Stay informed about the latest developments in communication infrastructure, power storage technology, outdoor cabinet design, and renewable energy solutions.
Ingrained in our world history, people have been using wind energy for thousands of years. As early as 5,000 BC, wind was used to propel boats along the river Nile. In 200 BC, wind-powered water pumps were being integrated in China and windmills were grinding grain in the Middle East.
American colonists used windmills to grind grain, pump water, and cut wood at sawmills. Homesteaders and ranchers installed thousands of wind pumps as they settled the western United States. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, small wind-electric generators (wind turbines) were also widely used.
The US federal government supported research and development of large wind turbines. In the early 1980s, thousands of wind turbines were installed in California, largely because of federal and state policies that encouraged the use of renewable energy sources.
Small wind turbines were used as electricity in remote and rural areas. 1970s - Oil shortages changed the energy environment for the US and the world. The oil shortages created an interest in developing ways to use alternative energy sources, such as wind energy, to generate electricity.
* China's Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP) will officially launch an island-wide independent customs operation on Dec. 18, 2025, which marks the anniversary of the milestone Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee in 1978 that ushered in the reform and opening-up, underscores China's unwavering commitment to high-standard opening-up.
On June 10, 2021, the 29th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress passed the Hainan Free Trade Port Law of the People's Republic of China, which determined to establish and improve the Hainan Free Trade Port customs supervision special zone system with closed-off customs operations on the entire island.
With a zero-tariff system fundamentally in place after the independent customs operation, high-quality global resources can flow into Hainan with greater freedom and efficiency, Wu said. Trade liberalization and facilitation are defining features of a free trade port.
An aerial drone photo shows a duty-free shopping mall in Sanya, South China's Hainan province, May 29, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua] The Hainan Free Trade Port will launch island-wide independent customs operations on Dec 18, a key step in transforming the tropical island into a globally significant free trade hub, a senior official announced Wednesday.
In the early 2000s, Germany encouraged people to install solar panels on the roofs of their homes by rewarding them with payments, known as feed-in tariffs, for sending energy to the grid. But those have become less lucrative in recent years, making such large-scale investments less attractive.
But in homes across Germany, they are powering a quiet transformation, bringing the green revolution into the hands of people without requiring them to make a large investment, find an electrician or use heavy tools. “You don’t need to drill or hammer anything,” Ms. Berg said.
History of German feed-in tariffs in ¢/kWh for rooftop solar of less than 10 kW p since 2001. For 2016, it amounted to 12.31 ¢/kWh. Germany introduced its feed-in tariff in 2000 and it later became a model for solar industry policy support in other countries. : 145
Large power plants feed their electricity into this level and distribute it to the subordinate distribution grids, from which the electricity goes to households. In addition, the transmission grid connects the German electricity grid with those of neighbouring European countries and the European energy exchange.
A strong and highly interconnected electricity grid is one of the key flexibility assets in Germany – and Europe. No other region of the world has a comparable cross-national grid as robust, reliable and interconnected as that in Europe.
Being responsible for Germany's high-voltage grid, TSOs maintain, operate, plan and expand grid infrastructure. For example, 50Hertz Transmission — owned by Belgian company Elia Group (80%) and German state-owned KfW banking group (20%) — controls the grid in eastern Germany and parts of it in the north.
In Germany the high voltage transmission grid is largely owned by the four transmission system operators (TSOs): TenneT, 50Hertz Transmission, Amprion and TransnetBW. At the level of the distribution grids the electricity is transmitted at high, medium and low voltage. The high voltage grid is used for the primary distribution of the electricity.
The legal aspect of this "Master Plan" was agreed as the "ASEAN Power Grid’s Roadmap for Integration" at the 20th AMEM Meeting in Bali on July 5, 2002.
Again, there was a specific focus on interconnection projects between individual member states, as highlighted during the 2002 meeting. In 2007, the APGCC (ASEAN Power Grid Consultative Committee) was established under HAPUA and is an advice committee dedicated to creating and maintaining a framework to create the APG.
In 1981, the first official discussions on the state of electricity grids within ASEAN began. This resulted in the creation of the "Heads of ASEAN Power Utilities/Authorities" group, otherwise known as HAPUA.
