WAMS for U.S... Automation market growing... Proof of DR value

U.S. needs WAMS. The Department of Energy (DOE) and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) report, “Steps to Establish a Real-time Transmission Monitoring System for Transmission Owners and Operators Within the Eastern and Western Interconnections,” underscored the importance of wide area monitoring systems (WAMS) in for a Smart Grid. Phasor measurement units (PMUs) can provide more detailed data than remote terminal units (RTUs). The Consortium for Electric Reliability Transmission Systems (CERTS), has been studying WAMS technologies for a decade now. DOE has sponsored the largest ongoing WAMS deployment, the Eastern Interconnect Phasor Project (EIPP).

   QuickTake: The US needs to catch up with Europe and China in its deployment of WAMS.

   Utility T&D article

World market for EMS, SCADA and DMS hits $1.4B. Newton-Evans Research Company has published a new report on the world market for transmission and distribution monitoring and control systems. The worldwide market for SCADA and EMS systems from January 2003 to August 2005 was estimated at more than $1.4B. Around 30% of the utilities have a separate outage management system (OMS) in place and 25% plan to implement it by 2007, distinct from SCADA/EMS. 

   Newton-Evans Research Company report purchase options (PDF)

Smart metering spending set to grow. According to a recent report from GlobalSmartEnergy (publishers of this newsletter), the smart metering segment is expected to see spending to the tune of $800M and is likely to keep growing at 20% annually for the next half decade. The report highlights both established vendors as well as up-and-coming emerging companies. It focuses on future trends and major market shifts now on the horizon.

   GlobalSmartEnergy Report purchase options

Blackout update. The North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) has undertaken several steps to enhance grid reliability since the August 2003 blackout. Apart from converting voluntary standards to mandatory, it commenced public disclosures of the violations by utilities. It also revealed plans to levy financial penalties. Regional reliability councils are also forming alliances to plan transmission and generation operations and forecast system conditions.

   QuickTake: NERC, which is only a few months away from becoming the country's official Energy Reliability Organization, is shifting its focus from establishing standards to enforcing them.

  Power news article

Europe's future energy problems. With the impending deregulation of Europe's energy markets in 2007, important regulatory changes are slated to happen. The European countries will require a collaborative approach to integrate their networks and capacities. As per the Union for the Co-ordination of Transmission of Electricity (UCTE), Europe may face energy shortage starting in 2010 if new investments are not made soon. UCTE has estimated the additional capacity needed at over 10GW.

   QuickTake: Deregulation in the European electricity sector will result in greater interoperability and integration of power networks, but it will require much broader regional coordination and cooperation.

   Utility Automation & Engineering article

DR will make power system more efficient. According to the report by Department of Energy (DOE), the potential demand response capacity in U.S was 20,500MW in 2004, or 3% of total peak demand. Demand response exhibits the promise of smart energy technology to create power networks that operate more efficiently. DR technologies which were previously costly and difficult to integrate with other devices have steadily overcome their technical shortcomings and garnered confidence from users.

   QuickTake: Extensive rebuilding of the power grid is expected in the coming years. Rapid and widespread implementation of DR systems will ensure this is done with least impact on power bills and most benefit to users.

   EnergyPulse article

DR reduces intensity of blackouts. Consumer Powerline has concluded that demand response (DR) programs can reduce the severity of blackouts and in some cases even avert them. For instance, in Queens region, DR reduced critical energy consumption by 3% saving 411MW of power. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Department of Energy (DOE) and North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) have also been proclaiming the importance of DR in meeting power needs.

   QuickTake: The FERC, NERC and regional councils now need to identify areas in danger of losing power and focus on implementing DR programs in those areas. Rules need to be re-written to accommodate energy users such as small commercial bodies, residents and mid-sized apartments.

   Consumer Powerline press release (PDF)

   Utility T&D article