Just as the Internet changed the way we communicate, so will the “smart grid” transform the way we deliver electricity. The Internet’s success is largely due to its networking capabilities. In a similar way, the smart grid will use broadband capabilities and high-speed computing to revolutionize the transmission and distribution of power to end users.
Though the notion has been around for at least a decade, there’s no consensus about what constitutes a smart grid. However, the many government, industry, technology, and policy groups that have been working to advance the idea from theory into practice (see sidebar, "Who's shaping the smart grid" ) do agree that, in general, a smart grid will use digital technologies to enable integrated, real-time control of all the system’s elements, from generation to end use.
Future grid features
Industry observers agree that the basic way the U.S. power grid operates has not changed much in the past 100 years. Now, however, as a result of electricity deregulation and market-driven pricing in parts of the U.S., utilities are looking for a means to match the consumption of electricity with its generation. Many in the industry have a vision of a fully network-connected power grid that identifies all aspects of the grid and communicates their status and the impact of consumption decisions to automated decision-making systems.
The general definition of a smart grid, according to a recent white paper by power generation analysts at Xcel Energy, is an intelligent, auto-balancing, self-monitoring power grid that takes a variety of fuel sources (coal, sun, and wind, for example) and transforms them into electricity for consumers’ end use (heat, light, and warm water) with minimal human intervention. They assert that it is a system that will allow society to optimize the use of renewable energy sources and minimize our collective environmental footprint. A smart grid has the ability to sense when a part of its system is overloaded and reroute electrons to reduce that overload and prevent a potential outage. Additionally, it is a grid that enables real-time communication between the consumer and the utility, allowing the utility to optimize a consumer’s energy usage based on that person’s environmental and/or price preferences.
Several utilities have run pilot projects involving one or more smart grid technologies over the past decade or so. Most common has been the installation of advanced metering to enable time-of-use pricing programs that are designed to shave demand peaks. But Xcel Energy’s plan appears to be the most all-inclusive one yet.
Examples of technology being tested by Xcel Energy for future use to build intelligence into the power grid are as follows:
- Neural networks: This project creates a state-of the art system that helps reduce boiler slagging and fouling. Boiler sensors plug directly into the plant’s distributed control system. Neural networks will model slagging and fouling by using historical data to “learn” boiler behavior.
- Smart substation: This project is retrofitting an existing substation (Merriam Park) with cutting-edge technology for remote monitoring of critical and noncritical operating data. It includes developing an analytics engine that processes massive amounts of data for near-real-time decision-making and automated actions. The team will monitor breakers, transformers, batteries, and substation environmental factors, such as ambient temperatures and variable wind speeds.
- Smart distribution assets: This project tests existing meter communication equipment that can automatically notify Xcel Energy of outages and help the utility restore service more quickly.
- Smart outage management: This project tests diagnostic software that uses statistics on eight factors, including equipment maintenance and real-time weather, to predict problems on the power distribution system and create an outage-cause model. A substation feeder analysis system can detect and predict cable and device failures on monitored substation banks.
- Consumer web portal: This project will allow customers to program or preset their energy use for specified devices (such as air conditioners or dishwashers, for example) and automatically control power consumption based on hourly energy costs and environmental factors.
- Wind power storage: This project tests a 1-MW battery energy storage system connected directly to a wind turbine at the MinnWind wind farm in southwest Minnesota in an effort to store wind energy and return it to the grid when it is most needed. It is expected to demonstrate long-term emission reductions from increased availability of wind, help reduce impacts of wind variability, and allow Xcel Energy to meet renewable portfolio standard requirements.
In December 2007, Xcel established the Smart Grid Consortium, bringing together leading technologists, engineering firms, business leaders, and IT experts. Consortium members include Accenture, Current Group, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, and Ventyx. The group is providing guidance, products, and services needed to promote the implementation of Xcel’s smart grid vision (see sidebar, "Tommorow's grid today").
Specifically, the consortium partners will make the following contributions:
- Accenture will provide guidance for best business/consumer outreach practices and overall IT integration consultin
- Current Group will provide the communications network (broadband over power lines) to connect all the smart grid components and allow them “talk” to each other (interconnectivity).
- Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories will provide substation technology and infrastructure such as monitors, relays, sensors, and switches for smart substations.
- Ventyx will provide work management solutions for deploying the smart grid technologies by identifying the right tools and sending the right crews to the right place, when needed. It will also provide planning and analytics for price and load forecasts as well as decision support for connecting customer actions to trading and investment decisions in real time.
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