electricity

17 Feb 24

CERN’s Future Collider Would Be an Engineer’s Dream Job

Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

Earlier this month, CERN released a preliminary vision of a proposed particle accelerator that, as currently envisioned, would be one of grandest science facilities ever constructed: the behemoth Future Circular Collider (FCC).The last time CERN took on a project of FCC’s magnitude, the decade was the 1980s, and the object…

04 Jan 24

In “Strange Metals,” the Flow of Electricity Is Equally Strange

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Metallurgy & Material Science

In normal metals, electricity flows in the form of charged particles. Now scientists may have found the first direct evidence that in so-called “strange metals” electricity may flow as a mysterious fluid instead. In a paper published in Science, researchers suggest this electronic fluid could possess extraordinarily low viscosity, potentially…

15 Nov 23

First U.S. Commercial Small Nuclear Reactor Axed

Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

Advanced nuclear developer NuScale and a Utah state government agency have terminated what would have been the first small modular reactor to enter commercial service in the United States.The Carbon Free Power Project (CFPP) was scheduled to begin generating electricity in 2029. NuScale had begun preparing the site and crafting…

07 Nov 23

20GW of green energy projects fast-tracked for grid connection

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

The new energy infrastructure will start with 19 battery projects amounting to around 10GW that will be given the option of connecting to the grid about four years earlier than they otherwise would have done. A further 10GW will be unlocked in the Midlands, South West of England and South…

19 Oct 23

World needs 80 million more kilometres of new power lines by 2040, IEA finds

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

A new IEA report on global electrical grids said that a “lack of ambition and attention” risks making electricity grids the “weak link” within the global transition to clean energy. The agency said that grid investment needs to double to more than $600bn (£495bn) a year by 2030, or electrical…

28 Sep 23

National Grid ‘cautiously optimistic’ the UK will avoid blackouts this winter

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

The operator said it anticipated a margin of around 4.4 GW, or 7.4 per cent excess generation at peak times, which is slightly higher than last year’s 3.7GW. It said a combination of factors were responsible for the higher margins for this winter, including more generation being available, as well…

21 Aug 23

Final turbine installed on UK’s ‘most productive’ onshore wind farm

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

Just over three years since breaking ground on the project and six months since turbine installation commenced, SSE Renewables confirmed last week that the installation of the wind farm’s 103rd and final 4.3MW wind turbine had been completed. The final turbine installation was completed well ahead of schedule, as the…

08 Aug 23

Ofgem urged to scrap energy price cap to boost market competition

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

The EPC was originally brought in under Theresa May’s government as a time-limited intervention to protect customers from price-gouging from energy firms. But a report from the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS), a centre-right think tank, said that since the 2022 energy crisis began, the EPC now functions as the…

30 Jun 23

Q&A with Simpson & Partners on the future of EV charging

Civil, Structural & Architecture, Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

Mandy and David Simpson are co-directors of family-run Simpson & Partners, which makes designer EV chargers in the Cotswolds. He is a former bank IT professional who heads the engineering side while she, as a former fashion designer previously working at DKNY in New York, takes care of the design,…

15 Jun 23

National Grid better prepared for next winter than last, operator says

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

According to National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO), the margin of excess energy on the grid will be better this coming winter than the last one. As well as the new generators that have come online since then, the margins have been increased due to improved data quality, the availability…