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24
ENERGY INTERNATIONAL
August/September 2012 www.esb.ie/em
The land of the rising sun
Dara Connolly is working on secondment to Osaka Gas, in Japan, for one year. This is the second in his series of updates for EM. His blog on aspects of life in Japan is at awordfromjapan.wordpress.com.
The rainy season in Japan (known as tsuyu) lasts from mid-June to mid-July. Days of heavy rain are interspersed with very hot, humid weather. Because of air-conditioning load, the summer season is the peak period for electricity demand in Japan.
This summer sees a shortage of electricity. Following the earthquake and tsunami of March 2011, all of the country’s nuclear power stations were shut down for inspection and stress testing. The closure of the nuclear power stations has therefore left a significant shortfall, somewhat alleviated now by the restarting of the largest power station, Ooi (4,710 MW), in Fukui prefecture.
However, we have been warned of the possibility of rolling 2-hour blackouts.
Numerous other measures are in place to save electricity. The “Coolbiz” campaign means workplace air conditioning must be set to 28 degrees. Office workers are not allowed to wear ties, and go to work in short-sleeves and with no jackets. Lights are switched off in the office at lunchtime.
Osaka Gas, is endeavouring to substitute as much electricity demand as possible by rolling out a variety of products and services including solar panels, gas-fired cogeneration, gas-fired airconditioning and microgeneration using solid-oxide fuel cells.
Solar panels have become extremely popular thanks to a generous feed-in tariff and incentives for installation. Domestic cogeneration and fuel cell generation are also very popular.
I spend one day a week working at the company’s Torishima laboratory, where I have been impressed by the amount of hands-on engineering, innovation and primary research being carried on. Unusually for a utility company, Osaka Gas designs its own branded appliances (such as kitchen appliances and heaters), and designs, builds and tests equipment such as gas-fired heat pumps, cogeneration plant, and burners for its industrial clients. Recently, the company’s researchers have discovered a type of bacteria that thrives at over 80 degrees C, allowing the rapid breakdown of household rubbish into biogas fuel. This process is currently being tested in Kyoto.
Fuji
We visited Mount Fuji (3776 metres high) - the world-famous and iconic symbol of Japan. The surrounding area is very beautiful with forests, mountains and lakes are reminiscent of the Alps or the Canadian Rockies. Our rented cottage was a log cabin surrounded by maple trees. 300,000 to 400,000 people attempt to climb it each year during the brief two-month period (July and August) when the paths to the top are relatively free of snow.
Electric Cars
In ESB, thanks to the cutting-edge work of the eCars team, we are very familiar with electric cars and charging infrastructure. Electric cars (iMiev and Leaf) are now starting to become a regular sight on the streets of Japanese cities. Government subsidies (approx €10,000 subsidy for the iMiev, €8,000 for the Leaf) together with a dense network of almost 1,000 quickcharging stations in cities and inter-urban expressway service areas, make them an increasingly attractive option. Meanwhile, the popularity of petrol-electric hybrid cars continues to grow, with most manufacturers now offering a range of hybrid cars. This year Toyota is launching a plug-in hybrid version of its Prius. The government has set a target of 20% to 50% of cars to be electric or hybrid by 2020.
ESB CERTIFICATE PRESENTED FOR SUSTAINABILITY LEARNING
ESBI SPONSORS 2012 DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD FOR MALAYSIAN SCHOOLS
ESBI
THE TALE OF AN immigrant tin miner in colonial Malaya won the best overall essay in the Dublin Literary Award for Young Malaysians 2012. Tham Junean from SMK Seri Indah, Serdang, weaved the topic ‘Be careful what you wish for’ into a picture of hardship and poverty of a young tin miner who sailed from China to Malaya in search of a better life. The annual essay writing competition, which is open to all schools in Malaysia, is organised by the Irish Embassy, Malaysia and sponsored by ESBI. The winner’s prize is a trip to Dublin for the International Impac Dublin Literary Award ceremonies. During his trip to Dublin, Tham Junean met with managers in ESBI and is pictured with Damian Murray of Dublin Bay Power.
IRELAND’S LARGEST GIS STATION IS ENERGISED
ESBI
Carrickmines 110kV GIS substation was recently energised, significantly strengthening Dublin’s distribution system. The station consists of a 110kV GIS double busbar with three couplers, eight transformer bays and eleven cable feeder bays, making it the largest GIS station on the Irish grid. The €29m project was delivered by a team of staff from ESBN and ESBI, with support from external contractors.
ESB sponsors Angling Competition
A TROUT ANGLING Competition was held recently on July 8th on Lough Unshin in Ballyshannon, The competition was sponsored by ESB Fisheries Conservation locally.
EIRGRID ENGINEERS VISIT POOLBEG CCGT
Generation Operations
A GROUP OF EIRGRID engineers visited Poolbeg Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) on Friday June 15th.
The visit commenced with an interactive technical discussion on the capabilities of modern CCGT plant and covered distributed control systems (DCS), ramp rates dispatch, plant chemistry, protection and control systems. This was followed by a tour of the Poolbeg plant conducted by staff.
In recent years with modern electronic eispatch tools, physical interaction between both parties has become limited to spreadsheets and mouse clicks. This visit provided both parties the opportunity to discuss plant operation ‘at the coalface’.
