More smart grid pilot projects show that monitoring and adjusting distribution grid voltage in real-time can save utilities energy.
The case for smart grid technology that saves energy on the distribution grid is growing.
The latest comes from utility Xcel Energy, which has linked up about 42,500 homes in its Boulder, Colo. SmartGridCity demonstration project with two-way communications and control systems that can do things like read home electricity usage, shut power on and off and detect outages.
But while much focus on that project has been on future energy-saving projects for those connected homes – most recently, on Xcel’s request to install energy control devices in some of them – the devices the utility has installed on its own grid is saving it money and energy right away.
That’s according to Xcel’s July 9 report to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. The report shows that SmartGridCity has sharply reduced – in some cases, eliminated – transformer failures, customer complaints and voltage problems on its distribution grid.
And that’s what comprises the complicated web of substations, feeders, and end points that make up the “last mile” of electricity delivery for utilities. It’s an often-overlooked piece of the smart grid, but offers some immediate gains for utilities that upgrade it, said Kevin Corcoran, director of product management at Current Group, one of many companies providing devices, software and services to SmartGridCity (see Green Light post).
The basic idea is simple, he said – put sensors on the grid that can tell you when equipment is about to fail, or sense frequency or voltage fluctuations that suggest a problem is about to occur.
It isn’t cheap, necessarily. EnergyAustralia is spending $170 million to install and integrate about 12,000 devices from companies like Denmark’s PowerSense on its distribution grids over the coming years.
But the results can be as dramatic as cutting the time it takes to find and fix outages by as much as half, and cutting the cost of maintenance by as much as 90 percent, largely by doing away with the need to drive around checking remote systems. That’s according to a 2007 report by IBM on a similar project done by Danish utility Dong Energy (see A Feeling and Thinking Distribution Grid).
via Greentech Media: Distribution Automation: Smart Grid’s Quiet Efficiency Offering.
Related posts:
- Sequentric Working on Duke Pilot Project | Greentech Media
- GridPoint Beefs Up Smart Grid Software, Lands New Marketing Deal | Greentech Media
- DOE Issues Rules for $3.9B in Smart Grid Stimulus Grants | Greentech Media
- Qualcomm, Verizon Plan Smart Grid Services as Part of New JV | Greentech Media
- Qualcomm’s Machine-to-Machine Smart Grid Moves | Greentech Media
