From Lightbulbs to Smart Grids: The Past, Present and the Future of the Electricity System. Barry Hayes UNED Guadalajara 26 th February 2015

Transcription

1 From Lightbulbs to Smart Grids: The Past, Present and the Future of the Electricity System Barry Hayes UNED Guadalajara 26 th February 2015

2 Overview The Beginnings of the Electrical Grid The Present System The Future: Sustainability and Smart Grids Questions and Answers

3 Overview The Beginnings of the Electrical Grid The Present System The Future: Sustainability and Smart Grids Questions and Answers

4 IMDEA Network Before Electricity Darkness after sunset. No refrigeration, washing machines, air-conditioning, etc. Main sources of energy were manual labour, horses, wind and water.

5 IMDEA Network Key Discoveries Pumping Steam Engine (1775), invented by James Watt. Double-acting Watt steam engine (Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid)

6 IMDEA Network Key Discoveries Hans Christian Orsted (1820) Electricity + Magnetism = Motion

7 IMDEA Network Key Discoveries Faraday s Disk (1831) Electricity + Magnetism = Motion Motion + Magnetism = Electricity?

8 IMDEA Network Key Discoveries Charles Parsons invents the Steam Turbine (1884) More than 75% of all of today s electricity is generated using steam turbines (e.g. coal, nuclear)

9 The Lightbulb Electricity allowed us to separate energy from its source. First application which required lots of electricity was the electric lightbulb. Thomas Edison was the first to successfully commercialise the lightbulb. He tested 1000 s of materials for the bulb filament: (e.g. platinum, cotton, wood, hair, paper) before patenting a lightbulb that used a carbonised bamboo filament.

10 The Lightbulb The first public building to use electric lighting was the Savoy Theatre in London. Before electric lighting, theatres used oil lamps, which were hot, smelly, and not very bright. The Savoy theatre had its own generator to provide electricity

11 Pearl Street Station The first central electrical power station was built at Pearl Street, Manhattan, New York in It served around 500 customers, or around 10,000 lamps. Built by the Edison Illuminating Company. Electrical power output was Direct Current (DC) Pearl Street Station, Manhattan, New York

12 War of the Currents Which is the best way to design an electrical grid? Direct Current (DC): Current flows in one direction only. Proposed by Thomas Edison Alternating Current (AC): Current changes direction many times every second. Proposed by Nikola Tesla and George Westinghouse

13 War of the Currents Edison (DC) vs. Tesla (AC) American Practical, hands-on approach Excellent business sense Serbian Visionary, scientific genius Terrible business sense

14 Who won and why? War of the Currents Power = Current x Voltage Power Losses = Current x Resistance 2 Higher Voltage = Lower Current = Lower Losses With AC power, it was easy to change (or transform) voltage. With DC power, this was difficult and expensive. At the Chicago World s Fair of 1893, Edison (financed by J.P. Morgan) and Tesla (financed by George Westinghouse) bid to power the fair. Tesla s AC system won as it could provide electricity more economically.

15 Edison s Revenge? For transporting huge amounts of power across long distances, High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) can be more efficient than AC. HVDC links in Europe HVDC converter

16 Overview The Beginnings of the Electrical Grid The Present System The Future: Sustainability and Smart Grids Questions and Answers

17 The Electrical Grid Generation Transmission Distribution

18 Generation Most electricity is generated centrally in power stations. Taichung power station in Taiwan is the largest coal power station in the world. It is also the world s largest emitter of carbon dioxide (40 million tons a year)

19 Generation Most electricity is generated centrally in power stations. Three Gorges Dam in China is the largest energy generating plant in the world with a capacity of 22.5 GW. At full output, this is enough to power more than 30 million Spanish homes!

20 Transmission Transmission transports power over long distances at high voltages (e.g. 400 kv and 220 kv) Higher Voltage = Lower Current = Lower Losses

21 Distribution Distribution delivers power to users at low voltages Distribution networks are very dense, with many 1,000 s of components.

22 Electrical Grids Electric grids are integrated across countries, and can trade electricity with each other. Spain is synchronised with the main European electrical grid. Synchronous grids in Europe.

23 The biggest machine ever built? Satellite image of the North American power grid.

24 The Vertically-Integrated Utility Historically, the electricity industry was vertically-integrated. Generation, Transmission, Distribution, and Retail were all done by the same company. Usually governmentowned. Monopoly!

25 Electricity Markets Monopolies worked very well until the 1970s. Economies of scale Increasing demand Decreasing electricity prices

26 Electricity Markets Monopolies worked very well until the 1970s. Economies of scale Increasing demand Decreasing electricity prices But then.. In the 1980s Stable demand Increasing fuel costs Increasing electricity prices

27 Electricity Markets In a monopoly, there is no motivation for improvements in efficiency. How to introduce competition without risking the security of system?

28 Electricity Markets In a monopoly, there is no motivation for improvements in efficiency. How to introduce competition without risking the security of system? Most developed countries have liberalised the electricity industry, and created wholesale electricity markets: Chile (1982) England and Wales (1990) Spain (1997) Rest of EU (1998) USA (late 1990s) Need for regulation by government.

29 Electricity Industry Roles Generation, Transmission, Distribution, Retail are now different companies.

30 Transmission System Operator The job of the Transmission System Operator: Supply = demand Controlling access to the network Network maintenance National transmission grid control centre.

31 Distribution System Operators Distribution System Operator manages and maintains Medium voltage and Low Voltage networks

32 Retailers buy electricity from the wholesale market and sell to users. Electricity Retailers

33 Blackouts What happens when it goes wrong? Most blackouts (power outages) due to failures in the distribution network and affect small number of customers. Most users lose power for a few minutes or hours per year (e.g. reliability of % = 1 hour/year) Power quality can also be a problem (e.g. voltage outside limits)

34 North Eastern Blackout 2003 Since the networks are interconnected, huge system failures are possible e.g. North Eastern Blackout (USA and Canada) in 2003.

35 North Eastern Blackout 2003 Affected 50 million people, with estimated financial losses of $6 billion.

36 North Eastern Blackout 2003 Affected 50 million people, with estimated financial losses of $6 billion.

37 North Eastern Blackout 2003 What caused the North Eastern blackout? There were a number of factors: Overgrown trees Very high demand (hot day ~31ºC) Malfunctioning alarms Poor system monitoring and awareness Poor communication between regions

38 European Blackout 2006 European blackout occurred during the night of Saturday 4 th November More than 15 million people across the continent affected by power outages.

39 Blackouts So what have we learned? New international regulations Better communication between regions/countries New wide-area monitoring systems Potential for problems in the future: Aging infrastructure Cybersecurity

40 Other Threats Extreme Weather Storms, floods, heatwaves etc. can cause power outages. Solar Storms Hydro-Quebec million people without power for 9 hours. More vulnerable with higher voltages and more interconnection.

41 Overview The Beginnings of the Electrical Grid The Present System The Future: Sustainability and Smart Grids Questions and Answers

42 Climate Change Global temperatures are rising (8 of the hottest ten years since records began have occurred the last decade)

43 Climate Change Local changes do not tell us much about global changes!

44 Climate Change

45 World Energy Use

46 World Electricity Generation World electricity generation by fuel type (2011 International Energy Agency data).

47 What if Everything Ran on Gas?

48 World Energy Use Energy use varies greatly according to country! Average electrical power consumption per capita in Watts: Norway: 2603 W United States: 1683 W Spain: 645 W China: 458 W... Rwanda: 2 W Sierra Leone: 1W

49 Spain Energy Mix

50 Spain Electricity Generation

51 Grid Integration of Renewables One of the greatest challenges with renewable energy is its integration into the electrical system Renewables like wind or solar are not controllable.

52 Grid Integration of Renewables

53

54 Smart Meters Distributed Generation Energy storage Electric Vehicles

55 Source:

56 Grid Integration of Renewables

57 What is the Smart Grid? Smart technologies can make the electricity grid more flexible: Smart meters Smart appliances Smart buildings Users can respond to the price of electricity. Benefits for the user and for the grid.

58 What is the Smart Grid?

59 E Smart Grids

60 A European Supergrid?

61 Electricity Market Challenges Generation companies are losing money Gas and coal plants are being used more and more as a backup for renewables. This means that they are becoming less profitable. No new investment could mean problems for future security of supply.

62 Electricity Market Challenges Distribution companies are losing money Users that have their own source of energy (e.g. from solar panels) buy less electricity. This means that power companies have less money to pay for the grid. Penalties for autoconsumers?

63 Towards Energy Independence? Off the grid: Is there an alternative to the big power companies? Energy co-operatives allow communities to own their generation and grid resources. Microgrids are modern, small-scale versions of the central electricity grid. A microgrid.

64 Overview The Beginnings of the Electrical Grid The Present System The Future: Sustainability and Smart Grids Questions and Answers

65 Thank you for your attention! Questions?

66 Nikola Tesla Tesla also created many other inventions, such as a system for wireless transmission of electric power.

67 Three-phase AC power Almost all electricity grids worldwide use a balanced, three-phase AC system, based on Tesla s inventions. Three phase induction machine animation

68 European Blackout 2006 Overload in the German network resulted in mainland Europe grid split into three islands.

69 What happened? European Blackout 2006 Line switching in Northern Germany not communicated to neighbours. Very high demand. Computer simulation models of grid were incorrect, leading to wrong decisions being taken. Poor co-ordination between countries. So what have we learned? New international regulations Better communication between regions/countries New wide-area monitoring systems Potential for big problems in future: aging infrastructure, extreme weather, interaction between power grid and internet

70 Energy Efficiency Better Efficiency Less Energy Use?

71 Grid Integration of Renewables

72 Grid Integration of Renewables

73 Dynamics and stability Technical Problems Electromagnetic stability of the grid is affected by connection of wind and solar. Conventional generators have rotating machines which are directly connected to the AC grid, providing inertia. Wind turbines and solar panels are connected indirectly to the grid via power electronics. Less inertia = less damping = instability (!). Protection Grids not designed for renewables and two-way power flows. Variability Need better interconnection between regions and countries to manage changes.

74 Energy Efficiency Better Efficiency More Energy Use! Known as the Jevons Paradox. In 1865, W.S. Jevons noticed after Watt introduced a much more efficient steam engine, coal consumption increased. It was thought that more economical use of coal would reduce coal demand. The opposite was true! Increased fuel efficiency reduced price higher demand

75 Energy Efficiency Another example of Jevons paradox: When heating systems became more efficient, houses in cold countries consumed more energy for heating: Average household temperature in 1915 in Ireland was 15ºC Average household temperature in 2015 in Ireland is 21ºC Lesson: Better technology is not enough to produce sustainability, we also need better energy policy and regulation. How to make power companies improve energy efficiency? e.g. if I reduce my demand, my power company gets paid less.