by Jarret Adams

Vice President Joe Biden

According to a report by Vice President Joe Biden, the administration’s clean energy programs are expected to help create some 700,000 jobs. He said that the $787 billion Recovery Act is helping spur investment in new clean energy technologies, including wind, solar, energy efficiency and perhaps even nuclear energy. According to the ABC News blog:

“I’m pleased to report that the administration is laying the foundation for a clean energy economy that will create a new generation of jobs, reduce dependence on oil and enhance national security,” Biden begins his memo to Obama.

Biden notes in the memo that “Recovery Act investments in renewable generation and advanced energy manufacturing of $23 billion will likely create 253,000 jobs and leverage over $43 billion in additional investment that could support up to 469,000 more jobs, putting us on track to meet the goal of doubling our renewable energy generation, including solar, wind and geothermal, in just 3 years.”

Smart grid investments through the plan are expected to create some 43,000 jobs. AREVA T&D is participating in one of these initiatives to develop the smart grid systems.

Regarding nuclear energy, the Vice President also reports that “by the end of our first two years in office, we will have provided conditional commitments for loan guarantees for two nuclear power operators to add three to four new nuclear reactors.”

That’s great, but weren’t there four companies listed as finalists for the loan guarantees? And DOE officials have said that the first loan guarantee for a nuclear project could be issued by the end of this year.

John Wheeler of This Week in Nuclear, in his an excellent post up on The Energy Collective, pointed us to a recent study from the Nature Conservancy on the “Land Use Intensity” of nuclear energy versus other forms of energy.  The study, “Energy Sprawl or Energy Efficiency,” looks at the impact of various energy-generation methods on natural habitats (measured in square kilometers per terawatt-hour) and comes to the conclusion that aside from increasing efficiency, nuclear power has the smallest land-use footprint of all forms of energy generation – including green technologies like wind, geothermal, and solar!

As you can see from the chart, it only takes 2.4 square kilometers of land to produce one terawatt-hour of energy in a nuclear reactor – just one-third of the impact of the next most efficient form of generation, geothermal, and just one-sixth the impact of solar thermal power.

Why is this important?  As climate change becomes a reality, preserving natural habitats – the Nature Conservancy’s mission – will become more and more crucial.  The energy we generate in the future needs to not only have a low-impact with regards to carbon emissions and pollutants, but also be efficient in terms of land use.  Just as “suburban sprawl” can gobble up natural and wilderness habitats that had previously supported diverse ecosystems, so too can “energy sprawl.”

The Nature Conservancy is concerned that as our energy appetite increases and we become more and more concerned about carbon emissions, we’ll go to methods of power generation that require the destruction of natural habitats for things like farming corn or soy for biofuels.  Nuclear power, they say, has the least amount of land-use impact of all forms of power generation.  Nothing can substitute for more efficiency, obviously. It’s clear from the study that efficiency gains (including, we might add, smart grid technology) would result in net decreases in land use.  But if we’re going to build more power plants, nuclear power will use the least amount of land.

This, combined with the NEI study we previously highlighted showing that nuclear energy is just as carbon-efficient as solar, hydroelectric, geothermal, and wind power, makes it even clearer: the world’s green energy future must involve nuclear power.  Safe, reliable, clean, CO2-free nuclear power must be a crucial component of any carbon-reduction plan.

By Katherine Berezowskyj

Huge efforts continue in both funding and research to make sure that Smart Grid technologies becomes a reality for the U.S. Making the grid will be more efficient is key to meeting growing U.S. energy needs and reducing our current environmental impact from energy generation.

Today the Wall Street Journal discussed how stimulus funds are being awarded to help transform the U.S. power grid from a “largely electromechanical system into a digital network that gives utilities more efficient ways to send electricity to customers.” Providing the U.S. with successful Smart Grid technology means important reductions in wasted electricity “that could help cut pollution and electric bills.”

The Journal’s article also discussed the development of smart meters. These are devices which allow utilities monitor usage in real time, letting them change the variable prices based on demand.

Other ongoing work includes the Electric Power Research Institute’s (EPRI) research and development work on the generation, delivery and use of electricity. To help with the organization’s important Smart Grid research, AREVA’s Transmission and Distribution division (T&D) just announced that it will supply intelligent electronic devices to the institute. T&D will be donating 13 different devices as part of its ongoing commitment to critical smart grid development.

These devices will be installed in the institute’s labs in Knoxville, Tenn., Charlotte, N.C., and Lenox, Mass., which are acting as substations simulators. At these locations, EPRI will use the devices provided by AREVA T&D and other companies, to simulate a Smart Grid for running various scenarios and tests. The EPRI researchers, working with utilities, AREVA T&D, and other companies will study a variety of realistic Smart Grid situations and capabilities.

“The goal of this project is to provide a test best for new ideas to address the challenges facing the Smart Grid,” explained Paul Myrda, the Technical Executive at EPRI. This is just some of the important work that is contributing to towards a more efficient, more reliable, Smart Grid for the U.S.

Be sure to read the rest of the Wall Street Journal article “Stimulus Funds Speed Transformation toward ‘Smart Grid’”

For more information about AREVA T&D contribution of intelligent electronic devices, check here.

by Katherine Berezowskyj

If you are going to be at the GridWeek conference in our nation’s capital this week, be sure to check out booth #103. Here, AREVA’s Transmission & Distribution (T&D) division is demonstrating its unique system for integrating its Smart Grid technologies and renewable power generation.

AREVA T&D's Booth at GridWeek

AREVA’s Smart Grid Suite, which includes a range of e-terra products, helps to manage and optimize the grid efficiency. As part of AREVA’s work in grid efficiency, AREVA was awarded a Department of Energy grant in July to study global best practices in grid tools and operations for wind plants. This will provide the basis for the U.S. grid to operate with more wind power generation

This is a complimentary effort for expanding CO2-free power generation that supports AREVA’s rapidly growing renewable sector. Some of the major projects currently under development around the world include biopower (biomass to electricity) and offshore wind.

Recently the Transmission & Distribution division of AREVA and PJM Interconnection made some “smart” moves forming a strategic alliance to better address to challenges of   “smarter” transmission grids for the northeastern United States.  The two organizations already have several years of success working together and will now be engaged in improving system resiliency and efficiency in the new paradigm of smarter grids.

Already a world-class transmission organization coordination the movement of wholesale electricity through 13 states and the District of Columbia, PJM is brings power to 51 million people in the U.S.  AREVA T&D has a successful history of delivering effective solutions to PJM, including industry firsts, such as locational marginal pricing (LMP)-based solution for the multi-settlement electricity market, and the first large-scale mixed integer programming (MIP) solution for clearing the day-ahead market.

Their joint strategy will now focus on developing T&D’s e-terra™ applications suite with “Smarter Dispatch” technologies.  This will facilitate a new generation of resources and devices for improved operational efficiency and expanded system security and with technologies that utilize PJM’s experience in providing quality and timely market information which will allow substantial and dramatic increase of the penetration of Demand Response technologies across PJM’s footprint.

PJM’s Senior Vice-President of Market Operations , Andy Ott, described how “On more than one occasion, AREVA T&D and PJM have worked collaboratively to deliver outstanding world-class solutions to meet our most challenging business requirements.”  AREVA T&D’s Executive Vice-President, Automation Business Unit, Jean-Michel Cornille said that “We are looking forward to combining our complementary areas of expertise to help shape the direction of Smart Grid technology, and to make more reliable, efficient and strong networks a reality.”

By Laura Clise

On June 3, the U.S. State Department Global Partnerships Initiative, the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator and TED hosted TED@State, New Ideas for a Better world. TED is a non-profit organization dedicated to the spread of attitude-changing, life-changing, and world-changing ideas. TED@State brought together a diverse and dynamic group of speakers, but better than any notes I could provide, you can check out the actual footage from each speaker’s presentation on the TED website (available soon) and or and read a summary of the presented material on the TED Blog.

While the event was personally of interest to me (I have a passion for international development and my best friend from business school is currently working as an Acumen Fellow for TED@State speaker, Jacqueline Novogratz), my professional reason for attending TED@State was directly linked to the ongoing global dialogue regarding development, energy, and climate change.

Social media analyst Clay Shirky talked about the impact of the shifting media landscape, something with which AREVA is already familiar through the AREVA Blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin pages. Futurist and environmentalist Stewart Brand discussed the implications of increased urbanization and also the critical role that base-load nuclear energy must contribute to our low-carbon energy future. Acumen Fund CEO Jacqueline Novogratz talked about facilitating bottom up entrepreneurial solutions to poverty alleviation and noted that effective solutions start from the perspective of those her organization is trying to help. This mentality is akin to the way we develop the products and services that we offer. Economist Paul Collier talked about the importance of sustainable job creation, health, and clean government in post-conflict recovery. AREVA also believes that job creation is critical to economic vitality and will be hiring more than 700 people in North America this year. Finally, data visionary Hans Rosling provided a statistical argument for global convergence and talked as well about the importance of information and data transparency. AREVA has been committed to open communication and transparency since its inception in order to lift the veil of secrecy that used to shroud the nuclear energy industry.

The TED@State speakers articulated the complex geopolitical, social, cultural, and environmental contexts in which companies like AREVA are innovating solutions that meet the energy needs of development while at the same time taking into account implications for social and environmental impact.

Check out this great article in The Economist about the future of green energy. They talk about the impending crisis that is climate change and the importance of finding safe, reliable energy sources that won’t put harmful pollutants or climate-changing CO2 into our air. And like any good discussion of the changes we’re going to need to make to the way we collect and use energy, The Economist points out the importance of nuclear power to provide baseload energy as part of a green energy mix:

In his election campaign Mr Obama dodged the subject of nuclear power. “New Energy for America”, his eight-page energy manifesto, mentioned it briefly, without enthusiasm. But it is hard to imagine halting climate change without it. Windmills and solar panels provide power only intermittently. To avoid blackouts an energy source that keeps flowing in any weather is needed. Nuclear power, whose CO2 emissions are tiny, fits the bill. But no new nuclear plant has been built in America for 35 years. Mr Obama is now mulling loans to restart the industry. Given the huge upfront costs and the certainty of resistance from environmentalists, firms will have to know the government is serious about curbing CO2 before they commit themselves to building nuclear plants.

The article also talks about the importance of implementing a smart grid – an electrical grid that can actually save energy by anticipating times and places of peak demand and making the grid more efficient:

Mr Obama included incentives for building a smart grid in his stimulus package. Businesses are queuing to build one. “This is the most sexy industry to work in,” says Guido Bartels, who leads the energy team at IBM. A smart grid would involve sensors to monitor power flow in both directions, and software to help crunch all the data thus generated. If you plug in your electric car at a friend’s house, you will want an easy way to be billed, says Mr Bartels. And information can be used in myriad ways to make the system more efficient, for example by imposing variable prices to discourage power use during periods of peak demand. Energy is one of the fastest-growing parts of IBM’s business. Manufacturers such as GE and ABB build the physical infrastructure, while IBM vies with such firms as Accenture to supply the information technology and integrate it all.

The entire article is definitely worth a read… you should check it out!

Back in December 2008, Lawrence E. Jones of AREVA T&D published an editorial in Smart Electric News entitled “Renewable Energy Systems, Electric Vehicles, and Smart Electricity Grids for a Carbon-Constrained World.” In that article, he lays out some of the challenges of the road ahead for the energy industry – including the need to reduce carbon emissions, the need for continued research, development, and implementation of renewable energy sources, an aging workforce, and the most crucial need – to create a 21st-century power grid that’s able to anticipate and deal with periods of heavy power usage.

The whole thing is worth a read… but here are some of the highlights:

Wind and solar power are intermittent resources and as such make it difficult to operate the power grids to which they are connected. To successfully integrate RES, electric utilities must have reliable forecast information about the quantity and availability of the power output. Thus, forecasting systems are one of the primary requirements to achieving increased penetration of wind and solar energy. The second requirement is combining the forecast information with the real-time operational data in the utilities’ control centers for decision making – both in the front and back offices. . . .

To effectively integrate large amounts of renewable power generation with existing and emerging smart power grids, there will be increasing need for modern information, communications and control technologies. But these are not the only prerequisites. There must also be investments in education and training a new work force to carry out the millions of new jobs expected to be created. Work force development must be an integral part of every country’s long term goal in order to compete in the 21st century global economy.

by Jarret Adams

AREVA’s Transmission and Distribution (T&D) division has announced that it has extended its three-year collaboration with Microsoft for the development of Smarter Grid Management solutions, so the global power industry can manage electricity demand more efficiently.

AREVA and Microsoft already provide AREVA customers with some key capabilities for managing the grid. Under the new agreement, the two companies will work to improve cybersecurity and integration with Microsoft Office tools.

Some other benefits are that the new smart grid systems are better at managing distribution generation and renewables. AREVA displayed some of its Microsoft-based smart grid solutions at DistribuTECH in San Diego earlier this year.

AREVA’s efforts to improve the efficiency of the grid through its T&D applications constitute one of three main pillars for fighting climate change. The other two are nuclear energy and renewables, which produce electricity without producing any significant amount of greenhouse gases.

Here’s a great diagram of how AREVA’s Smart Grid technology works…

Smart Grid Diagram (click to enlarge, approx. 160K)