Transmission & Distribution Technology
Fig. 2. Asset intelligence.
by smart grid projects. Te fact that such a company exists prompts one to wonder whether there has been a slight disconnect, with people buying lots of fancy new equipment (such as smart meters) but not necessarily giving proper consideration as to how best to manage all of the data associated with its rollout. Ehrlich explains that this is in part the case, with the people who are running the pioneering smart grids projects being part of the same vast learning curve as those selling smart grids technologies. “Many utilities that implement smart meters are not prepared for the dramatic increase in data volume, and it’s only after the data starts to pile up that they realise they need better ways to store, manage and understand it. What I don’t think utilities fully anticipate when they first start moving to a smart grid is the business benefits that can be obtained by data collected from smart devices, especially when analysed and correlated with data from other systems.” It’s at this stage that Space-Time
Insight and its situational intelligence solutions step in to assist operations. Te company has been involved with several high-profile smart grid projects. Ehrlich reveals: “At Hydro One in Ontario, Canada, we have implemented asset analytics for 4.5 million T&D assets to improve grid reliability and drive asset replacement strategies. At Sacramento Municipal Utility District, grid analytics is being used to drive operational
efficiencies and faster response to a range of environmental conditions. And in the UK, Tames Water is performing visual analysis of water sourcing and asset performance under adverse conditions.”
Benefits of added intelligence Space-Time Insight has a variety of utilities providers across the world in its client base, and Ehrlich cites a number of benefits these customers are enjoying. “Some of our customers are seeing classic labour-saving costs that are typical with early benefits of smart grid efforts,” he begins. “Hydro One saved US$1.5 million in just the first six months of using our software by more efficiently scheduling its field crews. Other customers are utilising analytics to predict and respond to crisis situations. Entergy, for example, gleans actionable insights from phasor measurement units. Insight from phasor data can help avoid or speed recovery from crisis situations, which can shave millions of dollars from the cost of just a single crisis.” Increasingly, utilities companies and other key players are creating dedicated smart grid divisions. Space-Time Insight will likely soon see some competition in visualisation and analysis software. But Ehrlich is not worried. “We have the ability to correlate, analyse and visualise data across space, time and nodes in a network. Our software marries IT, operational and external systems with ease – and that’s an attractive proposition!" l
The view from Europe
Although the smart grids sector is less advanced in Europe than it is in the USA, a considerable amount of progress is being made and increasing amounts of funding are becoming available for smart grids projects. The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre Institute for Energy and Transport published its Smart Grid Projects Outlook 2014 earlier this year. This survey included 459 smart grid projects, launched from 2002 until today, which amount to a total of €3.15 billion in investments.
The report also reveals that the comparable lack of progress in Europe – as compared to the USA, is down to a number of factors. The report states: “As far as smart grids demonstration and deployment are concerned, key obstacles and challenges still appear to be at the social and regulatory levels (rather than technical constraints). The range of legal and regulatory arrangements in Europe might present significant barriers to the replicability of project results in different areas and to the scalability of projects to larger regions.”
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