Lecture 1B

Traditional and Smart Power

Grids
ECE 316 Introduction to Electric Energy Systems
Fall Term 2022

ECE 316: Introduction to Electrical Energy Systems 2022 1

 Things to Remember
• Understand how the traditional grid evolved.
• Organically
• Uni-directional power flow.
• Regulated monopoly.
• What is an infinite bus?
• How did de-regulation change the traditional power grid?
• What is the Smart Grid (Basics)
• Two-way power flow.
• Use of the latest communication and computer technology.
• User has a say.
• Get familiar with the Smart Grid Domains

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 Old Grid
Traditional Grid

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 Traditional Power Grid Systems
• Grew Organically
• Business model based on monolithic public utilities.
• Charge customers for energy delivered.
• Vertically integrated: utility owns and services generation, transmission,
distribution systems and everything in between.
• Regulated monopolies.
• Rates set by PUC (Public Utility Commission).
• Must make sure they can deliver the power needed.

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 Traditional Power Grid Systems
• Power flow one way: generation towards customers.
• Formed as a regulated monopoly.
• Utilities bundle all maintenance and other costs together into the rate
base.
• Used long term financing to pay for long time scale constructions, like
nuclear plants.

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 Power System
• The electric power systems in the North America and Europe are
probably the most complex systems ever built by human.
• In the USA, the power system contains:
• Several thousands of major generating units (>500MW)
• Tens of thousands of transmission lines (Millions of miles)
• Millions of transformers
• Hundreds of millions of protection and control devices.
• The power systems in 2006 produced over 19 PetaWh (19 1015 Wh)
of electric energy worldwide and over 4.25 PetaWh in the USA.

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 Net generation of electrical energy
(British Petroleum Annual Report, 2007)
USA TOTAL WORLD

20
18
16
14
12
PWh

10
8
6
4
2
0
1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006

Peta = 1015 Year

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Generation capacity in the USA
(Source: US Energy Information Administration)
1
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
TW

0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Year
Tera = 1012
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 What is an Infinite Bus?
A fixed voltage source with fixed frequency and voltage amplitude.

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 Interconnected Grid
• Serves as an “infinite bus” for all utilities.
• Each utility is backed up by the interconnection in emergency cases:
• Severe fault conditions
• Natural disasters
• Loss of generation
• Maintain system stability.

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 What Changed?
• Deregulation of the utilities. Public utilities became:
• Investor-Owned Utilities (IOU): private, for-profit utilities.
• Munis (Municipal owned Utilities): Cooperative utilities owned by
the customers they serve.
• Technology
• Separation of Generation companies and transmission
companies.

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U.S. Electric Grid
Uniquely critical infrastructure providing an "enabling function"
National Academy of Engineers: Top engineering achievement affecting the
quality of life
 10,000 power plants
 150,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines and 375,000 towers
 Millions of miles of lower-voltage distribution lines and 30M poles
 More than 12,000 substations
 40 to 60 years old grid requires transformation to a modern grid

Slide 12
 Problem
• Legislations deregulating the grid favored generation.
• Generators can sell their power around the country by paying a set rate
to the T&D companies, a “wheeling” charge.
• No investment in transmission and distribution. T&D infrastructure
lagging behind generation. Reserve margin dwindled.

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 The Smart Grid Idea
• The smart grid is a revolutionary undertaking—entailing new
communications-and-control capabilities, energy sources,
generation models and adherence to cross-jurisdictional
regulatory structures. Successful rollout will demand objective
collaboration, integration, and interoperability among a phenomenal
array of disciplines, including computational and communications
control systems for generation, transmission, distribution,
customer, operations, markets and service provider.

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 Smart Grid

Electrical vehicles

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