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Looking at it another way, grid optimization is a bit like tuning up the old Dodge sitting in the driveway. Sure, you could go buy a new car, assume more debt, take on another monthly payment and jack up your insurance rates. Or you can save a ton of money by optimizing the Dodge to improve its reliability. Change the air filter. Make sure tires are properly inflated. Be religious about lube and oil changes.
Just as there are variables and tradeoffs in optimizing an old car, the same is true with grid optimization, which requires finding the right balance between reliability, availability, efficiency and cost. You don't want to put more into grid optimization than you're going to get out of it.
Today's smart grid technologies are making the decision easier. Here's why:
· Smart devices such as meters, monitors and intelligent electronic devices gather information about the flow and condition of power and the condition of equipment, providing a more accurate and detailed understanding
· Smart software analyzes that data and suggests grid optimization adjustments to wring maximum value from grid assets and avoid potential outages.
Grid optimization – getting started
The state of the smart grid -- With energy efficiency and grid optimization technologies that improve power supply and demand, the potential of the smart grid is huge. This Georgia Tech video explores how, after a handful of years of innovation, this vision aligns with today's reality.
A smart grid is an optimized grid -- This ABB white paper outlines the benefits of grid optimization, in particular the value of efficiency at the utility level. It also highlights the gains that can be derived from efficiencies in the power transmission and distribution systems.
Electric power system asset optimization – This report by Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. for the DOE's National Energy Technology Laboratory looks at the current state of utility asset optimization within the framework of a vertically integrated utility and suggests why assets are not fully optimized today.
Integrated Volt/VAR control -- The fundamentals of Volt/VAR control and Volt/VAR optimization strategies are discussed in this presentation from Cooper Power Systems, which also addresses business drivers and how integrated Volt/VAR management benefits utilities.
Grid optimization projects
Voltage optimization at Blue Grass Energy – Read about a Kentucky distribution cooperative's voltage optimization project - an effort to improve power factor, reduce technical losses and reduce energy consumption through voltage reduction via centralized Volt/VAR control and dynamic voltage optimization.
Energy storage for grid optimization – ABB has teamed with a leading Swiss distribution utility in an energy storage pilot that will test, among other things, its viability as a grid optimization solution. The storage facility will be integrated into the utility’s power distribution network and evaluated in key areas such as balancing peak loads, intermittent power supply, and as a potential solution for grid optimization.
Energy efficiency in the distribution system -- Grid efficiency and optimization solutions are the focus of this presentation, which also discusses utility results and benefits from Current's implementation at Xcel Energy's SmartGridCity project in Boulder, CO. Volt/VAR control and dynamic voltage optimization are among the solutions highlighted.
Raising the IQ of Chattanooga's smart grid -- EPB is widely deploying sensors and control devices throughout the grid that, when coupled with the utility's Alcatel-Lucent technology-powered fiber-optic network built earlier to deliver Internet and other services to its 170,000 customers, will give it the ability to measure, monitor and control the power distribution network in real time at those fine levels of detail.
Grid optimization videos
How does single-phase reclosing reduce power outages?
LineScout - the powerline inspection robot
Hows and whys of a switchgear assessment
Effects of voltage optimization
Fault detection, isolation and restoration basics
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