How Smart Grids Can Accelerate Solar Power by Pradeep Kumar Dadhich PhD Senior Fellow, TERI, New Delhi Presented at Solar PV Market in India Driving Solar Forward January 27-28, 2011 Venue: The Imperial, New Delhi

What is the Smart Grid? An electric delivery network from electrical generation to end-use customer, integrated with the latest advances in digital and information technology to improve electric-system reliability, security and efficiency.   Like telecommunications and Internet revolutions, technology holds key to the Smart Grid and its realization. This essential set of investments will help bring our electric grid into the 21st century using megabytes of data to move megawatts of electricity more efficiently, reliably, affordably. In the process, electric system will move from a centralized, producer-controlled network to a less centralized, more consumer interactive model.

What is the Smart Grid? Feature sensors throughout the transmission and distribution grid to: collect data, real-time two-way communications to move data and electricity between utilities and consumers, and the computing power necessary to make that intelligence actionable. Only by bringing the tools, techniques and technologies that enabled the Internet to the utility and electric grid will such a transformation be possible.

Drivers for a New Smart Grid The “grid” is rapidly running up against its limitations.  Costs of new generation and delivery infrastructure are climbing sharply. Huge Investments are required for power evacuation. Demand for electricity is expected to grow ~7 folds by 2030. Electricity prices are forecast to increase 30% - 50% over the next 10 years. Spiraling electricity rates and the cost of carbon are combining to reveal the true – i.e., higher – cost of energy. The grid as it stands is unaffordable.

Drivers for a New Smart Grid Compared with other industries, electrical grid has been largely bypassed by technological innovation until relatively recently. Historically, heavily regulated and modeled to keep the lights on and costs low. Partly for this reason, its modernization by means of information technology tools and techniques has been a back-burner priority. Until now.

Drivers for a New Smart Grid Utilities will be able to view and measure what’s going on in the system more completely and more frequently than currently, which in turn will enable additional levels of control. Control will allow utilities to better optimize the grid to support a number of public policies, from intermittent renewable integration to more dynamic interfaces with customers. Offers utilities more flexibility relative to how they use energy toward objectives of energy conservation and reducing greenhouse gases.

Benefits of Smart Grid Offers utilities operational benefits (outage management, improved processes, workforce efficiency, reduced losses, etc.) as well as benefits associated with improved asset management (system planning, better capital asset utilization, etc.). Outages and power quality issues estimated to cost the Indian economy significantly.

How the Smart Grid will Evolve Two grids to keep in mind as the future rapidly becomes the present. The first – call it “a smarter grid” – offers valuable technologies that can be deployed within the very near future or are already deployed today. The second – the Smart Grid – represents the longer-term promise of a grid remarkable in its intelligence and impressive in its scope, considered to be a decade or more from realization. However, this could be accelerated depending upon technological advances and removal of barriers.  In the short term, a smarter grid will function more efficiently, enabling it to deliver enhanced customer services, while offering societal benefits – less impact on our environment. Longer term, expect the Smart Grid to spur transformation similar to that the internet has already brought to the way we live, work, play and learn.

Capabilities of Smart Grid A smarter grid applies technologies, tools and techniques available now to bring knowledge to power – knowledge capable of making the grid work far more efficiently... • Ensure reliability to a degree never before possible • Increase overall use and value of existing production and transmission capacity • Accommodate renewable and traditional energy sources • Reduce carbon emissions by increasing efficiency of the system • Utility’s “big picture” is clearer: view and measure with more control • Improve power quality to correspond to new digital demands • Introduce advancements and efficiencies yet to be envisioned

Capabilities of Smart Grid EFFICIENCY: If grid were just 5% more efficient, energy savings would equate to ~ 700 MW of avoided capacity. AFFORDABILITY - Real-time price signals allows consumers to participate in the electricity market based on supply and demand pricing situation, thereby reducing grid congestion and unplanned outages. SECURITY: Blackouts can be avoided. Criticality of banking, communications, traffic, and security systems. Power-stabilization capability will address events quickly and “heal” faster than humans can react. Grid-friendly appliances play a role: responding to demand-response signals to adjust load.

Accelerating the deployment of “Smart Minigirds” in AP6 Countries

Project Details Lead Partner Country: Australia Participating Partner Countries and Organizations: CSIRO Australia, TERI India, SEC India Project Manager: Dr Glenn Platt, CSIRO Australia Project Initiation : October 2007

Project Partners Asia Pacific Partnership (APP) Smart mini-grid in RETREAT,TERI Gram, India Smart mini-grid in CSIRO, Australia Asia Pacific Partnership (APP) Smart mini-grid in SEC, India

Overall Objective “To deploy a renewable energy powered smart mini-grid pilot in both Australia and India that will prove their reliability and efficiency and improve community, government and industry acceptance of the technology and accelerate renewable and smart mini-grid deployment in partner countries” Specific Objective “Develop a distributed generation based smart mini-grid pilot/model which would be applicable to Indian sites/conditions and facilitate the deployment of smart mini-grid in India”

Expected Outcome Develop and demonstrate DG based smart mini-grid systems at the following sites in India Retreat building of The Energy & Resources Institute (TERI Gram), Gual Pahari Solar Energy Center(SEC), Gual Pahari

Activities Task-I: Mini grid aggregation Task-II: Load profiling, categorization and forecasting Task-III: Design and simulation of the smart mini grid model in consultation with CSIRO Task-IV: Development and demonstration of smart mini-grid system with Smart mini-grid Controller Task-V: Performance assessment, monitoring and analysis

Distributed Generation based SMG at TERI Gram P V Biomass Battery Diesel Inverter Generator Switch Intelligent Load Dispatch Interface Charge Controller Wind

Distributed Generation based SMG at SEC

Load & Resource Profiling & Categorization

Technical Reports & other Publications Authored by CSIRO, Australia “Review of minigrid research & development around the world” APP Minigrids Project: CSIRO Australian minigrid deployment- scope of control APP Minigrid Project: Minigrids planning tools – state of the art Australian minigrid test results- initial observation Minigrids testing and analysis- standardised test suite Authored by TERI, India Indian Minigrid – Scoping and Initial Design APP Minigrid Project: TERI Indian Minigrid Design & Deployment

Opportunities Augmenting Grid with Distributed Generation Systems Creating network of stakeholders to accelerate its deployment Organizing International Workshops for information dissemination Expansion of the concept to other developing nations

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