Smart Grid Technologies : Introduction

With the support of my peers and mentors, I have decided to pursue my dream of doing research in energy efficiency of utilities. I believe that with my passion and curiosity about the field, I would indeed take up much

In recent years, the US has come to realize the weaknesses in the US power supply. The power infrastructure in the country is very old; and because of the increase in power usage within the US, the power grid is becoming weaker and more prone to security issues. Because of the uncertainty in the power system, some major US companies have moved their data systems to other countries in order to better protect themselves by using forms of renewable energy (Rhodes 2013). The US

In 2007, Canada’s industries saved 2.1 billion U.S. dollars of energy costs (2007). All these numbers show Canada’s efforts in general public utilities.

Efficiency at a power plant is determined by energy conversion rate. This is rate is measured by the input energy source, in this case coal, in proportion to the output, which is the power generated. The less fuel that is required for power generation, the more efficient it is. Efficiency is very sensitive in relation to the amount of carbon dioxide emitted. A single percentage increase in the efficiency of a coal fired power plant yields a 2-3% reduction in the carbon dioxide levels emitted by this plant. The power stations on the upper side on the scale of efficiency may emit up to 40% less carbon dioxide than the average power stations currently installed. The efficiency of power plant improvements include the most cost effective and shortest lead time actions for reducing emissions from coal fired electricity. This is especially true in developing and lower-economy countries

The DOE was established to organize disjointed regulatory processes and create a national energy plan (Kuder et al., 2010). One of the main functions of the DOE is to monitor and report on the security of the smart grid. The primary objective of the reports are to provide data that may be

When we flip a light switch, or plug our laptop or cell phone charger into the wall, we expect that electricity will flow to illuminate the room or to power up the device at the other end of the cord. But what if the power companies weren’t able to generate enough electricity to make these actions possible? As the United States’ population increases and continues to undergo economic growth, this demand for energy will only continue to grow. The International Energy Agency (IEA) believes that “the world’s energy needs could be 50% higher in 2030 than they are today” [1]. And while Americans only make up about 5% of the world’s population, we consume more than 20% of the world’s energy supply [2].

For the purpose of this discussion, the specifics of the electrical energy system in the United States are not important, rather an introduction to the basic elements of the system, who they serve, how they relate the larger whole and how they are regulated will suffice. On a most basic level the electrical grid, or system, in the United States is comprised of three basic components; the generation of electrical energy, transmission of this energy, and the distribution of this energy to end consumers.

The United States has an extremely well developed and maintained power grid which in its current state is configured primarily for non-renewable power generation. As the cost of green power comes down there will be an increasing amount of green power generation on the grid. This new, cleaner source of energy unfortunately has disadvantages that more traditional methods of power generation don’t suffer from, namely consistently. Photo-voltaic cells will only work when the sun is shining and wind turbines only spin when wind is present. I will be examining the readiness for renewable power of the power grid within the United States as well as investigating improvements that would allow for a larger national power generation percentage of renewable

Presently, Ontario has one of the highest electricity costs in North America (Hydro Quebec, 2016). This trend started when the government decided to transition into a modern, smart, and stable network. To achieve this, more generating plants were built to deliver more high-quality electricity to consumers. Following these changes, there was a shift towards using green energy, which involved development of solar panels and wind systems. Of course, these initiatives were based on anticipated load on the system which was expected to rise as per long-term planning. Following the recession in 2008, the industry was not as hot as it was forecasted, leading to decreased demand for electricity. Therefore, there were many contracts and projects that were in the process of approval and were voided by the government in response to the recession. Despite this, the

According to the case study written by Jurek, Bras, Guldberg, D’Arcy, Oh, and Biller, energy costs were steadily rising and were predicted to continue this trend going into the future. At the same time, utility companies were beginning to implement Smart Grid technologies to increase the efficiency of energy distribution. One resulting program to emerge from

With the development of renewable sources and the emphasis on renewable energy, the energy transition will need an expanded, adapted grid to cope with more renewable power. The current grid in Germany is designed to take power from central power stations to consumers, but this is not sustainable for renewable energies. Large power plants will continue to export power to the transit grid, but it needs to be changed so that power from wind turbines in the north can reach consumers in the west and south. In 2011, the German Parliament passed the ‘Act on Accelerating Grid Expansion’ calling for a review of ultra-high voltage lines by Germany’s Network Agency and for high-voltage (110-kilovolt) lines to be installed as underground cables.

According to the case study written by Jurek, Bras, Guldberg, D’Arcy, Oh, and Biller, energy costs were steadily rising and were predicted to continue this trend going into the future. At the same time, utility companies were beginning to implement Smart Grid technologies to increase the efficiency of energy distribution. One resulting program to emerge from these new technologies was Demand and Response contracting. (Jurek, Bras, Guldberg, D’Arcy, Oh, Biller 2000). This program allowed customers to obtain a discount on their

Smart energy grids enable companies to buy energy at reduced rates during times of slow demand to power discretionary manufacturing processes.

As Japan changes its resource mix, shuttering significant nuclear baseload generation and making plans for a massive influx of distributed renewable energy, grid operations and planning practices for maintaining reliability and cost-effectiveness of a power system continue to evolve. Japan’s power sector liberalization is expected to increase competition and grid reliability for residential consumers and help drive retail electricity costs down by about 15 percent. However, keeping up with rising electricity demand will be challenging. Japan’s electricity demand is predicted to rise by about 22 percent

The topic of this project is hardware-implementation of communication platform for consensus-based control in power systems. Because of the capacity of existing electric power distribution is nearly full, it is a trend to develop grid technology and enhance the intelligent level of power system [1]. Therefore, it is necessary to integrate and coordinate distributed generation (DG) effectively. Development of smart grid is becoming a popular and inevitable trend. The development of distributed generation has changed the traditional mode of power supply and utilization. And intelligent control of electrical devices can minimize the power consumption and reduce the operating cost. It is much economic and energy conservation.