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Mitsubishi Electric has announced a new I/O Interface which will deliver the precise control and advanced energy saving functions normally associated with much more expensive BEMS interfaces.

The I/O Interface is fully compatible with both the M Series and Mr Slim ranges of Mitsubishi Electric air conditioning products with features that allow for more intelligent centralised control. Businesses will therefore be able to reduce energy consumption without compromising on the occupant’s level of control or comfort.

“This will make control of different premises much easier for organisations to manage and will also allow companies to more closely monitor and control their energy use,” explained Mitsubishi Electric’s controls expert, Sebastien Desmottes.

The new Interface, which is available immediately along with the more standard control inputs and outputs, offers two new energy saving modes which were previously only available on much more expensive control solutions – bringing high level functionality to a much wider market.

‘Auto Off’ – the first of the two modes, sets the auto mode for a predetermined period of time, before reverting back to fan only to save energy. The time can be set to two hours, one hour or half an hour. This could be used to turn the air conditioning on at a set time of the day – say 8am and two hours later, the unit would switch to fan only mode.

If staff on site need to reactivate the system, a simple button will reset the unit for another two hours. This ‘Auto Off’ function prevents the user turning on the system in the morning and leaving it running all day regardless of need and has obvious energy saving potential.

The second mode – ‘Set point’ – allows the temperature to be used to activate the air conditioning, with the fan only running if the ambient temperature falls or exceeds a specified temperature, e.g. below 19°C or exceeding 23°C.

In this example, the I/O Interface could still be programmed to switch the air conditioning on at 8am but the air conditioning will only function if the temperature drops below or exceeds the predetermined limits. This ‘Set point’ operation is a version of the ‘Night set-back function’ which was previously available on much more advanced control systems.

“The Interface has three digital inputs (On/Off, Function Lock and Energy Save), three analogue inputs (Setpoint, Mode and Fan speed) and four digital, relay-driven outputs (Run, Fault, Thermo and Mode) with individual LEDs to show if the relay contact is open or closed,” explains Desmottes.

As well as BEMS and energy-saving functions, new outputs have been added to allow simple interlocking with third party heating to ensure that heating and cooling equipment don’t run at the same time. Mitsubishi Electric has been running a prototype at its Hatfield offices for several months to demonstrate the different operating performances to customers and has also installed demonstration systems at other live premises to highlight its suitability – especially for retail operations.

“Energy use is a major cost for businesses today and carbon reduction targets mean that companies must be able to demonstrate that they are controlling consumption,” adds Desmottes. “This new interface makes the straightforward control of individual sites much more affordable and will make the energy consumed by the air conditioning much more predictable.”

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Mitsubishi Electric’s Commercial Director, Donald Daw has put the company’s belief in the energy-saving value of air source heat pumps to the test recently by taking part in a special ‘Dragon’s Den’ style presentation involving Grand Design’s Kevin McCloud.

The Channel 4 star was part of a panel which included Professor David Strong, Chair of the Energy Efficiency Partnership for Homes, and David MacKay, Chief Scientific Advisor, Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC).

The trio quizzed Mitsubishi Electric and three other companies (the Mark Group, Knauf Insulation, and BEAMA) who have come up with new and innovative ideas to make homes more energy efficient.

“The panel didn’t pull their punches just like the real Dragon’s but I think heat pumps came out very well because they are one of the few technologies that are flexible, affordable, and scalable enough to really make a difference to the majority of our homes,” commented Daw.

“However, the real winner was the idea of everyone working together to find a whole house solution rather than believing that one single technology can be the answer in every situation,” he added.

The event was one of the highlights of the Civil Service Live expo held at London’s Olympia on the 6th – 8th July attended by over 10,000 visitors.

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Leaders from ten global companies gathered in London today to announce publicly the formation of the “Friends of the Supergrid” (FOSG) which has been set up to progress policy towards the construction of a pan-European Offshore Supergrid. Through the combination of their respective areas of expertise, the FOSG members have unique insight into the policies needed to create the Supergrid and have the capability to deliver it in practice.

The FOSG is the only representative body that combines companies in sectors that will deliver the High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) infrastructure and related technology, together with companies that will develop, install, own and operate that infrastructure. It brings together the organisations that will design the physical equipment, with those who will build the structures at sea.

The founding members include 3E, AREVA T&D, DEME Blue Energy, Elia, Hochtief Construction AG, Mainstream Renewable Power, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Prysmian Cables & Systems, Siemens and Visser & Smit Marine Contracting.

Speaking at the launch on behalf of the members, Mainstream Renewable Power’s Chief Executive Dr Eddie O’Connor said,” The UK government has recently shown its commitment to large-scale offshore wind by announcing the development of up to 50GW by 2020. We now need to integrate this huge resource into Europe to enable the open trade of electricity between Member States. The Friends of the Supergrid is uniquely placed to influence policy-makers towards creating the Supergrid and ultimately changing how we generate, transmit and consume electricity for generations to come.”

In December last year, nine EU Member States, including the UK and Germany, signed a political declaration for the “North Seas Countries Offshore Grid Initiative”. Last month Norway signed the declaration, whose aim is to develop policy to advance offshore interconnection in Europe. The FOSG is solely able to present “cradle to grave” interconnection solutions to the policy-makers and others looking to develop energy policy across Europe through to 2050.

FOSG will be run by an Executive and directed by the Board of members. Membership will be kept to a maximum of 20 companies and aims to have both an industrial and geographic cross-section, with its base in Brussels. The concept of the Supergrid was first launched a decade ago and it is defined as “an electricity transmission system, mainly based on direct current, designed to facilitate large-scale sustainable power generation in remote areas for transmission to centres of consumption, one of whose fundamental attributes will be the enhancement of the market in electricity”.

The Supergrid will open markets, strengthen security of supply and create another global opportunity for European companies to export sustainable energy technology. The technology underpinning the Supergrid will give competitive advantage to the companies involved with its specification and design. This type of integrated AC/DC grid will be a template for what will be needed in other global markets including the US and China.

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Mainstream Renewable Power South Africa has released the results of a technical study undertaken to estimate the scale of the country’s wind resource. The analysis, which uses Geographic Information System (GIS) technology and a state of the art Mesoscale wind flow model, concludes that South Africa has enough economically viable wind energy sites to generate 184 Terawatt hours (TWh) of indigenous, sustainable energy. Electricity demand in South Africa currently stands at around 250 TWh, coming from 44GW of installed capacity and is expected to grow to 80GW by 2025. The country is currently the 12th biggest producer of CO2 emission per capita in the world and emissions are set to quadruple by 2050 if drastic measures are not taken.

The study modelled the entire surface area of the country using GIS technology, which assesses a variety of inputs including terrain elevation, wind speed, grid line locations and urban areas, and outputs the areas where wind farms can be constructed. The company believes that up to 5GW can be built within a five year period, which would generate 13 TWh, or about 5% of the country’s current electricity demand. Strong public and government commitment combined with the right regulatory environment, wind power could easily reach 25% of the country’s current electricity demand by 2025, similar to what is happening in many other international markets.

Mark Tanton, the deputy chairperson of the South African Wind Energy Association commented “This study, once again, proves that we have a significant wind resource in the country. In order to deliver on our long-term energy future we need to take immediate action. If government is serious about reaching its renewable energy targets and finding a cost effective solutions to bolster our ailing power supply, the potential contribution from wind power projects cannot be ignored. To date Eskom has received applications in excess of 10.5GW for grid connections for wind power projects in South Africa. Once the issues around accessing the PPA are resolved, the 28 developers who have lodged these applications would be more than capable of bringing a minimum of 4GW into the system by 2013.”

Commenting on the report, Mainstream South Africa’s Davin Chown said,” South Africa is facing a serious economic and energy crises and wind energy has a significant role to play in tackling both of these issues. As a nation, we can’t afford to ignore the potential of our vast wind energy resource. We need to introduce at least 36GW of new energy capacity over the next 15 years and by using our own natural resources to plug this gap we will not only reduce our CO2 emissions by over 68 million tonnes each year, but we’ll create a whole new economic industry, particularly in rural areas, generating new jobs and empowering local communities through education, training and skills transfer.”

Dr Eddie O’Connor, Mainstream’s Chief Executive said,”There’s nothing new to this. There’s already 150GW of wind energy installed around the globe and it’s growing by 30GW per annum, employing over 400,000 people worldwide. This is a highly reliable, competitive and scalable form of power generation with zero long-term fuel risks and highly predictable long-term power generation capabilities.”

He continued,” Mainstream is prepared to invest large quantities of capital to build these sustainable energy assets, but we need to see long-term targets and a clear, investor-friendly regulatory environment. South Africa still needs transparent grid connection and queuing processes.”

“We are very encouraged by the government’s work to date to promote renewable energies and encourage new independent power producers into the market and we look forward to continuing to facilitate and work with government on these activities.”

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Logica to continue managing outsourced IT services until 2014

Logica, a leading IT and business services company, today announced that Morrison Utility Services has extended an outsourced IT service agreement that will provide further efficiency and flexibility throughout its IT infrastructure while ensuring a competitive cost base. Morrison Utility Services has been a Logica client for eight years, and the new £10.9 million deal will see this relationship extend to 2014. The service supports Morrison Utility Services’ 3,200-strong workforce, spread across more than 50 sites in the UK and Ireland.

Morrison Utility Services, one of the UK and Ireland’s leading utility services providers, offers replacement, repair, provision and maintenance of utility infrastructure to the gas, water, electricity and telecommunications sectors. Given the fast-changing, dynamic nature of Morrison Utility Services’ business, Logica will continue to focus on delivering a flexible service, enabling the delivery team to react quickly to the changing needs of Morrison Utility Services and its customers.

In addition to supporting and continuing to update their infrastructure services, Logica will also provide application and change management services. Logica is working closely with Morrison Utility Services to foster innovation and help deploy new technology to benefit their clients. Solutions such as cloud based services are helping them deliver greater flexibility, reliability and speed of deployment.

Judith Halkerston, Managing Director for Energy, Utilities and Telecoms, Logica, highlighted that the contract extension reflects the commitment shown to Morrison by the service delivery team: “We are excited about continuing to provide Morrison with a service that helps them continue leading in their market. By understanding their need for flexibility in what we deliver, our team is helping Morrison to provide the level of partnership-based service that its clients demand.”

Graeme Cross, Head of IT at Morrison Utility Services, explains that this extension is testimony to the strength of relationship his team enjoys with Logica. “As our business grows and adapts to changing market conditions, Logica continues to re-engineer its service. The contract that we have with Logica provides a flexible framework that meets the changing nature of our business and we look forward to working together.”

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Mitsubishi Electric has launched its second generation of R410A City Multi Replace models to offer an 80 per cent increase in COP (Coefficient of Performance), halve the install time and cut installation costs by up to 40 per cent, when replacing a 10-year-old R22 air conditioning system.

The new City Multi YJM Replace units join the existing splits Replace line up to offer one of the widest and most efficient replacement model ranges available on the market.

Mitsubishi Electric were the first manufacturer to offer R22 replace models in the UK and have over five years experience in the Replace VRF market and even longer in the splits sector. This new development completes the product range with 100 per cent of the City Multi, Mr Slim and M Series models now available with R410A.

The new City Multi YJM Replace model is a modular system which comes in both heat pump and standard size small module (22 – 100kW) and heat recovery in the standard larger model (22 – 33kW). All currently available City Multi indoor units can be used with the Replace model and there is also the potential to upgrade the R22 systems of other manufacturers in addition to Mitsubishi Electric equipment.

Once installed, the City Multi Replace system will perform automatic refrigerant charging ensuring the optimal amount of R410A refrigerant is used. Following this, the system performs an automatic flushing of the mineral oil whilst operating in either heating or cooling modes.

The system saves on installation time by using Mitsubishi Electric’s unique, patented flushing operation which takes less than 2 hours and involves sending an R410A gas / liquid mix through the R22 pipes to collect any residual R22 refrigerant mineral oil.

“The sale of virgin R22 was outlawed at the start of 2010 and with a total ban on R22 sales by 2014 at the latest, anyone operating older equipment may soon run into difficulties,” explains Philip Ord, Product Marketing Manager for Mitsubishi Electric. “These old systems may still work at the moment but they will need replacing before too long and operators can benefit immediately from lower running costs if they switch now.”

Many elements of the existing system can be used including all piping, control wiring and power wiring as well as circuit breakers. This allows installation time to be reduced dramatically by up to 50 per cent with disruption kept to an absolute minimum.

Substantial material cost savings can be made, as well as installation costs, and there is also less waste. Overall, a 40 per cent installation cost reduction can be made on a replace system compared to installing a new system. Replacing a 10-year-old R22 system with a same capacity modern unit will deliver up to a 45 per cent power consumption saving leading to a potential 80 per cent increase in COP.

“We have spent the last five years preparing the most comprehensive range of replacement models to offer anyone with an R22 system the simplest way of upgrading,” adds Ord. “No other manufacturer can deliver such a wide range of solutions to the R22 challenge.”

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Immediate telephone support from a transformer expert and a fast response to site.

UK February 22, 2010 – ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has launched a new 24/7 transformer emergency hotline number – 0800 083 3211. Any customer who has a transformer problem – no matter who the original manufacturer was – can call this helpline any time of day or night to get immediate support and advice from an ABB transformer expert. If a site visit is required, then ABB promises to have an expert on site, anywhere in the UK, within 24 hours from the first call.

The transformer emergency hotline covers power transformers from larger MV (Medium Voltage) units (33KV and 66KV) to large HV (High Voltage) grid transformers (132KV and above). Services available through the hotline include: emergency on site response within 24 hours; further diagnostic and inspection services; options for maintenance, inspection and repair; insurance reports and support; regular transformer service updates; simple asset registration process.

In many cases, when a fault is reported, even with no loss of supply, ABB’s transformer service team is able to carry out advanced diagnostic tests that identify the nature of the fault, its location within the unit and how serious it is, without needing to take the transformer out of service. They can then advise the customer on the best way to manage the fault to minimise network disruption – in some situations the transformer might be kept in service on reduced load under constant monitoring until a planned outage can be taken to carry out repairs.

In the event of a major failure, then ABB will advise on the most effective route to restore service as fast as possible. There are many examples where a failed transformer that appeared to be a write-off has been remanufactured successfully to better than new condition. This can even be within a much shorter timescale than that required to source a new transformer.

ABB is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 117,000 people.

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Eddie O’Connor, founder and CEO of Mainstream Renewable Power, was presented with the first ever Leadership award at the annual Ernst & Young Global Renewable Energy Awards in London’s Science Museum last night. EU Energy Commissioner, Andris Piebalgs was also nominated for the award.

Now in their sixth year, the awards are dubbed the “Green Oscars” and recognise the projects, companies and individuals who have made a significant contribution to the global renewable energy sector. Dr. O’Connor received the award in recognition of his” vision, leadership and personal commitment to advancing the renewable energy sector”.

Former CEO of Airtricity, Dr. O’Connor founded Mainstream Renewable Power in February of last year and during this time has created a significant pipeline of onshore and offshore wind farm projects in Europe, North America, South America and South Africa. Mainstream was shortlisted for the “Entrepreneurial Developer of the Year” award at last night’s ceremony.

Dr. O’Connor is widely known for his personal commitment to bringing forward the concept of the European Offshore Supergrid – a vision of electricity interconnectivity which has the power and scale to transform the outlook for European energy security. Large-scale grid interconnection has been adopted as EU energy policy, and a number of EU member States are looking closely at the concept as part of their efforts to meet the challenge of the 2020 and 2050 carbon reduction targets.

Commenting at the awards ceremony, Dr. O’Connor said “I am both humbled and honoured to be recognised by my peers in this way. The world is going through a once-off transition to sustainability and we need more people with the vision and the commitment to look beyond the here and now. We’ve built this world of ours on fossil fuels and now we have to un-build it and completely revolutionise not only the way we generate our electricity but the way we deliver it to consumers. The European Offshore Supergrid has the potential to achieve energy independence for Europe as well as reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050. I am personally and wholeheartedly committed to realising this potential”.

Dr. O’Connor was named world energy policy leader by Scientific American magazine in 2003 and was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Science from University College Dublin in June 2008. He holds a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering and a Masters in Industrial Engineering and has a doctorate in Business Administration from the International Management Centres, Europe. He is Secretary of the European Wind Energy Association.

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The Government announcement of a strategy to make Britain’s buildings more energy efficient, give a boost to low carbon energy and slash carbon emissions by 34 per cent by 2020 was welcomed by most energy analysts – and by BusinessNet Explorer Construction, Manufacturing and Energy news teams.

‘A vision of a Britain with smart meters, electric cars, clean power and greener buildings within a decade is overdue but great news ’ said BNE editor Paul Garrett.

Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband outlined nothing less than a green energy revolution which promises that 40 per cent of electricity in the UK will come from low carbon sources, including new nuclear power, by 2020.

Energy efficiency in buildings will be boosted by a £3.2 billion which will be invested by energy companies. Energy use will also be greener thanks to the introduction of smart meters in homes and businesses across Britain.

Financial support will be made available for homes and businesses which generate their own energy through local or micro CHP, solar or wind power.

There will also be support for hybrid and electric cars.

It is estimated that 400,000 ‘green jobs’ will be created as a result of these initiatives. But the cost of energy to homes of businesses could also rise a the price of Britain’s move towards a low carbon economy.

Along with the creation of new jobs to support this low carbon revolution, businesses and households could, despite higher energy costs, actually save money through more sustainable energy use. The economy could also benefit as Britain moves to the forefront of low carbon technologies such as marine – wave and tidal – electricity generation.

‘The whole world faces an opportunity to tackle climate change head on and also be more efficient and less wasteful’ said BNE’s Garrett ‘The UK Government’s announcement shows the way forward and it us up to every home and business to grasp the opportunities now presenting themselves to go on to live, work and play in a greener, more sustainable way’.