Latest news with #powerdemand
Bloomberg
29-05-2025
- Climate
- Bloomberg
Searing Heat in California and the US West Threatens to Break Temperature Records
A short-lived heat wave will send temperatures soaring across California and the US West through the weekend, elevating power demand and raising the risk of health impacts. At least 26 daily records may be broken or tied across the West on Friday and Saturday, with temperatures forecast to reach 102F (39C) in California's capital of Sacramento and 105F in Fresno to the south, the National Weather Service said.
Forbes
22-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
How AI And A Stiff Breeze Vitalize Our Aging Grid
A worker installing a LineVision DLR sensor on a sub-transmission tower After decades of flat to declining electrical utility demand, customers are suddenly clamoring for more power. AI data centers have driven that demand, but home electrification and EVs have also boosted the electric load on our aging grid. Utilities' present infrastructures are based on 10-year-old plans that didn't foresee this surge in demand. Building new power plants or stringing miles of new transmission lines doesn't happen overnight, so utilities are scrambling to do more with less. Boston start-up LineVision and several European competitors are leveraging a new technology called dynamic line ratings to help utilities do more with less. DLR systems allow grid operators to increase the current flowing through high-voltage transmission lines like the ones pictured below. A transmission line in Waikanae, north of Wellington, New Zealand. The difference between current and voltage can be visualized by a conveyor belt carrying boxes of a uniform size. The fixed box size represents voltage, while the speed of the conveyor belt represents current. To deliver more boxes in the same amount of time, you increase the speed of the conveyor belt. The same is true for electrical generation. Generation facilities respond to increased demand by producing more power and sending it through transmission wires at a constant voltage, but higher current. If electrical grids were conveyor belts, it would be easy to just boost the amperage (another word for current, which is measured in amperes) flowing through the lines. However, as current increases, transmission lines heat up and sag due to thermal expansion. Sagging places a strain on transmission towers and, if severe enough, might cause lines to brush against vegetation, sparking fires (read my article PG&E: The First S&P 500 Climate Change Casualty). The sun's heat causes lines to sag more on sunny days, while increased airflow on windy days cools the lines, which sag less. Industry conservatism and the threat of wildfire-related lawsuits prompt grid operators to keep transmission currents low to prevent excessive line sagging. This conservatism is warranted on hot, still summer days when everyone is cranking up their air conditioning, but such caution often restricts the amount of electricity available to customers. DLR systems signal grid operators to throttle back on the current on sunny, still days and crank up the current when demand spikes on cool, cloudy, windy days. A solar powered DLR device from LineVision installed on a transmission tower Such slight adjustments might seem trivial, but DLR systems enable amazing capacity increases. A brisk wind allows 50-100%+ amperage increases over static assumptions on a case-by-case basis, leading to average grid-wide capacity increases of around 40%. Replicating such increases over the entire 700,000-mile grid network could result in enormous economic benefits. Increased 'ampacity' (i.e., current capacity) reduces the demand for new generation facilities and transmission lines, clears transmission bottlenecks, increases the grid's capacity for cheap renewable energy, and helps grids re-energize faster after equipment failures. The pioneer of DLR systems is Ampacimon, a Belgian company spun out of a university in 2010. Its devices are installed directly onto transmission lines, deriving power from the lines' electromagnetic field. The devices sense determinants such as wind vibrations and the lines' temperature, then use theoretical models to infer from measured inputs and local weather reports how much sagging is likely to occur, which they report to the grid operator in real-time via cellular links. Heimdall Power, a Norwegian company founded in 2016, applied a twist to Ampacimon's model. Heimdall's devices are installed onto transmission lines via drone and operate on harvested electric power. However, rather than using theoretical models, Heimdall's devices are equipped with MEMS chips and accelerometers, the sensors in your phone which measure movement and relative position to the earth. The devices infer from this location data the sag across the span to which they are attached. You can learn more about Heimdall's solution here. Ampacimon's devices originally required that power to the lines be shut off for installation, but now both they and Heimdall's devices can be installed on live transmission wires, making installation less disruptive. LineVision is the only DLR company to implement direct sag and temperature measurements using LIDAR, electromagnetic field sensors, and AI-powered visual imaging. LineVision sensors attach to towers rather than the lines themselves and are powered by solar cells and batteries, enabling the system to estimate line capacity when a grid goes down and is attempting to restart. Sensor installation is quicker and easier on towers than on lines, cutting capital costs. LineVision's software uses AI to monitor line conditions and integrates local weather forecasts to predict future line conditions, then conveys capacity recommendations to grid operators. National Grid, a U.K.-based utility with operations in the U.K. and New York State, estimated that LineVision's DLR has generated over £1 billion in transmission grid congestion reductions and upgrade deferrals. We are putting an enormous burden on our aging grid, which is comprised in many regions of lines older than 30 years on average. I believe that power generation and distribution in the post-Climate world will require a complete rethink of the Industrial Revolution paradigm by which we built our present grid, but even a modern, distributed grid will need a strong, efficient transmission network. Dynamic line ratings, powered by modern sensors, AI and an occasional stiff breeze, are a critical advantage. Intelligent investors take note.
Bloomberg
20-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Tennessee Valley Authority Seeks to Build GE Vernova Reactor
The Tennessee Valley Authority is taking steps to build a small modular nuclear reactor — the first US utility to seek federal approval for such a project amid a surge in power demand from data centers. The nation's largest public power company filed an application to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build BWRX-300, a reactor developed by GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy, according to a statement Tuesday. The TVA is planning to build at a site in Clinch River, near Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Reuters
19-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
India's LNG imports to rise on higher demand from power cos, says Petronet
NEW DELHI, May 19 (Reuters) - India's liquefied natural gas imports are expected to rise in the coming months to meet growing electricity demand in the country, said A. K. Singh, chief executive of the country's top gas importer Petronet LNG ( opens new tab. India last week invoked emergency measures asking companies to operate underutilised gas-based power plants at higher capacity from May 26-June 30 to meet electricity demand in the country, a notice posted on the ministry's website shows. India's power demand has been subdued so far this month as rains tempered temperatures in the country. "We expect LNG demand to rise similar to last year's levels. Demand for power is rising in last few days so we are expecting demand for LNG to rise in the third or fourth week of May and in June," he said. Power plants running on gas have been more expensive than those operating on coal, solar and wind power, resulting in idling of about three-fifth of all gas-fired power stations in the country. The narrowing price gap between spot and long-term LNG prices is also pushing some companies to step up purchases, he said, adding Indian customers prefer LNG prices at below $10 per million British thermal units. Petronet hopes to complete expansion of its 17.5 million tons per year (tpy) Dahaj terminal to 22.5 million tpy in the next three to four months, he said, adding his firm would maximise the utilisation of the terminal to meet demand in the summer season.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Utility stocks outperform S&P 500 with 'no signs of recession' in power demand
Utility stocks have outperformed the S&P 500 (^GSPC) year to date as power demand surges, even as tariff uncertainty raises questions about a recession. The S&P 500 Utilities Select ETF (XLU) is up more than 6% compared to a 4% drop for the broad-based index, an 8% drop for Tech (XLK), and an 11% decline in Consumer Discretionary (XLC) stocks. Even though utility stocks dipped along with the rest of the market following President Trump's tariff policy announcement on April 2, their drop was not as severe as other sectors. "By and large, utilities appear to be minimally impacted by tariffs," CFRA analyst Daniel Rich told Yahoo Finance. "The vast majority of utility companies' capital investment budgets rely on US labor, materials, and energy." The sector's outperformance comes on the heels of a 23% gain in 2024 as data center growth from an artificial intelligence boom and efforts to onshore manufacturing spurred increased demand for electricity. That demand is going strong despite fears of a recession stemming from the global trade war. 'No signs of recession in power demand,' noted Goldman Sachs analysts on Tuesday night. 'Year to date, US power demand has increased by 5.5% year over year vs. the average annual growth rate of 0.6% in the past decade.' The analysts said all power demand sectors have contributed to this growth, including residential. The Energy Information Administration expects electricity demand to grow fastest in the industrial sector this year as new semiconductor and battery manufacturing operations come online. Data center energy consumption is also expected to increase. On Tuesday, energy holding giant Duke Energy (DUK) announced it signed agreements for nearly 1 gigawatt of data center projects involving two customers in April. "We are projecting load growth at levels I've never seen in my 30-year career, which will drive more than a decade of record infrastructure build," Duke CEO Harry Sideris told analysts during the company's earnings call, referring to increasing power demand in the US. Duke Energy stock is up 13% year to date. Its peers the Southern Company (SO) and Exelon (EXC) are also up 12% and 23%, respectively. On Wednesday, Google (GOOG, GOOGL) announced a collaboration with advanced nuclear project developer Elementl Power, yet another sign of Big Tech's insatiable appetite for electricity This follows a tie-up in September between Microsoft (MSFT) and energy giant Constellation Energy (CEG), as well as Amazon's (AMZN) purchase of a data center campus from energy provider Talen Energy (TLN) last March. Ines Ferre is a senior business reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X at @ines_ferre.
