EcoReport · February 2014
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ExpertInsight
ExpertInsight
10 Smart grids
Handling a shock to the system Why a systems architect is needed INDUSTRY VIEW
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“one system” approach to Britain’s electricity networks is needed to ensure the lights stay on. Managing the challenges of decarbonisation, while maintaining security of supply and affordability for electricity customers, calls for radical and holistic thinking across the electricity system. Electricity Networks: Handling A Shock To The System, a new report from the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), recommends a systems architect role to oversee the electricity system as it adapts to meet the complex new requirements of a low-carbon economy. No party has this responsibility in today’s privatised electricity sector. Decarbonisation means unprecedented change for our hitherto mature and stable networks over the next 20 years. They will have to cope with everything from two-way local power flows and less predictable generation to accommodating new demands like charging electric vehicles. All of this will have a profound impact on the electricity system. To tackle this huge challenge, the IET has formed Power Networks Joint Vision, a diverse and independent group of experts from the leading electricity distribution and transmission companies, academia, government and energy consultancies.
Electricity Networks: Handling a Shock to the System sets out in detail the scale of the challenge, together with a series of proposed ways forward. Power Networks Joint Vision is gathering momentum, with industry and policy makers coming together to give their support and welcome the group’s findings. For Britain’s electricity distribution companies, the Power Networks Joint Vision work highlights the urgent need for whole-system thinking. Basil Scarsella, UK Power Networks’ chief executive, endorses the findings of the new report, saying: “We are committed to getting our networks fit for a low carbon economy and have developed a comprehensive innovation strategy to support that objective. However, to make decarbonisation a reality, we need to make sure we look at the electricity system as a whole – and not just parts of it in isolation.” Simon Harrision, Power Networks Joint Vision chair, sees a genuine opportunity to tackle the challenges facing the power industry head on by taking action now. “New low-carbon developments will undoubtedly put increasing pressure on electricity supply security and the cost of running the grid,” he says. “But Power Networks Joint Vision has rallied fresh thinking which, given the scale and complexity of the challenges, is a significant breakthrough. If we get this right, there is a real opportunity to reduce the cost of a lowcarbon future, while also creating worldwide opportunity for innovation and UK leadership.”
The next stage of work for Power Networks Joint Vision is subject to funding, but will define the role of the systems architect in more detail. It will also draw on parallels in other industries, including telecommunications, rail and aviation, where an agency-style systems architect has overcome significant challenges by developing and implementing industry-wide codes and standards. Find out more about Electricity Networks: Handling A Shock To The System and how to get involved at www.theiet.org/pnjv energy@theiet.org www.theiet.org/pnjv
Building storm resilience into the grid We need to move beyond a ‘make do and mend’ attitude INDUSTRY VIEW
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ccording to the Energy Networks Association, following the Boxing Day storms more than 150,000 UK homes lost power. While the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) estimates that the UK needs a £110billion energy infrastructure upgrade, currently many of the improvements involve more of the same. State-of-the-art technologies
such as energy storage can in fact modernise our aging grid, making it storm-resilient, while future-proofing it to cope with rising power demand. Traditionally, we have addressed rising demand by reinforcing the grid with new transmission lines and transformers. This method is costly – as copper and aluminium are used – and is impractical, as demand is continually evolving, meaning roads dug up to
reinforce power lines are commonplace. The alternative is to place energy storage devices at key points throughout the grid, which store electricity at low periods of demand and can then be released to cope with rising demand during peak hours. Distributed energy storage offers another important benefit: it provides a local back-up power supply in the event the grid is damaged and power from central sources is disrupted. When storm damage occurs, distributed energy storage enables electricity to be provided while utility crews repair damage to the grid. As well as improving grid resiliency, energy storage also improves efficiency. In fact, Imperial College found that the UK could make system savings of more than £10billion per year by deploying 25 gigawatts of energy storage by 2050. S&C Electric Europe recently announced a project to lead a cuttingedge trial of energy storage technology – Europe’s largest – to test new methods of capturing electricity for release over long periods, to even out the peaks and troughs of supply and demand. When finished, the Samsung battery in UK Power Network’s Leighton Buzzard substation will have a six megawatt capacity, which is expected to save more than £6million on traditional network reinforcement methods, such as cabling and transformers.
Another effective way to increase grid resiliency is to intelligently automate power networks. Advanced Distribution Automation (ADA) allows utilities to respond to emergency situations (such as storm blackouts) by automatically re-routing electricity around damaged sections of the power system to restore power to as many people as possible, as quickly as possible. Utilities in the United States have been making grids smart for some time. In Chattanooga, Tennessee, the local utility, EPB, used S&C to install the most automated network of its size in the US (serving 170,000 customers). When a major storm hit the city in 2012, the automated system reduced power outages by 55 per cent. Network operators face a major challenge in upgrading the grid in the face of increasing extreme weather events. The key change is the grid needs to facilitate demand to meet supply, not supply to meet demand, as it does today. Fortunately, the tools and expertise exist to increase demand by powering up energy storage devices when there’s a surplus, and then to reduce demand when energy supply is lower. To achieve this we need to move beyond “make do and mend” and embrace the smart grid. Andrew.Jones@sandc.com http://sandc.com