ADVISORY – DEPLOYMENT of “Wireless” Smart Nodes a Military Weapons System

http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?preview=true&m=1111839869613&ca=1c6375e4-49d0-4a67-8910-ea9ed60cadd3&id=preview

 

 

KISS YOUR FUEL GOOD BYE: The Navajo Generating Station Coal Plant Officially Powers Down. Will Renewables Replace It? | Greentech Media

https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/navajo-generating-station-coal-plant-closes-renewables?utm_medium=email&utm_source=GridEdge&utm_campaign=GTMGridEdge

The Navajo Generating Station Coal Plant Officially Powers Down. 

Will Renewables Replace It?

One of the nation’s largest coal plants permanently powered down this week after the owners determined it would be uneconomical to continue operating the facility as natural gas and renewable energy prices continue to drop.

The Navajo Generating Station (NGS) officially shut off at 12:09 p.m. on November 18 when long-time employee Fred Larson opened the Unit 2 breakers, according to the plant operator, Arizona utility Salt River Project (SRP).  The plant had been operating since the mid-1970s on land leased from the Navajo Nation, located east of Page, Arizona.

The closure raises questions about the future of SRP’s energy mix and the extent to which renewables will meet the utility’s energy needs. It also presents a new set of challenges and opportunities for the Navajo Nation, which hosted the coal plant for more than 40 years and relied on it for revenue. When the decision to close NGS was made two years ago, over 500 employees were working at the plant — more than 90 percent of whom are Navajo.

The head of SRP framed the closure as a difficult but necessary decision based on “shifting economics” within the energy industry.

“NGS will always be remembered as a coal-fired workhorse whose employees made it one of the safest and most reliable power plants in the nation,” said SRP CEO and General Manager Mike Hummel.

In 2017, the owners of NGS decided to shutter the 2,250-megawatt coal plant after its lease with the Navajo Nation was scheduled to expire in late December.

SALT RIVER PROJECT – SRP owns 42.9 percent of NGS, with another 24.3 percent owned by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Other partial owners include Arizona Public Service, NV Energy and Tucson Electric Power.

Over the next three years, contractors will carry out demolition and reclamation duties at the NGS site as they have at many other coal plant sites across the country. The U.S. Energy Information Administration found that between 2010 and the first quarter of 2019, U.S. power companies announced the retirement of more than 546 coal-fired power units, totaling roughly 102 gigawatts of generating capacity. An additional 17 gigawatts of coal-fired capacity is expected to retire by 2025.

Natural gas and a massive solar-charged battery

According to an SRP spokesperson, the public power entity is primarily replacing its share of NGS’ generating capacity with natural gas from the Mesquite and Gila River power plants as well as some additional new solar resources.

Last week, ahead of the Navajo coal plant retirement, SRP announced the purchase of two new solar and battery storage plants, making it one of the largest investors in energy storage in the country.

The Sonoran Energy Center will comprise a 250-megawatt solar array coupled with a 1-gigawatt-hour energy storage system located in Arizona’s Little Rainbow Valley. The Storey Energy Center will be an approximately 88-megawatt solar and energy storage system, located south of Coolidge.

“These integrated solar and storage plants will allow SRP to meet its summer peak demand, reduce carbon emissions, and provide clean energy to our customers while optimizing energy output using state-of-the-art battery technology,” Hummel said in a statement.

The projects were chosen as part of a recent “all-source” solicitation for 600 megawatts of capacity that will help SRP hit its goal of adding 1,000 megawatts of new solar to its system by 2025 and meet customer needs going forward.

Both plants are scheduled to come online by June 2023 and will be owned and operated by subsidiaries of NextEra Energy Resources.

SRP, which is governed by its own elected board, has been criticized for not moving as fast as other Arizona utilities in adopting renewable energy resources. Recent announcements mark a shift in focus. Executives announced last year that SRP would add more solar and batteries to its grid in an effort to save money and reduce reliance on natural gas. At the time it had only 200 megawatts of solar power.

SRP also has a goal to reduce the amount of carbon emissions it generates per megawatt-hour by more than 60 percent by 2035 and by 90 percent in 2050.

Still, natural gas will make up the bulk of the missing capacity from the retired Navajo Generating Station. SRP purchased one block of the Gila River Power Station in 2016 and two 550-megawatt natural-gas generating units at Gila Station in 2017. The Mesquite plant purchase was made in 2012.

The good news for renewables is that SRP currently has a significant amount of baseload capacity available to help the grid remain reliable, which means that it can add a lot more solar before it starts to face some of the long-term problems utilities face when adopting a large amount of renewables, according Colin Smith, a senior analyst at Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables.

“SRP absolutely will be able to add more solar to the grid without disrupting their overall generation load,” he said.

“The biggest question, I think, is about lost jobs,” Smith added. “Solar, realistically, is only going to provide some short-term construction jobs as opposed to long-term jobs for engineers and people working at the coal plant.”

The human cost

The jobs impact from the NGS closure will disproportionately affect members of the Navajo Nation, who made up the vast majority of the coal plant’s workforce.

Clean energy entrepreneur Brett Isaac, who is Navajo and whose family still lives in the territory, is hopeful that renewable energy development will be able to create significant opportunities and lasting impact for his community.

A founder of Navajo Power, a Public Benefit Corporation developing clean energy projects on tribal lands, Isaac said he and his team are taking an inclusive approach to energy planning and designing their projects to generate long-term revenue streams for the tribe.

The two-year-old company is currently focused on deploying solar projects larger than 100 megawatts but over time plans to build a robust distributed energy business, which is more labor-intensive. The Navajo Power team believes it could develop up to 10 gigawatts of renewable energy on the Navajo Nation in Arizona and New Mexico, which would be a boon for the community and support a shift to new technology jobs.

Navajo Power has already secured land for its projects and is working to complete environmental reviews and establish offtake agreements for the large solar projects it plans to build. But the process of building support has been a challenge.

Convincing utilities, corporations and states that used to buy power from the Navajo Nation to sign new offtake agreements for projects located on tribal lands has been tough in the wake of the NGS closure. Engendering confidence within the Navajo Nation has been difficult as well.

Dealings with the “energy [industry have] been traumatic [for] indigenous communities,” said Isaac. “We don’t want to replicate things that have happened in the past [so] they lose their faith in the industry and…[become] resistant to the transition.”

He noted that the NGS coal plant closure has had a “human cost.” It took more than a year for NGS owners to finalize negotiations around closing the plant, putting plant workers and their families in a prolonged state of limbo.

In addition to employment issues, operating budgets for the Navajo Nation and the Hopi Tribe have relied on royalties from the Generating Station and from coal mines on their lands.

The Kayenta Coal Mine, which rolled its last trainload of coal to NGS in late August, used to purchase $9.9 million worth of electricity each year from the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority. The same month, the Peabody-owned mine laid off the last 265 of its workers, many of them members of the Hopi and Navajo tribes.

The transition

SRP and other NGS owners took several steps to limit the impact on tribal communities, according to SRP spokesperson Scott Harelson.

On the job front, SRP offered all 433 regular employees the opportunity to “redeploy” at other SRP facilities; nearly 300 accepted. SRP and other stakeholders in Arizona are also supporting a Re-Employment Center that will offer career training, certification programs and other job-seeker assistance.

In addition, the owners signed a 35-year extension lease with the Navajo Nation for plant retirement activities after 2019 and long-term monitoring. Arrangements were also made to allow for the ongoing operation of the transmission system on the Navajo Nation.

“Under the extension lease, the NGS owners will make lease payments totaling approximately $110 million to the Navajo Nation,” according to SRP.

The Navajo Nation will also take ownership of the remaining NGS assets, including a warehouse, lake pump system and railroad. The closure agreement also gave the tribe rights to transmission capacity at NGS. SRP said a federal government pledge to provide 500 megawatts of transmission capacity from the NGS system is valued at more than $80 million.

But according to Isaac, the Navajo Nation is still recovering decades’ worth of decisions that limited economic development and revenue generation in the region. Unemployment rates remain high, and roughly 15,000 homes on the Navajo Nation still don’t have power.

“And yet they have big 500-kilovolt power lines running over their homes,” he said.

A community-backed move to renewables

Attitudes around energy are shifting on the Navajo Nation. Communities that once opposed renewable energy development, viewing it as a threat to their coal jobs, now understand that alternative energy resources present new opportunities in a shifting energy landscape.

SRP is already working with the Navajo Nation to develop renewable energy on Navajo land and has partnered with the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority on the Kayenta I and Kayenta II solar power plants — the first large-scale solar projects in the territory — totaling approximately 60 megawatts of capacity.

Meanwhile, Navajo grassroots groups are tracking progress on the coal plant cleanup effort and continuing to urge Navajo Nation leaders to move away from the polluting resource. Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez appears to be heeding those calls.

Last Friday, the president refused to financially back bonds needed by the tribal energy company Navajo Transitional Energy Co. for three newly acquired coal mines located outside the reservation. Nez said the company was not transparent in its dealings and that the deal would put the tribe in a tricky financial position in the wake of coal plant closures and mining company bankruptcies.

The following day, Nez visited Navajo Power’s clean energy site and pledged to help the company get permits for its projects and find an offtaker for the power they generate.

“The leader appreciated that Navajo Power went through getting the proper consents from the community…and [is] going about it in a way that’s not trying to overstep or create conflict,” said Isaac.

While clean-energy advocates are looking to write a new chapter for Arizona following the NGS shutdown, there are some things they can learn from coal’s legacy, he added.

“Coal miners and plant operators have pride in what they’re doing,” Isaac said. “Solar can learn from that and create champions within the community — only this time, they can own the process while contributing to a cleaner environment.”

WOW – MISINFORMATION at Its Finest . . . 5G Cell Phone Radiation: How the Telecom Companies Are Losing the Battle to Impose 5G Against the Will of the People – SGT Report

MICRO GRIDS: Lessons Learned From California’s Pioneering Microgrids | Greentech Media

https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/lessons-learned-from-californias-pioneering-microgrids

Open the above link to read some of the interesting comments . . .
 
May 13, 2019

Lessons Learned From California’s Pioneering Microgrids

California is several years into a push to help commercialize microgrids in the state. Now, officials are taking stock of the performance of the first generation of microgrids supported under the effort.

 

Read more “MICRO GRIDS: Lessons Learned From California’s Pioneering Microgrids | Greentech Media”

MICRO GRIDS – UK energy storage – making the planning process easier . . .

https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/uk-energy-storage-making-the-planning-77920/

UK energy storage – making the planning process easier

Summary: The UK’s energy storage industry is making huge strides – and the regulatory regime is having to catch up fast. This blog explores the latest proposals from the UK Government as to how energy storage schemes can be consented in the planning process.

The planning system in England and Wales is playing catch-up

Read more “MICRO GRIDS – UK energy storage – making the planning process easier . . .”

MICRO GRIDS: California Initiates Microgrid “Rule-making”

https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/california-initiates-microgrid-16516/

October 2, 2019

California Initiates Microgrid Rulemaking Proceeding

Morgan Lewis

Interest in microgrids is on the rise in the United States as over half of states explore ways to modernize the grid and promote distributed energy resources (DER), including innovative renewable energy, storage, and demand response technologies. However, microgrids are not defined by law or regulation in most states and are more complex than other types of DER because they involve both the generation and distribution of energy. This raises several policy questions, including who should pay for microgrid development and use and whether microgrid operators that technically distribute energy to retail customers should be classified as public utilities and subject to regulations ordinarily imposed on such entities. California is currently exploring the potential benefits of microgrids and the role of state regulation.

In September 2018, California enacted a new law, Senate Bill (SB) 1339, that requires the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to develop regulations, standards, and guidelines by December 1, 2020, to facilitate the commercialization of microgrids for customers of large electric utilities. To that end, SB 1339 directs the CPUC to address the following key issues: (1) how microgrids operate and their value; (2) improving the electrical grid with microgrids; (3) how microgrids can play a role in implementing policy goals; (4) how microgrids can support California’s policies to integrate a high concentration of distributed energy resources on the electrical grid; (5) how microgrids operate in the current California regulatory framework; and (6) microgrid technical challenges. SB 1339 builds on years of stakeholder research on whether microgrids may help California meet its future energy goals and increase the resilience of the energy grid, in part due to the increasing potential for extended outages/grid denergization due to extreme weather events and wildfires.

On September 19, the CPUC initiated a rulemaking to implement SB 1339. The CPUC invited comments on the regulatory actions prescribed by SB 1339, including development of guidelines to determine what impact studies are necessary for microgrids to connect to the distribution system operated by California electric utilities and separate rates and tariffs to support microgrids. The preliminary scoping memo for the rulemaking also solicits comments on how to ensure that actions taken by the CPUC to fulfill the requirements of SB 1339 do not discourage development of utility microgrids and are consistent with relevant state policy goals and existing CPUC responsibilities and policies. Comments and reply comments on the preliminary scoping memo must be submitted by October 21, 2019, and November 4, 2019, respectively. The approach California ultimately develops through the CPUC rulemaking may inform other states seeking to explore the potential for microgrids to increase renewable energy integration and provide opportunities for greater grid resiliency.

 

MICRO GRID and THE GRID – Easily establish bi-directional communication between systems . . .

MICRO GRID and THE GRID – Easily establish bi-directional communication between systems . . .
 

Enable smart grid IIoT analytics, accurately recreate dynamic datasets, and leverage data across platforms.

RTI Stream for InfluxDB is a full featured, open source, time-series database (historian) that employs RTI Server as the communications hub for operational technology (OT) and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) data from any source. RTI Stream provides a fully scalable, cost-effective, field proven solution that can be deployed on premise or in a public or private cloud. RTI Stream is integrated fully with the RTI Platform.

When RTI Stream is integrated into [/products/rti-generation-asset-manager]RTI Platform Generation Asset Manager (RTI GAM), the resulting application provides a single source of real-time operational intelligence with the ability to visualize the current state of generation assets as well as time-series data.

RTI Stream features:

  • Collect data from virtually any utility device or system
  • Supports a wide array of protocols including ICCP, Modbus, DNP3, OCP, and many more
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  • Integrate smart grid applications with real-time and historical data
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Establish communication pathways using a point-and-click interface.

RTI Configuration Manager allows architecture engineers to:

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  • Easily establish bi-directional communication between systems
  • Rapidly modify and create new transactional data flows

Integrate Everything OT

LiveData Utilities RTI Platform manages OT integration complexity for the power generation, transmission, and distribution industries. Future-proof operations, establish next-gen architectures, employ LiveData Utilities RTI Server to establish an Operational Technology Message Bus.

 

 

Learn More   Request a Consultation

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Read LiveData Utilities Energy Central article: [/energy_central]Using gaming to better understan the management of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs)

[/sales-request]Click here to schedule a FREE consultation with LiveData Utilities. Learn how LiveData Utilities RTI Server can simplify integration, optimize, and future-proof your systems.

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Power Generation


LiveData Utilities delivers turnkey ISO ICCP services and HTML5-based RTI Generation Asset Manager™. We can help your organization better understand and control your generation assets.

LiveData for Generation

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Power Transmission


LiveData Utilities regularly integrates EMS data and substation data to OMS, SCADA, and ISO/RTO control systems. Our solutions offer the ability to capture, transform, and deliver data.

LiveData for Transmission

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Power Distribution


RTI Platform is used by distribution operators to integrate OT systems such as OMS, Advanced DMS and SCADA systems, and device automation, using standard protocols (ICCP, DNP3, Modbus, etc.) throughout the grid.

LiveData for Distribution

Featured Solutions & Services

Operational Technology Message Bus

Addressing the shortcomings of traditional integrations and system architectures.

Utility system architects working to maximize the potential of their existing systems and futureproof their operations are employing LiveData RTI Server to establish Operational Technology Message Bus (OTMB) architecture.

OTMB is a new category of software that delivers exceptionally efficient integration of grid automation devices, connecting OT and IT systems securely across networks of varying quality while utilizing diverse OT standards ranging from 40-year-old device protocols to state of the art large-scale streaming standards. OTMB is at work when we connect a single energy generating asset to an ISO and when we manage a complex network of 100,000 devices.

Employing LiveData Utilities RTI middleware layer to establish an OTMB creates a rich environment featuring:

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To learn more about OTMB architecture, visit the [/solutions/otmb]OTMB Solutions page or download our[/otmb_whitepaper] [/otmb_whitepaper]OTMB White Paper.

LiveData Utilities RTI Server configured as an Operational Technology Message Bus

RTI Stream for InfluxDB

Enable smart grid IIoT analytics, accurately recreate dynamic datasets, and leverage data across platforms.

RTI Stream for InfluxDB is a full featured, open source, time-series database (historian) that employs RTI Server as the communications hub for operational technology (OT) and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) data from any source. RTI Stream provides a fully scalable, cost-effective, field proven solution that can be deployed on premise or in a public or private cloud. RTI Stream is integrated fully with the RTI Platform.

When RTI Stream is integrated into [/products/rti-generation-asset-manager]RTI Platform Generation Asset Manager (RTI GAM), the resulting application provides a single source of real-time operational intelligence with the ability to visualize the current state of generation assets as well as time-series data.

RTI Stream features:

  • Collect data from virtually any utility device or system
  • Supports a wide array of protocols including ICCP, Modbus, DNP3, OCP, and many more
  • Recreate historical, time series data and efficiently store that data with compression algorithms
  • Integrate smart grid applications with real-time and historical data
  • Utilize data for analytics tools like Hadoop, AWS, TIBCO, IBM, and Oracle
  • Easily scale from 100s of points to 1,000,000s of points

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United Nations: Closing the infrastructure gap | Inter-agency Task Force on Financing for Development

Closing the infrastructure gap

The Addis Agenda recognizes that investing in sustainable and resilient infrastructure, including transport, energy, water and sanitation for all, is a pre-requisite for achieving many of the SDGs. Demographic changes, migration, climate change and urbanisation increase the need for infrastructure development, especially in developing economies. Transportation infrastructure, such as roads, railways, ports, airports, is of central importance for economic development. In Land-Locked Developing Countries (LLDCs), it is particularly important as it enables trade. Energy-related infrastructure, in particular renewable infrastructure and an expansion of the electricity grid, is necessary to reach the climate goals. Climate resilience investments are particularly needed in Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Sustainable water infrastructure will improve people’s lives by providing access to water and help management of scarce resources in a sustainable manner.

 

Read more “United Nations: Closing the infrastructure gap | Inter-agency Task Force on Financing for Development”

World Bank: Power Outages and NO More Diesel for Backup Power Generators . .

World Bank  
 
Power Outages 
and
 No More Diesel 
for Backup Power – Generators 

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-018-0151-8?WT.feed_name=subjects_environmental-impact

Abstract

Many with access to electricity in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are subject to frequent outages due

 

Read more “World Bank: Power Outages and NO More Diesel for Backup Power Generators . .”

Deborah Tavares – MIS-quoted in the Gazette

Deborah Tavares – MIS-quoted in the Gazette . . . of course
 
She recalls telling the reporter that PG&E is Rothschild and intentionally created the fires.
PG&E likely, was pulsing the smart meters (which cause fires). 
Also, the use of weather controlling technologies that created the atmospheric weather conditions (heavy chemtrailed) with combustible heavy metals sprayed overhead increasing FIRE IGNITION.
 
OBVIOUSLY, the CONtrolled media would NEVER print what Deborah really said.

Read more “Deborah Tavares – MIS-quoted in the Gazette”