The promise of intelligent networks in the power industry

Overhaul of the energy system

By 2030 the consumption of energy worldwide will double. At the same time (and clearly the timing couldn’t be worse) the installed base is reaching the end of its lifespan, and needs replacing. These are sobering facts. As a world leader in power technology, a lot of eyes are on ABB for answers. Eric Ghekiere, Vice-President, Business Development Manager takes us through them.

As a leader in power technology (the first company to develop high voltage direct current (HVDC) and pioneers of the Norned undersea cables connecting the Netherlands and Norway), ABB are again at the forefront of a new technology platform: smartgrids. 

The world’s energy system is changing, not just because it needs to address some serious problems but also because the proposed solutions will entail a fundamentally different model. The classic hierarchical model of power distribution, with large central power stations pushing energy to transmission networks and then in turn to distribution ones, finally reaching the end user, will soon change. This is not only because of the sector’s deregulation which has led to the unbundling of traditionally vertically integrated players, but also because the existing energy system is being confronted by an expanding supply of intermittent (e.g. renewable) power.

Ghekiere expands on this point: “With power being produced locally and fed directly into the transmission and even distribution networks, things are a lot more complicated, and we’re not even talking about the potential impact of the electric car.  With renewable energy by its nature intermittent, we need far more intelligent systems to deal with this varied supply.” 

It is clear that energy systems in Belgium and Europe need to prepare for a lot of changes heading their way. In part this is due to the new types of power feeding into the system but in part also because of the distance to new supplies; gone are the days when you could create an energy source (such as a coal driven power station) next to a town and make do. Renewable energy sources are often inconveniently located far away from where people live (e.g. hydroelectric dams) so the energy needs to be harvested at source and then moved long distances via energy transport (HVDC) to where it’s needed. 

The main change that the energy network faces however is how to deal with that intermittent energy supply – being plugged into the grid in different ways and at different levels. Doing so requires a system of intelligent management.