Bringing the grid back to full power

Many ways to get a smarter system

Smart grids will not look very different from today's copper wires and cables, but they will integrate new information technology with existing, upgraded or new physical infrastructure at every level.

A study by Carnegie Mellon University in the US counted numerous different ways to add ‘smartness' to the grid. Here are some of the applications that were identified:

For customers, smart metering technologies could tell people how much electricity they are using and the amount they are being charged for using electricity at different times of the day. Such systems have been in place for 50 years in parts of the US.

In parts of Europe, commercial customers such as large industrial plants also have special meters that switch power supply as the cost of providing power changes. Adding control circuits to air-conditioning equipment or water pumps could also allow heating and cooling to be turned down automatically when houses are unoccupied.

Smart technologies can also be applied to the transmission and distribution of electricity. Electricity is generated in power plants and transmitted to cities and factories over high-voltage power cables. These systems already use smart technologies to monitor power flows, but more can be done.

Technology could be used to take more measurements of voltage along the power line to improve stability of the system.

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon have also suggested that computers talking to each other could do a faster job of repairing power outages than human-controlled computer systems.

Once electricity has travelled down the transmission system, it travels ‘the last mile' down low-voltage local cables. This is seen as the part of the grid with the most potential for improvement. Smart sensors and controls could help to isolate problems on the grid; for example, an outage caused by a car driving into a telegraph pole or a bolt of lightning.

Technology could also be used to manage scarce power during an emergency. A storm or terrorist attack that reduces electricity supply could be resolved without having to disconnect an entire network. Such ‘selective load control' technologies could, for example, allow police stations to remain connected.

Jennifer Rankin