The smart grid is on its way. The hype associated with its planned arrival should, however, be a surprise to no one, given the following facts related to the power grid in the U.S.:
- Several billion smart grid stimulus dollars have been injected into the U.S. economy
- The U.S. is wedded to non-renewable energy from foreign countries
- The U.S. power grid is antiquated and increasingly unreliable and inefficient
- There’s rapidly growing interest in the use of renewable energy
- There’s an development of “smarter” technologies and tools
- There’s a multitude of diverse entities with varying interests in a smart grid
Given the above, plus a healthy dose of speculation over the past couple of years, it’s worthwhile for us to take the time to step back from all of the excitement and publicity so we can better determine what’s truly going on in the development of the smart grid.
Summarized below are a few of our initial observations.
Making the Grid “Smart”
In the U.S., the words “high tech” are used to promote or sell just about anything.
However, much of the technology anticipated for the smart grid, especially during its adolescent stages, will likely be low tech. As such, there are those who might object to referring to the planned upgrades to the existing power grid as “smart.”
On the other hand, the introduction of modern technology into a power grid that’s evolved from components over a century old will require some real intelligence of the human kind. With low tech components smartly located and utilized, the smart grid will eventually have the opportunity to live up to its name, as high tech and renewable energy are brought on board.
To help us unravel the truth of the developing smart grid, let’s first address several fundamental questions.
What is the existing Power Grid?
On one end of the power grid is a power plant that converts energy of some form into electricity. We’ll call this end “Point A.”
On the other end of the power grid are the homes and businesses that consume that electricity and any local power generators, like solar panels and windmills. We’ll call this end “Point B.” In times past, Point B was reserved exclusively for the utility and it’s crown jewel – the power meter. But as consumers are given increasing roles both as electricity generators and as energy managers this will no doubt change. The grid will be expanded to include consumers and power plants alike. Examples include micro power grids, where individuals or businesses generate energy and then make some portion of that energy available to the public power grid.
As new technologies and networks come on line, such as those associated with the smart grid, Point A and Point B may change and grow to accommodate resources and services desired by consumers and producers alike. To learn more about the electric power grid, you should review our post on primers.
What will the Smart Grid be?
The reality is that there’s no single definition for the smart grid.
This is true primarily because the electric grid itself is composed of a diverse group of entities, each of which have their own perspective of what the grid should be and their own interests to preserve.
Let’s take a look at what the U.S. government thinks the smart grid will be like, here is the Department of Energy’s definition for what they call “Grid 2030″:
“The construction of a 21st century electric system that connects everyone to abundant, affordable, clean, efficient, and reliable electric power anytime, anywhere. We can achieve this through a smart grid, which would integrate advanced functions into the nation’s electric grid to enhance reliability, efficiency, and security, and would also contribute to the climate change strategic goal of reducing carbon emissions. These advancements will be achieved by modernizing the electric grid with information-age technologies, such as microprocessors, communications, advanced computing, and information technologies.”
Nice words. Let’s probe a little deeper.
Why Do We Need a Smart Grid?
We can summarize the major purpose of the smart grid in one word: sustainability.
There are three fundamental things that are necessary to achieving a sustainable power grid. We need to:
- improve energy efficiency
- increase reliability
- enhance the ability to use more renewable energy
Some of the primary features desired by various stakeholders – which include utilities, technology providers and consumers – as determined by NETL are:
- self-healing from power disturbance events
- enabling active participation by consumers in demand response
- operating resiliently against physical and cyber attack
- providing power quality for 21st century needs
- accommodating all generation and storage options
- enabling new products, services, and markets
- optimizing assets and operating efficiently
Impressive lists.
What’s It Going to Look Like?
As to its appearance, the smart grid will look less like a final product and more like a developing set of solutions to a variety of needs and interests.
Plans for a smart grid in the U.S. were kicked off last year to the tune of 3.4 billion dollars. An additional $4.7 billion in funding is being provided by other public and private sources.
You can review a copy of the plans for what the smart grid will look like according to the DOE.
But there are plans by others for various possible additions or modifications to those being proposed by the government, such as plans for integrating technologies now in research and development into the smart grid of the future, especially those that would support the use of renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind, as part of the power grid, at both the local and wider levels.
One perspective of what the smart grid may look like is given in the figure below.
Where is the Money Going?
Listed below is how the DOE has categorized and allocated the $3.4 billion in funding for the smart grid:
- $1 billion for empowering consumers to save energy and utility bills
- $250 million for making electricity distribution more efficient
- $150 million for making electricity transmission more efficient
- $2 billion for integrating and crosscutting across different smart grid components
- $25 million for assistance in building a smart grid manufacturing industry in the U.S.
This funding, along with the $4.7 billion from other sources, does not constitute all of the necessary funding. It does provide the following, however:
- over 1 million smart meters, smart thermostats and load management devices – to enable consumers to reduce energy use
- 200,000 advanced transformers – to help reduce outages
- 700 automated substation systems – to restore service more quickly when outages occur
- 850 transmission system sensors – to monitor and manage existing and new energy sources
When Will the Smart Grid Be Finished?
No one knows with certainty how long it will take for the smart grid to become a reality in the U.S. After all, it is not yet fully defined or specified. One estimate, from NIST has completion of the smart grid to be 10 to 15 years. Others have schedules extending to 2030, and beyond.
It’s possible that these time horizons won’t matter so much in the end, because the smart grid will likely remain a perpetual work in progress. Technologies, services, customer needs, as well as government programs and resources, will all continue to change. Each of these factors will impact schedules, expectations, and possibilities.
As a side note, our local electrical cooperative company has been providing us for the past 25 years with one feature planned for the smart grid of the future. FM-controlled receivers connected to our air conditioner and water heater provide controllers at the cooperative with the ability to remotely turn off these appliances for short periods during peak demand. The receivers and their installation cost us nothing. Because of the local pricing structure for electrical energy, the cooperative selective use of these devices reduce our electrical bill. Not only that, should there be a problem with either of the appliances, the cooperative will send a technician to our home to inspect the appliances for free. And, in the case of the water heater, they will replace the heating element and thermostat if needed – all at no charge.
So, part of what some will be receiving from the smart grid of tomorrow have already been available to others for decades.
What are Some of the Roadblocks?
Besides time and resources, several significant issues need to be addressed and resolved with regard to the smart grid. These include:
- standards that will support the seamless networking of all grid components
- the pricing of electricity in a way that allows customers to reduce their costs
- ways to monitor and manage grid components remotely to improve reliability
- the ability to provide consumers with privacy
- methods to maintain security of vulnerable grid components and interconnections
- allowances for both centralized and decentralized systems for generating and distributing certain forms of energy (such as wind and solar)
- determining what existing technologies to use and what new technologies may be needed
- how to distribute the “intelligence” capabilities throughout the grid
- how to protect against direct attacks on critical grid components
The above list does not address all issues of course. But I think it represents a good start.
So, hopefully, this article has served to unravel at least some of the smart grid hype. As the power grid of the future begins to take shape, I and the rest of the GridWatch staff look forward to reporting on all of the important technologies, events and issues involved.
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