Batteries may rewire world's power grids, spell trouble for utility firms

International News

It's just a marketing gimmick. But it casts a spell.
A pale orange-and-gold sunset bathes the macadamia plantations and avocado orchards that sweep down to Australia's Byron Bay. The coming dusk is a cue for two sleek Tesla battery packs in the garage at Amileka, a secluded holiday villa nearby. They stir silently into action—powering the appliances in the five-bedroom home's twin kitchens, recharging a $100,000-plus Model X SUV, driving a filter pump for an 18-meter swimming pool sparkling in the shade of a century-old native black bean tree.
From first light on this Southern Hemisphere autumn day, a bank of 33 rooftop solar panels has been capturing the sun's energy. At times, the electricity is directed back to the local grid. But mostly it's funneled into the garage and stored in Powerwall units, in the same type of rechargeable cells that fuel the automaker's vehicles. The batteries—as tall as refrigerators, as thin as flat-screen TVs—will power this unusually energy-hungry villa deep into the evening.
But not all night. The solar array and batteries meet just half of Amileka's average energy needs. So after a few hours, the 25-acre, $1,160-a-night miniresort that Tesla Inc uses to promote its products must tap into the local electricity grid.
The photogenic demonstration on Australia's eastern coast presents a vision of what some see as the most significant shift in the energy sector since the late 19th century: rechargeable batteries—in electric vehicles, homes, industrial plants, and power grids—that will make the transition to renewable energy possible.

 The actual future of energy may be less postcard-worthy. It may look more like a fleet of electric school buses. And the end of utility companies as we know them...Read More

India's weak electricity demand signals more slowdown pain ahead

Economy policy

India is witnessing a listless growth in electricity demand, possibly signaling more slowdown in Asia’s third-largest economy.

Electricity requirement from distribution utilities in February rose 1.3 percent from a year earlier and barely changed from January’s 1.1 percent, the weakest growth in two years, according to the power ministry’s Central Electricity Authority. Data for power generation, a proxy for demand, showed the weakness continued into March.

The trend points to a lack of appetite among factories and commercial firms -- who consume about half the country’s electricity -- ahead of government data on industrial production for February that’s due Friday. Uncertainty about the outcome of a national election beginning Thursday, weak domestic demand and a global slowdown have clouded India’s economy.

Economic growth slowed to 6.6 percent in the three months to December, the weakest pace in six quarters. The International Monetary Fund Tuesday cut the nation’s growth outlook for this year to 7.3 percent from 7.5 percent seen in January.

“The industry is not growing at a fast pace,” said Devendra Kumar Pant, chief economist, at India Ratings and Research, the local unit of Fitch Group. “All leading indicators suggest sluggishness in industrial activities will continue for some time.”

India’s core infrastructure sector, which constitutes 40 percent of total industrial production, grew 2.1 percent in February, marginally improving from January’s 19-month low of 1.8 percent when electricity generation and production of refinery products contracted.


 While factory output data for March, which is published with a one-month lag, is due in May, early indicators point to a steepening slowdown.