un nuovo catodo a base organica. Il team ha dimostrato che questo materiale potrebbe non solo abbassare i prezzi delle ricaricabili (essendo prodotto a un costo relativamente basso) ma anche condurre l’elettricità a velocità simili a quelle delle batterie contenenti cobalto. Vantando buone performance anche in termini di capacità e una velocità di ricarica superiore alle tradizionali batterie a ioni di litio.

“Penso che questo materiale potrebbe avere un grande impatto perché funziona davvero bene”, ha affermato Mircea Dincă, professore di energia al MIT e a capo del gruppo di scienziati. “È già competitivo con le tecnologie esistenti e può far risparmiare molti costi, difficoltà e problemi ambientali legati all’estrazione dei metalli che attualmente vanno nelle batterie”.

leggi anche Batterie allo stato solido, a che punto siamo?

Batterie a ioni litio senza cobalto, una necessità

Beninteso: non si tratta della prima batteria a ioni litio senza cobalto. 

Le performance del cobalto nell’accumulo elettrochimico sono rinomate ma gli svantaggi che porta con sé ne hanno fatto sempre un elemento critico. E’ un metallo raro, il suo prezzo può aumentare rapidamente e gran parte dei depositi mondiali si trovano in paesi politicamente instabili. Inoltre le operazioni di estrazione rappresentano un pericolo per il lavoratori e generano rifiuti tossici che contaminano il terreno, l’aria e l’acqua circostanti alle miniere. Ecco perché nel tempo sono state studiate diverse alternative, alcune delle quali hanno anche raggiunto il mercato. Come nel caso delle batterie litio-ferro-fosfato (LFP), che alcuni produttori auto stanno iniziando a utilizzare nei veicoli elettrici. Il problema? I dispositivi LFP hanno circa la metà della densità energetica delle batterie al litio contenenti cobalto.

leggi anche Batteria a ioni sodio, prestazioni comparabili agli ioni litio

Il catodo in TAQ non teme confronti

La nuova batteria del MIT sostituisce questa materia prima critica – impiegata a livello del catodo – con un composto stratificato di TAQ (bis-tetraamminobenzochinone), una piccola molecola organica. Questi strati possono estendersi verso l’esterno in ogni direzione, formando una struttura simile alla grafite. E grazie alla presenza di particolari gruppi chimici nella struttura, può formare forti legami con l’idrogeno che rendono il materiale altamente stabile e insolubile. Ma per stabilizzarlo ulteriormente i ricercatori hanno aggiunto piccole quantità di materiali di riempimento come cellulosa e gomma. 

Il risultato è sorprendente. Il nuovo catodo organico ha mostrato una conduttività e una capacità di accumulo (densità di energia di 765 Wh/kg) paragonabili a quelle delle tradizionali ricaricabili al litio contenenti cobalto. Inoltre, le batterie con catodo TAQ possono essere caricate e scaricate in soli 6 minuti, elemento che potrebbe accelerare i tempi di ricarica dei veicoli elettrici. Lo studio del MIT è stato pubblicato su ACS Central Science (testo in inglese).

Author: Rinnovabili.it

By Bodgesoc – Photograph taken by mobile phone, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76844188

I dati 2023 sull’eolico offshore in Europa

(Rinnovabili.it) – Che il 2023 sia stato l’ennesimo anno record per l’eolico europeo non è più una novità. WindEurope, l’associazione di settore, lo aveva notificato solo qualche giorno fa, presentando i dati preliminari e annunciando una crescita di 17 GW per l’UE-27. Oggi tuttavia il quadro si completa con i numeri dell’eolico offshore in Europa, segmento che da solo ha contribuito con 3 GW alla nuova capacità comunitaria 2023. La cifra si alza progressivamente allargando lo sguardo a tutto il vecchio continente per un totale di 4,2 GW di nuovi parchi eolici in mare.

Nel complesso il dato mostra una crescita del 40% sul 2022, anno che aveva visto “solo” 1,7 GW di nuovi impianti eolici offshore in Europa (di cui 0,9 GW nell’Unione Europea). In cima alla lista dei grandi “costruttori” appaiono Paesi Bassi, Francia e Regno Unito a cui spettano le quote maggiori di nuova potenza installata. L’Olanda si fa notare soprattutto grazie all’Hollandse Kust Zuid, maxi progetto da 1,5 GW, che attualmente detiene un doppio: è la wind farm marina più grande al mondo e la prima ad essere realizzata senza incentivi.

Eolico offshore 2024, previste aste per 13,5 GW

Il trend al rialzo non si ferma ai risultati del 2023. Al contrario, tra nuove politiche e investimenti pianificati l’eolico offshore europeo si prepara ad un salto di qualità. “Sono stati raccolti complessivamente 30 miliardi di euro per 8 parchi”, spiega WindEurope. “Ciò finanzierà 9 GW di nuova capacità in mare. Questo record arriva dopo che l’incertezza giuridica e gli inutili interventi del mercato hanno portato a un calo degli investimenti […], scendendo al minimo storico di 0,4 miliardi di euro nel 2022”.

Non solo. Nel Regno Unito, Orsted ha preso la decisione finale d’investimento sul più grande progetto europeo, il parco eolico offshore Hornsea 3 da 2,9 GW. RWE ha acquisito il portafoglio della zona marina di Norfolk da 4,2 GW e ha sottolineato la sua determinazione a riprendere il progetto Norfolk Boreas da 1,4 GW, che era stato precedentemente interrotto. Inoltre se tutti i paesi condurranno, come promesso, aste eoliche nel 2024, quest’anno dovrebbero essere assegnati almeno 40 GW eolici nelle acque europee. A titolo di confronto, nel 2023 l’Europa ha messo all’asta 13,5 GW di nuova capacità offshore.

La filiera eolica europea si irrobustisce

 Un contributo al futuro sviluppo dell’eolico offshore in Europa dovrebbe arrivare dalle nuove politiche comunitarie in materia, primo fra tutti l’EU Wind Power Package che mira, tra le altre cose anche ad offrire un supporto al comparto manifatturiero, proteggendo la competitività europea. Al momento è presto per capire se il Piano UE abbia colto nel segno o meno, ma anche la catena di fornitura sta registrando un’inversione di tendenza. Nell’ultimo periodo sono stati annunciati nuovi stabilimenti produttivi per le turbine offshore in Polonia, Danimarca, Germania, Paesi Bassi e Spagna.

“Parallelamente, l’Europa deve garantire la presenza delle infrastrutture di supporto per l’energia eolica offshore”, aggiunge l’associazione. “Ciò significa investire in reti, porti e navi. Qui abbiamo visto i primi segni di progresso. I principali produttori europei di cavi elettrici offshore stanno espandendo i propri stabilimenti per garantire di poter soddisfare la crescente domanda di connessione da parte dei parchi eolici offshore in Europa”.

Author: Schneider Electric

What businesses running electrical distribution systems can learn from top football managers

Managing a top football team isn’t easy. The boss of any successful club will tell you that winning is not just about having great players, making inspiring speeches or choosing clever tactics on match day. It comes from taking the right decisions over weeks, months and years.

In turn, that requires an in-depth understanding of the resources they have at their disposal. To train their team for peak performance, for example, a manager has to know when to rest players and when to push them to their limits. And to build a strong squad, they must realize when they need to switch things around – bringing in new members and offloading others to get the right blend of abilities.

That’s why those in charge of the best clubs make sure they have data and analysis to inform their choices. They track their teams’ health and fitness with an array of metrics, and pore over game statistics to understand strengths and weaknesses.

Having all this at their fingertips helps managers plan effective training schedules, and recruit and develop new players. Without this information, they’re likely to run into problems. They might encounter opponents the team hadn’t prepared for. Or get to the cup final, only to find their star striker too exhausted to perform.

Don’t get stranded

We want to help our customers use a similar approach to power their businesses. Because whether you’re running a factory, a train service or a company headquarters, the stakes of electricity distribution are high. Consistency is the name of the game, and failure comes with a high cost.

For many decades we’ve provided organizations with the equipment they need, such as circuit breakers, to support a reliable electricity supply. But their networks need managing and maintaining – and that can quickly become difficult to stay on top of. Wait too long to repair or replace components and you risk being stranded without power at critical moments. Equally, you don’t want to waste money by carrying out unnecessary maintenance or buying the wrong kit.

Just like football managers, the people in charge of these power networks need high quality information to guide their actions. But some are still doing the equivalent of picking the team, sitting back and hoping for the best.

Seeing the bigger picture

There is a better way of doing things – as our recent experience working with a large European delivery company shows. For more than a decade, the courier has been using Schneider circuit breakers to help manage power networks at its sorting centers. But with around 50 sites to take care of, the job is a complex one.

In the past few years, we’ve been helping the company find more efficient ways to look after these systems, using our digitally-enabled service plans (like EcoCare membership*) to focus attention where it’s most needed.

Our cloud-based analytics bring together a wide range of operational data from the circuit breakers themselves, alongside information from sensors monitoring the surrounding environment (such as temperature and humidity). The data inputs – more than 100 in total – are then used to generate accurate estimates about the condition of different parts of the circuit breaker.

These readings provide a powerful framework for planning maintenance work. But they can be a lot to take in. To offer a further level of simplicity, our digital services also distil the analysis into a single health index rating, to provide an at-a-glance assessment of the device’s condition.

In addition, the analytics combine the asset health information with notifications from the circuit breaker, and records from past checks, to produce a separate maintenance index. Here, an overall rating gives an instant indication of how urgently maintenance needs to be scheduled, while specific scores for individual parts of the device provide a detailed breakdown of where it’s required.

At one of the company’s sites, for example, the overall reading for this index warned that maintenance needed to be scheduled as a high priority. The detailed analysis revealed that two crucial components of one circuit breaker – the opening and closing coils – urgently needed replacing. Because we could direct the company towards addressing these problems, it will be able to avoid the disruptive shutdown that would result if the device failed.

We’re also encouraging the business to think about the bigger picture. Together, the index scores revealed that in addition to the coils, other key parts of the circuit breaker were showing signs of advanced wear. This suggested that the most cost-effective approach in the long term could well be to replace the entire device – which is approaching the end of its lifespan – now. That way, the company could avoid having to carry out a further expensive replacement job in the near future.

Ultimately, it’s for businesses to decide how to manage their assets. What we can do is give them the understanding they need to plan this strategically. Our analytics are based on lab tests and modelling by Schneider’s expert engineers – and they’re always getting more sophisticated. We add new data inputs every month, and use AI to tailor our insights to their specific context.

The cloud-based platform brings all the relevant information together in one place, and allows teams to access it from any location. That makes it easier to manage the safety, performance and efficiency of electrical distribution systems throughout the organization. And as we enter an increasingly electrified world, the potential of this is clear. We estimate that our analytics-powered service plans typically help customers reduce the frequency of their routine maintenance from every three to every five years. And that leaves more time for building a winning team – whether it’s parcels or passes that need delivering.

*Please verify the availability of EcoCare in your region through a local services sales’ representative. If EcoCare is not yet available, you can start leveraging EcoStruxure Service Plan.

Tags: asset management, cloud based services, electrical distribution, Maintenance, Remote Monitoring, service plan

Author: Schneider Electric

Pressure on the steel industry to reduce carbon emissions is accelerating the use of green hydrogen (GH2) as an alternative to Coal. According to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, GH2 can help the U.S. steel industry reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to almost zero by 2050, while steel production can increase 12% over that period.  

For this scenario to become a reality, the industry must achieve near-zero emissions via energy efficiency improvements and transition to low/no-carbon fuels and electrification. Transformative technologies like hydrogen-based steel production, iron ore electrolysis, and carbon capture, usage, and storage (CCUS) technologies must combine to achieve effective decarbonization.

The transition to GH2 is critical for addressing hard-to-abate emissions applications like ironmaking. The industry must learn to manufacture and scale hydrogen production cost-effectively through sufficient renewable energy integration. Digitalization of operations is the key to enabling changes to the status quo.

Digitalization steps that ease green hydrogen integration

Minimizing carbon footprint and reducing total capital and operational expenditure  ̶  while increasing GH2 integration involves four digitization steps:

1. Integrated design and simulation – green hydrogen production is an electro-intensive process requiring energy system designs with robust power and process simulation modeling. Until recently, process modeling approaches to develop concept designs often required multiple software tools.

However, new digital twin design solutions integrate digital simulation with 3D detail engineering and construction engineering tools to:

• Enable seamless transitions, thereby reducing engineering time
• Reduce error and re-work risks
• Establish a base for a final engineered digital twin model that unifies both process and power designs
• Integrate power and process simulation for a complete end-to-end analysis of the facility’s design
• Enhance performance while maintaining design integrity between process and power equipment

2. Optimized electrical distribution – Gigawatt-scale GH2 plants must support new-generation steel plants. Top priorities to broaden GH2 adoption include decreasing production costs and increasing available supply. Today, hydrogen costs $3-6/kg to produce, but its production costs must decrease to $1-2/kg to provide a competitive alternative to natural gas. New scalable and modular power distribution solutions serve to lower costs and bridge the cost gap. These optimized power architectures use standardized compact equipment to enable hydrogen plant scalability. Consider solutions like electrical distribution design optimization tools, rectifier solution consulting, and E-Houses to help transition to lower-cost yet robust electrical distribution schemes.

3. Safe and efficient operations and maintenance (O&M) – Hydrogen, a flammable gas, can cause fires and explosions if improperly handled. These safety issues make its production an ideal candidate for combined power and process systems with integrated safety and cybersecurity. This type of system will tightly integrate Distributed Control (DCS), Energy Management and Control (EMCS), and Safety Integrity Systems.

Digital twin solutions can further embed safety throughout the design stages. These combined systems help:

• Lower CapEx
• Reduce required hardware
• Shorten engineering and functional testing time
• Minimize the need for commissioning
• Integrate control platforms, predictive simulation and optimization unified operations, asset performance management, and cybersecurity software

4. Competitive renewable energy – A robust hydrogen integration strategy will influence long-term steelmaking bottom lines. To lower energy costs (~20-40% of production costs), some steel producers are moving to geographies with lower-cost renewables (like Nordics with cheaper and plentiful renewable power). Others enter into long-term power purchasing agreements (PPAs) that lock in a fixed energy price over an extended period. More are developing energy strategies with the help of qualified consultancies working to optimize a mix of energy sources and use artificial intelligence (AI) forecasting tools. New energy management systems can also help orchestrate distributed energy resources (DERs) and manage power purchasing for hydrogen production when prices are low.

Partnership fosters green steel success  

The steel industry’s commitment to lower emissions is consistent with Schneider Electric’s core values around sustainability. We have digitized over 200 of our own global plants and distribution centers. Organizations such as Corporate Knights and the World Economic Forum have acknowledged our decarbonization efforts.

Along with our software partners, AVEVA and ETAP, we can help steel industry stakeholders accelerate decarbonization efforts by offering sophisticated tools to track CO2 emissions across the entire plant’s lifecycle. To learn more, download the ‘Green Steel Transformation’ brochure and watch our on-demand webinar.

Tags: decarbonizatin, digitalization, green hydrogen, Green Steel, partnership, webinar

Author: Schneider Electric

Water is a precious resource that sustains life and drives economic development and responsibility today’s Water and Wastewater utilities take quite seriously. One of the most daunting challenges they face is managing non-revenue water (NRW).

NRW ­­– the water running through a utility’s pipes but is never paid for ­– can be substantially reduced by embracing today’s digital transformation. The convergence of know-how, technology, data analytics, and infrastructure management around a digital governance process can unleash remarkable efficiency gains.

Globally, NRW equates to 126 billion cubic meters annually. Leaks, inefficient infrastructure, and poor water management practices are the main reasons for NRW. This impact isn’t limited to water resource shortages — in distribution systems; it can result in significant wasted energy and increased greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) derived from supply and treatment costs. According to IWA, energy loss due to NRW in global distribution networks ranges from an estimated 0.3 kWh/m3 to 1 kWh/m3, representing 20-50% of the total energy consumed for pumping, treatment, and distribution. CO2 emissions associated with NRW can range from an estimated 0.05 kgCO2/m³ to 0.3 kgCO2/m³ of water produced and distributed, depending on the specific energy mix and efficiency of the water utility.

Digital enablers for NRW reduction

Today, advances in technology, such as the cloud, the industrial internet of things (IIoT), big data, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and digital twin empower water utilities with mechanisms and strategies to help address NRW, including:

1. Real-time monitoring and leak detection – Meters, sensors, and pressure gauges provide real-time water flow, pressure, and consumption data. Advanced analytics and algorithms analyze this data to detect leakage patterns, while ML and data modeling techniques can leak locations more accurately for more targeted repairs and minimized water loss.
2. Pressure management – Because excessive pressure can lead to burst pipes and increased leakage, actively monitoring and controlling pressure levels can reduce the likelihood of leaks. Digital tools can optimize pressure in the water distribution network, ensuring it remains within the desired range.
3. Predictive maintenance – Digitalization allows predictive maintenance strategies based on data analysis and algorithms. By monitoring parameters like flow rates, pressure changes, and equipment performance, utilities can better anticipate maintenance needs and proactively address potential issues before they result in significant leaks.
4. Asset management – Digital platforms can facilitate comprehensive asset management, providing utilities with an overview of their infrastructure, including pipes, valves, and meters. This helps identify aging or deteriorating assets that may contribute to leakage. Utilities can mitigate the risk of leaks by prioritizing maintenance and replacement efforts and reducing NRW.
5. Breaking down organizational silos – Digitalization enables more effective data sharing and integration capabilities among cross-functional departments in the utility, such as engineering, operations, maintenance, and customer service. This collaboration drives more coordinated planning and implementation of NRW reduction initiatives, shared accountability, and continuous improvement.
6. Data-driven decision-making – The abundance of data collected through digital systems and organizational silos elimination enables utilities to make data-driven decisions like infrastructure investments, repair prioritization, and resource allocation.

Overcoming barriers to adopting digital NRW management

There are four key barriers to digital adoption in water utilities, particularly in NRW management:

1. Difficulty guaranteeing the dependability and precision of the gathered data. Technical problems, sensor malfunctioning, or errors in the data interpretation can result in incorrect identification of leaks or failure to detect them. Therefore, if we rely solely on digital systems without human verification or physical inspections, we can diminish the effectiveness of efforts to reduce NRW.
2. Breaking down organizational silos can be complex and time-consuming. It also requires substantial investments in infrastructure, software, and maintenance. Finding qualified personnel to handle the technology, ensuring interoperability with existing systems, and managing the transition process can limit the immediate benefits. However, motivated teams, continuous improvements, and the right digital partnership can help the organization act as a single entity.
3. Cybersecurity. Daily, we perform hundreds of digital transactions, communications, etc., without questioning their integrity and security. Cybersecurity is taken for granted because of the trust built by the digital and technology providers involved. The same can be true of the water sector digitization. However, digital adoption is hindered by the increasing exposure water utilities face when connecting their IT and OT systems and the resulting cyberthreats that could compromise the water supply in any given municipality.
4. Human replacement. The tendency to associate digital transformation with human replacement is common but untrue. Digital systems provide valuable data, but human judgment and decision-making remain crucial in NRW reduction strategies. Data interpretation, repair prioritization, and strategic planning all rely on the expertise and experience of human utility personnel. Digitalization is here to enable, not to replace.

How to unleash digital transformation potential

Realizing the power of a digital transformation requires the right balance between humans and technology. It is not enough to recognize the benefits and limitations of digitalization; this knowledge must be translated into actions by utilities, stakeholders, and policymakers. To impact NRW reduction, water utilities must embrace digital transformation as a strategic priority by:

• Investing in digital infrastructure to implement advanced monitoring systems, data analytics platforms, and sensor networks that enable real-time monitoring and accurate leak detection to detect leaks and prevent water loss promptly.
• Fostering collaboration with regular knowledge sharing, joint decision-making, and harnessing collective expertise across departments.
• Empowering workers to develop the right skills to leverage the potential of digital solutions by investing in training programs to enhance their capabilities in data analysis, system maintenance, and digital literacy.
• Advocating for supportive policies incentivizing and accelerating digital transformation in water utilities by engaging with policymakers.
• Adapting utility procurement processes to new business models and partnerships instead of tendering and procuring digital technology as if it were concrete and pipes.
• Embracing continuous improvement by regularly evaluating the effectiveness of digital solutions. Embrace feedback loops, monitor performance metrics, and adapt to emerging technologies and best practices.

Digital NRW in action

Concerns and hesitations about moving away from the comfort zone are understandable. However, being part of a digital partner for sustainability and efficiency for the last 20 years, I have observed how leading water utilities, like Anglian Water, overcame these fears by partnering with Schneider Electric to provide the expertise and digital know-how. We helped them connect over 300 data sources, equating to 38,000km of water network to be visualized and managed via a single platform. They realized a 5% cost reduction in outsourced leak detection and a 90% time reduction in checking leakage calculation, identifying flow meter faults, and planning leak survey deployment. Since 2015, they have been saving 10 million liters per day. 

My experience with other customers, like Padania Acque, has been very similar. An integrated view of water utility operations allowed digitization to bring stellar results for  NRW and financial gains (22% increase in EBITDA over 3 years), which can fuel further actions to invest in NRW strategies and technologies. 

Let’s work together to ensure sustainable water management, conserve precious resources, and secure a better future for future generations. To learn more, visit our Water and Wastewater solutions page.

Tags: #sustainability, Digital transformation, digitalization, non-revenue water, water and wastewater