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DOE workshop convenes grid simulation and modeling experts. The Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory recently hosted a workshop to address new methods for modeling the national power grid. According to workshop organizer Mark Petri, Argonne's technology development director, modeling and simulation are important tools that help the power industry anticipate demand and better understand the evolution of the grid. Detailed simulations that model the generation and transmission of electricity around the country help planners reinforce grid reliability, efficiency, and security. The workshop included modeling and simulation experts from federal agencies, national laboratories, and academia. The lab has published the workshop findings in a downloadable report (link below). Quick Take: The ability to simulate and model the grid is vital not only to solving current problems but to anticipating and preparing for future needs. Indeed, simulation is the brain at the center of the Smart Grid, and it’s a topic that has not received nearly the attention it deserves.
Argonne National Laboratory news release National Power Grid Simulation Capability: Needs and Issues (PDF)
SAP Connects Meters to the Back Office. SAP has announced the immediate availability of tools aimed at the Smart Grid market. The first, SAP AMI Integration for Utilities software, lets utilities manage data from meters, including reading meter data, performing remote disconnects and reconnects, report outages, and support dunning. The software also helps integrate meter data with back-office systems to help control costs. The second is a packaged dashboard utility, developed in cooperation with SteamServe, lets utilities monitor costs associated with customer service and provide models on reducing costs and environmental impacts through reduced CO2. Quick Take: AMI has long promised to provide utilities with information and powerful two-way communication with customers. But AMI by itself doesn’t provide a lot of value without some software to manage the data. As we predicted some years ago, more and more players are converging to provide this vital link between utilities’ operational side and their back office systems. Oracle recently announced its utility solution, and now SAP is doing the same. The real milestone will come when standards are in place that let data from multiple vendors’ products interoperate and communicate with one another. The arrival of a dashboard product is also a welcome sign. Lockheed announced a similar tool last February. The industry certainly needs a product that gives executives the big picture of their operations. We look forward to future contributions to this category.
Full disclosure: Lockheed is a sponsor of SmartGridNews.
T&D article on SAP utility software SAP AMI Integration for Utilities press release SGN report on Oracle’s announcement SGN report on Lockheed product
Energy data processing sees rapid growth. Controlling customer energy usage to reduce demand at peak times is a goal of the Smart Grid in general and AMI in particular. But figuring how to use that meter data effectively without disrupting customer comfort is no small challenge. Stepping up to that challenge are companies like Aleri and Integral Analytics, whose joint efforts have produced software that helps analyze energy data in real time, according to a recent Earth2Tech story. In a related article, Sustainable Industries reports that venture capital invested in power and efficiency management grew from $20 million in 2002 to $294 in 2008. The field includes a range of products from a wireless sensor networks that track energy use within a building to a system that streams real-time data about a company’s solar array, providing alerts about failures, environmental conditions, and verifying power production to help qualify for a state rebate. Quick Take: Energy management products will become increasingly important not only to building owners but also to grid operators in preventing outages and managing peak demand and demand response. The Smart Grid ecosystem continues to grow.
Earth2Tech article on smart energy software at Reuters Smart Industries article on power and efficiency management products
Appliance makers get smart. General Electric has released a video demonstration of several Smart Grid-aware appliances that it plans to begin selling later this year. Some products, such as a dryer, hot water heater, and oven, will switch to one of three lower power modes in response to signals from utilities when power consumption is high. Others, like a dishwasher, will include a display showing customers when electric rates are lower, letting them decide when to use the product for maximum savings. GE is currently testing such appliances in 15 Lousiville, KY, homes. In other appliance news, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), whose members produce electrical and medical equipment, have issued a press release highlighting the fact that top execs from several member companies attended NIST’s White House Leadership Summit on Smart Grid on May 18. Quick Take: PNNL (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) pioneered the concept of smart appliances years ago with its Grid Friendly Appliance controller. GE’s effort builds on that, but smart appliances have the potential to do much more, including reporting and recording their own energy use and providing other kinds of information. We applaud this trend and the indications that other appliance makers are also waking up to the possibilities of the Smart Grid. We look forward to future developments in this area.
Fast Company report with GE video GridWise-PNNL Grid Friendly appliance page
Smart Grid market growth: How much? Earth2Tech is reporting that Cisco’s market estimates for the Smart Grid basically agree with those of Specialists in Business Information (SBI). In press documents released with its Smart Grid announcements last week, Cisco Systems forecast that the market for Smart Grid communications would $20 billion a year in less than five years. For its part, SBI has stated that the market for Smart Grid enabling technologies would grow to a $17 billion a year business by 2014. According to SBI, the current Smart Grid market is estimated at $6 billion annually. Quick Take: Unfortunately, Earth2Tech is not making an apples-to-apples comparison. The Cisco prediction only addresses communications technology, while the SBI analysis makes predictions about overall revenue from two-way communications, smart meters, smart sensors, information technology, renewable energy, and storage systems. Given that, the numbers are wildly out of sync, illustrating the difficulty in pinning down Smart Grid numbers in this evolving market. Nevertheless, all agree that Smart Grid markets are growing at a considerable pace and will continue to do so for the next half decade.
Earth2Tech article on Smart Grid growth SGN coverage of Cisco announcement ChannelWeb coverage of Cisco market prediction Purchase page for SBI Smart Grid analysis and forecast
Google announces utility partners for PowerMeter. Internet search king Google announced today that it has entered into partnerships with eight energy companies around the globe to use its PowerMeter energy management software. Six of the new partners, like San Diego Gas & Electric and Wisconsin Public Service, are in the United States, while two others, Toronto Hydro–Electric System Limited and Reliance Energy, are in Canada and India, respectively. In addition, Google lists smart meter maker Itron as an integration partner. Google’s PowerMeter product lets users log into their utility’s Web site and use PowerMeter to monitor and manage their energy use, potentially saving money for the customers and reducing demand on the supplier. Because PowerMeter is designed to work with smart meters, it is currently available to a limited number of customers. PowerMeter is a free, opt-in service. Quick Take: Google’s success in attracting partners just goes to show the power of “free.” In classic Google fashion, the company is providing a free service on the assumption that the money will come later. That revenue could come in either of two ways: First, Google may be e expecting that yet another Web service will make their core business more valuable, with customers using Google, or a personalized version of it, more often. Second, Google may be hoping to find a way to make money on the product later on after PowerMeter is widely entrenched and the company has access to utilities’ customer data. In contrast, most of PowerMeter’s competitors expect utilities to pay for the home power-management tools they offer. Google competitors in this area include Greenbox Technology, Trilliant, Tendril, and Aclara Software (formerly Nexus Energy Software).
Previous SGN coverage on PowerMeter
WiMAX gear company looks into Smart Grid. WiMAX gear maker Alvarion has performed pilot projects to collect Smart Grid data, according to Earth2Tech. The company’s vice president of corporate market development, Ashish Sharma, told Earth2Tech how Alvarion’s WiMAX gear was used to collect data from a smart meter and transfer it to a utility’s back office application. At this time, the Tel Aviv, Israel-based Alvarion is not disclosing its partners in these projects. Quick Take: With players like General Electric and Intel investigating the role of WiMAX in Smart Grid applications, it’s no surprise to see a WiMAX company wanting in on the action as well. We believe WiMAX will catch on as one of the key communications pipelines for Smart Grid. The lesson here is that if you’re not considering WiMAX as one of your options, it’s probably time to take a closer look. Although WiMAX has its competitors, its biggest long-term threat comes not from Wi-Fi but from LTE (long-term evolution), a mobile radio communications technology.
Earth2Tech story on Alvarion and Smart Grid
IEC targets Smart Grid interoperability. The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) has established a new strategic group, SG 3, and its first order of business is one tall order. The group's first job will be to complete a road map for development of a framework for interoperability of Smart Grid systems. IEC has identified 19 technical committees with international standards that play a part in the Smart Grid structure. The groups have been asked to respond by May 31 to a questionnaire intended to identify gaps and overlaps in IEC standards. The responses will help develop the first framework which will be presented to the commission's Standardization Management Board during its June meeting.
Quick Take: As we noted in our report last week on the PRIME Alliance, Europe is accelerating efforts toward Smart Grid interoperability standards, this time through the European-dominated IEC. We hope IEC, PRIME Alliance, and other international groups will agree on truly global standards for interoperability and not get caught up in professional rivalries.
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