A Smarter System

By Jacob Cottingham on April 11, 2010

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Electric consumers across the Northwest are about to get a much smarter product coursing through their wires as the Pacific Northwest Smart Grid Demonstration Project begins to ramp up this year. Smart grids have been garnering a lot of headlines in the past year as the Obama administration has directed 3.4 billion in stimulus money toward 16 different projects across the country. The PNW-SGDP is the largest of its kind, extending across five states, involving 12 utilities, 15 test sites and ultimately 60,000 customers.

Smart grids enable two-way communication between electricity users, generators and transmission providers. By utilizing a complex system of switches and sensors, they aim to more efficiently route energy, shave peak loads, facilitate more distributed renewable resources to power the grid and enable consumers to better manage their own energy usage. The savings should decrease carbon emissions and the resultant environmental impacts and are critical for widespread implementation of Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles.

The demonstration project will also benefit from the expertise of researchers at the Battelle Memorial Institute, the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), 3TIER, Areva, Drummond Group, IBM, Netezza and QualityLogic, the University of Washington and Washington State University. The BPA is a power provider that manages the Bonnevile and Grand Coulee Dams and is run by the Department of Energy. Battelle is heading up the project.

In November the PNW-SGDP was granted $89 million from the Department of Energy through stimulus funds. This complemented money already raised by several private sector partners including $10 million from the BPA, 12 utilities giving $52 million, and five project-level vendors pitching in $27 million. The entire cost of the demonstration projected is expected to top out at $178 million.

According to the BPA’s website, “The project team will install equipment and technology in 2010 and 2011. Then, for the next two to three years, project leaders will gather data on smart grid performance from 15 test sites that represent the region’s diverse terrain, weather and demographics.” Eventually, the project will involve more than 112 megawatts of power, enough to serve 86,000 households. It’s expected to create 1,500 jobs across Idaho, Wyoming, Washington, Oregon and Montana and will run for five years.

The demonstration project is the largest of its kind and seeks to bridge the gap between smaller demonstration projects such as the Pacific Northwest GridWise™ Demonstration Project on the Olympic Peninsula and an eventual national implementation. Perhaps due to its unprecedented size, the PNW-SGDP raked in more money than any of the other 15 smart grid projects receiving stimulus funds.

The demonstration project will explore various business models that could be facilitate a broader smart grid industry. It will also quantify the benefits of a smart grid and particular programs associated with full implemantaiton as well as “provide two-way communication between distributed generation, storage, and demand assets and the existing grid infrastructure.” (http://www.bpa.gov/energy/n/smart_grid/docs/PNW-SGDPflier.pdf)

By the end of the year contracts for various vendors should be signed and design for a “system of systems” to manage the new flows of electricity should be completed. By the time the project wraps in 2014 the Pacific Northwest should be the leading example of a regional smart grid pointing the way toward a more intelligent use of energy resources for America and the world.

This was A Smarter System, an entry in our Renewable Energy Campaign from April 11, 2010. It was filed under Technology

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