Utilities’ next-gen networks are not just for bright sparks.
Electricity. It’s everywhere around us, powers the machines that run our society and yet we seldom think more about it than the effort it takes to flick a switch.
But a nationwide project underway to lift the IQ of our dumb power grid to make our homes and workplaces better able to manage the power they consume is poised to sweep away that complacency.
And it offers a broad swathe of opportunities for IT resellers to find new markets, energy insiders say.
In the biggest change to power generation, distribution and use since Nikola Tesla was a boy gazing up at lightning storms in the night sky, Australia’s electricity companies and governments are rolling out smart networks to replace those powering the nation for the past century.
The most obvious change most will see is attached to the wall of their premises. At a cost of $2.8 billion to $4.6 billion about 10 million humble, electromechanical power meters with patent histories harking to 1872 will be replaced by smart meters loaded with scores of features and potential to reduce and provide usage information. The new meters are $150-$250 each.
They report to energy companies on how power is consumed, are disconnected and reconnected remotely and promise to connect wirelessly to devices inside the house to manage loads. And they may be controlled remotely, for instance, to lower the air-conditioning on a hot day or schedule energy-guzzling white goods such as fridges to defrost or clothes dryers to operate at night when the load on the network is light and the cost lower.
But this advanced meter infrastructure and its $4.8 billion to $7.5 billion savings is only the visible component. Distributors are installing thousands of sensors at substations and on Australia’s streets to alert them to events that could harm the grid. And the pay day for resellers, power industry insiders say, is to bring IT smarts to the back offices of energy companies so they can secure and make sense of the welter of data about to come their way.
When all the pieces are in pace some time around the end of next decade, Australia will have a smart grid that intelligently routes electricity in the most efficient way and heals itself when disaster strikes.
Water suppliers are keen observers, so impressed are they by promises of reduced emissions and operating costs. Waiting for a blackout or a burst water main to identify flaws in our ageing utilities networks may one day be a dim memory.
via Electrifying ideas for a smart power grid – Networking – Technology – News – CRN Australia.
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