Nation’s Largest Microgrid Online

[kristopher]

Nation’s Largest Microgrid Online
By Albert Chan

Many myths about renewable energy refuse to die. In a recent interview with Bloomberg News, Thomas Pyle, president of the Institute for Energy Research (a group backed by the fossil fuel industry), describes renewable energy as a pipe dream, saying that solar energy is “ineffective, expensive and unreliable.”

Naysayers are also quick to point out that the electricity grid is so complex that it cannot function without the base level of power that coal and nuclear power plants provide. However, microgrids like the one at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) that serve a specific geographic area and leverage customers’ ability to use power more intelligently, may be the ultimate solution that puts these myths to rest.

At a time when solar energy has grown exponentially, cut module costs fourfold in three years, and become cost-competitive in quite a few areas around the world, Pyle’s concern of effectiveness and expense is being flipped on its head. The remaining concern of reliability may soon be overcome, as well. The sun does not always shine and the wind does not always blow, but microgrids can smooth out the variability of renewable energy generation—and they’re far more resilient than dependence on giant power stations whose failure loses a billion watts in milliseconds, often for weeks or months.

The electric grid must evolve in response to aging infrastructure, national security risks, and environmental concerns. To ensure the grid’s evolution into a healthy, sustainable, and efficient electric system powered by renewable energy, customers must understand the implications of an intelligent grid and become involved in this dynamic system. Students and staff at UCSD have become an integral part of one of the nation’s largest experiments in microgrids.

Microgrids are the foundation for...

http://www.rmi.org/nations_largest_microgrid_online_esj_article

[kristopher]

1. Number of electricity disturbances by cause, 1992–2009

Number of electricity disturbances by cause, 1992–2009

There is some uncertainty in the reliability of the U.S. electricity system in a “business-as-usual” case. Although the U.S. electricity grid has a proven track record with conventional generation mixes, power outages and grid disturbances nonetheless occur and are on the rise.

Outages and unusual grid events have doubled in the last decade, and now affect more than 5 million people a year. The majority of grid disturbances are caused by weather and system equipment failures, although human error, cyberattack, and animals are also notable causes. Estimates suggest that U.S. grid outages account for up to $160 billion in annual losses. Approximately two-thirds of this cost results from outages lasting less than five minutes.

Of particular interest are outages larger than the so-called Most Severe Single Contingency. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) requires that utilities carry enough reserve generation capacity (with less than 30-minute startup time) to cover the loss of their single greatest contingency. In most cases, this is the grid’s largest power plant or a critical transmission connection. While such a loss should be unlikely, recent history has shown that these events do happen with some regularity...

http://www.rmi.org/RFGraph-electric_system_disturbances

[kristopher]

2. Efficiency & Micropower for Reliable and Resilient Electricity Service: An Intriguing Case-Study...

Efficiency and Micropower for Reliable and Resilient Electricity Service: An Intriguing Case-Study from Cuba
AUTHOR: Lovins, Amory
DOCUMENT ID: 2010-23
YEAR: 2010
DOCUMENT TYPE: Report or White Paper
PUBLISHER: RMI

Cuba's decrepit electricity grid suffered 188 days of significant blackouts in 2004, 224 in 2005, 3 in 2006, and 0 in 2007. This dramatic improvement was due to a nationwide efficiency program, a crash program of switching to a majority of distributed generation, and reorganizing grid architecture around islandable netted microgrids. This success could be instructive for failing grids like those in Iraq and Afghanistan.

http://www.rmi.org/Knowledge-Center/Library/2010-23_CubaElectricity

PDF: http://www.rmi.org/cms/Download.aspx?id=4946&file=2010-23_CubaElectricity.pdf&title=Efficiency+and+Micropower+for+Reliable+and+Resilient+Electricity+Service%3a+An+Intriguing+Case-Study+from+Cuba