How a 'smart grid' would work and how it would not 'Control How Cold Your Beer Can Be'
The current grid is CONTROLLED by human beings working at numerous CONTROL centers.
Power systems coordinators Boykin Elliott (front center) and Ronny Maxwell (rear right)
monitor the network power grid in metro Atlanta at the Georgia Transmission
Control Center at Georgia Power. Heath Bridges (rear left) is with the Conyers
TMC (Transmission Maintenance Center) and is job shadowing Elliott and Maxwell.
Instead of simply adjusting the supply of electricity in response to the vagaries of unpredictable demand, a
smart grid would constantly adjust demand as well. When demand hits a peak, for example, the grid might start cutting power for household refrigerators, office air-conditioning systems and other non-urgent uses — just for a moment in each case, and nothing that anyone would notice, but enough to smooth out variations in the overall load.
the basic idea is to arbitrarily limit demand.......not increase supply......
and this fits into our democratic capitalist country of individual rights and free enterprise how....?
NO, the idea is to balance supply and demand instantly. The current manual control is arbitrary and requires predicting. When they are wrong an outage occurs.
The
smart grid would be infused with intelligent sensors and controls, automated smart switches and substations, robust communications and other technologies, the smart grid will be able to integrate all types of electric generation and storage systems, preclude power outages and surges to a degree not possible now, predict problems before they occur, and automatically heal itself if problems do happen.
Energy flow in the power grid was designed as a one-way process - from centralized generation to end users (at least in the U.S.). Distributed renewable energy sources introduce the need for a two-way power flow, which contributes to difficulties in maintaining voltage along radial feeders.
The power grid was designed in an era when one or two changes to the grid per day were common. Renewable energy with intermittent generation necessitates a change in grid operations every few minutes.
Benefits of a smarter grid
The operation of the power grid has become so complex over the past 50 years that human control is becoming ineffective. The interconnected grid means a disturbance hundreds of miles away can have catastrophic effects on a local system.
With less centralized control, the need for communications and coordination has become crucial. Sensors and other devices are overwhelming utilities and grid operators with vastly greater amounts of data. Therefore, automated, intelligent, real-time response to grid operations and power events will be required.
However, with smart technologies comes the promise of a more reliable and efficient power grid. Utilities will be able to better manage costs because they will be able to discern many problems before they occur, allowing equipment to be replaced or repaired before problems arise.
In addition, actual problems can be isolated before they cause further damage to the grid, and self-healing capabilities will require fewer personnel dispatches to fix problems. The smart grid will also offer enhanced cybersecurity because it continually monitors itself to detect problems and unsafe conditions.
Society as a whole will experience fewer and shorter power outages, brownouts and other power problems - resulting in less downtime and fewer economic losses.
In summary, the power grid of yesteryear has developed into a very complex system that is now in danger of becoming unable to provide the high-quality, reliable power needed for the economic growth of a high-tech society.
