Smart grids

In many countries, modernisation of the electricity power grid is central to increases in energy efficiency, reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and the eventual transition to renewable energy sources.

In South Africa, the state-run electricity supplier is currently more likely to be concerned with meeting the lighting demands of the 2010 World Cup than these lofty ideals.

While SA's politicians wrestle with the challenges of an outdated and failing power generating infrastructure, they may be advised to take time out to study the impact of new-generation 'smart' electrical power grids, commonly referred to as smart grids.

South Africa's aging analogue electricity grid is, for want of a better description, a collection of 'dumb' wires. Power is fed into the grid from power stations and the hope is it will arrive at homes, offices and factories without any disruption along the way - fingers crossed.

Rolling blackouts aside, it usually falls to the consumer to report a power outage. It is then up to the utility company to set about finding the fault and defining it. Usually a significant amount of time-consuming sleuthing is needed to uncover the cause, be it cable theft, overloaded transformers or any one of a host of alternatives, including sabotage.

Wouldn't it be beneficial to the country, not least of all from a productivity standpoint, if the grid could become 'smart' and digitally diagnose the faults itself?

Of course, it would require adding technology in the form of sensors, digital metering devices, CCTV cameras and a complementary broadband communications network using WiMax or other high-speed technology with purpose-developed software applications. An advantage is the electricity wires are already in place to transmit the necessary data.

A few mouse clicks could re-route the power around the crashed sub-station or downed power line.

Andy Robb is CTO at Duxbury Networking.

The resulting 'digital grid' would be an effective IP (Internet Protocol)-based surveillance system - and represent a quantum leap in reliability, security and efficiency.

Bearing in mind copper cable theft from the electricity grid is said to cost the country R3 billion each year, the return on the investment for such an upgrade could be quite rapid.

With more intelligence on the grids, there may be no need to send out repair crews when the power fails. A few mouse clicks could re-route the power around the crashed sub-station or downed power line. This is a concept pioneered on the Internet, which redirects data packets unable to reach an intended destination for whatever reason.

Probably the biggest benefit of a smart grid would come with what is called 'demand response', enabling the monitoring of power consumption in real-time by both the power company and consumers.

Electricity users are already asked to throttle back on power consumption at the challenging times of peak demand. But if electricity prices could also vary in line with the electricity load, it would be a significant incentive to comply.

South Africa could do well to look at countries making the concept work. In Germany and Sweden, smart meters are mandatory and both Britain and China have smart grid plans in place. In Italy, all homes already have smart meters. Apart from varying the charges as necessary, they also cut the supply to late payers and defaulters.

It's an idea that would save South Africa many millions of rands - but might not find favour in the townships where pirated connections and free electricity are considered the norm and not the exception.

As can be expected, smart grid technology will advance quickly on the global stage. Already, sizable steps have been taken in the US and Europe to develop broadband networks and the software necessary to monitor grid operations, status and facilitate distribution automation.

The IT giants are standing in the wings with everything from power management solutions and sophisticated programmable logic controllers to data analysis and forecasting systems.

For example, there are systems for home users in which the smart switch is used to control most electrical devices, switching them on, off or to an energy-saving mode. Home security - another hot button for South Africans - is also a natural target for smart grid solution providers as cameras and sensors can be used in the domestic situation as easily as they can in the industrial arena.

If our politicians would only polish their crystal balls instead of pointing fingers, they might see some of the 'over the horizon' benefits of smart grids, including distributed generation alternatives, bi-directional flows of energy in which home generated electricity can be fed into the grid - with the customer reimbursed for his contribution - and the use of aggregations of ubiquitous electric vehicle batteries as alternate storage repositories for use in emergencies.

Perhaps the crystallisation of this vision will prompt them to help establish the financial and regulatory environment needed to fuel investment and motivate decision-makers to procure and implement smart grid systems for the benefit of the next generation, if not this one.