Siemens
In August 2003, more than 50 million people in the U.S. and Canada experienced the largest blackout in North American history. Eleven people lost their lives, and it cost regional economies $6 billion - all because of a single power line and a few tree limbs.
Outages are a big topic in the media, given so many ongoing natural disasters and events such as that headline-making Super Bowl blackout of a couple years ago. But what's really causing the outage problem? It might be our electrical power grid, which was designed for the Industrial Age instead of today's Information Age.
Fortunately, there's a solution: the smart grid.
A More Reliable Energy Infrastructure
The concept of a smart grid - a grid with advanced energy delivery and monitoring technologies - has been around for a few years. In the U.S., it was moved along by the Energy Independence Act of 2007. The smart grid can transmit energy more efficiently and detect faults, such as the one that caused the 2003 blackout, much more quickly. The result is a more reliable energy infrastructure that lowers overall energy use, decreases the chance for blackouts and other incidents, and increases the ability to respond to such incidents faster.
The U.S. still relies on an aging electrical grid, though, with some infrastructure originating in the 1880s. It's basically a patchwork of localized delivery systems, and much of its infrastructure hasn't been updated since the 1970s or even earlier. Even worse, some hasn't even been updated at all.
Without new investments, blackouts, brownouts, and increasingly longer outage times can be expected, and they'll cost energy providers billions each year. A 2013 report by the White House noted that power outages cost the economy up to $33 billion annually, though that number can climb as high as $40 billion after devastating natural disasters. It's no wonder that the American Society of Civil Engineers gave America's infrastructure a D+ in 2013.
This patched-up network doesn't just waste energy and money; it's also woefully insecure. An attack on a single point along the network - a substation, say, or a dam - can have a domino effect, disrupting energy delivery for consumers and businesses not just in the immediate area but several states away. A natural disaster like 2012's Hurricane Sandy can have the same effect.
How The Smart Grid Will Connect (And Change) Everything
A smart grid uses technology that can detect disruptions and adjust energy delivery accordingly, minimizing the effect on a region and dramatically cutting down on both the length and the extent of outages. Consumers also have an increased ability to see their energy usage. Devices known as smart meters can replace monthly meter readings with real-time information about the amount and cost of energy use for homes and businesses.
But smart grids require more than Smart usage. They need smart software and hardware technology implemented within the utility's infrastructure. With that technology, utilities will be able to shift from just reacting to peak loads (which come with associated peak generation costs) to a system where the loads actually follow power generation. Also, utilities could manage it so that the power can scale to a level where it's economically feasible - while also staying secure and reliable.
One of the smart grid's most far-reaching benefits may also be one of the most surprising. While the cost of gasoline has risen by nearly 89% over the past 10 years, sales of electric and hybrid automobiles have increased substantially. The smart grid will not only make it easier for owners of electric cars to charge their vehicles but it will also allow them to send stored energy back to their local grid when it's needed.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, a 25% reduction in CO2 emissions would lower electric sector CO2 emissions by 7.6 billion tons by 2030. That's like removing 140 million cars from the road. As electrical demand continues to increase because of new modes of electric transportation, Smart energy consumption is sure to contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas.
Finally, smart-grid technology allows for more renewable and intermittent generation to be connected to the grid. In fact, many communities, hospitals, universities, and industrial campuses are looking to generate and distribute their own energy more efficiently, leading to the advent of the microgrid. Adding renewable energy such as wind, solar, or geothermal to a microgrid requires integration with the utilities grid, which also relies on smart-grid technology.
Overall, smart grids and microgrids can help the overall community run more efficiently, enable the usage of alternative energy sources, and allow utilities to balance loads for peak performance. The grid landscape is evolving to include more stakeholders, which translates into the need for increased efficiencies and reliability.
Transforming today's grid to a smart grid will require collaboration between communities and their utilities, investment in new technology, and long-term planning and policy. In the long run, the payoff will be great. It will help the U.S. compete better and contribute to a sustainable future for this planet - an initiative that's long overdue.
- Written by Ryan Galloway
For more information, visit the Siemens website.
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