Evolution of the Smart Distribution Grid

Abstract

Abstract The transformation of distributed electricity service quality to twenty‐first century digital standards is critical to resolving the serious economic and environmental threats facing the world. The smart distribution grid evolution is enabling the global electricity industry to evolve from the traditional huge centralized power plants to a much more customer‐focused diverse electricity generation, asset ownership, and integration of new, clean distributed energy resources. The results will truly electrify the world in the full meaning of the word. Today's commodity electricity business models of simply lighting and powering captive rate payers have not advanced significantly in over 80 years. Smart twenty‐first century distribution grids will enable consumers to significantly reduce the time, effort, and cost to optimize the use of electricity in every context including economy, environment, and sustainability. This reinvention of the distribution grid will not only be a job‐providing super‐project, but also a protocol for innovation. At the heart of this service equality, transformations are literally thousands of smart microgrids encompassing large buildings, office parks, and entire communities. The technical areas of innovation to enable a timely smart distribution grid have been identified and are within reach worldwide. In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, a number of US states are now actively pursuing this initiative, as are many countries worldwide.

Keywords

Identifiers

DOI

10.1002/9781118755471.sgd017

Journal

Smart Grid Handbook

Year

2016