What is a "smart grid"?

Smard grids....it's one of those things that sound great....wanna have! It's supposed to allow the integration of renewable and intermitent energy sources into the grid, have "smart" features that incentivise efficiency in energy consumption, support decentralised and distibuted energy like solar PV and CHP, and lead to less blackouts and energy failures. Obama's been talking about it, Al Gore flagging it up as the primary "gateway" to a renewables based low carbon economy....so what exactly is it!!!!????

Did some readings on it for energy policy and here is a brief summary.

Well, first we need to understand the traditional, "dumb", centralised power grid. It's characterised by remote centralized generation e.g. coal fired power plants far from the city, hierarchical transmission and distribution networks, and little or no interactions with demand patterns. The inflexibilty of the grid makes it difficult to support intermittent renewable energy and decentralised local electricity generation.

Calls for a "smart" grid has come about due to both internal and external drivers including aging assets, increasing customer demands, technological advances, deregulated markets and increased awareness of climate change and the CO2 problem.

What can smart grids offer? Potentially, it can provide:

1. a distributed, efficient and reliable network for energy delivery
2. distributed generation sources through microturbines and energy storing devices located close to energy sources (e.g. wind and solar)
3. advanced, digitized, internet based automation systems for intelligent network monitoring and control

Another benefit of a smart grid is the "smart meter" for consumers, which will track energy consumption for customers and reveal different pricing at different times to incentivise efficient usage of energy at optimal times.

However, this does require an entire upgrade of infrastructure and capital, and is likely to cost 10s of billions on $$. New high tech upgrades required include sensors, IEDs, PMUs, and smart meters, fiber‐optics, microwave, power line carrier (PLC), wireless networks, information Banks, middle‐ware technologies, integration hubsm, the list goes on. Some technologies are unproven yet and companies will battle to provide the "standard" for supporting the grid.

Is it worth the $$? Apparently yes. The University of San Diego has already conducted an extensive Smart Grid study which included a cost benefit analysis on implementing a smart grid in San Diego. The study estimated the total installation cost to be in the region of USD490 million. However, this is more than compensated by an estimated $1.4 billion in utility system benefits and nearly $1.4 billion in societal benefits over 20 years. Sounds like a no brainer, for long-term policy making anyway.

The smart grid has the potential to take off, just like the Internet boom. With Obama, I'm definitely hopeful to see the beginning of the .energy revolution!