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Smart Grid 101: The Forces in Favor of a Smart Grid By SGN Staff Jan 19, 2010 - 4:39:44 PM
Some predict that worldwide electric power generation may nearly double between 2004 and 2030. And as the world moves from a Petroleum Economy to an Electricity Economy over the next 30 years, electricity will become our most strategic commodity.
Yet the electric grid -- the all-important “middleware” that ties the generation of electrical power to its end use – suffers from years of neglect and deferred maintenance. Simply patching yesterday’s outmoded infrastructure isn’t the answer.
How it works
Increasingly the world is looking to the electric power industry for solutions to our looming energy crises:
· Climate change? Generate more power from renewable energy. · Declining oil production? Electrify our transportation system. · Rising costs? Become ultra-efficient. · Economic disaster if the grid fails? Make it impervious to attack and natural disasters.
. Industry experts believe a modern, digitized Smart Grid can help solve some of our most pressing energy woes – connecting more renewable energy to the grid, providing an infrastructure to support electric vehicles, enabling energy efficiency, and using advanced technologies to create a resilient “self-healing” grid.
Elsewhere in our Smart Grid 101 section we discussed the three “pieces” of the electricity ecosystem: 1) Generation, 2) Delivery and 3) End Use. Each piece contributes forces in favor of the Smart Grid. It is the confluence of all of these market drivers that makes grid modernization such an inevitable trend.
Generation drivers
The generation side of the electric power value chain is being impelled by two major trends: 1) diversity of supply and 2) air and water neutrality.
Diversity of supply summarizes a variety of changes now rippling through the system. Some of those changes refer to how electricity is generated, such as alternative energy and renewable energy. Some of the changes refer to substitutes to generation, such as demand response and energy storage. And some of the changes refer to where the energy source is located, such as distributed generation and distributed resources.
Air and water neutrality encapsulates the urgent need to generate and consume electricity to preserve the environment. This world is moving to limits on carbon emissions. Going forward, the water/power nexus will also gain attention. The next decade will bring a violent collision between competing uses for water: consumption, agriculture, power generation, recreation and environmental preservation.
End use driversThe end use side of the equation is being pushed by three macro forces: 1) the population explosion, 2) the inflation of expectations, and 3) the electrification of everything.
The population explosion refers to the number of people needing electricity. The world passed 6 billion inhabitants in 2000. As of December 2008, the figure stood at 6.7 billion according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The inflation of expectations refers to changing demographic trends. The developing world is rapidly catching up to the electricity-hungry lifestyle of the industrialized world.
The electrification of everything refers to the increasing dominance of electricity as the preferred form of energy. Several developments have driven electricity into every facet of our lives, most notably motors, microprocessors and microwaves. And now another massive change is about to begin: the switch to electric transportation. .
. Figure 1. Power generation will nearly double from 2004 to 2030. (Energy Information Administration, 2006)
The challenges
The Obama Administration’s push to promote clean energy and reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil has led to a huge investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency, electric transportation, and modernization of the electric grid. But even the billions in Recovery Act dollars being spent to forge a new energy economy is just a down payment.
Read related Smart Grid 101 articles
Deepen your understanding
The following documents provide more detailed information on the forces in favor of a Smart Grid:
· EPRI: Climate Change Recommendations Will Drive Smart Grid
· Next Ten Years Are Crucial to U.S. Energy Future, Says Report
· Four Keys to Managing Smart Grid Evolution
Stay up to date Visit relevant Smart Grid News channels with constantly updated news, trends, announcements, reviews and resources such as research reports, white papers and case studies.
· Smart Grid Policy and Regulation
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