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Bringing together global nuclear power players including, South Korea, Japan, Germany, France, Russia, Finland and Turkish industrialists, 5th INPPS was held on March 6 and 7 at the Pullman Istanbul Convention Center in the city.

The summit hosted domestic and international nuclear industrialists as well as 230 business-to-business meetings, according to a statement from the Nuclear Engineers Association on Friday. The countries that held business-to-business meetings with Turkish companies include South Korea, France, Germany, Russia, Japan, China and Finland.

Commenting on the importance of the nuclear industry in Turkey, Erol Cubukcu, Turkish Nuclear Engineers Association's president said that the nuclear industry is moving forward with deployment of local technology and in opening doors to defense and space technology.

"The three nuclear power plant projects in our national energy projection will also mediate the achievement of Turkey's economic targets," Cubukcu said.

During the summit, two memorandums of understanding (MoU) were signed for cooperation in the field of nuclear energy. The first MoU was signed between Turkish company KSG Makina and Belgium-based Ateliers de la Meuse (ALM), while the second was agreed between Korea Nuclear Association for International Cooperation (KNA) and Turkish Nuclear Engineers Association.

According to the organization's committee, over 1,000 participants and 70 speakers from 15 different countries attended the summit.

Source: https://www.nuclearpowerplantssummit.com/

A graduation ceremony honoring foreign and Russian nuclear power engineering students was held in the Obninsk Institute for Nuclear Power Engineering (IATE) under the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI. Among 173 graduates were citizens of Russia, Mongolia, Vietnam and Turkey.

35 Turkish specialists have completed a 6.5-year education and training program and successfully defended their graduation projects. All of them will be employed by AKKUYU NUCLEAR to participate in the implementation of the first NPP in Turkey.

The first Turkish nuclear power engineers have been greeted by Mr. Alexey Likhachev (Chief Executive Officer of ROSATOM, Russian State Corporation), top management of Rusatom Energy International JSC (project developer and majority shareholder of AKKUYU NUCLEAR JSC), management of employer company, AKKUYU NUCLEAR JSC, and other Russian guests.

The graduation ceremony in Obninsk was attended by the Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey in the Russian Federation Mr. Hüseyin Lazip Diriöz, Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey Mr. Necati Yamaç and other official guests from Turkey.

"Education of nuclear power specialists in the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI has been performed under the Intergovernmental Agreement signed between Russia and Turkey concerning the construction of Akkuyu NPP in Mersin province. This major project is one of the major ones in the development of cooperation between Russia and Turkey", said the Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey Mr. Hüseyin Lazip Diriöz in his congratulation speech.

Mr. Alexey Likhachev, Chief Executive Officer of ROSATOM, a Russian State Corporation, said addressing the new graduates: "Now you have a real opportunity to succeed as professionals, because the education you have received is truly considered as one of the best in the world; and the atomic science and industry is a fast growing area in many countries. I am sure that you will occupy a rightful place in life".

The Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey Mr. Necati Yamaç said: "Russian education in the field of nuclear power engineering is sought after. And it is symbolic that first Turkish nuclear specialists have received their training in the town, where the first nuclear power plant in the world was built. Now our newly graduated specialists will take part in the construction of the first NPP in Turkey. The fact that they have earned their degrees is a significant step in the implementation of Akkuyu NPP.

The Chief Executive Officer-Director of the NPP under construction Mr. Yury Galanchuk said in his interview to mass media: "Now for the graduates who, owing to the results of their training, will take responsible positions in the Akkuyu NPP construction project, additional individual training will begin in the format of the on-the-job tutorship. Russian experts of AKKUYU NUCLEAR JSC with a vast experience of work at the Russian-design NPPs will pass over their practical knowledge, experience and competence required for the safe and reliable operation of equipment and process systems of the first Turkish nuclear power plant".

Emre Yarar, a graduate of IATE NRNU MEPhI, praised the high level of education he has received in Russia: "I have learned in minute details everything about the nuclear power plant which will be built in our country, from both theoretical and practical point of view. I am very proud to know that I shall make a contribution to the process of the transfer of new technologies to my country. My mission is to take the most active participation in the construction by Turkey of its own nuclear power plant.

Coşkun Karadaş, a graduate of IATE NRNU MEPhI, said in his turn that Turkey has undertaken, first time in 60 years since the decision to build a NPP, some practical steps, and his participation in this project is a source of special pride for him. "My biggest dream, ever, for a long time, has been to work in the nuclear industry, and, having obtained corresponding knowledge and experience, to do my part in the construction of the first NPP in Turkey built upon the Russian design, and to bring Turkey to the significant level in the global nuclear power industry", said Karadaş.

Mr. Konstantin Ryzhak, Managing Director of AKKUYU NUCLEAR JSC, stressed the following: "According to the ‘Akkuyu NPP personnel selection, training and development program’, all Turkish students – young nuclear power engineers will be employed by AKKUYU NUCLEAR JSC. Of course, their academic progress will be considered when placing them in vacant positions. Today’s success of the graduates would be impossible without support their families lent them. We are thanking them for that!”

At the moment, 221 Turkish students are still receiving education as part of the program of education and training which started in 2011; of this number, 196 have been studying in NRNU MEPhI and 25 in Saint-Petersburg Polytechnic University. Total duration of education course under this Program is 6.5 years: during the first year, the students learned Russian; then during five and a half years they took the course in the design, operation and engineering of nuclear power plants.

Source: Akkunpp

The potential for bilateral energy expansion between Turkey and Brazil is evident with projections of $440 million in investments in energy infrastructure by 2026, Brazil's Ambassador to Turkey told on Wednesday. Ambassador Eduardo Riccardo Gradilone Neto said trade relations between Brazil and Turkey have witnessed a rebound from $1.8 billion in 2016 to $2.2 billion in 2017.

"This result is attributed to the improved economic performance of both countries which, in 2018, should provide new opportunities for expanding trade and investment," the Brazilian ambassador said.

Energy sector cooperation is one of the topics that the economic and trade promotion sectors of the Brazilian Embassy are following, he asserted, adding that this is also a topic on the agenda of the Turkish-Brazilian Economic Cooperation Commission that meets periodically to identify trade and cooperation opportunities between Turkey and Brazil.

He explained that the oil and gas sector is expected to absorb 71.4 percent of the $440 million total, 26.2 percent is anticipated for the generation and transmission of electricity, and the supply of biofuels is set to increase by 2.4 percent.

"The dynamism of the Turkish economy, which has grown at rates above the world average in recent years, and the Brazilian regulatory environment are parameters to guide the estimation of business expansion in the Brazilian electric power sector in the coming years," he added.

$1.18 billion revenue achieved in auctions

Auctions are the main form of energy contracts in Brazil that are carried out openly with the participation of Brazilian and foreign companies. The winners are defined by offering the lowest tariff with the aim of promoting efficiency in the contracting of energy, Neto explained.

"In the oil and gas sector, for example, the 14th auction round, held in September 2017, provided revenues of over 3.84 billion Brazilian reais (approx. $1.18 billion) in bonuses, according to the National Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANP)," he said.

He noted that altogether 17 companies amassed areas for exploration, out of which seven are foreign companies. In the bidding round, 37 blocks were acquired for exploration and production of oil and gas while three bidding rounds will be held in 2018 and 2019 each year, according to the ANP.

The largest signature bonus in the auction round was 2.24 billion Brazilian reais (approx. $690.8 million) offered by the Petrobras-ExxonMobil Brazil consortium.

Share of renewables to reach 48% in 2026

Official data estimates that Brazil's energy supply, which is necessary to advance the economy, will reach 351 million tons of oil equivalent (Mtoe) in 2026, based on a growth estimate of 2 percent per year, according to Neto.

"Of this amount, renewable sources can reach a share of 48 percent in 2026. In Brazil, the participation of renewable sources in meeting the growth of energy consumption in the coming years was prioritized," he said.

Almost 45 percent of primary energy demand in Brazil is met by renewable energy, making its energy sector one of the least carbon-intensive in the world, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Source: AA

Gore Street Capital plans a London listing for the world’s first energy storage fund.

The London-based private-equity firm is seeking to raise 100 million pounds ($139 million) from the initial public offering expected later this month on the London Stock Exchange. The fund will invest in large-scale batteries.

The increase of renewable supplies at a time when policy makers are looking to phase out fossil-fuel generation threaten to leave grid operators short of power when the wind isn’t blowing or the sun doesn’t shine. Battery storage can help solve those challenges, according to Alex O’Cinneide, Gore Street’s chief executive officer.

“We have first-mover advantage, investing in a high yielding asset class for which there is an increasing need,” he said in an interview in London. “We expect that energy storage will increasingly be required to play an important role.”

The price of lithium-ion batteries has fallen dramatically in recent years. The average price of a battery pack in 2017 was $209 per kilowatt-hour, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The price drop comes as technology has improved and the scale of manufacturing has gone up.

The listing has already garnered the commitment of NEC Corp.’s NEC Energy Solutions, which will provide the lower of either 8 million pounds or 10 percent of the total gross proceeds of the issue. Japanese engineering consultancy Nippon Koei Co. Ltd. has also committed to a 6 million-pound investment.

The Gore Street Energy Storage Fund will probably be similar to other clean-energy listed vehicles in the U.K. such as Bluefield Solar Income Fund Ltd. and Greencoat U.K. Wind Plc. Those funds use the so-called yieldco model that pays dividends to shareholders generated from electricity sales.

Gore Street is aiming for a 7 percent dividend yield and an unlevered internal rate of return of 10 to 12 percent. It plans to have invested in a portfolio of 10 to 13 projects within 18 months representing more than 1 gigawatt of storage capacity in the U.K. and a further 250 megawatts abroad. They are currently considering California and Ontario.

The fund already has a 6-MW facility in the north of England run by NEC and a 4-MW storage plant in Wales run by Tesla Inc. that have been operational since October. A third asset in southern England has gone through planning and a contract with NEC is under negotiation.

Stockdale Securities Ltd. are managing the listing. Admission is expected by early April.

Source: Renewable Energy World

A new report, Enhancing Utility Operations with Augmented and Virtual Reality, has been released showing that new key applications are driving utility interest in digital reality deployment in operations, training, marketing, and other departments.

Innovative hardware improvements and progressive software applications, mixed with decreasing costs, have opened the door for utilities to be pioneers in the deployment of industrial digital reality technology.

“The ability to successfully overlay critical asset information for repairs and inspection, as well as the mapping of geographic information system (GIS) data are extremely useful to utilities and developments in those areas will drive up deployment for AR devices,” says Michael Hartnack, research analyst with Navigant Research.

“For VR devices, continued enhancements in immersive image rendering, high definition field of view, and communications will push utilities to seriously consider implementation.”

Key focus points in the report:

• Understanding what augmented and virtual reality (AR and VR) are
• Highlighting the applications for utilities and field operations
• Exploring the benefits and challenges of deployments
• Looking at how utilities can implement digital reality into operations

Historically, utilities have viewed AR and VR as impractical, with limited perceived benefits and functionality, prohibitive costs, and developmental roadblocks.

While AR and VR devices are among the most cutting-edge technologies in today’s consumer electronics landscape, utilities have rarely been early adopters of new technologies.

To help decision-makers navigate this new realm of products, the research report has identified six critical characteristics that a digital reality device must possess for significant penetration into utility operations. Each characteristic is identified and discussed in detail in the report.

The report demonstrates the latest market trends in digital reality for grid applications and explores current and potential applications for small- and large-scale utility deployment.

It provides detailed and actionable recommendations on how utilities and device vendors can address the fast-changing market.

The study also provides an analysis of key market developments and identifies several prominent AR and VR devices in the market today.

Source: Metering & Smart Energy

On the occasion of the founding conference of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) in New Delhi on 11 March, analysis from the International Energy Agency demonstrates that the ISA’s vision to mobilize more than USD 1000 billion of investment by 2030 for the deployment of solar energy at affordable costs is ambitious yet achievable.

The IEA’s market forecasts show that if all eligible countries join the Alliance, then the cumulative installed solar capacity in ISA countries could surpass 700 GW by 2022, which is more than 80% of global solar capacity by that time, and almost double current capacity. This achievement would be a critical step in aligning global solar deployment with the IEA’s Sustainable Development Scenario (SDS) targets.

In the view of the IEA, the ISA can play a particularly important role in further accelerating deployment and reducing costs of solar in developing countries, where investment risks remain one of the main barriers. Moreover, ISA can be crucial in accelerating energy access, with potential positive impacts improving the quality of life of hundreds of million of people.

The IEA commends the objectives of the ISA to create aggregated demand for solar PV and mitigate investment risk. Financial risk management approaches are most effective when they are complemented by transparent and sound regulatory and policy frameworks for investment. The IEA strongly supports any plans to provide clarity to regulatory issues, promote common standards, attract investment and develop innovative financing models.

“Let me congratulate Indian Prime Minister Modi and French President Macron for their global leadership in pushing for much more ambitious deployment of solar energy,” said Dr Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the IEA. “We have seen very encouraging signs recently, with massive cost reductions and solar energy additions growing faster than any other electricity source. But progress is uneven and deployment in many developing countries is still hampered by high investment risk and system costs. ISA can play a key role in addressing these issues and accelerating solar deployment and energy access.”

Introduced in the World Energy Outlook 2017, the IEA’s SDS sets out a pathway to achieve the key energy related components of the United Nations Sustainable Development agenda: universal access to modern energy by 2030, urgent action to tackle climate change - in line with the Paris agreement, and measures to improve air quality. 

The IEA is honored to be an observer to the ISA since April 2017 and to support the Alliance in achieving its ambitious objectives. To this end, the IEA and ISA signed a Joint Declaration on Global Cooperation on the Promotion of Solar Energy on 10 March in the presence of Indian Finance Minister, Mr Arun Jaitley and Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy, Mr R. K. Singh.

Source: IEA

The Tesla and SpaceX founder said sustainable energy solutions are technologically viable. What’s holding them back is the lack of a carbon price.

Elon Musk made a surprise appearance at the South by Southwest festival on Sunday where he discussed a wide range of topics, from colonizing Mars, to the risks artificial intelligence, to tough times at Tesla and SpaceX.

He also danced to his brother Kimbal Musk playing "My Little Buttercup," chatted about nuclear war, and amid all of that, called for a price on carbon. Sustainable energy is "obviously really important” to the future of humanity, Musk said in a conversation with Jonathan Nolan, co-creator of the HBO show Westworld.

Musk believes clean energy solutions have reached a point where they're technologically viable, and distorted market conditions are the primary thing holding them back. "The core technologies are there with wind, solar, with batteries," Musk said. "The fundamental problem is there's an unpriced externality in the cost of CO2."

"The market economics work very well if things are priced correctly,” he continued. “But when things are not priced correctly and something that has a real cost has zero cost, then that's where you get distortions in the market that inhibit the progress of other technologies."

Anything that puts carbon into the atmosphere should be subject to a carbon price, “which includes rockets, by the way -- so I'm not excluding rockets from this,” said Musk. The price can start low, but may need to be adjusted depending on whether or not it effectively reduces carbon emissions.

"In the absence of a price, we sort of pretend that digging trillions of tons of fossil fuels from deep under the earth and putting it into the atmosphere-- we're pretending that that has no probability of a bad outcome,” he said, adding that it’s up to people and their governments to make carbon pricing happen.

Musk pointed out in a matter-of-fact tone that there's a chance humanity returns to the Dark Ages at some point in the future, which is what’s driving his work on sustainable energy and space travel. We want to make sure there's enough of a seed of human civilization somewhere else to bring civilization back, and perhaps to shorten the length of the Dark Ages," said Musk.

To do that, it’s important to develop a “self-sustaining base” on the moon, or ideally, on Mars, he said. So it’s no coincidence that SpaceX is in the midst of building the first reusable interplanetary spaceship capable of traveling there.

Scientists have warned for years that climate change could result in unsustainable living conditions on Earth. Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking believes humans will have to leave the planet in order to survive. Musk has warned of the dangers that climate change presents, as well.

In his SXSW talk, which took place as news swirled around U.S. negotiations with North Korea, Musk warned that the next dark age could be brought on by World War III. However, the greatest existential threat facing humanity isn't climate change or even a war, in his view: It's artificial intelligence.

The businessman said he isn’t typically a proponent of regulation, but in the case of AI there needs to be some kind of government oversight body to ensure that everyone is developing it safely. No one would allow just anyone to build nuclear warheads, he said. "That would be insane."

Source: Greentech Media

Article

DNV GL publishes energy transition framework for cities

DNV GL, the world’s largest resource of independent energy experts and certification body, has today published a new report into the activities of cities around the world that are driving the global transition to a sustainable, decarbonized energy future. The report “Energy Transition Framework for Cities” finds that while megacities attract the headlines, significant innovation and leadership is occurring in mid-size cities, which are more numerous and comprise a greater portion of the world’s population in aggregate. Surveying the activities of ten of the most forward-looking and pioneering cities globally, the report identifies best practices that other cities can use to achieve sustainability and economic development goals, as well as opportunities for partnerships to accelerate the energy transition.

Please click here to read the full report.