Engineering Matters

At the end of 2019 the Coronavirus pandemic began its global take-over, the world had to react fast to try and stop the spread. A project sprung up overnight, to create a megalab large enough to cope with never before seen testing requirements. The project would be complex, intricate, and require a quick delivery. It...

The post #183 Testing Times: Building a Megalab first appeared on Engineering Matters.

A revolution is happening in the UK, and it is happening quietly. Inspired by the Copenhagen Bicycle Account, Bike Life is the biggest assessment of cycling in cities and urban areas across the UK and Ireland. Started in Birmingham, but now in 12 cities across the country, Bike Life has informed policy decisions, justified investment...

The post #89 Blue Lanes in the Black Country first appeared on Engineering Matters.

In the early 1900s Sydney was transformed by its first electric lighting system, which was so bright compared to gas lamps it was hailed as “turning night into day”. The network did much more than just light up the streets. It democratised power, electrifying communities, homes and businesses for the first time. The system, designed by...

The post #301 Electrifying Sydney: Transformational Energy Systems first appeared on Engineering Matters.

This week, we are returning to Rothera, in the Antarctic, where, in 2021 the British Antarctic Survey had just completed work on a project it has called ‘the world’s most extreme construction site’. Pour yourself a warming drink, and enjoy the episode. We’ll be back with a new episode next week. Since the end of...

The post #306 Revisited: Building Rothera Wharf first appeared on Engineering Matters.

This February, with the flick of a switch, there was a vast shift of power on Europe’s borders. The Baltic states’ electrical grids, built in the 1960s while these countries were forcibly incorporated into the Soviet Union, had been under the control of Moscow. In one weekend, the transmission system operators in Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, working with partners in Poland and across continental Europe, disconnected from Russia, and synchronised their systems with those of their neighbours to the West.

While the switchover took only a weekend of testing, and synchronisation occurred in an instant, the project was decades in the making. For the Baltic nations, the threat of Russian aggression had been clear as early as 2007, when Estonian institutions suffered a massive cyber attack. But securing the political and financial support of their neighbours would take careful diplomacy.

The €1.6bn project would also require the deployment of cutting edge grid systems. These included synchronous condensers, needed to add inertia to grids as they move towards widespread use of renewable energy; new connections with the continental European grid; and investments in new high voltage lines and battery storage.

In this episode, three of the leaders of this project, from Lithuania, Estonia, and Poland, share how they made the case for this investment in European energy security, and the work needed to upgrade grid systems across the region. They describe the excitement of the moment when synchronisation occurred, and the benefits to countries across Europe of a grid system that is secure and ready for the energy transition.

Guests

Hannes Kont, director of the synchronisation programme, Elering

Donatas Matelionis, head of power systems operations, LitGrid

Remigiusz Warzywoda, deputy director, international cooperation, PSE

Photo

A new pylon in Estonia, part of the upgrade necessary for synchronisation. Courtesy of Tönu Tunnel

The post #324 A Shift of Power on Europe’s Borders first appeared on Engineering Matters.