Forward View
Keeping the smart grid strategies simple
The two prerequisites for the smart grid are a smart meter to measure energy usage at the point of delivery, and consumer tools to control energy consumption. Ulla Pettersson says that rather than combining the two in a single device, it makes more sense to separate them.
Los dos requisitos previos para una red eléctrica inteligente son medidores inteligentes para medir el uso de la energía en el punto de entrega y herramientas que permitan al consumidor controlar su consumo energético. Según Ulla Pettersson, más que combinar ambas en un mismo dispositivo, lo lógico es separarlos.
Die beiden Voraussetzungen für ein intelligentes Netz sind intelligente Zähler zum Messen des Energieverbrauchs an der Abnahmestelle und Kundenwerkzeuge zur Kontrolle des Energieverbrauchs. Ulla Petterson sagt, statt die beiden in einem einzelnen Gerät zu kombinieren macht es mehr Sinn, diese voneinander zu trennen.
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mart grid strategies have still to be finalised as countries strive to lower their greenhouse gas emissions, increase energy efficiency and ensure security of supply. A growing
number of initiatives are underway, ranging from the small and simple to implement, to the large and highly complex. What has become clear is that smart grids are challenging to deliver, raising multiple issues around the role that market participants should play, how best to meet consumer needs, and what the optimum technologies, standards, and schemes should be. Tere are two essential elements to any smart grid design: a smart meter that can measure electricity consumption by the hour at each point of delivery; and tools for the consumer to control their consumption, based on factors such as the current tariff being applied based on time of day, the loading on the energy grid, and environmental concerns – ie whether the energy is derived from a renewable source. Te smart grid might also be the tool with which to address the issue of renewables representing an intermittent source of power generation, with the addition of small scale wind and solar technologies, intelligent consumer appliances, heat pumps, and electric vehicles (EVs) operating in reverse mode.
How this will be implemented in Europe will depend largely on the process of deregulation in the electricity sector, and in respect of the separation of transmission and distribution from the generation and sale of electricity. It is essential that the industry focus on flexible and well structured concepts not too complex to implement and that maintain the structural separation in liberalised markets. And although the potential of the smart grid has never been in doubt, there has so far been a tendency to focus on the size of the market opportunity, as opposed to the most efficient, simple, and robust architectures to deploy.
A complex but pressing challenge Te Smart Energy Demand Coalition estimates that the EU could see savings of €52 billion annually by reducing losses in the electricity distribution network via automation, and by encouraging consumers to cut or alter their energy consumption. Meanwhile, analysis by research firm NanoMarkets suggests that the European smart meter market will reach $1.3billion by 2015, as utilities look to meet the EU’s aim of equipping 80 per cent of homes with smart meters by 2020. However, there are still numerous challenges to overcome. Meters for interval measurement
Fig. 1. Smart grid: a complex solution not in line with deregulation.
Fig. 2. The preferred solution supporting deregulation.
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