Tuesday, September 7, 2010

What is a Smart Grid?

This begins a series on Smart Grids. I'm sure you have all been asking the question "What is a Smart Grid?". Let's see if we can answer this question.

A smart grid delivers electricity from suppliers to consumers using two-way digital technology to control appliances at consumers' homes to save energy, reduce cost and increase reliability and transparency. Such a modernized electricity network is being promoted by many governments as a way of addressing energy independence, global warming and emergency resilience issues. Smart meters may be part of a smart grid, but alone do not constitute a smart grid.

A smart grid includes an intelligent monitoring system that keeps track of all electricity flowing in the system. It also incorporates the use of superconductive transmission lines for less power loss, as well as the capability of integrating alternative sources of electricity such as solar and wind. When power is least expensive a smart grid could turn on selected home appliances such as washing machines or factory processes that can run at arbitrary hours. At peak times it could turn off selected appliances to reduce demand.

Similar proposals include smart electric grid, smart power grid, intelligent grid (or intelligrid), FutureGrid, and the more modern intergrid and intragrid.

What is a Smart Grid?

The function of an Electrical grid is not a single entity but an aggregate of multiple networks and multiple power generation companies with multiple operators employing varying levels of communication and coordination, most of which is manually controlled. Smart grids increase the connectivity, automation and coordination between these suppliers, consumers and networks that perform either long distance transmission or local distribution tasks.
  • Transmission networks move electricity in bulk over medium to long distances, are actively managed, and generally operate from 345kV to 800kV over AC and DC lines.
  • Local networks traditionally moved power in one direction, "distributing" the bulk power to consumers and businesses via lines operating at 132kV and lower.
This paradigm is changing as businesses and homes begin generating more wind and solar electricity, enabling them to sell surplus energy back to their utilities. Modernization is necessary for energy consumption efficiency, real time management of power flows and to provide the bi-directional metering needed to compensate local producers of power. Although transmission networks are already controlled in real time, many in the US and European countries are antiquated[13] by world standards, and unable to handle modern challenges such as those posed by the intermittent nature of alternative electricity generation, or continental scale bulk energy transmission.

Goals

In principle, the smart grid is a simple upgrade of 20th century power grids that generally "broadcast" power from a few central power generators to a large number of users, to instead be capable of routing power in more optimal ways to respond to a very wide range of conditions, and to charge a premium to those that use energy at peak hours.

Respond to many conditions in supply and demand

The conditions to which a smart grid, broadly stated, could respond, occur anywhere in the power generation, distribution and demand chain. Events may occur generally in the environment (clouds blocking the sun and reducing the amount of solar power, a very hot day), commercially in the power supply market (prices to meet a high peak demand), locally on the distribution grid (MV transformer failure requiring a temporary shutdown of one distribution line) or in the home (someone leaving for work, putting various devices into hibernation, data ceasing to flow to an IPTV) that motivate a change to power flow.

Latency of the data flow is a major concern, with some early smart meter architectures allowing actually as long as 24 hours delay in receiving the data, preventing any possible reaction by either supplying or demanding devices.[1]

Provision megabits, control power with kilobits, sell the rest

The amount of data required to perform monitoring and switching your appliances off without your consent is very small compared with that already reaching even remote homes to support voice, security, Internet and TV services. Many smart grid bandwidth upgrades are paid for by over-provisioning to support also consumer services, and subsidizing the communications with energy-related services or subsidizing the energy-related services, such as higher rates during peak hours, with communications. This is particularly true where governments run both sets of services as a public monopoly, e.g. in India. Because power and communications companies are generally separate commercial enterprises in North America and Europe, it has required considerable government and large-vendor effort to encourage various enterprises to cooperate. Some, like Cisco, see opportunity in providing devices to consumers very similar to those they have long been providing to industry.[2] Others , such as Silver Spring Networks[3] or Google [4][5], are data integrators rather than vendors of equipment. While the AC power control standards suggest powerline networking would be the primary means of communication among smart grid and home devices, the bits may not reach the home via BPL initially but by fixed wireless. This may be only an interim solution however as separate power and data connections simply defeats full control.

Scale and scope

Europe's SuperSmart Grid, as well as earlier proposals (such as Al Gore's continental Unified Smart Grid) make semantic distinctions between local and national grids that sometimes conflict. Papers [6] by Battaglini et al. associate the term "smart grid" with local clusters (page 6), whereas the intelligent interconnecting backbone provides an additional layer of coordination above the local smart grids. Media use in both Europe and the US however tends to conflict national and local.

Regardless of terminology used, smart grid projects always intend to allow the continental and national interconnection backbones to fail without causing local smart grids to fail. They would have to be able to function independently and ration whatever power is available to critical needs.

Municipal grid

Before recent standards efforts, municipal governments, for example in Miami, Florida[7], have historically taken the lead in enforcing integration standards for smart grids/meters. As municipalities or municipal electricity monopolies also often own some fiber optic backbones and control transit exchanges at which communication service providers meet, they are often well positioned to force good integration.

Municipalities also have primary responsibility for emergency response and resilience, and would in most cases have the legal mandate to ration or provision power, say to ensure that hospitals and fire response and shelters have priority and receive whatever power is still available in a general outage.

Home Area Network

A Home Area Network, or "home grid", extends some of these capabilities into the home using powerline networking and/or RF using standards such as Zigbee, INSTEON, Zwave, or others.
Because of the communication standards both smart power grids and some Home Area Networks support more bandwidth than is required for power control and therefore may cost more than required. The existing 802.11 home networks generally have megabits of additional bandwidth for other services (burglary, fire, medical and environmental sensors and alarms, ULC and CCTV monitoring, access control and keying systems, intercoms and secure phone line services), and accordingly can't be separated from LAN and VoIP networking, nor from TV once the IPTV standards have emerged.

Consumer electronics devices now consume over half the power in a typical US home. Accordingly, the ability to shut down or hibernate devices when they are not receiving data could be a major factor in cutting energy use, but this would mean the electric company has information on whether you are using your computer or not, and if, for example, you simply have a screen saver on with family pictures while you do chores or work around the house, the electric company could at their discretion decide your computer is not being used and turn it off for you.

Other key devices that could aide in the utilities efforts to shed load during times of peak demand include air conditioning units, electric water heaters, pool pumps and other high wattage devices. In 2009, smart grid companies may represent one of the biggest and fastest growing sectors in the "cleantech" market [8]. It consistently receives more than half the venture capital investment.

In 2009 President Barack Obama asked the United States Congress "to act without delay" to pass legislation that included doubling alternative energy production in the next three years and building a new electricity "smart grid". [9] On April 13, 2009, George W. Arnold was named the first National Coordinator for Smart Grid Interoperability [10]. In June 2009, the NIST announced a smart grid interoperability project via IEEE P2030[11].

Europe and Australia are also following similar visions. In those parts of the world, the integration of communications and power control, both of which have generally fallen under more government supervision, is more advanced, with utilities often required or asked to provide competitive access to communications transit exchanges and distributed power co-generation connection points.

On August 20, 2009, Casa Presedencial in Costa Rica introduced a bill to the country's Legislative Assembly that would open up the energy market that is currently run by a government monopoly, and require all new private electricity generators to use smart grid technology.

Researchers and regulators support IP, closer power and data ties

Bill St. Arnaud of CANARIE (Canada's backbone research institute) argues often for closer integration of power and telecom policy, proposing that consumers should own their own power meter data explicitly and that they should have a choice of service providers for communication and power management, with reach potentially into every home AC outlet. [12] In the US, FCC Chair Michael Powell likewise expresses support for this principle of unifying the power management and other data services and offering basic levels of both to every consumer, rather than allowing power management to exist in its own separate "silo" or be confined only to non-IP-based meters or devices.The IEEE P2030 project seeks to define interoperability between various types of power grids, in part to prevent the emergence of too many incompatible silos that would cause the overall grid to be less resilient.

The following footnotes and links will be published with each blog in this series.

Footnotes

  1. http://earth2tech.com/2009/06/05/why-the-smart-grid-wont-have-the-innovations-of-the-internet-any-time-soon/
  2. http://earth2tech.com/2009/04/21/ciscos-latest-consumer-play-the-smart-grid/
  3. http://earth2tech.com/2008/05/01/silver-springs-the-cisco-of-smart-grid/
  4. http://earth2tech.com/2009/05/20/utility-perspective-why-partner-with-google-powermeter/
  5. http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/67126.html?wlc=1245096400&wlc=1245366756
  6. Supersmart grid paper
  7. http://earth2tech.com/2009/04/20/smart-grid-miami-fpl-ge-cisco-silver-spring-rolling-out-1m-smart-meters/
  8. "The rise of the Smart Grid". Deloitte TMT Predictions. http://www.deloitte.co.uk/TMTPredictions/technology/SmartGrid-electricity-grid-efficiency.cfm.
  9. "Obama's Speech on the Economy". New York Times. 2009-01-09. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/08/us/politics/08text-obama.html?pagewanted=4.
  10. "NIST Announces Three Phase Plan for Smart Grid". National Institute for Standards and Technology. 2009-04-13. http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/smartgrid_041309.html.
  11. NIST announces smart grid interoperability project via IEEE P2030, June 2009
  12. St. Arnaud's "green broadband" news
  13. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Pat Wood, III (appointed by George Bush) stated that the US transmission system cannot afford to be "antiquated" in this news release Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (2002-09-18) (pdf). FERC news release on ISO. p. 1. http://www.ferc.gov/news/news-releases/2002/2002-3/Sept18rto9.pdf. Retrieved 2009-04-29.
  14. [L. D. Kannberg]; M. C. Kintner-Meyer, D. P. Chassin, R. G. Pratt, J. G. DeSteese, L. A. Schienbein, S. G. Hauser, W. M. Warwick (2003-11) (pdf). GridWise: The Benefits of a Transformed Energy System. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory under contract with the United States Department of Energy. p. 25. http://arxiv.org/pdf/nlin/0409035. Retrieved 2008-12-05.
  15. Smart Grid Working Group (2003-06) (pdf). Challenge and Opportunity: Charting a New Energy Future, Appendix A: Working Group Reports. Energy Future Coalition. http://www.energyfuturecoalition.org/files/webfmuploads/EFC_Report/EFCReport.pdf. Retrieved 2008-11-27.
  16. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission staff report (2006-08) (pdf). Assessment of Demand Response and Advanced Metering (Docket AD06-2-000). United States Department of Energy. p. 20. http://www.ferc.gov/legal/staff-reports/demand-response.pdf. Retrieved 2008-11-27.
  17. a b National Energy Technology Laboratory (2007-08) (pdf). NETL Modern Grid Initiative — Powering Our 21st-Century Economy. United States Department of Energy Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability. p. 17. http://www.netl.doe.gov/moderngrid/docs/Modern%20Grid%20Benefits_Final_v1_0.pdf. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
  18. "Gridwise History: How did GridWise start?". Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. 2007-10-30. http://gridwise.pnl.gov/foundations/history.stm. Retrieved 2008-12-03.
  19. a b c d Qixun Yang, Board Chairman, Beijing Sifang Automation Co. Ltd., China and .Bi Tianshu, Professor, North China Electric Power University, China. (2001-06-24). "WAMS Implementation in China and the Challenges for Bulk Power System Protection" (pdf). Panel Session: Developments in Power Generation and Transmission — Infrastructures in China, IEEE 2007 General Meeting, Tampa, FL, USA, 24–28 June 2007 Electric Power, ABB Power T&D Company, and Tennessee Valley Authority (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). http://www.ewh.ieee.org/cmte/ips/2007GM/2007GM_china_intro.pdf. Retrieved 2008-12-01.
  20. "Building for the future: Interview with Andres Carvallo, CIO — Austin Energy Utility". Next Generation Power and Energy (GDS Publishing Ltd.) (244). http://nextgenpe.com/currentissue/article.asp?art=273073&issue=244. Retrieved 2008-11-26.
  21. Betsy Loeff (2008-03). "AMI Anatomy: Core Technologies in Advanced Metering". Ultrimetrics Newsletter (Automatic Meter Reading Association (Utilimetrics)). http://www.utilimetrics.org/newsletter/index.cfm?fuseaction=Newsletter.showIssuetoPrint&Issue_ID=68. Retrieved 2008-11-26.
  22. Demanding standards: Hydro One aims to leverage AMI via interoperability
  23. Smartgrids Advisory Council. "Driving Factors in the Move Towards Smartgrids" (PDF). European Smartgrids Technology Platform: Vision and Strategy. European Commission. p. 9. ISBN 92-79-01414-5. http://www.smartgrids.eu/documents/vision.pdf.
  24. a b National Energy Technology Laboratory (2007-07-27) (pdf). A Vision for the Modern Grid. United States Department of Energy. p. 5. http://www.netl.doe.gov/moderngrid/docs/A%20Vision%20for%20the%20Modern%20Grid_Final_v1_0.pdf. Retrieved 2008-11-27.
  25. Anderson, Roger; A. Boulanger, J. A. Johnson and A. Kressner (2008 ISBN 978-1-59370-157-4). p 333. Computer-Aided Lean Management for the Energy Industry.
  26. 2007 IBM Energy and Utilities Global Residential/Small Business Consumer Survey http://www-03.ibm.com/industries/utilities/doc/content/landingdtw/3165578119.html?g_type=pspot
  27. page 10
  28. Energy Future Coalition, “Challenge and Opportunity: Charting a New Energy Future,” Appendix A: Working Group Reports, Report of the Smart Grid Working Group. http://www.energyfuturecoalition.org/pubs/app_smart_grid.pdf
  29. U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory, Modern Grid Initiative, http://www.netl.doe.gov/moderngrid/opportunity/vision_technologies.html
  30. Yilu Liu, Lamine Mili, Jaime De La Ree, Reynaldo Francisco Nuqui, Reynaldo Francisco Nuqui (2001-07-12). "State Estimation and Voltage Security Monitoring Using Synchronized Phasor Measurement" (pdf). Research paper from work sponsored by American Electric Power, ABB Power T&D Company, and Tennessee Valley Authority (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University). http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download;jsessionid=3B975B94733D906CA197813C53C2BD86?doi=10.1.1.2.7959&rep=rep1&type=pdf. Retrieved 2008-12-01. abstract Lay summary. ""Simulations and field experiences suggest that PMUs can revolutionize the way power systems are monitored and controlled."".
  31. a b Patrick Mazza (2005-04-27) (doc). [http://fortress.wa.gov/wutc/home/webdocs.nsf/de53b07997d108ea882563b50072c5b3/bc3ced6bb5f4cf29882570200083aaa3/$FILE/Powering%20Up%20Smart%20Grid%20report.doc Powering Up the Smart Grid: A Northwest Initiative for Job Creation, Energy Security, and Clean, Affordable Electricity.]. Climate Solutions. p. 7. http://fortress.wa.gov/wutc/home/webdocs.nsf/de53b07997d108ea882563b50072c5b3/bc3ced6bb5f4cf29882570200083aaa3/$FILE/Powering%20Up%20Smart%20Grid%20report.doc. Retrieved 2008-12-01.
  32. (pdf) Wide Area Protection System for Stability. Nanjing Nari-Relays Electric Co., Ltd. 2008-04-22. p. 2. http://www.nari-relays.com/en/files/Wide%20Area%20Protection%20System%20for%20Stability.pdf. Retrieved 2008-12-12. Examples are given of two events, one stabilizing the system after a fault on a 1 gigawatt HVDC feed, with response timed in milliseconds.
  33. "On-Line Voltage Stability Monitoring and Control (VSMC) System in Fujian power grid" (pdf). Proceedings, Power Engineering Society General Meeting, 2007. (Tampa, FL, USA: IEEE). 2007-06-24. doi:10.1109/PES.2007.385975. Lay summary.
  34. Cisco Outlines Strategy for Highly Secure, 'Smart Grid' Infrastructure
  35. Why the Smart Grid must be based on IP standards
  36. IEEE P2030 Official Website
  37. EETimes.com: IEEE, conference drive smart grids - P2030 aims to develop a guide to grid standards
  38. Commerce Secretary Unveils Plan for Smart Grid Interoperability
  39. Li, Jerry (2009), From Strong to Smart: the Chinese Smart Grid and its relation with the Globe, AEPN, Article No. 0018602, Asia Energy Platform. Available at http://www.aepfm.org/link.php
  40. http://www.smartgrids.eu/: Look under 'background'
  41. "U.S. Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007". http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:H.R.6.ENR:. Retrieved 2007-12-23.
  42. http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ140.110
  43. http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/news/news_detail.cfm/news_id=12364
  44. "Report: Smart Grid Market Could Double in Four Years". Zpryme Smart Grid Market. http://www.smartgridnews.com/artman/publish/Business_Markets_Pricing_News/Report-Smart-Grid-Market-Could-Double-in-Four-Years-1662.html.
  45. http://www.e-energy.de/en/index.php
  46. a b c d e Massachusetts rejects utility's prepayment plan for low income customers, The Boston Globe, 2009-07-23

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