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Introduction
Can we imagine a life without Electricity? Electricity is a very basic amenity in todays world. Apart from the basic requirement of electricity, electricity is one of the basic pillars of the economic development of the country. The country cannot progress without electricity consumption in todays world as every economic activity needs electricity, for example, all Industrial activities whether it is small scale or large industrial establishments require electricity.
The availability of electricity at an affordable cost and environment-friendly is important for the sustainability of all economic activities. That power is pivotal to the realization of the socio-economic goals of individuals and nations. Access to electricity becomes equitable only when the reliability of the power supply is ensured
The environment-friendly renewable energy sources are competitive in price due to promotion under the Electricity Act, of 2003 and various promotion policies by Central & State Governments. Also, the Government of India has set an ambitious target of 175 GW of renewable power by 2022.
Todays problem before us is the seamless integration of renewable energy resources (like, solar, wind, Small Hydel, Biomass & bagasse Cogeneration) into the grid to achieve the 175 GW RE target, the major contributors to renewable energy are solar & wind, which are variable natural .in turn has to ensure the effective utilization of renewable in order minimize the carbon footprint, ensuring the reliability of the grid and economical cost in supply and passing the benefits to society. The distributed generation helps the social benefits like rural income by the generation of solar energy or biogas energy.
To address this problem, we have to look for innovative solutions using emerging technologies i.e. Hyper automation in integrating various system components of the grid with the variable nature of renewable energy generators in the Smart Grid.
Problem Statement
The Indian government has set an ambitious target of 175 GW installed capacity Renewable energy by 2022, this includes 100 GW of solar and 60 GW of wind energy from current capacities of 9 GW and 29 GW. The variable nature of renewable energy from solar and wind going to see huge growth as per the target by the Government and in addition to the statutory provisions for the promotion of renewable energy as per the Electricity Act, 2003. The real challenge is, how to integrate the infirm nature of RE power into the grid, and how to balance the grid with this uncertain RE power in the grid as we are not sure when it comes in to or goes out of the grid within 15-minute operational time blocks.
In addition to technical challenges for grid operations in the integration of RE power, also it has various financial implications on the finances of Distribution companies, consumer tariffs, and incumbent power generating companies, especially coal-based thermal power plants. That variability can lead to increased cycling of dispatchable, fossil-fuel-fired generators, which burns more fuel and increases mechanical wear on those machines. Sometimes those cycling costs are significant enough that energy prices go negative when there is an excess of wind. This is because its more cost-effective to pay someone to take your surplus capacity than to shut down a generation source.
Despite the Must status for RE power, many states are resorting to curtailment as some state grid operators are unable to balance in real time due to a lack of information flow between the generators, Grid operators, and end users(Domestic and Industrial/Commercial users).
Analysis of existing solutions available:
There are a few existing solutions are there, which are below
- (a) Forecasting wind &Solar: The forecasting of solar and wind energy can help Grid the operators to enhance the utilization of RE power to the maximum. However, there can Forecast errors typically range from 3 to 6% of rated capacity one hour ahead and 6 to 8% a day ahead
- (b) Operational Practices: Fast Dispatch and Larger Balancing Authority Areas: Fast dispatch helps manage the variability of RE power as it reduces the need for regulating resources, improves efficiency, and provides access to a broader set of resources to balance the system. With faster dispatch, load and generation levels can be more closely matched, reducing the need for more expensive regulating reserves.
- (c) Reserves management: Modified reserve management practices can be used to help address the variability of wind and solar power. This includes a). putting limits on wind and PV power ramps to reduce the need for reserves and b). enabling variable renewables to provide reserves or other ancillary services such as regulation, inertia, etc
- (d) Interconnecting more distributed resources: The impacts of intermittence of RE power can be minimized by interconnecting a large number of small distributed resources spread over a larger geographical area instead of a large unit concentrating in one area. Fluctuations in the total output will be minimal as the local variations affect only small units, not the total output power
- (e) Energy Storage: with increased levels of renewable penetration, energy storage is a standard solution to minimize generation curtailment. An alternative to expensive storage systems is large overbuilding (200- 300%) and curtailment.
- (f) Wind-PV hybrid systems: Since wind and solar PV outputs are complementary types, the hybrid arrangement of these two resources will improve the overall power fluctuations to some extent.
- (g) Demand Response: Flexibility on the demand-side is a good option to reduce the impacts of fast ramps. Demand response can be used to supply reserves and ancillary services as well as peak reduction. The use of demand response to balance the system during infrequent events in which there is a substantial under- or oversupply of renewable generation can lead to cost savings compared to continually maintaining additional reserves.
Proposed innovative solution using hyper-automation
All the above existing solutions in isolation mode are not effective in the vast and complex grid in achieving the goal of seamless integration of REpower.
The real solution is to combine all the above solutions and Integrate the grid system components like Renewable Generators (RE), other generators (Coal Nuclear, hydro & Gas), Transmission networks, and End users (Industrial & Domestic consumers), with the installation of IOT equipment like smart meters, sensors and devices in the Grid to generate the data via Home area network (HAN) and Wide area network (WAN).
An integrated, cloud-based IoT platform with AI and machine learning technology gives us visibility, i.e foresight on how much & when RE power is available (forecasting tools for RE generation) and in which subnetwork of the grid, with which we can proactively take action to control other sources of generation or users demand to balance the grid without compromising the safety and security of the Grid.
Also with the usage of above said technology, the next effort is to optimize the cost with the integration of additional data on economics, the cost variable nature of renewable power, cost of curtailment /ramp-up cost of coal generating station, economics, and contractual issues in supply, cost of battery storage, storage pump hydro stations, payments or compensation mechanisms to states that bear a disproportional burden for RE, Time of Day pricing, consumers affordability, Regulatory implications like Must run for RE etc
Hyperautomation will successfully integrate tools to cover the spectrum of automation itself (discover, analyze, design, automate, measure, monitor, and reassess).
With combination of technical and economical data integration with IoT coupled AI and Machine learning technology helps us to achieve our aim of seamless integration of REpower in the Smart Grid
Road Map for Hyper automation- Integration of renewable energy in Smart grid
- Desired Business Outcome: Integration of infirm/variable nature of energy from renewable energy sources
- Increase in RE % : Increasing level of RE penetration from—- to —–
- Total Cost of power: Reduction in cost of power
- Costs: Cost of reserve and cost involved in integration
- Risks: No certainty on the availability of power throughout the day
Optimize the Process
Assess/Right Size: Analyse the availability of different sources of renewable energy, and the quantum of energy availability using the different forecasting tools that match with demand cycle of the grid. Encourage the demand for power shifting, when renewable power supply is available by giving incentives or saving energy produced through pump hydro power storage or battery storage etc.
Industrialise and Scale: limited impact on tariffs, minimized curtailment rates, and stable grid operations will require careful technical studies and discussion of tradeoffs, instruments, and risk allocation.
Enhance:
Assemble DigitalOps Tools with others
- DitigitalOps Toolbox
- iPaas
- AI
Novelty of the proposed innovative solution :
This is augmenting human beings through Artificial intelligence by connecting with all the system components effectively, which will help us to integrate RE economically and Safely in the vast grid system with advanced data collection, analysis, and control of the existing system without making any changes in physical infrastructure (like Transmission lines ) of the Grid.
Viability of implementing the proposed innovation
The proposed innovation is viable with the presently available system components and also technology-wise i.e. Hyper automation. The cost involved in the installation of data collection devices and their integration with the usage of technology i.e hardware, Software, Internet, and networks is very minimal compared to the savings on the integration of RE power in terms of its cost and benefits to the Environment and Social benefits due to RE power projects
Yes, 175 GW RE can be integrated at a national level without major storage needs, but even this will involve more transmission across longer distances. The real challenge comes after, when RE grows far higher. The 175 GW target is mostly one that relies on the low-hanging fruit of variable RE. Further scaling, towards deep decarbonizing of Indias electricity system, is a hard task, and one that will require a host of technical, policy, and regulatory improvements spanning storage, time of day pricing, and flexibility of both operations and power purchase agreements.
How Hyper automation technology helps in the seamless integration of renewable in Smart Grid
Hyperautomation will successfully integrate tools to cover the spectrum of automation itself (discover, analyze, design, automate, measure, monitor, and reassess).
To understand how the hyper-automation will help in integrating renewable energy sources, let us understand what a is grid and how it works
In the vast grid, for reliable grid operation, the response time for changes in demand or supply should be very quick. Whenever variable renewable energy comes into the grid, the other generating power like coal/Hydro/gas generation needs to be back down quickly to match Demand and supply for the security of the grid, and similarly, whenever, the supply reduces on renewable energy, the Load from other generation Coal/hydro/ gas need to pick demand or shed the load to match the supply and demand.
The simple automation can be programmed to match the supply & demand for conventional energy generations alone, integrating the variable nature of renewable energy in the grid requires Artificial Intelligence and machine learning tools for smooth integration of this renewable energy
Assessing the different renewable power generators connected and their power availability using the forecasting tools and at the same time the demand curves of the grid are mapped with the renewable energy generator, coal generators/Hydro /gas generators, any variation of renewable energy i.e whenever low renewable energy supply can be compensated with quick response hydro/gas generators and whenever excess energy, the surplus energy can be used in storage pump hydro power generators or the advanced battery storage systems.
Hyperscale automation and analytics will be required to also generate new revenue from the new energy-related business models that will emerge in the massive-scale distributed generation era. The energy networks of the future will increasingly rely on virtual power plants instead of traditional bulk generation. Virtual power plants carefully orchestrate distributed generation, storage, and consumption, turning renewable energy resources in homes and enterprises into a networked source of reliable power. New value will be created by those companies that figure out how to seamlessly and continually match electric supply and demand in this massively distributed system
Analysis of the proposed innovation from the perspective of three pillars of sustainability (Economic, Environmental, and Social)
The smart grid is a suite of information-based applications made possible by increased automation of the electricity grid, as well as the underlying automation itself; this suite of technologies integrates the behavior and actions of all connected supplies and loads through dispersed communication capabilities to deliver sustainable, economic and secure power supplies
In the longer run, handling 175 GW of RE and subsequently, more RE requires a stronger grid with improved signaling. Solutions such as time-of-day pricing (starting at the wholesale procurement level, before retail consumer time of day) will help incentivize improved supply options, including speakers, storage technologies, and load shifting including through smart grids (demand response). Electric vehicles can also synergize with RE, especially if the pricing signals are right. Of course, India needs a stronger and smarter grid regardless of higher RE, and not all the burden of grid improvements should be placed on the shoulders of RE
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