Adventures in the Smart Grid no. 1

Why the Smart Grid is important

Posted by Patrick Mazza (Guest Contributor) at 3:06 PM on 10 Jun 2007

Read more about: energy | electricity grid | renewable energy | energy efficiency

It's the world's largest machine -- the interconnected network of power plants, transmission towers, substations, poles, and wires that make up the power grid. When you flip the switch you expect the juice to flow and don't have much reason to think about it, except during the occasional blackout. Power engineers and energy wonks might get passionate about the grid, but for most people it's just a background fact of life.

The great and powerful grid. Photo: iStockphoto

It's time to bring the grid into the foreground, because it positions at the exact center of the world's most crucial issue, global climate change. The power grid is the source of one-third of U.S. global warming emissions. Unless we clean it up we cannot avert severe climate change. The grid is also the key to electrifying transportation and making more effective use of heat generated for buildings and industry, source of the vast bulk of remaining emissions. The grid can be the ultimate climate saver.

But today's power grid cannot do it. A system built on central generating stations, little changed from the first power grids deployed in the late 1800s, lacks flexibility and smarts. We need a new grid capable of networking millions of distributed energy devices such as solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles, and smart appliances. We need an internet of energy that employs the latest in digital technologies. We need a Smart Grid.

On August 14, 2003, an overheated transmission line in Ohio sagged into the power grid's greatest natural enemy, a tree branch. The resulting power failure cascaded from the Midwest to Broadway in seconds. Power grid operators were quickly on the phones trying to grope through the grid equivalent of the fog of war, but it was too late. The biggest blackout in U.S. history was underway, leaving 50 million people without power.

The event underscores a crucial fact. Of all major infrastructures, the power grid is the least automated by digital technology. Contrast the big box chain which keeps a constant inventory linking checkout stand to warehouse with the utility which must send its linemen into the field to hunt out downed power lines. Or set the control room operator balancing power plants and demands against the internet, constantly rerouting information flows. Modern digital systems rely on real-time data and automated responses, while the grid functions on delayed information and human decisions.

The immediate implication is declining power reliability as demands on the grid grow. Columbia University grid researcher Roger Anderson notes that "since 1998, the frequency and magnitude of blackouts has increased at an alarming rate ... If present trends continue a blackout enveloping half the continent is not out of the question."

But the more serious long-term implication is that the grid cannot take on the tasks it needs to accomplish to reduce global warming pollution. Look on the grid of today as if it were the old computer network with a mainframe computer at the hub and terminals at the end of the spokes. The "mainframe" of the grid is the central power station. Transmitting power out the spokes to end users is a relatively simple management task compared to a system in which power generators are distributed throughout the network and power flows are many-way. Utility engineers typically resist distributed generation specifically because it makes their management task more complex. Most states have now enacted net metering laws which require utilities to interconnect small-scale distributed generators, but cap the total amount in the system to avoid destabilizing the grid.

So far solar photovoltaic panels, small-scale wind-power generators, fuel cells, and other localized generators have not penetrated far enough into the market to raise much of a challenge. But consider the moment at which breakthroughs are achieved and distributed generation experiences an explosive takeoff, as a number of observers project for solar PV power. Then power distribution systems will have to be automated. In effect, an information internet backbone will automatically route and manage the complex power flows of the energy internet.

Cogeneration is prospectively one of the largest distributed energy sources. Building and industrial heat could be recycled to generate electricity on-site. Interconnection to the grid can make the business case for a cogen unit, providing a market for surplus and a grid backup when the unit is down. But utilities discourage these kind of connections, again, because they pose complex management problems. Smart Grid systems will make cogen far more economically feasible.

In transportation, improvements in battery technology are stirring new interest in electrified options, including plug-in hybrids and pure battery vehicles. Mass-scale electrified transport will require Smart Grid systems. One function will be to match charging times to clean power availability. For example, in many regions wind power tends to be generated at night. A Smart Grid can send real-time signals to plugged-in vehicles alerting them to charge when turbine blades are turning. Another Smart Grid function will be to manage vehicle-to-grid networks in which electrified fleets supply power to the grid as well as receive power from it. Making intermittent renewables into a 24-7 power source requires energy storage, and our cars which generally sit parked 22 hours a day are an ideal match. Smart systems will manage "V2G" networks.

An energy systems revolution is upon us, and the Smart Grid is at its very center. In future installments I will drill down more into the capabilities and potentials of the Smart Grid, as well as the obstacles and challenges along the road there. Meanwhile, for those who want to read up, check out my paper, "Powering Up the Smart Grid" for one of the most complete overviews of the topic.

For story: Adventures in the Smart Grid no. 1
14 Comments | Post a Comment

Flow my tiers, the energy-man said

An energy-internet either will never be needed or will not exist for very long. This is because the high prices envisaged for vehicle-stored energy could not exist as prices would immediately flatline (this is true in any highly-fluid market trading a non-degradable commodity).

It also should seem odd to "energy internet" predictors that the real internet uses no such pricing market. If the real internet worked that way, real-time prices would go up as interent-traffic went up, and vice-versa. Instead, we pay a flat subscription fees every month, with higher-bandwidth service-subscriptions costing more, and higher-reliability service-subscriptions similarly costing more. In fact, if power-service were priced that same way internet service is priced, only in a more-sophisticated way that involves Reliability- and Bandwidth- Tiers, it would look a lot like this Gristmill-comment decribes:
gristmill.grist.org/comments/2007/6/4/16758/96095/#30

by Nucbuddy at 4:13 PM on 10 Jun 2007

Correction to the original post

Patrick Mazza wrote in the original post: Columbia University grid researcher Roger Anderson notes that "since 1998, the frequency and magnitude of power grids has increased at an alarming rate

Actually, what Anderson noted was that, "since 1998, the frequency and magnitude of blackouts has increased at an alarming rate."
google.com/search?q=%22since+1998%2C+the+frequency+and+magnitude%22

by Nucbuddy at 4:27 PM on 10 Jun 2007

Thanks NucB,

fixed the post.

grist.org

by David Roberts at 4:40 PM on 10 Jun 2007

H'ommage to Ken Lay

Oddly enough, the "energy internet" was actually one of Enron's business creations. Ken Lay and Skiing were some of the first to see that electric power could be bought and sold across the "energy internet" according to supply and demand -- in the same way they were trying to create a market for unused Internet broadband that businesses were not using.

In my revisionist history of Enron, they were thwarted no so much because they cheated people -- but because their paradigms were a big threat to the energy companies and electrical companies whose profits are based on fixed markets, monopolies and lock ins.

Texeme.Construct(function(x)=Participation(x))

by jabailo at 7:04 PM on 10 Jun 2007

Revisionist history or cover up?

In my revisionist history of Enron, they were thwarted no so much because they cheated people -- but because their paradigms were a big threat to the energy companies and electrical companies whose profits are based on fixed markets, monopolies and lock ins. - John Bailo

John, Come on, get real. Enron was corrupt, and their internet energy management system opened of vast opportunities to make crooked bucks. The standard Enron scheme in California involved selling power out of state, and then buying it back at an inflated price. Enron made money both ways. Another Enron trick was to shut power plants down in order to create artificial shortages, and then sell electricity to consumers at highly inflated prices. Your revisionist history of Enron is a cover up for their criminal activities.

Charles Barton

by Charles Barton at 5:32 AM on 11 Jun 2007

The New Mexico pipeline disaster ...

I'm told by AtomicRod, someone can provide the link, was one of blackout precipitators. A reduction in gas supply that was, in my opinion, not phony.

--- G. R. L. Cowan, former hydrogen-energy fan
Oxygen expands around boron fire, car goes

by GRLCowan at 7:18 AM on 11 Jun 2007

Responses

The Energy Internet was envisioned far before Enron. Really, you have to look back to Lovins' "Soft Energy Paths" or Schumacher's "Small is Beautiful" for a vision of the decentralized energy system. Besides, if we had a Smart Grid where demand could adjust as readily as load, Enron would have not been able to game the system the way they did during the 2000/1 power meltdown. Enron pulled reserve plants off line, which pushed the price of the available reserves into the stratosphere. If you had a fleet of, say, smart appliances, they could also have supplied reserve by adjusting power demand, so would have competed with and undermined Enron. This diversification of resources would not have been in Enron's interest.

Both John Bailo and Nucbuddy are reading a trading scheme into my post which is not implied. The Smart Grid or Energy Internet is a technological system that enables distributed energy resources to link to one another and the grid, rather than a trading or marketing system. This is one way the Smart Grid could work, but not the only. It could empower real-time markets, as John and Nucbuddy imply, or make possible other arrangements.

One might envision a utility posting the cost it takes to provide itself with ancillary services, the stuff needed to keep the grid stable, and invite bids to supply at a lower cost. Those most likely would not be supplied by individuals, but by aggregators who sign up many individuals to participate. The overall system would have to be on a contracted basis to give the utility certainty it could maintain its system. For instance, an aggegator lines up a parking garage and people who regularly park there, and so has a power resource of linked vehicles to offer. The contract with the utility would be much as for the supplier of any power resource. The aggregator would supply services to the utility, and would recompense individuals based on the actual, recorded usage of their vehicle's battery.

The Smart Grid could empower all kinds of parties to supply services to the grid. If those services meet a need they should have a value. If vehicle-to-grid services cannot economically supply the demand then they would not play in the market. Simple as that.

Patrick Mazza

by Patrick Mazza at 11:45 AM on 11 Jun 2007

P2P Electricity

I think a far more practical approach to the p2p energy grid (in which the end nodes become the supplier/consumers) is that of Fuel Cell Systems (FCEL). I own about 100 shares of them because I like their approach.

They are creating generator class fuel cells and they can run on almost anything -- from natural gas to sewage methane. They don't require hydrogen, but they can use it.

http://fuelcellenergy.com/

They are business oriented and are selling to lots of municipal markets (Metro in Seattle ran a demo site near where I work in Tukwila, WA).

I think if we start with a very pragmatic approach -- that is, somewhere between every house having solar cells and some humongous Wardenclyffe Tower blanketing the Earth, and pick a neighborhood, or township technology like FuelCellEnergy, we can cover 80 percent of the need and replace the centralized grid with a P2P system.

Texeme.Construct(function(x)=Participation(x))

by jabailo at 3:36 PM on 11 Jun 2007

TVA it ain't

Enron was corrupt, and their internet energy management system opened of vast opportunities to make crooked bucks.

Yes, Enron certainly embodied the "greed is good" model -- but were they the only villain? How about Joe Public -- who is for market economics until it hurts his pocketbook? If consumers were ever confronted by the "energy marketplace", and let's say an "international energy marketplace", they would have conniptions, as they are now with American gas prices heading towards their unsubsidized norm.

Power generation is notoriously subsidized by local governments and for the reason that the goal once was to provide electricity (and phone service) to all. But did that goal include running the A/C 24x7 in a 8 bedroom split ranch?

Texeme.Construct(function(x)=Participation(x))

by jabailo at 8:13 PM on 11 Jun 2007

Internet over the grid

The main way to enable a smart grid is to roll out wireless broadband over the power grid that actually uses the grid itself for an antenna.

It would replace cell phone, phone, cable, and broadcast networks for a huge boost in productivity.

And also allow credit transactions over this internet for calculating all the small transactions of electric car charging and home solar and wind power feeding into the grid.

It is coming and it will put a lot of monopolies out of business. And threaten to create new ones trying to put a stranglehold on this new more powerful power and wireless internet grid.

Will it be a free marketplace of information and energy or just another huge corporate scam feeding off of corrupt government? We the people need to get involved and make sure it becomes the former rather than the latter.

They are our rights of way and airwaves that this system will operate through.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog

by amazingdrx at 12:27 AM on 12 Jun 2007

Joe Public and the Grid

Yes Joe Public is for market economics until it hits home--in Joe's own pocket book. But, today (except for in a very few instances) Joe Public has no way of really knowing what he is paying for his electricity. One of the ironic pieces of deregulation was to freeze electricity prices for consumers and now, with deregulation dead/dying in states like Illinois, consumers are being confronted by higher and higher rates. But they still don't really have the power to do anything about that--except to use less electricity.

If, however, we were able to couple smart meters with a smart grid, then we would be able to empower both the consumer and the grid/service provider. With smart meters that enable two-way communications between Joe and his service provider, Joe can rely on "time of use" information to decide to run the dishwasher and the dryer when demand is low, and the grid will respond with two-way communications that allows thermostats or water heaters to automatically adjust to peak demand pricing.

Demand-side management is a critical piece to getting Joe Public involved in creating solutions for an overburdened electricity infrastructure as well as allowing Joe to make more educated choices about his electricity usage.

Pearl Street::Jason and Kristina Makansi Read Lights Out reviews

by Kristina & Jason Makansi at 10:12 AM on 12 Jun 2007

More responses

Kristina and Jason have it right - The Smart Grid can save money for Joe and Josephine Public. By setting rates to more reflect the real cost of usage - more at the peaks - the ratepayer has incentives to shift use. That reduces the need for peaking plants, poles and wires. The cumulative savings by cutting peaks could be tens of billions over 20 years in avoided infrastructure construction. Even better than making Joe and Josephine think about when to turn on their dryer and dishwasher is to have smart appliances that receive signals from the grid and turn on when prices are lower. More about this in future posts.

The high-temperature fuel cells to which Joe refers indeed hold a lot of promise, moreso than the pure hydrogen cells which require a specialized fuel stream. Costs are still high, but installations are popping up all over the world. Selling surplus power directly to another customer will require big changes in the regulatory system, which now bars this. Selling to the utility, though, is already possible through net metering for smaller systems and PURPA avoided cost schemes for larger units.

In any event, high temp fuel cells are part of the emergence of competitive distributed generation which is going to force changes in the utility model, whether they like it or not. An added and hugely important benefit is the opportunity to cogenerate, providing on-site heat and electricity, which makes for efficiencies far higher than central station generation.

Re broadband over power line, it's an intriguing idea. But I hear the ham radio operators hate it because it bigfoots across their frequencies. Not sure how this is going to be resolved.

Patrick Mazza

by Patrick Mazza at 11:25 AM on 12 Jun 2007

Google

Google might be the new mega power company. Gleaning 1/10nth of a cent off of every kwh bought or sold with these internet transactions.

It's very likely and I'll bet the good folks at google are already working on it. Mother nature bless their very progressive, inventive souls.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog

by amazingdrx at 2:32 PM on 12 Jun 2007

Google

Google has already taken the initiative with it's massive solar power system for it's buildings but it does nto have enough power to change all that has been wrought it, maybe no one can but what we can do is slowly improve areas like connecting to solar, wind, an dhydro sources for electric generators.

by lvong at 1:46 PM on 14 Jun 2007

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