Australia: Electricity rescue bid blocked

Blackouts mean: They Need Power, let's sell some


3 Feb 2009


Energy Response argues a lack of political will is preventing a system from taking shape that would have allowed up to 40 clients including major consumers to sell power into the grid and avoid recent blackouts in Victoria and South Australia. There are also claims that the Victorian civil service could have accounted for potential savings of 100MW during the shortfall of about 430MW. The National Electricity Market Management Company points out that some of the supply shortages were caused by localised line failures and would not have been avoided by any sales back into the grid.



Published by: Energy Central

Egypt: World Bank Supports Ain Sokhna Power Project

Jan 30 - 2009

The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors today approved a loan in the amount of $ 600 million to support the Ain Sokhna Power Project.

The project will support the Government of Egypt's expansion plan to meet the energy demand and ensure access to reliable and affordable electricity services - all prerequisites for sustained economic growth and achieving the country's social development agenda.

The project will finance a 1,300 MW supercritical steam turbine power plant comprising two 650 MW steam turbine generators. The plant will be under the management of the East Delta Production Company (EDPC), one of EEHC's subsidiaries.

In Egypt, electrical energy consumption and peak demand have been growing rapidly over the past ten years at rates of 8.6 % and 8.1% respectively. With investment in new generation capacity of around 1,300 MW per year, the Ain Sokhna Power Project will make a substantial contribution to meet the strong growth in demand.

The project is co-financed by the African Development Bank and Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development.

Published by: Energy Central

ABB awarded $53m order to boost transmission capacity in South Africa's Western Cape

3 February 2009 -

ABB has won an order worth $53m from the South African power utility, Eskom, to strengthen the transmission network in the Western Cape region.

ABB will design, manufacture, install and commission six 765-kV capacitor banks at Alpha, Beta, Mercury and Perseus substations.

The installations, which form part of an initiative to increase power capacity in Cape Town and surrounding areas, will allow Eskom more flexibility and reduce their reliance on the existing Koeberg power station.

The compensators used in the project are part of a family of technologies known as Flexible Alternating Current Transmission Systems (FACTS).

The order was booked in the fourth quarter of 2008 and is expected to be completed by 2010.
"ABB's FACTS technologies allow more power to be delivered more efficiently using existing infrastructure," said Peter Leupp, head of ABB's Power Systems division. "This reduces the need to build additional transmission lines, lowering environmental impact and minimizing cost."
The project includes ABB's Mach2 technology, which is an advanced control and protection system, and the most widely applied platform for HVDC (High Voltage Direct Current) and FACTS solutions.

It brings the benefit of fast, flexible, real-time control. Fuseless capacitor units and high-speed bypass switches will further increase system reliability.

Published by: Power Engineering