 |
Smart Grid TechnologyPower outages and heat waves: So where's the smart grid when we need it?
|
Jul 6, 2012
|
|
| |
|
|
Page 2: More from Phil Carson of IU and Ron Chebra of DNV KEMA >>
The storms that hit the East Coast a week ago, leaving millions without power as temperatures soared, have plenty wondering when, whether and how a smarter grid could have, would have, should have made a difference. Below are observations on that topic from some industry insiders. But we’re also hoping you will use the Talk Back comment form at the bottom of the story to tell us what you think.
.
Writing on the S&C Electric blog, Mike Edmonds makes the case for interoperability to maximize the benefits of smart grid technology and reduce the duration of power outages and increase grid capacity. One way to do this, he says, is to achieve interoperability between automatic reconfiguration systems and volt/var optimization systems. As he explains on the blog:
· Automatic reconfiguration systems can isolate damaged parts of the power grid during a storm and reroute power to as many businesses and consumers as possible
· Volt/var optimization systems allow the power grid to better handle peak demand, because they effectively lower demand while also boosting grid capacity.
Discovery News offers some interesting perspectives, including these from:
· Bob Gohn of Pike Research, who suggests greater distributed power, including small-scale power generation and/or storage systems in the home, could help,
· Matt Wakefield of the Electric Power Research Institute, who believes smart meters are a first step in modernizing the grid. He notes they can't prevent an outage but they can help pinpoint them faster and might lead to quicker power restoration. Wakefield also notes that utilities are experimenting with stronger power poles.
On the Center for American Progress site, Richard W. Caperton and Adam James note that Americans lose power an average of 214 minutes per year, compared to 21 minutes in Germany and just 6 minutes in Japan. Among the solutions they suggest are:
· Following Germany's lead and putting more distribution lines underground, even though it is more costly.
· Move toward more power generation distributed around the grid, rather than all of it being centralized in large power plants
· Getting power restored more quickly when it does go out; smart meters can help get crews dispatched more quickly, but more crews are needed given the pending utility labor shortfall.
Page 2: More from Phil Carson of IU and Ron Chebra of DNV KEMA >>
| Extreme weather-resistant? smart grid key! |
| Connecting home renewables, clean cars, and the smart grid means cool new functionality, keeping the power on in an emergency, and cutting the carbon pollution that causes extreme weather to begin with...more in my blog the new opportunities to increase the resilience of our energy infrastructure - and that includes your freezer! http://blog.nwf.org/2012/07/how-your-next-vehicle-could-keep-the-freezer-running-really/ |
| Zoe Lipman - 07/06/2012 - 07:02 |
| Imagine No Outages |
| A goal often begins with an outrageous vision, sometimes called a "stretch goal." When utilities are measured on outage management, when they invest in outage management systems, when their goal is rapid mobilization to react to a crisis, they are starting from a reactionary paradigm. In this world view, outages happen and we are all victims. Our utilities are judged on how they react. In contrast, a zero tolerance approach would set a lofty goal - Zero Outages - identify the root causes of outages and craft a plan to eliminate outages altogether, even outages caused by unpredictable events. If the paradigm stands in the way, then adjust the paradigm. Imagine a zero tolerance policy for outages. The modern energy ecosystem is a vital proposition when operational, but it is extremely vulnerable to natural and man made disruption. In other words, it has multiple single points of failure - a few large power plants and the highly complex grid - so it needs redundancy, a back up plan as it were. It needs a grid-less complement to ensure 100% up time. It needs a massive push for decentralized, distributed energy resources. Achieving such a vision would take time. It would start with critical care and mission critical facilities, and move down to businesses who would share the cost (or pay all the cost) to avoid outages. The value of moving incrementally to implement redundancy is that technology is steadily improving and more and more cost-effective solutions become available as the goal moves towards full implementation. The root cause of persistent, disruptive outages lies in our current paradigm, which accepts them as inevitable and as something to be managed. When we shift our attitude and perspective, so that we find outages to be intolerable, only then we will start to work to eliminate them altogether, rather than simply to manage them when they occur. Currently, our focus is on getting vulnerable system back on line so we have our power - we do this over and over again - rather than moving steadily to a more modern platform that cannot be disrupted because it is highly distributed. John Cooper President, NextWatt Solutions and Ecomergence |
| John Cooper - 07/06/2012 - 07:04 |
| Would Grid Smarts Help? |
| Let's get real here. Damage caused by high winds and ice take out distribution lines. No amount of intelligence or high technology is going to change that. Putting distribution wires underground is a solution, but unless it's done at the time the network is first built, it's cost-prohibitive. Distributed generation installed in residences and businesses is another solution, but the most attractive alternative right now is solar PV, which is also susceptible to damage from falling trees. Trimming trees would also help, though property owners often complain about the sometimes unattractive results. In the case of storms, technology would make little difference. Technology advocates and vendors who say otherwise are not doing their utility customers, regulators or the public any favors by suggesting otherwise. |
| Jack Ellis - 07/06/2012 - 07:23 |
| Smart and Strong |
| While technology deployment is important, the degree to which we can consider any grid to be "Smart" cannot be measured solely by the degree to which technology is integrated into the monitoring and control. Facing the certain prospect of unpredictable, but inevitable thunderstorms and hurricanes prompted Leesburg to adopt a policy in the 1990s that all new feeder poles and underground riser poles would be hardened (prestressed or spun concrete) and all poles would be inspected and wood poles treated, as needed, on a seven year cycle. Facing a 10 month growing season, four years ago, we added an additional ROW clearing crew to achieve a four-year trim cycle. Additionally, Leesburg's distribution system is now 54% underground. We consider the recent addition of integrated distributed generation, integrated Volt/VAR optimization, the in flight AMI meter deployment, and the distribution automation recloser, switch, and sensor initiatives planned for deployment this fall to be enhancements to make our grid smarter, more reliable and resilient, but never as a substitute for a stronger grid. |
| Paul Kalv - 07/06/2012 - 08:21 |
| Outage rates |
| Comparing outage rates with Germany is a real apples and watermelons comparison rather than even apples and oranges. Germany's population is much more concentrated than we are here with a large proportion of the people living in multi-unit buildings rather than individual housing. Distributed generation will help. Home mounted solar PV may help somewhat but without a massive investment in batteries in addition to the massive cost of solar, it is a helper but not the answer because it is not dispatchable and cannot make significant contributions during cloudy weather. Underground distribution will also help the outage rates but going there now will be expensive. One of the nice things about the concentration of population in multi-unit dwellings as in Germany and indeed much of Europe is that CHP becomes very attractive and cost effective and it makes the distribution system much more compact. But, one can only speculate about the psychological impacts--does it make people less innovative? |
| Mark Byron Wooldridge - 07/06/2012 - 08:44 |
| Storm Damage v. Smart Grid |
| I agree with Jack Ellis - if your infrastructure is vastly crippled (e.g. ice storm in Lower Quebec and Upstate NY in 1998) no amount of intelligence will help. It could aid keeping critical loads served e.g. hospitals (most of which have standby power), first responders etc. Another writer poses that Solar PV is immune, this countered by tree falls: 1st my system REQUIRES a 240v/60 Hz at the utility to operate. 2nd, if you have a tree fall issue how in blazes are you dealing with shading? The Zero Tolerance goal, while admirable, will remain elusive. Short of a lot of costly distribution burial and unpopular tree removal what do you do if your 13.2 kV feeder runs down a road with aged Elm trees? When one of those branches falls it STRIPS the poles, not just temporarily displacing some wire. While we want the power, we don't want to pay to UG it. |
| James Scheiderich - 07/06/2012 - 08:53 |
| RE:Power Outages |
| I agree with Jack Ellis. "SmartGrid" technology would have less impact than tree pruning and/or moving more of the distribution (neighborhoods) underground. Smartmeters might help to identify faults in small storms where damage is isolated to just a few naighborhoods. Wide spread damage - the kind that we are seeing -- the kind that takes crews from many regions to help restring lines. Can be detected and handled the old fashion way. All the fancy technology would not let you safely redirect and reconnect power to a system that has been overwhelmed. Smart reclosers, transformers and neighborhood collection devices (routers) might help during the restoration... house hold smart meters. Not necessary -- the (smart meter) neighbor routers could have identified outages. (Note router not meter). Smart transformers could have notified the state of the neighborhoods. But all that technology - just tells you how wide spread the damage is... you still have to call up the crews. Unless of course - you trim the trees and move lines underground. Renewables, EV cars would not help in this storm! I have solarPV on roof top, grid tied. When grid connectivity is lost - power from rooftop is also gone. No matter how sunny it is. That is done for a number of reasons including safety. No islanding allowed. I chose NOT to use battery backup because of the hazzards of lead acid batteries, their life time and disposal. Not to mention - in our area when we have big storms (NW USA) it is often winter time when the hours are shorter and solar production is less. EV cars would not help as a storage, or to run the refrigerator. What homeowner is going to be willing to keep their beer cold while giving up their transportation for work, play or groceries... well maybe that isn't a good comparison. But the point is the consumer will decide very quickly that the car must not be used as an energy source because what little "gas" they have will need to last several days. Re-purposed EV batteries installed at homes as utility managed storage (and homepower standby power) might help some - but only for a few days. So it all comes back to the comments that Jack had made earlier. Prune and trim. Move lines underground. |
| Dennis Heidner - 07/06/2012 - 09:15 |
| Proven Smart Grid bettering Outages |
| Smart meters and smart grid real benefits by Vattenfall http://www.emeter.com/smart-grid-watch/2011/swedish-utility-vattenfall-identifies-more-smart-meter-benefits/ |
| Alicia Carrasco - 07/08/2012 - 01:03 |
| Robust Network |
| We have 2 networks - the Southern one 60 minutes outage, mild weather, the Northern, rural, more severe winter weather, 74 minutes. Our charges are regulated and one of the things which affect that is customer outage minutes. We have guys out trimming trees constantly and we have an ongoing programme of "undergrounding". The financial incentive is there. |
| Paul Scotson - 07/09/2012 - 04:40 |
| Robust Network (2) |
| I should have added that we use arial ROVs with IR cameras to survey our EHV transmission lines too. The IR detects "hot-spots" in the lines so we can do preventative maintenance. It's all about investment - if you can't deliver the goods, you can't charge for them. If you have to deliver food in extreme weather, you invest in vehicles which are capable (4x4s, Snowmobiles) you don't expect your standard van to do the job just because it's got a fancy Satnav - this is no different. |
| Paul Scotson - 07/09/2012 - 05:01 |
| Maintaining the system |
| A few years ago when Scottish power owned the power companies in Utah. They had cut back on tree trimming. When a snow storm hit in November and people were with out power for days it was brought to light that the utility company had not done the maintenance on the system. Wind and snow will bring tress down every time. Part of keeping the grid up is keeping the trees out of the power lines. Part of the Smart grid needs to be the ability to notify crews when to cut out the tree limbs. |
| John Harris - 07/09/2012 - 15:08 |
|
|
|
|
Talk Back
