“…electric vehicles (EVs) like the Tesla Model S and Nissan Leaf, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) like the Chevy Volt, depending on their rate of adoption, may have me revising that opinion. You see, while they are charging, each of these cars draws the electricity of another entire house (or more). That’s enough electricity use to make savings more desirable, and enough additional demand to prompt utilities to closely monitor which neighborhoods are adding EVs the fastest, so as to avoid overloading local transformers through preemptive, targeted upgrades….” – Smart Security Blog
Author Archives: gbcn
There’s A Problem With Wind In The Winter…
Tuesday, 28 Dec 2010 – The Scotsman
“Scotland’s wind farms are unable to cope with the freezing weather conditions — grinding to a halt at a time when electricity demand is at a peak, forcing the country to rely on power generated by French nuclear plants, while the Scottish Government has banned nuclear power plants …“
Future of the Smart Grid
Comments on Excerpts from —
“Building a Smart Grid Will Help Recharge Our Nation,” 15 Nov FORTUNE Magazine, by David Leeds, GTM Research
FIRST:
“…Large-scale efforts are underway to modernize the U.S. electric grid by adding high-speed communications and transforming the infrastructure into a ‘networked grid’ or an ‘internet for energy.’
“…Surprisingly, the revolution in information technologies (IT) that has transformed other high-tech industries (such as desktop computing, enterprise networking, wireless telecommunications) has yet to transform the electric power business, arguably one of the farthest-reaching and most extensive “networks” in existence. The smart grid, in large part, sits at the intersection of energy, IT and telecommunications markets…
“…today’s grid remains largely based on the same architecture of its forefathers, Edison, Tesla, and Westinghouse, where the majority of power is generated at large, centralized fossil-fuel-burning power plants…today’s distribution grids, lacking real-time visibility and control, are largely running blind and consequently costing the U.S. economy approximately $100 billion to $150 billion each year in power outages, tomorrow’s grid, much like the human body’s own nervous system, will have sensory intelligence embedded throughout, giving the grid the ability to anticipate disruptions, and even to self-heal…”
The question is, who will benefit from the smart grid which is no longer “flying blind”? The utility’s bottom line or the customer’s cost per kWh? The regulator will have a great deal of ‘say’ in this, it seems to us.
SECOND:
Mr. Leeds goes on to opine:
“…Lastly, and perhaps most welcomed, is the manner in which smart grid will completely transform end-users’ relationship to their energy use, empowering consumers with real-time data and analytics via in-home energy management systems and web portals, taking us closer to the age of The Jetsons. Over the next five years, consumers will interact with the first wave of smart appliances, lightning systems and management systems, using “set-it-and-forget-it” technologies to automate their homes and businesses for energy savings and other preferences, such as increased levels of green energy…
“…In phase two, which will unfold over the next 10-20 years, consumers are expected to deploy the next wave of home energy “apps,” such as community “micro-grids” able to generate 100% of their own power over certain periods, while trading energy for profit during other periods, to electric vehicles able to determine the most affordable hour of the day to charge their own batteries. Meanwhile, an immeasurable number of innovations and applications yet to be invented are waiting for our next great generation to bring them forth.”
People use energy to achieve prosperity; they wish to ‘take it for granted’ in their lifestyles as they improve. Demand response management denotes an expensive scarcity that people will rebel against.
While the western press, the EU, and the United States are all still mesmerized by the AGW issue with its carbon dioxide preoccupations, the rest of the world has waked up to the inevitable: Only nuclear power offers sustainable, inexpensive and reliable energy. Virtually every Middle Eastern country is rapidly contracting for new nuclear power plants – as is Spain, Italy, the Philippines, China, India, Russia, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria – the list is exhaustive. Nuclear waste – send it to the French who made a profitable business out of reprocessing it.
The advent of small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) that can be buried in co-location with the local distribution grids they feed with electricity is now upon us. The smart grid needs to focus on reliability and sustainability of the distribution of electricity, not the distribution of its generation with inefficient, expensive, and unsustainable technologies like Wind, Solar, and the like.
SMRs are a natural outgrowth of the human need for plentiful, inexpensive, sustainable energy. Their time has come, and SMRs will consequently transform how energy is made available — in the developing world, and in the developed world as well.
Various Common Sense On Smart Grids…
The rural electric cooperatives in the U.S. are perhaps the smartest consumers of electrical technology in the country — farmers are traditionally the biggest risk takers in the market place and must manage these risk very successfully in order to survive. Here’s Dawson Public Power’s [a Lexington, Nebraska REC) take on “Smart Grid” common sense…
” WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2010 — I always get excited about the latest gadget to hit the market. It might cost a bit extra, but I simply have to have it. And sometimes it’s better to wait. Jumping into new technology can be great, but sometimes it’s not. At Dawson Public Power District we’ve read about and begun looking into the so-called “smart grid.” As with any cutting-edge concept, it seems new smart grid bells and whistles are touted daily. While we’ve been careful not to get caught up in the hype, I often have people ask, “What’s the buzz about?”
The North American electric grid—the largest interconnected machine on earth—operates as a humming highway moving electricity from power plants to your home. About 3,000 utilities operate 10,000 power plants nationally. All of this power—more than 1 million megawatts—flows across 300,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines. And while the way we use electricity has changed drastically over the decades, most of the highway that delivers power to our homes was built 50 years ago.
As we talk about upgrading the nation’s grid from a hands-on, mechanical system to a digital network, there’s plenty of room for improvement—and potential miscalculations. While a smart grid can help utilities control costs, it can also be abused by big power companies and others to shift market risks onto consumers—something Dawson Public Power District doesn’t want to see happen.
That’s why, with some help from Uncle Sam, not-for-profit, locally-controlled electric utilities are testing some of these technologies to see what makes sense; what actually WORKS. Thanks to partnerships between electric cooperatives, public power districts, and NRECA’s Cooperative Research Network with the federal government, more than $600 million will be invested to deploy and study how digital smart grid technologies improve service for co-op members in 25 states.
On top of this, many other rural utilities are implementing smart grid upgrades consistent with long-range business plans to boost service reliability and operating efficiency. Through all of these efforts we will identify which technologies work and weed out those that may not deliver promised benefits.
Any smart grid needs to be flexible—some components don’t make sense everywhere. Automated meters and self-healing feeders may help reduce the number and duration of outages; in-home displays could increase customer awareness of how much electricity they use; there are lots of possibilities. Rest assured that your board of directors and management team at Dawson Public Power District will employ some hometown smarts of our own in how we approach the smart grid.
Our bottom line? We want to learn how to help you make wiser energy choices to keep your electric bill affordable. There’s a big difference between being on the cutting edge or the bleeding edge of technology. Dawson Power wants neither. We want the “proven edge” of technology so our investment is a common sense approach to what our customers will actually want and use and what the District can use to improve reliability. — Gwen Kautz (with op-ed input from NRECA)…”
At the same time, “the fact of the matter is that there does not exist a common base of knowledge, objectives, or outcomes, that can be applied to the megalithic, polymorphic, thing we think of as the Smart Grid. This means that individual organizations, regulators, customers, and implementers will likely have a different basis from which to develop appropriate solutions and timetables. As so often happens, the definition of common sense is not so common. That isn’t because the concerned parties aren’t sensible, it’s because they are highly sensible to their own uncommon needs.” A. Bochman, Smart Grid Security Blog
Are You Tired Yet of “Renewable” Lying?
WSJ came across yesterday with some sobering thought:
“…The Volt’s defenders will shout that the Volt is a blow against terrorism and in favor of energy independence. Two answers: The Volt doesn’t need defenders if it’s a car that consumers want, and that GM can make and sell at a profit. But GM can’t. And it’s doubtful that many of the Volt’s early adopters (aside from a Hollywood plutocrat or two) would be interested in the absence of a giant tax credit of $7,500 per car (paid for by you and me).
The second answer is that even if every American drove a Volt, and every car in America was a Volt, it would not appreciably change the global challenges we face. Oil would remain an immensely versatile commodity, and Middle Eastern countries (which have the lowest production costs) would continue to reap large revenues…”
Chevy Volt Truth — 20 Oct 10
Ulp… More Chevy Volt Truth …20 Oct 10
New Smart Meters Study
SmartGridCity…To Be Studied, Not Duplicated
Stuxnet and USB Sticks Will Kill You…
Thin-Band RF Meshes
“…I have been talking about the fact that narrow-band network solutions for the grid (e.g RF Mesh) are not able to deliver real-time data needs, do not support 100% Internet Protocol, do not have performance management tools, are not built with open standards, and cannot be integrated with complex systems (e.g. SCADA/EMS, solar PV panels, electric vehicles, electric charging equipment, and energy storage equipment)...” Andres Carvallo, former CIO, Austin Energy
The Home Area Network — No. 1 Reliability
“…In a Home Area Network (HAN) panel, after lots of discussion on new functionality for homeowners and their utilities and service providers, a man stood up, and, addressing CEOs from HAN start-ups, spoke with authority: “I see your focus is on new Smart Grid functionality and capabilities. But remember: reliability trumps everything. Don’t forget it.” He’s right of course, and it was a sobering moment...” –>Smart Grid Security Blog – May 24, 2010
The Home Area Network, fostered by the new ITU-T G.hn standard, must address the reliability of the Internet connection, the cable television service, the smart grid requirements, and the telephone communications imperative. All these services are needed for the successful HAN business case.