Socio-political factors can make or break the large-scale deployment of virtually any new technology. Energy storage (e.g., batteries, pumped hydro, and compressed air) is one such technology, requiring broad social acceptance if it is to play an essential role for a sustainable energy transition.

So how are those factors affecting energy storage deployment in China — the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter? Because Chinese media outlets typically reflect government positions and further…

Flying cars are no longer reserved for sci-fi novels, with groups like Boeing, Toyota and NASA working to move electric vehicles into the skies. One of the key challenges is ensuring the power batteries in these airborne automobiles don’t overheat during takeoff and landing, when discharge rates peak.

Flat heat pipe (FHP) technology offers a promising solution. Thanks to its high heat conductivity and large surface area, it can effectively dissipate the heat from battery packs and ensure…

Transformers are a crucial — and expensive — part of wind farm infrastructure, boosting the low-voltage output from turbine generators to the higher voltage required by the grid. But too often, they fail prematurely. 

That’s because standard transformers aren’t designed to handle spikes in high-frequency energy that are common in wind farms, where vacuum circuit breakers and switching devices often create transient voltages. As a result, they can break down the transformer’s insulation,…

Today, new technologies are emerging that use electricity to produce low-carbon ammonia — a versatile commodity that can be sold locally as fertilizer, traded as an export good or used to temporarily store electricity when supply exceeds demand.  

It’s an enticing idea for energy producers, who often sell their excess electricity to neighbouring markets at a significant loss. But do the numbers add up? To find out, WISE researcher XiaoYu Wu and his colleagues carried out…

As the number of offshore wind farms around the world grows, so do efforts to make them more cost-effective and efficient. One way to do that is to avoid oversizing the power electronic convertors that transform the variable-frequency electricity produced by the turbines into a fixed frequency suitable for the grid. 

In series-connected, single-string DC transmission systems — the most efficient way to transmit the electricity from distant turbines — operation of each convertor is influenced…

Energy storage systems like batteries, supercapacitors and flywheels play an important role in the world of renewables. When the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing, these devices ensure customers have reliable power.

This has sparked interest in privately owned energy storage hubs that could sell power to customers as they need it. To find out how this might play out in the marketplace, WISE researcher Magdy Salama and his colleagues applied game theory, a method that models…

Compressed air energy storage (CAES) facilities offer an attractive way for bulk power systems to buffer the intermittent nature of renewable energy, storing excess energy when it’s not needed and retrieving it during peak demand. But few studies have examined their operation in electricity markets.

For WISE researchers Claudio Cañizares, Kankar Bhattacharya and Matheus Zambroni de Souza, the question was how to maximize daily profits for these facilities. To find out, they developed two…

Wind farms contribute an ever-growing share of the energy flowing through the world’s electricity grids. Because those grids have to be stable and reliable, wind farms are required to stay connected even if a short circuit causes the voltage to drop. This prevents a short circuit from knocking out other generators and causing widespread outages.

However, current approaches to doing that can significantly affect the operation of relay devices that protect the transmission lines connecting the…

When you burn fossil fuels, the by-products are greenhouse gases and particulates. When you burn hydrogen, the by-product is water.

This versatile gas can serve as fuel for transportation and heating, as a way to store energy, and as a feedstock for many products such as ammonia and methanol. It’s easy to transport via pipelines, trucks or tankers, and if you generate hydrogen using renewable energy, it can even be net-zero.

But how do you shift from fossil fuels to this greener alternative? WISE…