The Smart Grid will bring about many changes, and data centers will not be exempt as they consume and waste an enormous amount of electricity. In the U.S., data centers consumed 61 billion kilowatt-hours or 1.5 percent of the nation’s total electricity in 2006, according to an August 2007 study by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). That is twice what was consumed just six years earlier, and the EPA forecasted data center power consumption to double again from 2006 to 2012.
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Gary Rackliffe
Vice President, Smart Grid Development, ABB North America. Gary Rackliffe was appointed to VP of Smart Grids North America in May 2009. He leads ABB's Smart Grid initiative in North America, including business development, strategic partnerships, and ABB’s marketing and product strategies. Gary has over 25 years of industry experience in both transmission and distribution and has worked for ABB for 19 years in Raleigh,NC in several positions. He was previously the VP of Marketing and Sales for the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic sales region.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Data Centers and the Smart Grid
Guest post: Clemens Pfeiffer, Chief Technology Officer, Power Assure
The Smart Grid will bring about many changes, and data centers will not be exempt as they consume and waste an enormous amount of electricity. In the U.S., data centers consumed 61 billion kilowatt-hours or 1.5 percent of the nation’s total electricity in 2006, according to an August 2007 study by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). That is twice what was consumed just six years earlier, and the EPA forecasted data center power consumption to double again from 2006 to 2012.
The Smart Grid will bring about many changes, and data centers will not be exempt as they consume and waste an enormous amount of electricity. In the U.S., data centers consumed 61 billion kilowatt-hours or 1.5 percent of the nation’s total electricity in 2006, according to an August 2007 study by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). That is twice what was consumed just six years earlier, and the EPA forecasted data center power consumption to double again from 2006 to 2012.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
'Big Fish' in an emerging smart grid market
GTM Research recently published The Networked Grid 150 report, a compilation of the industry's leading players, vendor rankings, competitive positioning and market forecasts for each smart grid segment. ABB was among only four companies to be named a ‘Big Fish of Smart Grid’ as well as a ‘Top Ten Vendor’ based on an extensive list of qualifying characteristics. The electrical system of the future requires capacity, reliability, efficiency and sustainability which technologies in the ABB portfolio provide. To learn more about ABB technology and smart grid solutions, I invite you to view the free webinar: How to determine the right self-healing grid strategy to achieve your budget and reliability goals. Learn what type of investment and reliability improvements you can expect and discover options to determine the best strategy for your budget. Click here to view today!
Friday, March 16, 2012
New Smart Grid Center of Excellence Unveiled
Guest post: Adam Litowsky, Marketing, ABB Smart Grid Center of Excellence
ABB’s new Smart Grid Center of Excellence (COE), the nation’s first-of-its-kind smart grid demonstration center and verification lab, was unveiled at last week’s ribbon cutting ceremony on North Carolina State University’s Centennial Campus. Several local dignitaries attended the event including the Mayor of Raleigh, Nancy McFarlane; NC State Chancellor, Dr. Randy Woodson; and ABB NAM Regional Manager, Enrique Santacana. These officials as well as other attendees toured the facility to learn how ABB’s cutting-edge smart grid hardware and software solutions can help prepare cities to deal with weather emergencies.
Monday, January 30, 2012
2012 is off to a quick start!
Two significant conferences have already occurred: the IEEE PES Innovative Smart Grid Technologies Conference in Washington, D.C. on January 16-20 and the DistribuTECH Conference & Exhibition in San Antonio on January 24-26.
The Innovative Smart Grid Technologies (ISGT) conference is sponsored by IEEE and the presentations in the paper sessions are generally more technically oriented than other smart grid seminars and conferences. This conference was first held two years ago at the NIST offices in Washington, D.C., it moved to Anaheim last year, and returned to Washington, D.C. this year. I had a couple of observations.
The Innovative Smart Grid Technologies (ISGT) conference is sponsored by IEEE and the presentations in the paper sessions are generally more technically oriented than other smart grid seminars and conferences. This conference was first held two years ago at the NIST offices in Washington, D.C., it moved to Anaheim last year, and returned to Washington, D.C. this year. I had a couple of observations.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Managing transformer health and performance with utility analytics
Guest post: Randy Schrieber, Marketing & Sales Manager, ABB Power Equipment Services
In a recent web publication on utility analytics, Mike Smith at intelligentutility.com said:
In a recent web publication on utility analytics, Mike Smith at intelligentutility.com said:
“... a second area where the predictive characteristics of analytics are being applied is in managing assets across transmission and distribution infrastructure, which is costly to maintain. While most utilities have been using some type of enterprise asset management (EAM) system for years to help manage these maintenance and operations tasks, the roll-out of the smart grid is providing new opportunities for improvement as the infrastructure becomes smarter.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Why is battery energy storage such a hot topic?
Guest post: Alexandra Goodson, Business Development Manager, ABB Energy Storage Modules
I may be biased, but I think battery energy storage is going to be the next big “game changer” in the smart grid and power industry. Increasing demands for power along with regulations mandating renewable energy generation can lead to instability in the grid. There is constant struggle for utilities to not only maintain but improve their system’s reliability. One way to accomplish this is by having energy that is stored and ready to be dispatched… aka energy storage.
I may be biased, but I think battery energy storage is going to be the next big “game changer” in the smart grid and power industry. Increasing demands for power along with regulations mandating renewable energy generation can lead to instability in the grid. There is constant struggle for utilities to not only maintain but improve their system’s reliability. One way to accomplish this is by having energy that is stored and ready to be dispatched… aka energy storage.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Smart Grid – A Triple-Helix Growth Model in the Research Triangle
I work for ABB and we were recently invited to host a dinner for the International Cleantech Network (ICN) in Raleigh, North Carolina when the ICN held its four-day partnership building program in the Research Triangle. The ICN is a global organization dedicated to advancing new technologies for a healthy environment and for economic development. The event was sponsored by the Research Triangle CleanTech Cluster (RTCC) and was organized by the Research Triangle Regional Partnership (RTRP) and NC State University’s (NCSU’s) Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Development. Since ABB sponsored the dinner, I had the chance to say a few words about why we are supporting the RTCC and why ABB is the first company to commit to participating in the RTCC as a founding board member. I saved my notes from the dinner and want to share in this week’s blog why I think that the Research Triangle is the smart grid hotspot and the five reasons why we are supporting RTCC.
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