Public Power - May 2008 - (Page 30)

Journey to the Smart Grid IT term for pieces of equipment being able to communicate with one another, exchange data, and “play nice” by accepting each other’s protocols for who speaks and when. Interoperability is difficult because it requires cooperation among vendors who fear the commoditization of their products and the price reductions that come with standardization and open architecture. And second, once integration starts, it is hard to stop. Integration forces the user to take their operational systems— outage, maintenance, dispatch, fuels, inventory, finance, etc.—out of their respective silos, and allows them to interact, compare and optimize. Interoperability is a short-term technical issue, while integration is a more protracted and continuous process of innovation at the organizational level in each utility. When all is said and done, the power system will look largely the same, but will operate very differently. The smart grid will add a “nervous system” onto a passive power system, with technical nerve endings, or sensors, everywhere. Power flow will respond to consumer controls from the bottom up, as well as operator controls from the top down. will evolve to become what Bonneville calls an “energy web” where the electricity, communications and transportation infrastructures converge. However, before this occurs, glitches need to be worked out, he said. “Your system is going to evolve, step by step, so build a roadmap that starts with the most basic questions of all, ‘What is your mission, what are you trying to do?’” Power and communications will flow in two directions. The grid will evolve from a radial design (central station out to consumers) to a network topology and will be able to anticipate problems. When problems arise, the grid will protect itself by adapting, islanding, and using “self-healing” modes of restoration. Key components, such as transformers, will be continuously monitored for indications of trouble and maintenance, which will become predictive and strategic. The operational chain from generation to customers’ premises will be optimized. Customers will be represented by 20 billion picky little computer chips embedded in appliances and equipment. These chips will negotiate for power and services and, for a price, will become a dispatchable asset that can help stabilize the grid. As the customer base grows by two orders of magnitude, so will the supply network, from 9,200 power generating units today to the incorporation of hundreds of thousands of distributed generators, storage units, and microgrids. Millions of mobile storage units, called automobiles, will also be able to plug and play, charge and discharge in a net metering arrangement, moving power from the suburbs to the urban load centers during work hours. Without a smart grid, none of this expansion would be possible, yet without the expansion and new levels of network, a smart grid would not be possible. As Von Dollen sees it, the smart grid will be as large and intricate as the Internet. It “Right now, once you get inside the home, there are 50 different communication protocols you can choose from,” said Von Dollen. “Looking at ones most likely to survive, we might be able to narrow the list from 50 to 10, but then which one do you chose, what do you build to—ZigBee, Homeplug, or something else? Fortunately, things are more stable in the commercial sector, where there is a single ASHRAE backnet standard that builders use.” The Department of Energy, EPRI and the National Institute of Standards and Technology will address standards, while companies will put pressure on vendors for open architecture. “We can’t be tied to a one-purpose system,” said Hervey. “We want this technology to be able to talk to capacitors and switches, to fuses and transformers. We are determined to have an open-type deployment. We will not be tied to a proprietary protocol.” According to EPRI, interoperability standards will continue to evolve until they are broadly deployed in the 20152020 timeframe. “Interoperability standards will be the USB [universal service bus] of the distribution system,” said Arshad Mansoor, EPRI’s vice president for power delivery and markets. “With them, we will have seamless plug-and-play with today’s electrical network. We will be able to connect generation of various types and scale, transmission, distribution and an array of end-use equipment.” Selecting technology is as daunting as defining standards. The home area netPUBLIC POWER Get Cool! Transformer Cooling Fans expert technical assistance low sound levels energy-efficient motors large inventory one-piece cast aluminum blades galvanized or stainless steel guards Krenz-Vent with quality engineered, performance tested P.O. Box 187 Germantown, WI 53022 www.Krenzvent.com 262.255.2310 30 MAY 2008 http://www.krenzvent.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Public Power - May 2008

Public Power - May 2008 Contents Perspective LEEDing the Way Ontario Moves to Mandatory Time-of-Use Pricing Journey to the Smart Grid Right-Sizing Transformers Energy Audits for Large Industries Economic Development Community Broadband Reliability Hometown Connections Parting Shot

Public Power - May 2008

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