… and the grid is thinking as well
It is nighttime. The solar panels on the roof are taking a break. But down in the basement and in the carport, the washing machine and electric car are making use of the large stocks of readily available wind power, for both a colored wash and a battery charge. They were given the go-ahead by the smart meter in the meter cabinet. This central control unit connects the washing machine, charging station and the other electrical equipment in the household as well. It identifies all offers from energy suppliers and combines these with the customer's needs. The meter "knows" that the electric car is not going to be used the next day, so it will release part of the battery power in the morning and feed it back into the grid when there is a general increase in electricity demand. The power grid and its assistants "think" independently, recording and analyzing energy supply and demand and taking responsibility for management, storage and transport.
Sounds like something from the future? Well, maybe a little. It will of course be a while before this vision of the so-called smart grid becomes a reality. But here at E.ON, we're already on the way there.
New Challenges for the Grid
There is an urgent need to modify the power grids which have been used up to now to transport electricity from the power plant to the consumer. The energy world is changing, with generation plants that utilize renewable energy sources gaining in importance, such as wind and solar farms. This means an increasing amount of power which is subject to strong fluctuations. Power generation is also becoming increasingly decentralized. Our customers can install solar panels on their roof or a mini-cogeneration power plant in the basement and thus become producers themselves, supplying power to the grid. The coming fleet of electric cars will also offer new capacity for storage. We also know that the average car stands idle for 23 hours a day. That leaves plenty of time to charge it during cheaper, off-peak periods. The task of harmonizing supply and demand gets that much more complex. In between the two comes the grid, which must be equipped to face these challenges.
Smart grids at E.ON
Smart grids are so called because they are fitted with innovative information and communication technology. They are already to be found in the high-voltage transmission grids at E.ON. Management takes place automatically, and the remote operation of large power plants has now become common practice. As well as power, large amounts of data that are needed for management are also transmitted and processed. These concepts now need to be made workable for low and medium-voltage networks (distribution networks) as well, by adding new elements then systematically combining all networks with each other.
E.ON is tackling this challenge. The group is already researching many aspects of the use of smart grid technology in over 110 individual projects. These focus on findings regarding power flow and its dependence on wind, sun, consumer behavior, batteries (for example in electric cars); integration in the existing system landscape (network control systems) and the identification of suitable components for communications technology in transformer substations, electrical substations and network control stations.
The future of the grid has already begun at E.ON.
Sounds like something from the future? Well, maybe a little. It will of course be a while before this vision of the so-called smart grid becomes a reality. But here at E.ON, we're already on the way there.
New Challenges for the Grid
There is an urgent need to modify the power grids which have been used up to now to transport electricity from the power plant to the consumer. The energy world is changing, with generation plants that utilize renewable energy sources gaining in importance, such as wind and solar farms. This means an increasing amount of power which is subject to strong fluctuations. Power generation is also becoming increasingly decentralized. Our customers can install solar panels on their roof or a mini-cogeneration power plant in the basement and thus become producers themselves, supplying power to the grid. The coming fleet of electric cars will also offer new capacity for storage. We also know that the average car stands idle for 23 hours a day. That leaves plenty of time to charge it during cheaper, off-peak periods. The task of harmonizing supply and demand gets that much more complex. In between the two comes the grid, which must be equipped to face these challenges.
Smart grids at E.ON
Smart grids are so called because they are fitted with innovative information and communication technology. They are already to be found in the high-voltage transmission grids at E.ON. Management takes place automatically, and the remote operation of large power plants has now become common practice. As well as power, large amounts of data that are needed for management are also transmitted and processed. These concepts now need to be made workable for low and medium-voltage networks (distribution networks) as well, by adding new elements then systematically combining all networks with each other.
E.ON is tackling this challenge. The group is already researching many aspects of the use of smart grid technology in over 110 individual projects. These focus on findings regarding power flow and its dependence on wind, sun, consumer behavior, batteries (for example in electric cars); integration in the existing system landscape (network control systems) and the identification of suitable components for communications technology in transformer substations, electrical substations and network control stations.
The future of the grid has already begun at E.ON.
