For hundreds of years, energy flowed one way – from power plants to end users. Yet as more renewables and customer-owned devices join the grid, they bring the complexity of two-way power flows.
Fortunately, a data-driven approach to grid and asset management can help utilities protect their performance, safeguard their assets, and embrace renewables.
The traditional grid is history
Traditional energy grids are linear: Utility-owned power plants are at one end and homes and businesses at the other. Connecting the two is a network of utility-owned distribution assets and transmission lines. For hundreds of years, grids followed this traditional design with power flowing one way – from utility to consumer.
Today, our energy doesn’t just come from centralised power plants. Following record renewables investment in Australia, solar panels and wind turbines contribute an increasing proportion of the nation’s energy mix.
Distributed energy resources (DERs) like these are connected at the grid edge, injecting energy at different points throughout the network, with more resources being added every day. Suddenly, grid assets have to manage two-way power flows, something they were never designed to do.
The disruption of distributed energy
Many DERs are owned by customers. While owners might imagine their photovoltaic cells or battery walls being simply plugged-in and forgotten about like other consumer appliances, integrating these devices can impact the entire grid’s stability.
A key challenge is voltage fluctuations. While linear power systems allow the utility to control voltage at the source, DERs introduce power at different points throughout the network. If DERs inject too much power, voltage can exceed acceptable limits, which can damage equipment or destabilise the grid. Impacts can include overloaded systems and shorter life expectancies for grid assets.
Intermittency is the other well-chronicled challenge with DERs, particularly weather-dependent energy sources. Still and cloudy days reduce the output of wind and solar resources, respectively, creating a different profile of power generation than traditional fossil-fuels. This poses a risk because grids operate at a particular frequency, which relies on supply and demand being in balance – creating what’s known as system inertia.
Intermittent generation can disrupt this balance, causing frequency fluctuations that increase the likelihood of disturbances and instability. A potential solution is to store renewable energy in battery energy storage systems (BESS) and draw on this supply to restore balance, yet the location, size and power inputs from BESS reintroduce the voltage challenge associated with injecting power at different points in the grid.
So as more DERs connect to their networks, where can utilities turn to protect their distribution assets and maintain grid reliability? They can look to their data to help them identify, monitor, and control utility and customer-owned devices.
Join your datapoints, see the complete picture
While traditional grid management is centralised, integrating DERs requires a decentralised approach. Information should be circulating throughout the system to help utilities predict DER output, optimise grid operations, and maintain reliability.
Sophisticated software solutions can help utilities achieve this, including advanced grid management systems with the ability to handle large volumes of data and coordinate grid-wide resources. Data-driven distribution network management systems can extend utilities’ visibility down to customer-owned grid edge DERs and help them reduce disruption and safety issues caused by the variability and intermittency of renewable generation.
In addition, data-driven asset management can help utilities move from reacting to failures towards a predictive and preventative approach that reduces downtime and optimises resource use. Modern asset management solutions employ sensor data and data models to let utilities visualise the real-time health and performance of their assets.
Furthermore, automated asset monitoring can help utilities avoid costly failures and improve uptime by giving them real-time visibility into the condition of their assets, while AI can support predictive and pre-emptive maintenance planning.
In the era of DERs, smart solutions are helping utilities get a grip on their grids. The result is a smart energy system that gives utilities the visibility and control they need to master the assets they own, along with those owned by others.
The energy system of tomorrow
After hundreds of years of traditional, linear energy grids, the task of integrating DERs is a vital step towards building the energy system of tomorrow. Fortunately, AI-powered solutions and data-driven approaches can unlock the control and visibility utilities need to master this complex, dispersed energy system in a safe, reliable, and sustainable way.
From better grid management tools to smarter utility asset management options, Oracle Utilities is here to support every step of your utility’s transformation journey.
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