WHAT THE HECK IS SMARTGRID, ANYWAY?
Renewable Energy World asks this very good question. Several responses are included from various sources. Hopefully readers will add more in the comment section.
Pretty much everyone seems to agree that the US electric grid is in trouble and that making it smarter will help.
Why is the grid in trouble? According to the USDOE / EAC Final Report on Electricity Supply Adequacy, the U.S. electric system, “the supreme engineering achievement of the 20th century,” is aging, inefficient, congested, and incapable of meeting future energy needs. The existing US electric grid has largely reached the end of it’s useful life due in part to the topology, capacity and condition of the generation, transmission and distribution facilities and in part to new business environment and operating circumstances. The traditional approach of building more fossil fueled, central station generation and bulk transmission lines is not only no longer as desirable, it will be more difficult if not impossible in many instances for a variety of reasons.
Will it help to make the grid smarter? The US DOE / EAC companion Final Report on the Smart Grid concludes that a smarter grid can ameliorate the difficulties that plague the existing grid. And lead to a better approach to grid planning, construction, operation and maintenance. And better achieve a number of desirable objectives including economy, efficiency, reliability, sustainability, and customer service.
So, again, what the heck is smartgrid, anyway? This is where confusion arises. The smart grid appears to be a mishmash of Nirvana, Oz, perpetual motion, the Borg and Pandora’s Box. The dialogue has expanded to contemplate a panoply of concepts and objectives. A veritable cornucopia of motivations and justifications include the following:
Better utilization of existing electric utility facilities,
Less need to construct new generation, transmission and distribution facilities,
Grid operational efficiency,
Grid operational flexibility,
Grid stability,
Grid security,
Public safety,
National security,
Mitigate climate change,
Mitigate other adverse environmental impacts,
National economic recovery,
Improve national trade balance,
National, regional and local economic development,
Facilitate/accomodate real time pricing,
Manage/shift market risk,
Natural resource sustainability,
Deployment of distributed generation,
Deployment of renewable generation,
Deployment of PHEVs,
Customer service reliability,
Customer power quality,
Customer service flexibility and quality,
Customers invest more time/effort to monitor, analyze and manage energy consumption,
Relieve customers of the need to spend extra time/effort to monitor, analyze and manage
their energy consumption,
Customer energy management systems,
Customer energy energy conservation/efficiency,
Give customers more control of their electricity costs,
Customer owned generation,
Smart houses / buildings,
New marketing opportunities for incumbent vendors,
Entrepreneurial opportunities for new products and services,
Wealth for VCs and investment bankers,
Lucrative carbon cap and trade market for investors, traders, brokers, etc.,
Facilitate/accommodate more nuclear (or coal, or gas) generation,
Avoid more nuclear (or coal, or gas) generation,
Ad infinitum?
Not all of these will be technically, economically and institutionally feasible. Some of the ones that are feasible may prove to be desirable or beneficial. Some may be compatible or even unable to coexist on the grid. Each has unique implications for how a Smart Grid could be designed, deployed and operated. So, there will continue to be uncertainty and confusion inherent in answering the question, “What the heck is smartgrid anyway?” until some are proven to be feasible and beneficial in the long run.
There is no single answer to the question, no precise definition of the term. There are many possibilities, some good, some bad, some irrelevant.
Watch this blog for more discussion of best next steps in making the grid smarter.
Written by Steve Collier | Sep 02, 2009