Savvy power grid

Wind and solar energy is on the rise. Being environmentally friendly is a brain-teaser for power grids. Smart grids and smart meters are to manage production and consumption.

 

No one ever cared that power grids are “dumb.” Grids are used by utility companies to distribute energy from central power plants to consumers and industry – something for which a modest “network IQ” has always sufficed. But this has changed with the increase of renewable energy sources, because wind generators and photovoltaic facilities, for example, supply energy locally and the quantities cannot be managed. This means that there is too much energy on the market on stormy days which must be “sold” at a loss.

A grid comprised of smart meters

Intelligent power supply networks, so-called smart grids, should offer the solution: power plants, local electricity producers and consumers use smart grids to communicate with each other and provide information to the smart grid. Utility companies can thus balance supply and demand in real time and consumers can manage their energy consumption. Results from pilot projects show that energy guzzlers can be identified, allowing users to save up to 15% in electricity. The environment, businesses, and end-users thus all benefit equally from “smart” ICT.

With the development of smart grids and smart metering solutions, a new market has arisen for ICT service providers in the energy industry. T-Systems has already equipped several hundred households with intelligent counters in the T-City Friedrichshafen. The Telekom subsidiary will build a smart grid together with regional utility company TWF (Technische Werke Friedrichshafen) in the city located on Lake Constance this year.

Dr. Carlo Velten, Senior Advisor at the Experton Group, discusses the business potentials of smart grids in an interview with Best Practice magazine. “Some of the power grids are very out-of-date. There is a great need for modernization and equipping in the energy industry. That’s because the energy industry needs more transparency in order to manage distribution and consumption more efficiently.”

You can read the entire interview with Carlo Velten and find out more about smart grids in the latest issue of Best Practice. The issue will be available on 9 June.