SIEW 2009: Smart Grids 2009
November 25, 2009 by Editor
Filed under Energy & Climate
The Smart Grids 2009 conference was held last week as part of the Singapore International Energy Week, and covered the latest in smart grid development, and the strategies and steps towards attaining a more energy efficient and sustainable grid.
Mr Lawrence Wong, Chief Executive of the Energy Market Authority (EMA), gave the opening address. He said that although Singapore’s electricity grid is one of the most reliable in the world, with an average interruption time of less than 1 minute per customer in a year, there is still scope for improvement and to benefit from investing in a smarter grid.
A smart grid enables consumers to make better decisions about energy usage. For example, EMA recently concluded trials in two housing estates, Marine Parade and West Coast, to evaluate smart meters and time-differentiated electricity tariffs. Households were provided with real time information on their electricity usage, which resulted in a 2% reduction in electricity consumption.
In addition, households shifted about 10% of their electrical load from peak periods to off-peak periods, thus enjoying savings in their electricity bills. This shift in electricity demand away from peak periods would result in power companies not needing to build extra power plants to cope with such high demand, and could also reduce their spare generation capacity and bring down their overhead costs.
A smart grid makes it easier to facilitate the integration of intermittent and distributed sources of clean power, including co-generation plants and solar PVs, and ensure continued reliability in our electricity supply.
A smart grid also facilitates the electrification of transport, with increasing demand for electricity charging by both plug-in hybrids and full-battery electric vehicles. For example, if 10% of the vehicles in Singapore are electric, an additional 1.3 terra watt hours of electricity per year will be required, about 6 times the energy needs of the housing estate in Ang Mo Kio. Electric vehicles also have the potential to serve as energy storage systems and feed power back into the grid during peak periods.
EMA has launched a pilot project for an “Intelligent Energy System” (IES) to test a range of smart grid technologies and enhance the capabilities of Singapore’s power grid. EMA is calling a tender to select industry partners to work together with Singapore Power to implement the project. The IES pilot project will be implemented on multiple sites, mainly at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), the CleanTech Park at Jalan Bahar, and selected residential, commercial and industrial buildings.
The IES pilot project seeks to develop and test the following components of a smart grid:
Image source for Intelligent Energy System: EMA press release
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