The Smart Grid Explained

Excellent overview of an often misunderstood topic. Thanks

Great podcast, very informative. Also highlights a key area that is often overlooked - The whole idea of data quality.

The good old saying "garbage in - garbage out" still applies today! When talking huge amounts of data over long periods of time it will be very interesting to see what tools and reporting structures are developed to enable accurate and "useful" reporting on energy use.

Keep the podcasts coming! - thanks.

Brendan.
www.OffGridEcoStay.com

The key to a successful smart grid is to take a leaf out of the GM car manufacturing book and then do the exact oposite. Provide what is good for the customer and what he actually wants and the system will succeed. The pulsating nature of renewable energy can actuall be an asset rather than a liability.
http://mtkass.blogspot.com/2007/10/excess-energy-what-to-do.html
and the system can be set up so that both the company and the customer benefit
http://mtkass.blogspot.com/2008/04/double-metering-its-insidious.html
The government can enable the whole process with a stroke (or a few strokes) of the pen.
http://mtkass.blogspot.com/2007/07/solar-electric-government-role.html
wlhgmk@gmail.com

Good to see that a lot of 'disparate' smart intiatives are being co-ordinated to achieve one vision.

What we need to remember is that we are making the whole enterprise of power production and delivery Smart This is Generation-transport-demand management in near real time; the 'Smart Enterprise'.

The crucial area is not just short term operation but predictability in the timescales for operational planning and committing of main power plant to run. The result we want is for conventional fossil plant to run less often and more efficiently (full load when generating). The Power system is always in balance; Generation=Demand in real time. Generation and Demand have to be matched within close limits to keep the system running in a stable manner (frequency very close to 50Hz).

Excess synchronised fossil plant on bars and part loading for reserve is required to cover uncertainity in prediction of future demand and of generation output. Fast ramping of demand and short duration demand peaks also cause inefficient operation of fossil fired plant which is slow to load/deload and uses fuel just to starts up.
Some Renewable Generation output is seriously unpredictable in commitment timescales. We dont want fossil plant more extensively part loaded to provide excess reserve to cover extra uncertainty in renewables output and other areas. Part loading increases the fuel burn and emissions per MWh generated (effect is worse on CCGTs than UK Coal than US coal).

With the increased (must be automatic) participation of the customer side (via aggrgation/dissemination mechanisms) we are trying to monitor the ability of customer premises and signal prices/trades to try and change customer Import-Export profile. We do have to monitor the 'persistance' (duration and frequency of use) that this facility can provide for it to be effective. We have all the technology; the techincal and business framework is critical.

Steve Browning,
ex Nat Grid UK operations.

great podcast, I'm glad we're starting to focus on the smart grid, its an important step we need to take to secure our energy future. I really believe the grid over time will evolve into a network similar to the internet. With the increase in distributed generations, I see grid tie inverters as "modems" that connect building to the network and give them the ability to "download and upload" into the grid.

Over time, I think grid tie inverters and other devices will have more software applications to help customers realize and manage their energy usage. Google has already stepped into the Smart Grid scene by developing and testing the google powe meter software which allows a customer to see their electric consumption in real time, which gives them to make effective changes to reduce consumption. check it out: http://www.google.org/powermeter/

what do you'll think?

Thanks Deep. I fully agree with you about the evolution of the smart grid. It's really remarkable to see the parallels between demand-side energy management applications and some of the business models that have been created over the internet.

For a closer look on exactly what you talked about, check out the latest podcast. I've tried to highlight many of the similarities.....I think it helps us put some of these technologies into context.

Stephen Lacey