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The future of the grid as described by GE's chief technology officer, Vera Silva
https://www.elp.com/articles/2019/04/the-future-of-the-grid-from-the-eyes-of-ges-chief-technology-officer-vera-silva.htmlThe future of the grid as described by GE’s chief technology officer, Vera Silva
04/15/2019
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Q: Tell me about some of the trends you see that are driving transformation of the global energy landscape, and how the grid will need to evolve.
Silva: I believe we are seeing specific trends associated with renewables. Renewables are growing through the development of utility scale solar photovoltaic farms and wind farms, as well as distributed resources. One of the key changes we see is that in many countries, more than 80% of the new resources are being connected to the distribution grid.
This is a complete change of paradigm. In the past, the grid role was about bringing power from centralized generation to the consumer. You would fit and forget the few distributed generation sources. But once you get to this volume of renewables connected to distribution, you have to take an active approach. This becomes a target for change. We have to be supporting the connection of new resources across all layers of the grid and demand growth with the electrification of heat and transport. Grid operators will need to orchestrate all these new resources to avoid constraints in the grid.
Due to this shift, distribution grid operators are moving from a past of reinforcing the maintenance of the assets to being responsible for operating a distribution system and facilitating the participation of decentralized resources in wholesale markets. To provide flexibility services to transmission system operators from resources connected to distribution, we will need a lot of new technology.
…
04/15/2019
…
Q: Tell me about some of the trends you see that are driving transformation of the global energy landscape, and how the grid will need to evolve.
Silva: I believe we are seeing specific trends associated with renewables. Renewables are growing through the development of utility scale solar photovoltaic farms and wind farms, as well as distributed resources. One of the key changes we see is that in many countries, more than 80% of the new resources are being connected to the distribution grid.
This is a complete change of paradigm. In the past, the grid role was about bringing power from centralized generation to the consumer. You would fit and forget the few distributed generation sources. But once you get to this volume of renewables connected to distribution, you have to take an active approach. This becomes a target for change. We have to be supporting the connection of new resources across all layers of the grid and demand growth with the electrification of heat and transport. Grid operators will need to orchestrate all these new resources to avoid constraints in the grid.
Due to this shift, distribution grid operators are moving from a past of reinforcing the maintenance of the assets to being responsible for operating a distribution system and facilitating the participation of decentralized resources in wholesale markets. To provide flexibility services to transmission system operators from resources connected to distribution, we will need a lot of new technology.
…
