In a world where increased focus is on reducing CO2 emissions, governments and energy & utility companies are looking for ways to modernize and transform their utility infrastructure in order to improve energy efficiency and reliability.
For developed economies, the traditional way power has been generated is based on a central generation model with one-way power and information flow from large, often distant generating stations, via transmission and distribution lines to end consumers. Most of these generation systems contain an aging infrastructure with some equipment dating back 60 years. This traditional infrastructure lacks sufficient technology and communications at the distribution and end-use level that would enable grid automation & monitoring capabilities. The model has been a push model, meaning that there is little to no automated information coming back to the central sites from those that use the power. So if the user suddenly has no power, the only way the utility company knows about it is if they get a call from the users. Furthermore, the user has very little information available to help them understand how much power they are using, when they are using it, and what they are using it for.
The Smart Grid (also called Intelligent Utility Network) technology is an important emerging trend within the Energy and Utility Industry. As consumers, we are increasingly aware that the way we consume and save energy can be improved. Within the energy and utility industry, energy efficiency is also on the minds of the industry leaders. And our governments are all interested in finding new sources of energy. By embedding technology into the electrical distribution network, a Smart Grid can transform the way power is distributed and used. Intelligence throughout the grid can dramatically reduce outages and faults, improve responsiveness, handle current and future demand, increase efficiency and manage costs.
The following video from IEEE will provide some additional introduction into the concept of the Smart Grid.
Produced by IEEE and ScienCentral, Inc.
A Smart Grid can present many opportunities for consumers, businesses, and utilities to benefit from the efficient distribution of energy and availability of intelligent equipment and devices. For governments, it offers significant opportunities to wisely manage a country’s fuel resources by potentially reducing the need for additional generation sources, better integrating renewable energy sources into the grid’s operations, reducing outages and cascading problems, and enabling users of power to better manage their energy consumption.
The Smart Grid technology will enable energy customers to
- manage electricity consumption to meet specific household/business goals such as cost, availability, and environmental impact
- seek energy providers, information, and technologies that help them meet their goals
- do business with utility companies who communicate a set of energy-related values consistent with their own
- seek convenient and more personalized ways to interact with their utility to negotiate customized solutions to allow them to meet their needs
- act on their own wants and needs where regulatory representation does not provide results satisfying these specific needs, primarily through execution of alternative solutions (e.g., self-generation)
So what exactly are the characteristics of a Smart Grid? The US Department of Energy has characterized a smart grid as having the following attributes:
- Self-healing from power disturbance events
- Enabling active participation by consumers in demand response
- Operating resiliently against physical and cyber attack
- Providing power quality for 21st century needs
- Accommodating all generation and storage options
- Enabling new products, services, and markets
- Optimizing assets and operating efficiently
The consumer of power from a future Smart Grid will see many differences as a result of adding intelligence into the network. Some examples are:
- Smart electricity meters, water meters, and gas meters that collect real-time data on utility usage.
- Distributed generation, such as solar panels and other micro generation. These new generators could be located at the home, in the neighborhood, or in the local community.
- Dedicated energy display units and smart thermostats that provide the user with feedback on energy usage in real-time.
- Smart appliances with connectivity to the intelligent utility network via the in home meters and display units.
- Plug-in vehicles as a both source and consumer of energy. The vehicles, when plugged in would provide information on energy usage.
- Linked connection to the in-home network and home PCs for further analysis of all the information collected.
The Smart Grid transformation is much more than installation of new technology in a piece-part fashion. The call for the transformation to a Smart Grid impacts every part of the utility infrastructure including generation, distribution, and usage. It will be a disruptive change, but a change that will provide huge rewards for the future. For the utility industry itself, changes needs to happen in four key areas:
- Strategy. We need a fundamental rethink of business strategy and industry business models across the board.
- Collaboration. Utility providers will need to develop a much closer collaboration with customers, regulators, financers, researchers, technology and service vendors, and other stakeholders than ever before.
- People. The change will be very disruptive to utility companies. They will need a renewed focus on staff, their roles, competencies, compensation, performance and structure.
- Process. Utility providers will need to re-architect business processes and applications.
There is much work to be done to transform old utility infrastructures to a Smart Grid system. The transformation will not happen overnight, but could happen over a series of decades. When complete, countries that transform their utilities infrastructure to an Intelligent Utility Network will have a modern network of sensor-based interactive technologies that will give utilities and consumers unprecedented control over managing energy use, improving energy grid operations, and significantly reducing energy costs.
There is a ton of information available on Smart Grids. Here are a few example resources for you to explore….
- Wikipedia Smart Grid page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_grid
- US Department of Energy Smart Grid page http://www.oe.energy.gov/smartgrid.htm
- IBM Smart Grid page http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/smart_grid/ideas/index.html
- SmartGrids - European Technology Platform http://www.smartgrids.eu/
- BusinessWeek: Smart Grids: China’s Edge over India
- Smart Grid News.com http://www.smartgridnews.com/index.html
For other “Primers” here on HorizonWatching, check out http://horizonwatching.typepad.com/horizonwatching/primer/
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