8/6/21  Electric vampires do exist, and chances are that you have multiple ones at your residence These vampires are power cables that suck up electricity even when your appliances are turned off but are still plugged in. This “vampire electricity” comes from power cords to phone chargers, laptops, printers, modems, stereos, TVs, DVRs, cable boxes, microwaves, etc., that are always plugged in to a wall socket and continually consume energy, even if the appliance is not turned on. These appliances remain in standby mode, continually drawing energy waiting for you to click “On” so they can start up immediately. They also consume energy to perform other tasks in the background, such as making updates, connecting to remote networks and gathering data. A whole house of appliances constantly draining vampire energy can contribute as much as 20% to your electric bill. That’s $165 per year for the average household, and $19 billion across the U.S., according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.

One way to put a stake in vampire energy usage is using a power strip (with a surge protector), which turns off all power flowing to devices. Plug multiple devices into a power strip when appliances are in use, then turn them all off at once when not in use. Other ways to ward off energy vampires is to buy Energy Star labeled appliances, activate the energy-saving mode of appliances to put it to sleep when not in use, unplug phones and tablets once they are fully charged rather than leaving them charging overnight, and unplug seldom used appliances like the washing machine or the household furnace during summer or air conditioner during winter when not in use.

8/6/21  Everyone wants a bargain but buying by lowest price continues to be a bad idea. Merchants on Instagram are selling counterfeit Apple phone chargers, lightning cable, and USB power adapters at a steep discount. Only these products tend to explode, causing overheating, fires, and injury such as burns and shocks. A USA Today study checked the safety limits of electricity flowing through 400 fake iPhone adapters and found a 99% failure rate. 

About 1 million online listings selling counterfeit Apple products, usually from China and Hong Kong, have become a multi-million-dollar operation targeting mostly consumers in Europe and the U.S., according to a report by Ghost Data Team published on Bloomberg.com. Ghost Data studied 163 sellers of counterfeit products on Instagram, and these companies uploaded 50,000 sales posts in the last year. U.S. investigators have determined that overseas-manufactured counterfeits take a circuitous route through several companies before reaching retail markets in the U.S.

 Counterfeits have been a persistent problem. Instagram parent company Facebook says it continues to devote resources to taking down sites that sells such products, yet you can still find such offers advertised on Instagram and Facebook. One seller grossed $140,000 in a single day, according to Ghost Data. Amazon is also plagued by counterfeits.

 If you see an ad for an AirPod Pro for $25 that typically sells for $249, you can be assured that you are not looking at a bargain. You are looking at junk. Also, if a photo of a product shows no logo, and there is no description for short circuit protection or accompanying product information, scroll on.

8/6/21  India’s Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) has recommended the imposition of countervailing duties on certain types of aluminum wires from Malaysia for five years.

Per a report in the India’s Economic Times, the DGTR concluded that imposition of definitive countervailing duty is required to offset subsidization. “The authority recommends imposition of definitive countervailing duty...for a period of five years,” it said. The finance ministry must approve the DGTR’s finding for it to be imposed. The probe was launched based on complaints from Vedanta Ltd and Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd. DGTR recommended a rate of 6.87% and 16.5%.

The DGTR also has begin an anti-dumping (AD) duty sunset review to determine whether existing measures set in 2016 should be continued for steel wire rod imported from China. Per an online report from India’s Economic Times, the investigation is supported by the Indian Steel Association on behalf of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited, Steel Authority of India Limited and JSW Steel. The three companies “have supported the application,” the DGTR said in a notification. In it, it said that ending the duties would harm domestic wire rod producers. The period of investigation is Oct. 1, 2019 to March 31, 2021.

Per a report in the newindianexpress.com, in 2016, an AD duty equivalent to the difference between the landed value of steel products and US$499 per metric ton was to be imposed on products exported by Minmetals Yingkou Medium Plate Co., and $538 for all other producers.

8/3/21  LS Cable & System (LSC&S) President & CEO Myung Roe-Hyun announced that the South Korean company will expand its submarine cable capacity at its campus in Donghae City, Gangwon-do.

A press release said that LSC&S will build an additional submarine cable plant in Building No. 2 of the Donghae City campus, which is in the Gangwon Province. The site now has three plants. The fourth plant will feature the tallest power cable production tower in South Korea. When completed, the vertical continuous extraction system (VCV) tower will be as tall as a 63-story apartment, the tallest structure in Donghae City. Construction will start this October and is expected to be completed by the end of April 2023. The project, which will cost more than $161 million, will increase LSC&S’s submarine cable production capacity more than 1.5 times. The 172-m-tall VCV Tower is designed to improve cable insulation quality and increase productivity.

LS Cable & System built Korea’s first submarine cable plant in Donghae City in 2008, and has invested about US$296 million to date. The existing plant, which has a total floor area of 84,000 sq m, when have an additional 31,000 sq m.

 “As countries around the world are increasing investments in renewable energy to become carbon neutral, the submarine cable market is also growing,” said Myung Roe-Hyun, President & CEO of LS Cable & System. “We will contribute to the national economy by expanding domestic investments.”

8/3/21  Nexans, which notes that it has been a long-term partner in renewable energy developments, announced that it has been awarded a contract by Equinor to supply power export cable for its innovative floating solar pilot offshore Frøya in Norway.

A press release said that the pilot project, called Frøya, is scheduled to come online this December, at which time it will be the world’s first floating solar plant operating in rough offshore waters. The Frøya floating plant will measure 80 m x 80 m, with a height of less than 3 m above the sea surface, hosting an array of solar panels capable of producing up to 1 megawatt.

Nexans will supply 5 km of 22 kW export cable to connect the floating platform from shallow waters to land. The most challenging aspect for the cable construction is to handle the dynamic loadings as the connection at the platform end pitches up and down with the waves. Nexans is utilizing a three-core cable design of a type well proven in offshore wind farm and fish farming installations. The cable will be manufactured at Rognan plant in Norway.

“Our mission for Nexans is to electrify the world,” said Krister Granlie, vice president of the submarine telecom and special cables business unit of Nexans. “Our mission for Nexans is to electrify the world. That means exploring every possible opportunity to help develop new sources of green energy. So, we are delighted to be working once again with Equinor on a truly exciting project that further extends the boundaries of what might be possible in generating renewable energy offshore.”

Utility-scale floating solar power is currently one of the fastest growing renewable technologies as governments and investors around the world explore every possibility for safer, sustainable and decarbonized energy. This is expected to drive almost 10 gigawatt of new floating solar deployment by 2025.