wiredinUSA August 2019

Power across Africa

Intel approves Taiwan testing

Photo by Cytonn Photography on Unsplash

Schneider Electric has signed an agreement with EM-One Energy Solutions, a Nigerian sustainable energy engineering company, to help create an African mini-grid industry providing decentralized electricity generation and distribution networks based on renewable energy. Many African cities remain off-grid. With a population of over 200 million, Nigeria comprises 36 states, only one of which has an electricity network. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), West Africa’s energy consumption could quadruple by 2030 to reach 219TWh a year, less than half of the 478TWh consumed in France during 2018. Part of the solution will come from mini- grids, decentralized networks powered by photovoltaic energy. Demand is high: an estimated 200,000 mini-grids are required to power the continent and reach the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7 (to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all). Schneider Electric is seeking engineering procurement construction companies to produce the solutions. Schneider will advise on establishing an industrial plant, and testing.

Image: Intel Corporation

UL’s laboratory in Taiwan has been approved by Intel Corporation to conduct Thunderbolt™ 3 product certification testing. UL is the first safety certification organization approved to test Thunderbolt 3 host products to verify that they meet both the Thunderbolt specifications and industry safety standards such as UL/IEC 60950-1 (soon to be superseded by UL/IEC 62368-1). Thunderbolt 3 brings Thunderbolt to USB-C™ at speeds up to 40Gbps, creating one compact port that supports fast and versatile connection to docks as well as display and data devices. Thunderbolt 3 ports also supply up to 100W power for fast charging to devices.

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wiredInUSA - August 2019