A smarter, thriftier grid

Field test documents big consumer savings

Posted by Patrick Mazza (Guest Contributor) at 1:19 PM on 15 Jan 2008

Read more about: energy | electricity grid | scientific research

A Northwest field test of smart-grid technologies has documented tremendous potential to run a grid that delivers power far more economically by controlling peak demand.

The Pacific Northwest GridWise Demonstration Project has just announced the results of their year-long test, which included two pieces:

On the Olympic Peninsula of Washington, 112 homes, three onsite generation units and municipal water pumps were equipped with automated systems that allowed them to adjust grid power demand in response to price signals.
Appliances embedded with microchips capable of automatically responding to grid power fluctuations were placed at 150 homes in Washington and Oregon.

The aim of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory-managed project was to document the ability of automated control systems to cut usage of the most costly power. Reducing demand can eliminate the need for peak power plants and delivery systems used only a relatively few hours of the year. Among the study's findings:

Average power bill savings among customers who participated in the Olympic test were 10 percent, and peak load reductions 15 percent.
Power use reductions plus distributed generation reduced peak power distribution loads 50 percent for days at a time.
These technologies have potential to lower peak power prices plus save $70 billion over 20 years by avoiding the need to build peaking plants and wires.
If all appropriate appliances were equipped with the intelligence to respond to grid conditions, 20 percent of U.S. power demand could be adjusted, tremendously reducing the level of blackouts and brownouts.

BusinessWeek notes in its report on the tests that the smart grid "offers a huge business opportunity for the companies making sensors, control devices and software. IBM for one figures that the market for its software and other technology would be in the many millions of dollars, if the nation were to adopt the smart grid."

One reason the Northwest was site for the test is that it already is a global smart-grid center. A number of companies based in the Northwest are already players in the game including Itron, Alerton, Microplanet, Schweitzer Labs, and Areva T&D. A 2003 report (PDF) found that Northwest companies then held $2 billion of a $15 billion global smart energy technology market.

The Olympic test provided customers with new electric meters, thermostats, and smart water heaters and dryers, as well as an Internet-based home gateway through which customers could set their own levels for comfort and cost savings.

"We're talking about putting the power into the hands of the consumers, who can customize their energy use to save money and maximize comfort," said PNNL GridWise Manager Rob Pratt. "They can check the financial implications of their decisions at any time, and adjust or override their settings whenever they choose."

Besides economic benefits, demand response technologies also make for a cleaner grid. They reduce the need for peaker plant generation, generally the most polluting, as well as plants that must operate as a reserve for demand surges. They can also adjust demand to respond to fluctuations in production from renewable resources such as sun and wind. This is an alternative to back-up power plants now used to balance wind farms.

"Demand-response technologies can help accommodate the intermittent nature of renewable resources like wind power, making it more possible to effectively manage their integration into the power grid," notes Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).

PNNL based in Richland, Wash., is a national center for smart-grid research. It spawned GridWise, now a U.S. Department of Energy program aimed at accelerating the smart grid. On the Pacific Northwest demonstration PNNL teamed up with Bonneville Power Administration, which is also engaged in visionary efforts to test alternatives to traditional pole-and-wire power delivery. Utility partners were PacifiCorp, Portland General Electric, and Clallam PUD. Appliances were supplied by Whirlpool and software by IBM.

This post was originally published on Climate Solutions Journal.

For story: A smarter, thriftier grid
6 Comments | Post a Comment

Way cool

This is what a renewable distributed grid needs.

But the key word is "distributed". It needs distributed computing to really work well with storage and renewable sources like solar, wind, wave, current, and biogas energy.

The internet switching/sensing computers in each building, plugin car, and renewable source need to communicate with each other and use distributed computing to smooth power flow. Like fish in a school or bison in a herd, fractals help adjust the collective activity to ever changing random reality.

The fractals built into the distributed smart grid.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog

by amazingdrx at 11:06 PM on 15 Jan 2008

used for good or for evil?

fine, as long as it is part of an aggressive, comprehensive CONSERVATION campaign, combined with a massive shift to DECENTRALIZED LOCAL RENEWABLE GENERATION and R & D into improved storage capacity.

giving MORE control to utilities is a non-starter. they have gotten 99% of the benefits from socializing the costs of power generation and transmission, while privatizing all the profits. meanwhile, individuals get largely symbolic but truly ineffective benefits from "energy policy." as long as we are shifting to a "renewable energy paradigm," let's to ahead and really shift to a truly sustainable, independent paradigm instead of another utility chokehold/giveaway that we greenwash to make it look "new."

he time has come for individuals to finally see some benefits from their tax dollars in the form of shifting ALL buy-back guarantees, incentives, rebates, subsidies, etc. to individuals wishing to generate green power from their home and/or business. if a program like this benefits individuals and their stability, and is entirely within their control (which we all know is not the plan), then great. but what's been showing up is that THE MAN, in the form of Big Power, is really the one who will get to control our usage and pricing UNLESS WE LOBBY FOR INDEPENDENCE AND FAIR TREATMENT.

so, do you want to offer more to utilities or get more for yourself and save the planet while you do it? now's the time to have your say...

the greenest energy is that which you needn't ever produce.

by stopgreenpath at 10:52 AM on 16 Jan 2008

The best way is to vote Green

I have looked at all of the various platforms and candidate statements in this presidential election. I even have the draft of a new Green Party platform proposal. That draft is the only place where I find anyone addressing the need for a new grid, for a Distributed Grid and which addresses the major question of funding it.

Germany is showing us that it can be done. What we lack are plans to replace slogans and the only one I found was in the Green Party platform.

But then, I knew where to look.

Wes Rolley CoChair - EcoAction Committee Green Party US

by wesrolley at 7:26 AM on 17 Jan 2008
[ Parent ]

Smart Grids; Smarter Communities

For over a hundred years power providers have essentially relied on their customers to notify them of power outages. Without any automated-detection system in place, power companies don't know the power is out until a customer notifies them. This will change with the deployment new wireless sensors from a company based in Australia.

Telepathx Ltd, a wireless sensor developer based in Victoria, Australia, recently announced that the release of their new product will make this inherent dependency on energy customers a notion of the past. Telepathx Ltd is among the leading industry developers of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) in Australia.

The long-awaited release of Telepathx' Pinpoint intelligent cutout sensor uses the company's enhancements to radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to provide utility companies with the instant communications they need to pinpoint electrical outages. With Pinpoint sensors in place on a smart power grid, should a failure occur the power utility is notified within seconds of the precise location of the power failure including the specific device and cabling that have failed.

Power failure reporting at this level of precision has never before been attainable, but now with AMI technology taking shape throughout Australia, these sensors can be used that will minimize power outages to an absolute minimum.

According to April Sommers, an energy analyst, "Statistically 84% of all power outages or blackouts in urban and outer urban settings are caused by falling tree limbs or animals that come in contact with the overhead power lines, this intelligent cutout fuse technology can't stop that from happening, but what it will do is provide an instantaneous notification to energy providers reducing the report and response times of faults from hours to mere seconds, something entire communities will benefit from."

Previously, a power company could remain unaware of a power outage for minutes or even ours until telephoned customer complaints give a general idea where the issue is happening. Pinpoint sensors will greatly enhance a utility's ability to respond to problems and enhance their ability to efficiently dispatch work crews to fix the problem.

Smart power grids will effectively manage themselves and notify the proper authorities when necessary. Sommers adds, "reducing customer minutes off supply or CMOS is what these guys [Pinpoint sensors] do best, forget about managing apparatus with streams of data or waiting for calls to come in; this reactive technology teaches the network to manage itself and alert authorities when something's amiss."

Telepathx general manager Mike Walsh confirms that "In addition to bringing intelligence to energy networks the multi purpose machine to machine (M2M) wireless sensor networks being developed by the company would for starters monitor fire ignitions, auto collisions, floods, mudslides, asset tracking and consumer/industrial alarm systems, reading water, gas and electric meters or AMR/AMI services would follow."
It's very clear that the ongoing effort to develop smart meter technology has very far reaching effects in efficiency, monetary savings, and enhanced public safety. Smart meters will reduce carbon emissions to the atmosphere, but will have many other consequential benefits once the items become commonplace.

James Eades, CEO of Telepathx, adds, "This communications aggregation platform was designed and developed to consolidate the fragmented communications services that exist in our urban areas, and will benefit entire communities not just the energy sector; essential service providers such as police, emergency services, transportation networks operators, utilities even sewerage plants and M2M operators would benefit from leveraging services off the platform."

Commenting on the Pinpoint sensors, Eades said "We have developed what many are calling the optimal model for building out the intelligent distribution grid; for the simple reason that our platform goes well beyond managing energy assets to generate revenues the day it's installed not decades. Currently we are also exploring opportunities with several smart meter manufacturers on the issue of converging and leveraging of each others platform, a move that will make meters more intelligent than ever imagined."

Pinpoint sensors integrated into smart meters and home appliances have the potential to create home area networks (HANs) capable of remote control of appliances in the home by either the individual consumer or the power company. RFID technology operates over radio frequencies, eliminating the need to install computer equipment that other wireless technologies require.

by A Presharwi at 3:54 PM on 09 Feb 2008

Yes!

Excel is working on this in Colorado too.

I think that going with simply enabling the grid for internet is the first step, then the computer switching devices all interact as a distributed computing network. Internet over grid technology is already deployed in a few instances.

On/off switching of individual appliances and heating/cooling systems gives the smart grid storage options to smooth the intermittent supply from renewable sources.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog

by amazingdrx at 5:47 PM on 09 Feb 2008

Algae Electricity for the smart grid

See www.valence.net. According to Valence Technologies,using their vertigro system they can make 33,000 gallons of biodiesel per acre and turn excess residue into ethanol. This can be done on nonproductive land using sunlight, a little water, and carbon. The algae can replicate itself 7 times per day. Also, www.solazyme.com, claims that you can grow algae without sunshine by adding sugar to the algae,increasing its yield beyond what sunshine can provide, and grow algae at night. Algae farms can be sited next to any industry that is producing carbon and recycle that carbon into algae, whose biofuel can then be used in generators to totally electrify the world and, recycle the carbon generated back into the algae and, on and on, using existing electric transmission lines. Excess electricity can be stored as hydrogen to be converted back into electricity for peak demands. No emissions! No greenhouse gases! No wars! Electric vehicles! Clean, clean air!!! What are we waiting for?!!!

by solar nano at 3:51 AM on 13 Feb 2008

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