Wp Isd Smart Grid Design

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Smart grid starts with

smart design

April 2010

Prepared for:

By Sierra Energy Group

The Research & Analysis

Division of Energy Central

Smart grid starts with smart design

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Introduction

The smart grid is placing many remarkable - but differ-

ent - components out on the grid. And, as often hap-

pens on the reality TV shows that so many people can’t

seem to get enough of, bringing together a diverse group

often results in some tense interactions. Plugging mul-

tiple electric vehicles into a single circuit could stress an

undersized transformer, risking outages for a neighbor-

hood or even larger portion of the grid. Overlaying com-

munications infrastructure and smart meters on the grid

may radically alter the way field crews manage, repair

and update grid infrastructure. Installing distributed

generation introduces bidirectional power flow on a grid

built for one-way power flow. Every new component

could affect so many other parts of the grid. Can all grid

components - both old and new - successfully coexist?

Essentially, how can we smartly accommodate all of the

smart changes on the grid? It all starts with design - us-

ing rich, intelligent information in a model-based design

process. To borrow a phrase from architecture and civil

engineering domains, the model-based design proc-

ess extends into what is known as building information

modeling (BIM). With BIM, changes to one component

are reflected in the model and inform the design of other

components. This integrated process vastly improves

project understanding and allows for predictable

outcomes. All project team members can stay coordi-

nated, improving accuracy, reducing waste, and making

informed decisions earlier in the process - helping to

ensure a project’s success. And, for the utility owner-op-

erator, it is important that this process inform planning,

maintenance and operations decisions across the lifecy-

cle of assets. This paper reviews some of the challenges

with moving toward a smarter grid, and the role played

by smarter design in overcoming those challenges.

Changes - and challenges - with a

smarter grid

Before discussing the link between smart grid and smart

design, we need to revisit a few smart grid fundamen-

tals. The utility industry is moving toward a smarter

grid, but it faces challenges when it comes to getting the

many components of a smarter grid to work together.

Very quick review of smart grid definitions

First, let’s take a quick look at the smart grid definition.

Everyone seems to have his own definition, however, no

matter what technologies you include in your definition

or what areas matter most for individual utilities, there is

a common theme. A smarter grid and a more intelligent

utility are really all about applying information to en-

ergy, thereby maximizing its reliability, affordability, and

sustainability - all the way from generation to custom-

ers. A few of the technologies that can help support this

definition include:

Smart meters and advanced metering infrastructure •

(AMI)

Communications networks to link smart devices and •

systems

Customer systems and devices, including home •

energy displays, smart appliances, home area net-

works and energy management systems

Renewable and distributed - including electric •

vehicles - generation resources and their supporting

integration systems

Transmission and distribution automation, includ-•

ing synchrophasers

“Traditional” intelligent systems, including supervi-•

sory control and data acquisition systems (SCADA),

work and asset management systems, customer in-

formation systems, geographic information systems

and network design applications

Opportunities with a smarter grid

Numerous technologies can improve the grid’s intel-

ligence; and there certainly has been a lot of talk about

them. That talk is finally turning into action as the utility

Smart grid starts with smart design

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industry moves toward turning the smart grid concept

into a reality. This movement is due to the fact that utili-

ties are finding real benefits to taking smart grid beyond

just a concept. A few of those reasons include:

Deferring carbon-emitting generation investments •

through better managing peak demand, integrating

renewable generation and supporting the electri-

fication of transportation, which includes not just

electric vehicles, but also rail and other modes of

public transportation.

Achieving greater operational efficiency through •

minimizing line losses, more efficiently using field

crew time and reducing costs associated with meter

reading and maintenance.

Equipping energy customers with the tools they •

need to better understand and manage their energy

consumption. Improving power reliability, quality

and security through enabling more grid control and

automation.

Leveraging granular, real-time metering and other •

data sources to improve design decisions and ulti-

mately help designers right-size transformers, serv-

ice connections and other materials. As the smart

grid rolls out, utilities will no longer have to make

assumptions about the energy needs of buildings

and infrastructure. They will have access to actual

consumption patterns.

Challenges to effectively realizing the

smart grid

Of course, every opportunity brings new challenges

with it. Smart grid is no exception to this rule. A variety

of challenges can affect smart grid deployments - from

regulatory and legislative actions to financing and

customer acceptance.

Defining the intelligent utility

The enterprise

Generation/

wholesale Mobile eld personnel

Global inuences

Intelligent utility

Distributed generation

Power

Communications

Consumers

Transmission

network

Distribution

network

Smart

meters

End-user

devices

Smart grid

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Electric vehicles: Are they really

plug-and-play?

Is charging an electric vehicle really as simple as plugging

it in? It is today, if you are one of the few people using

an electric vehicle. Add a few more electric vehicles - the

Electric Power Research Institute estimates 10 million

by 2020 - and plugging in becomes more complicated.

Although electric vehicle use may be confined to specific

neighborhoods at first, today’s grid isn’t designed to

handle electric-vehicle “hot spots” or the eventual on-

slaught of electric vehicles heading its way. Think about

the surge in electricity demand when people get home

from work and plug in their vehicles, each equivalent to

the power need of large home with air conditioning or

about 6 kilowatts, all at about the same time. This tim-

ing could overwhelm distribution systems that weren’t

designed to handle the needs of electric vehicles. And

even when electric vehicles start to spring up in specific

neighborhoods, heavy concentrations of electric vehicles

may not allow transformers adequate time to cool off

overnight, which could result in an increasing number of

transformer failures.

Moreover, additional infrastructure is needed to support

electric vehicles at places other than our homes, such

as the office, the mall or the movies. Public electrical

outlets are already seemingly overwhelmed (think about

airport outlets), so imagine the operational challenges

of businesses as customers search for an outlet to plug

in their electric vehicles. Buildings may need redesigns of

their electrical infrastructure to accommodate the needs

of electric vehicles. As a result, utilities are likely to have

to build additional infrastructure to accommodate the

power needs of electric vehicles hitting the road.

Smart buildings: A natural extension of

the grid

Electric vehicles are new components tapping into the

grid, but other components that have long been at-

tached to the grid are going to add complexity. Think

about energy customer premises and the movement

toward smart buildings and their supporting systems to

better manage energy use. Many commercial and indus-

trial properties have had some sort of building automa-

tion and energy management systems, but the sophis-

tication of those systems continues to increase. Many

of today’s commercial buildings are built or renovated

using BIM - with intelligent, coordinated, design infor-

mation used to visualize and simulate a project’s per-

formance. With a BIM foundation, owners and lessees

can leverage the information in the 3D design model to

better predict and manage energy use. Building systems

are not only becoming increasingly complex, but there

are more and more opportunities for utilities to interact

with those systems. On the residential side, the addition

of smart meters, thermostats and appliances, along with

home energy management systems, is giving customers

new opportunities to manage their energy. With all of

these new opportunities to manage energy beyond the

meter, utilities will be considering how to manage those

interactions and how far the utility extends into the

customer premise.

Distributed and renewable generation:

Making it easier to be green

Other components coming onto the grid are distributed

and renewable generation resources. Residential, com-

mercial and industrial customers will be adding electric

vehicles, building smarter structures and installing solar

panels or wind turbines on rooftops and parking decks,

or even out in the landscape. This means that traditional

energy consumers can now become energy producers, or

as some in the industry call it, “prosumers.”

Distributed generation resources, such as solar panels

and wind turbines, bring more than just new power to

the grid. They can also introduce new issues such as:

Introducing a two-way power flow on a grid de-•

signed for one-way flow

Requiring careful dispatching of these resources to •

maintain the balance of the grid

Tracking and managing new data associated with •

consuming and dispatching power

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Leveraging data for different organizations, such as •

planning departments, that may find it beneficial

On top of distributed generation, as you take renewable

generation from rooftops to large-scale generation sites,

accommodating this scale of generation can require

investments in grid infrastructure, such as new transmis-

sion networks to reach remote wind farms.

Digitizing the grid: The old and new

need to effectively coexist

Whether supporting electric vehicles or enabling

demand response, a smarter grid requires overlaying

existing analog grid infrastructure - things such as poles,

wires, transformers and even substations - with new

digital technologies. This overlay can create additional

complexities. First of all, the new infrastructure design

must take into consideration existing infrastructure. For

example, a company may design a “last-mile” communi-

cations network for its distribution system, but it could

also consider how existing infrastructure such as sub-

stations, transformers or even buildings might benefit

from adding communication capabilities that provide

information back to the utility. Once a digital system is

designed and installed, then utilities face the tasks of

documenting and maintaining the new infrastructure.

How will utilities track new infrastructure and how will

field crews manage and maintain these new systems?

What kind of information can utilities use to better man-

age their networks?

The link between smart grid and

smart design

The items mentioned here are a few of the complexities

involved with bringing together the many smart grid

components. And they demonstrate that these compo-

nents won’t come together by themselves. In fact, how

the industry brings these components together is as

important as the smart components themselves. This is

where smart design and BIM come into play.

Design and maintain: Critical to

success of a smarter grid

The grid is already carefully designed and extremely so-

phisticated, but it is still very sensitive to new influences.

When designing for smarter grids, utilities will need to

carefully weigh the effects of new smart systems. In par-

ticular, utilities will have to consider and design for fac-

tors beyond their own grids. New grid designs will have

to account for actions beyond the meter, whether it is a

consumer plugging in another electric vehicle or install-

ing new solar panels. And utilities will have to rethink,

and most likely, redesign existing parts of the grid to

accommodate these end-user changes and bidirectional

power flows.

Utilities will also have to consider where their design

efforts stop. Do utilities work with customers at the resi-

dential and commercial and industrial level to develop

smart systems within customer premises? Do they work

with electric vehicle or smart appliance manufacturers to

design systems that will work with the smart grid? These

are design questions that each utility must sort through

as it approaches the smart grid concept.

Even when smart systems and components are designed

and installed, the work is still not over for utilities. Utili-

ties must maintain these new, more advanced systems.

Utilities will also have to constantly review and update

the grid to keep pace with the rapid changes in the

smart grid space. Out in the field, this means that crews

will face new complexities with maintaining and repair-

ing more advanced digital infrastructure. And, depend-

ing on how far the utility extends into the customer

premises, field crews may have to take on new knowl-

edge about maintaining technologies for customers.

Smart design tools: More than pencil

to digital

With the need for smarter design comes a need for

smarter design tools. Smart design tools are no longer

just about digitizing pencil drawings; these tools should

assist utilities with making smart design and mainte-

nance decisions in an increasingly complex environment.

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A few key elements that utilities should consider for

smart design tools include:

The ability to bring in and manage new data inputs: •

As the grid grows smarter, more and more data

about the grid will become available - whether ad-

ditional data about an existing distribution network

or new information from a distributed generation

source. Smart design tools should be able to effec-

tively aggregate these data and make them available

to planners, designers and personnel maintaining

the system.

Better connections between customers and the grid: •

Given the need for utilities to consider influences

beyond the grid and the increasing sophistication

of customer energy management systems, smart

design tools should begin to connect the informa-

tion available at the customer-level with utility-grade

systems.

Improved analysis capabilities: Not only is making •

data available important, but analysis capabilities

are becoming increasingly important as well. Utili-

ties should look for smart design tools that provide

them with opportunities to use new and existing

data sources to model how these new systems and

components will impact the grid.

The smart grid is a diverse group of components •

that need to act as an integrated system, which in

turn requires utilities to think beyond a requirement

for smart design tools. Utilities must now think

about BIM as an integrated process that can enable

them to capture all of the planning, design and as-

built information in an accurate, complete and cur-

rent model. This iterative process can now be used

to support enhanced communications with custom-

ers as well as further analysis and refinement of the

grid. For example, how will transformer, circuit and

substation design requirements change as electric

vehicles spread across a service territory, and which

transformers will need to be replaced and when?

In essence, smart design should do more than just make

it easier for utilities to draft their designs to support

smart grid build out. Instead, utilities should embrace

a smarter design process, BIM, that will enable them to

make better decisions, so that all grid components - old

and new, smart and perhaps not so smart - can success-

fully coexist and thrive in a smart grid.