Over the past few decades, the demand for electricity in homes and businesses everywhere has exploded. It has happened due to a massive increase in the technology people depend on every day. Today, homes and businesses feature computers, smartphones, tablets, and all manner of audio-visual equipment. Plus, as electric vehicles gain traction on our roads, the electricity demand will only continue increasing.
All of that means that the reliability and functionality of our power grid are more important than ever before. Unfortunately, huge swaths of the grid depend on technology that dates back to the 1960s and 1970s. To keep pace with modern demand, it will need a modern makeover featuring some key technologies. To explain, here are three ways technology can improve the power grid.
1- Enhanced Grid Mapping and Analysis
One of the biggest challenges associated with keeping a power grid running lies in simply understanding the grid’s footprint. Over time, as additional transmission lines, substations, and transformers go into service, grid operators have a harder time visualizing how their networks fit together. That can pose a significant problem when it comes to maintaining reliability. However, accurate grid mapping services and enhanced AI-powered analysis can help.
By understanding the true real-time state of the power grid and its assets, operators can make smarter decisions. Accurate mapping is also necessary to power AI-driven automation that helps keep power flowing under all conditions. For example, an AI model can analyze real-time weather data to predict the possibility of downed electrical lines. It can then prepare a response plan to activate if those lines go out of service. Plus, AI can learn from its prediction outcomes to make faster, smarter decisions in the future.
2- Smart Electric Meters
To keep the electrical grid running, operators must precisely match electricity supply and demand at all times. If there’s too much generation capacity online, the grid’s electrical frequency could spike, triggering shutdowns. If there’s not enough capacity, the frequency drops, leading to load-shedding measures. Grid operators, however, only have complete visibility into part of the generation side of the equation. They don’t have many reliable ways to measure demand in real-time. That’s where smart meters come in.
Smart meters have two-way communication capabilities. This means they can send usage data back to grid operators to give them timely demand data. Plus, they can also send generation data from homes that feature solar power systems. That further enhances operators’ ability to match supply and demand since it gives them insight into generation capacity they don’t control. Smart meters also make it easier for grid operators to detect power outages and respond to them.
3- Grid-Scale Energy Storage
Finally, grid-scale energy storage- technologies can enhance both the functionality and reliability of the power grid. For one thing, it can help renewable generation sources like wind and solar become a part of the grid’s baseload generation. That refers to the minimum generation capacity operators know the grid needs at all times. Plus, grid-scale energy storage enhances the flexibility operators have in maintaining grid stability.
For example, a sudden spike in electrical demand typically forces grid operators to turn to so-called peaker plants. These are almost always natural gas-powered generators designed to come online when needed. The problem is that those plants require periodic maintenance, forcing operators to keep additional plants to rotate in and out of service. Grid-scale energy storage can obviate the need for peaker plants by offering a ready supply of excess energy when needed. In a demand emergency, operators can call on stored reserves rather than waiting for peaker plans to come online.
Technology is the Key to a Modernized Grid
In truth, the three technologies mentioned above are only the beginning. As electrical demand continues increasing and we move further towards fully renewable electrical generation, the grid will need a top-to-bottom technology overhaul. Together, the aforementioned technologies and others will turn today’s legacy grid into the smart grid of the future, ensuring reliability and performance for decades to come.
