Taranaki Technology - Smart grid and consumers - Tuesday 5th February 2013

1. R&D Smart Grid, Network Peaks & Consumers
Jamie Silk
Powerco / 05/02/2013

2. Electricity, reliably delivered, on demand, a wonderful thing….?
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3. Kodak Moments
• Whatever happened to Kodak?
• “Chorus pushes to keep (copper) prices up”.
• Social change.
R&D Smart Energy & Network Peaks 3

4. Agenda
• About Powerco
• Why does a distributor care about peaks
• And what more is changing
• Lessons in home management
• Flow batteries – intro, Q&A
• A self managing home – INTELLIPOWER
R&D Smart Energy & Network Peaks 4

5. Fast Track Context
Peak Management
• A peaky network profile
• Peaks drive investment
• A flatter profiles increases utilisation/ efficiency (to a point)
• Flexibility & savings
- from better investments or
- deferred upgrade or asset replacement
R&D Smart Energy & Network Peaks 5

6. Changes Drive Peaks & More Investment .. So Be Pro-active
Consumer Technology Changes Other Changes
- PV/ solar hot water - Consumer needs & behaviours
- Heat Pumps - Smart meters
- The internet of things (HEMS) - Price trends
- EVs - Business strategies (retailers etc)
Less billable (kW) hours.
More volatility. But people
think they have cut costs.
R&D Smart Energy & Network Peaks 6

7. Finding another $5bn or so .. no worries mate
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8. Fast Track Overview
Dynamic line
monitoring. Distribution
R&D Peak Management EoI automation. Intelligent 8
Fault Repair

9. Example PV - surprises ahead
The individual consumer
• Buy PV to save $s
• PV good in the day – so export (6 cents)
• Use electricity in evenings – import electricity (23 cents)
• You don’t get the returns
A street of consumers
• PV good in the day at the same time in a street – so export
• A lot of PV can’t squeeze in to small (LV) pipes
• Voltage rises – inverters trip or we spend more on the network
• You don’t get your generation, or our costs increase (prices)
A lot of consumers
• Buy PV to save $s
• Large installs of PV cut network kWh esp in summer
• Winter peaks do not change – network costs stay
• Prices rise to compensate (regulated model)
R&D Smart Energy & Network Peaks 9

10. Residential Environment
The variables
• Volatile domestic usage
• Variable PV (solar) generation
• New pricing, retailer strategies & consumer needs
• Future energy storage
• Discretionary home energy management solutions
• Fully automated, pre-set home load shifting
Lots Of Questions
R&D Smart Energy & Network Peaks 10

11. Pricing & Technology – Consumer Peak Demand Impacts
International Studies
• Electricity consumption & delivery patterns are not a given
• Consumers can respond to information but less than prices
• Highly differentiated, critical peak prices, occasionally used will get the best response
• Technology doubles the response
The Lines Company
• NZ consumers respond too
• Pricing without proven technology solutions is not an option – high pain for everybody
Messages For Network Operators
• Price structures will change (retailers)
• Behaviours & kit will change
• What are the choices/ solutions that make this good for all
R&D Smart Energy & Network Peaks 11

12. Initial Observations
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13. House electricity consumption is volatile .. How to smooth
Home demand volatility
not match PV. It may
make flows worse.
Energy storage and/ or
demand management
can help.
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14. Technical Stuff – the R510
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15. Technical Stuff – IntelliPower
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16. It’s messy when you add in energy storage, ripple control, PV…
& consumers who
will do something
else!
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17. Early Days But …..
Consumer Drivers
• Time of use prices
• Peak demand prices
• Getting value from PV
• 50 billion inter-connected devices
• Eco & other motivations
Will drive
• New behaviours
• Different costs
• New opportunities (storage, markets)
• A Kodak moment (or Telecom trend)
There are simple, smart choices
• Smart demand management for peaks, cutting bills
• Smart design & management using PV in the home
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18. The End
For more information about Powerco visit our Facebook page or
www.powerco.co.nz or www.basepower.co.nz
Thanks to
EDMI
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19. RedFlow R510 Energy Storage
Zinc Bromine energy storage unit
• Calibration testing (baseline) & cycle performance testing against different network peak profiles.
• Power harmonics analysed to household and network harmonic data collected.
• Noise testing.
• Start temp and charge rate ramp up tested (8.3A to 9.7A). Power factor correction (VAR) to be assessed.
• Early in product cycle & learning curve – cost dynamics with mass production will be key.
Best cycle
provided
14kWh
Performance is
stable
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