GE Energy is actively engaged toward developing the energy Smart Grid. The company holds a unique position in this effort due to it’s role as generator, transmission and distributor of energy. Vector1 Media editor Jeff Thurston interviewed Keith Redfearn, Northern European Regional General Manager, GE Digital Energy to gain a broad perspective on how GE Energy is involved with Smart Grid technologies and applications.
V1 Magazine: Can you describe the GE portfolio as it relates to energy?
Redfearn: GE’s Digital Energy buisness has a portfolio that is quite unique as it covers everything from the Turbine to the Toaster. At the highest level, GE Energy make renewable generation in the form of solar, wind and biomass generation on the clean energy side. Thus we are involved in the generation of energy. We then have a range of products that take generation and place it onto the grid through distribution and transmission networks. Ultimately we end up at the ‘Smart Appliance’ end in the home and business.
V1 Magazine: What are Smart Appliances designed to do?
Redfearn: They are designed to effectively manage energy during the peak energy usage periods. The goal is to empower consumers to be able to manage and control their use during these periods to lower costs and minimise the demand impact on the Grid. GE is unique in this area.
V1 Magazine: Could you explain a bit more about the software side of GE?
Redfearn: GE is actually one of the biggest software companies in the world. Within the Digital Energy business we have a geographic information system (GIS) known as Smallworld that is used by utilities – gas, electricity, water and telcom. Smallworld is used for design and management purposes during the design phases of these networks. This also includes management of the networks once operational and to initiate and track changes within these networks.
V1 Magazine: It sounds like GE is interested in the complete system, is that a correct observation?
Redfearn: Yes. GE is interested in the network from the point of generation through to the delivery of energy in the home. This means we are involved not only in generation for the Grid itself, but also the planning and design of the networks. This extends to understanding how people use the Grid.
V1 Magazine: When I listen to urban planners, architects and others involved in city planning, they often discuss designs in relation to the Grid. Can you expand upon that?
Redfearn: Exactly, and all this is important to the design of the energy Grid and there are many challenges. At the moment the European 20/20/20 Directive from the European Union is prompting a lot of this discussion. That is driving debate surrounding carbon emissions and reduction of them, and that directly relates to grid losses. It is also driving efforts to place renewable energy onto the Grid.
V1 Magazine: Are we meeting the challenge – how are we doing?
Redfearn: We are facing many issues in terms of the existing infrastructure. This legacy infrastructure issue is common to both Europe and the United States. Much of the network system is old and in need of replacement and or needs to be assessed so it can be managed within the lifecycle more effectively. Since most of the European infrastructure dates back to post-war years, it is older and causing challenges for meeting Grid operation. The assets have exceeded their design capacity and we estimate that about 50% of the current assets fall into this category.
V1 Magazine: What needs to be done to overcome this problem?
Redfearn: Our first goal is to be able to understand the assets currently in place. This includes where they are located, their history, and whether or not they can now be managed more effectively using current strategies and technology.
We think that products like Smallworld are ideal for this purpose and can help to manage the existing infrastructure. But this technology can also be used to transition from old to new grid infrastructure. This includes several factors including the continued service for people already connected to the existing network.
V1 Magazine: What are the challenges at the present time?
Redfearn: Two things come to mind. Coping with the existing aging asset age and the aging workforce. The electrical engineering community has not kept pace and attracted the graduates that the Internet and IT has been able to absorb during boom years. A lot of the expertise is aging and near retirement. This factor is causing a shift toward the use of software to overcome the inability to find suitable labor – depending on software to do tasks. This is a big issue in the utility sector where a serious shortage of engineers exists.
V1 Magazine: Can you expand upon the role of software in the Grid and how you see that evolving?
Redfearn: We have positioned GE in the digital energy space at the high-value and high-end. While we are involved with equipment, our focus is upon software services. As example, one of our solutions is oriented to mobility applications and field force automation. Using our geospatial applications we can route relevant resources to destinations with up to a 30% gain in productivity. The product is designed to lower carbon footprint and won a GE eco-imagination award.
V1 Magazine: Part of the energy equation involves educating people doesn’t it?
Redfearn: It certainly does and we just spent about a million dollars on a Smart Grid demonstration facilities. The objective is to educate government and non-government organisations as well as senior executives about Smart Grid solutions. We explain using iPhone applications, for example, how home appliances are operating and their costs as they perform. Through these approaches we aim to help people to understand Smart Appliances as they connect to the Grid.
V1 Magazine: What impact does self-generation have on the Smart Grid?
Redfearn: That causes a huge challenge. The current grid was designed for one-way energy power flow. As energy generators produce energy, it would flow one-way toward the home and was used. But as homes begin to generate electricity and put capacity back on to the Grid, this adds complexity due to the two-way flow. As a result, we now need to place Smarter equipment and services onto the Grid that enable it to deal with this increased complexity.
V1 Magazine: What happens when electrical vehicles begin to arrive on the Grid?
Redfearn: This places a significant load onto the Grid. These new types of vehicles are immediately challenging the existing infrastructure that was not designed for them in terms of greater two-way complexity. This creates an absolute need for a Smart Grid.
V1 Magazine: How is policy and legislation keeping up to these energy related changes?
Redfearn: The European Union has come out with the 20/20/20 Directive, and that basically outlines the goal and where the government would like to go. It remains up to individual Member states to determine how each will meet the goal. This is often done through the development of new regulations. In the UK, for example, OFGEM is the regulator. Rather than using a traditional ‘cost-out’ approach it has announced a £500M Low Carbon Network Fund (LCNF) that is an incentive to industry to try new technical solutions.
This also includes the notion that new commercial frameworks surrounding energy should be developed and tried. These will take into account Smart Grid technology, but avoid traditional commercial approaches and focus on new ways forward that reap the benefits of these technical changes. This is the first sign that I have seen where government and industry have come together with both utilities and consumers involved. Bascially, we are saying, ‘is there a smarter way to produce, deliver and consume energy?’
V1 Magazine: And what impact has this had?
Redfearn: The government opened this in April and the first submissions went in on June 23. The consequence of that was approval to begin a further detailed submission including benefits and costs and that was due September 3. Those awarded through this round will be informed in November – December.
V1 Magazine: Returning to self-generation, it appears as if there is no standard model and energy use is more cultural in nature. Do you find your customers come with different problems?
Redfearn: Absolutely. And that is why another key element of the Smart Grid is interoperability standards. These would allow any supplier of equipment to hook any manufacturers technology into the Smart grid network. No one model fits all. There are different resources and needs required. Renewable energy is a good example of this since it is usually available when not needed, and not available when needed. That creates more complexity and requires the system be designed to enable a balancing of energy usage. This can mean storage at generation points, or it might mean storage of energy closer to the point of use – within the city or nearer homes.
V1 Magazine: Are we talking about designing for the energy balance or for the energy load?
Redfearn: If you look at the load for a city, it peaks between 1600 – 1900 h. If we had to reinforce a Grid just for that period, it would not be cost effective. Therefore, an opportunity exists to employ battery storage. These could be charged during off-peak hours and then used during peak hours to meet local demand. This would reduce the network stress during peak times as the storage and use would exist closer to the point of consumption. Since more efficient and cost-effective batteries are beocming available, this is becoming more of a reality and alternate possibility.
V1 Magazine: It seems to me that nuclear energy will be part of the energy future. Where does it fit into the equation?
Redfearn: Different people have different thoughts on nuclear energy, but the mix of renewable and non-renewable energy is really the point of the matter and managing that balance in terms of the overall load. The complexity of managing renewable energies within these frameworks is the primary issue. It also makes it imperative that a Smart Grid exists.
V1 Magazine: Are we talking about a standard set of hardware appliances in homes, or are we talking about different software approaches?
Redfearn: There will be lots of different components within the system. These will all be ‘Smart Aware’. Standards will drive this and we see that in something called a Smart Energy Profile today.
V1 Magazine: What is a Smart Energy Profile?
Redfearn: That is the communications protocols within locations that allow them to communicate together. These can report on behaviors of technologies and devices but also on their energy consumption. At the present time these are becoming standardised.
V1 Magazine: What is the relationship of software to communications?
Redfearn: Imagine a house with communication ports. The Grid talks to the port. The house can talk to the Grid. This two-way communication means devices from any manufacturer can talk together. These can initiate changes in their behaviors, or their behaviors may be initiated from outside the home through the port via the Grid. All energy usage can be assessed. Some utilities are beginning to asses the performance of devices and appliances and to determine their performance. These intelligent interfaces can begin to understand when components need replacement and so on. They are smart enough to send out service alerts as needed.
V1 Magazine: So is GE going into the applicance business?
Redfearn: We have a range of Smart Appliances that we are about to release in Europe. These were initially developed for the Masdar Project in Abu Dhabi. They can be seen in our demonstration center in London. They communicate to an inhome energy management system that can then communicate to consumer devices such as iPods and other inhome displays.
V1 Magazine: I can see the day where I don’t need to buy appliances, only leasing them. Is that accurate?
Redfearn: Absolutely. I think that is one of the challenges. For the impact of these appliances to make a real difference will require a 30-40% deployment rate. That will take anywhere from 5-10 years. It is a consumer driven revolution that government and utilities need to understand is driven by consumer participation and will depend on acceptance and change on the behavior side too.
V1 Magazine: What are the challenges on the acceptance side?
Redfearn: I think you are probably aware of the the issues surrounding privacy of data. Governments and utilities are looking at mechanisms to ensure these are maintained. It is re-iterated to consumers that there is full transparency on pricing, understanding of equipment and it is up to the consumer to decide.
Your readers might be interested to know that between 1600 – 1900 h daily, utilities are charged up to 15x’s more for energy supply than at other times. If you have the opportunity to manage that energy during these times, then the opportunity exists to make some very significant savings.
