At the surface ‘smart grid’ concepts sound like a logical next step for the modern day utility grid: minimizing downtime, managing peak demand, improving efficiencies, and anticipating problems before they occur all sound like a positive step for the world.
But underneath it all the ‘smart grid’ is incredibly disruptive to the regulatory framework, operational standards, capital investment strategies and business models of most large utilities.
A Guide to the Smart Grid
The two stages for development:
1. Software to manage infrastructure:
utilize the power of software to maximize the efficiency of the grid. Simply put, we add a layer of information technology to improve management of existing one-way grid infrastructure to improve performance and reduce costs
2. Onsite power generation and electron storage:
The real disruptive potential of smart grids could occur when we actually produce energy locally, and store electron energy at the edges of the network. This future transforms this one-way grid into a two-way flowing ‘web’.
Full story at The Energy Roadmap
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