Electricity

California’s grid operator said Friday that it anticipates a shortfall in supplies this summer, especially if extreme heat, wildfires or delays in bringing new power sources online exacerbate the constraints. The Midcontinent Independent System Operator, or MISO, which oversees a large regional grid spanning much of the Midwest, said late last month that capacity shortages may force it to take emergency measures to meet summer demand and flagged the risk of outages. In Texas, where a number of power plants lately went…

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has secretly given six of the 11 electricity Distribution Companies (DISCOs) the approval to increase tariff rates beginning from February 2022. The government authorised the rise, which has since come into effect, without informing Nigerians. The regulator claimed its decision was necessary considering increase in performance of improvement plans of the DISCOs, the NATION reported Thursday, citing a NERC memo. The document jointly…

Scientists are hopeful that solid-state thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cells with no moving parts can achieve higher efficiencies at higher temperatures when it comes to converting heat into electricity – and lead the way to power grids based entirely on renewables.  One such TPV cell has now hit a new world record of 40 percent efficiency, researchers report. That's better than the steam turbines traditionally used to turn heat into electricity, which typically max out at 35 percent and have upper-temperature limits too.TPVs…

When you think of solar energy, you probably picture the photovoltaic panels that capture sunlight to be converted to electricity. But there are other ways to harness the sun’s power. One method attracting growing interest is called concentrated solar-thermal power, or CSP, which uses mirrors to reflect and concentrate the sun’s energy. CSP has been held back by technical challenges and a shortage of funding and government incentives compared with other sources of renewable energy. But as the sense of urgency about…

Last month, the US generated 18% of its electricity from wind and solar (59 TWh) for the first time. That beat the previous record set in March 2021 (53 TWh), according to new data from global energy think tank Ember. UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad. In 2015, the US generated just 5.7% of…

Ukraine said on Tuesday it had thwarted an attempt by Russian hackers last week to damage its electricity grid with a cyberattack."This is a military hacking team," said government spokesman Victor Zhora. "Their aim was to disable a number of facilities, including electricity substations.""They did not succeed, and we're investigating."Kyiv blamed the attack on a group dubbed "Sandworm" by researchers and previously tied to cyberattacks attributed to Russia. The attack was likely carried out to support Russian military…