smart grids and energy markets - cleen's sgem research program final report
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SMART GRIDSAND ENERGY
MARKETS
CONTENTS
4 Smart grid research creates a basis for an energy system of the future
6 Effectiveness of the program
7 Participant’s opinion
8 Smart grid
10 Energy system of the future
12 Direct current brings stability in electricity distribution
14 Electric vehicles helping the smart grid
17 Flexible electricity demand – cost-effective flexibility
19 Full benefits from smart metering
21 Wind power and the electricity network challenge each other
23 Households are gradually becoming microproducers
24 Smart grid requires new technology
27 Smart grid repairs itself
29 Rapid flow of information helps in fault situations
4 SMART GRIDS AND ENERGY MARKETS
SMART GR ID RESEARCH CREATES A BA S IS FOR
AN ENERGY SYSTEM OF THE FUTURE
Finnish companies and research institutes have been developing an energy system of the future in the multidisciplinary research program Smart Grids and Energy Markets.
At its simplest, a smart grid means automation that improves the reliability and profitability of electricity grids.
‘However, in the long term, smart grid research aims for radical changes in the energy market at both the national and international levels,’ says Program Manager Jani Valtari. Changes are necessary due to the targets in sustainable development in energy production and the increasing need for electric energy. It must be ensured that the future electricity system supports renewable energy production.
The research program aimed to develop smart grid solutions, which can be demonstrated in the Finnish energy system and utilized on the global scale. The solutions are related to the architecture, components, management and maintenance of grids. In addition to technology, business models for future energy markets were also developed in the program.
The ultimate purpose of the study was to boost expertise and competitiveness in the field in Finland. ‘We have an excellent starting point. Finland and the other Nordic countries are leading the field in the utilization of automation technology in electricity networks. It can be said that electricity networks are already smart, but the development continues at an accelerating speed,’ Valtari points out.
The development of smart grids in the technical sense requires, above all, expertise in energy technology and in information and communication technology. Practical solutions also require close cooperation between electricity sellers and distributors. Various levels of the cooperation were ensured by joining the forces of as many as 26 companies and eight research institutes in the program. The researchers also utilized and strengthened their international networks.
‘Thanks to the cooperation, we have been able to study the change in the entire system. We have created research platforms, which enabled demonstration of the research results in real environments. At the same time, we have built preparedness for new products and methods of operation. The companies will find it easier to continue their own product development work on this basis,’ says Valtari. Mr Valtari himself works at ABB, which is one of the participants of the program.
The research program was led by CLEEN Ltd (Cluster for Energy and Environment), a strategic centre for science, technology and innovation (SHOK) for energy and environment companies and research communities.
The program is known by the name SGEM, Smart Grids and Energy Markets. Its total value was EUR 52 million, of which the companies paid 34 per cent, public research institutes 10 per cent and Tekes the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation 56 per cent. The program started in early 2010 and it will end in February 2015.
SMART GRIDS AND ENERGY MARKETS 5
EUR 52 M I L L .34 % COMPAN I ES
10 % PUBL IC RESEARCH INST I TUTES
56 % T EKES
ABB OY
A IDON OY
AL STOM GR ID OY
CARUNA OY
OY CYBERSOF T AB
ELEKTROB I T W IRELESS COMMUNICAT IONS OY
ELEN IA OY
EMPOWER IM OY
EMPOWER OY
EMTELE OY
F INGR ID OYJ
FORTUM OYJ
HELEN SÄHKÖVERKKO OY
HEL S INGIN ENERGIA
INNO-W OY
MX E L EC TR IX OY
NOKIA S I EMENS NE T WORKS OY
OULUN SÄHKÖNMY YNT I OY
SUUR-SAVON SÄHKÖ OY
TEKL A OY
TEL IA SONER A F INL AND OYJ
THERE CORPOR AT ION OY
THE SWITCH DR IVE SYSTEMS OY
T I E TO F INL AND OY
VANTA A ENERGY E L EC TR IC I T Y NE T WORKS OY
V IOL A SYSTEMS OY
A ALTO UN IVERS I T Y FOUNDAT ION
UN IVERS I T Y OF EA STERN F INL AND
L APPEENR ANTA UN IVERS I T Y OF T ECHNOLOGY
CENTRE FOR ME TROLOGY AND ACCRED I TAT ION
UN IVERS I T Y OF OULU
TAMPERE UN IVERS I T Y OF T ECHNOLOGY
V T T T ECHN ICAL RESEARCH CENTRE OF F INL AND
UN IVERS I T Y OF VA A SA
5634
10
Effectiveness of the program
SOCIE TAL IMPAC T
108 NEW MA STERS OF SC I ENCE IN T ECHNOLOGY FOR THE CLEANTECH AREA S
41 PHD STUDENTS
20 OVERSEAS RESEARCHERS
INA L EHTO, Adviser, Finnish Energy Industries
The study carried out within the SGEM program significantly supported European-level harmonization of technical requirements in microgeneration plants. On the basis of the study, we issued a nationwide recommendation through the Finnish Energy Industries to approve in Finnish distribution networks microgeneration equipment that meets the German standards. This opened the Finnish market to new microgeneration equip-ment manufacturers, which promoted, e.g. an increase in the use of solar power.
OPER AT IONAL EXCEL LENCE
95 % OF BUDGE TED EXPENSES
840 PL ANNED OUTPUTS
ANT T I MUTANEN , Researcher, Tampere University of Technology
SGEM has not only provided funding, but has also acted as a key cooperation channel with industry. Above all, it has en-abled long-term work on my research topic. This kind of commitment is exceptional in the current climate of fragmented funding sources.
DOC TOR AL THESES
PEER-REV I EWED SC I ENT I F IC JOURNAL ART ICLES
CONFERENCE PUBL ICAT IONS
SC I ENT I F IC EXCEL LENCE
13 71
219
TERO K A IP IA , Researcher,Lappeenranta University of Technology
SGEM has produced new information about the electricity market and grid techno-logy. One example of the scientific impact of technological development is the world’s first ±750 V low-voltage direct-current microgrid used in continuous power distribution in a sparsely populated area and the related three doctoral theses, eight journal articles and dozens of conference publications.
I NDUSTR IAL RE LEVANCE
13 RESEARCH P I LOTS
23 23 MIL L . NEW INTERNAL R&D PROJEC TS
240 TECHNICAL REPORTS FOR INDUSTRY ’S NEEDS
MIKAEL LATVALA, Chief Technology Officer,There Corporation Oy
There Corporation has gained sub-stantial benefits from the SGEM program. The program has enabled a joint study of solutions in demand response and it has also helped to create business contacts with important partners. The SGEM program is very well managed and, as a result, territo-riality has not taken hold and the partners have maintained their genuine interest to-wards cooperation throughout the program.
PART IC IPANT ’S OP IN IONSmart grids are one of the most important Cleantech solutions on the global scale. Smart grids play a key role in enabling a significant increase in renewable electricity generation. The demands for security of supply and fault tolerance will also grow along with the increase in renewable production. Society is becoming more and more dependent on electric energy, and this will highlight the importance of smart grids even further.
Finland has remarkable smart grid expertise in different sectors and branches of science. This expertise comes together in the SGEM research program. Together in our extensive and multidisciplinary consortium, we have been able to model future electricity networks already today – and alone this would not be possible. This helps ABB in many different ways in the ever tightening global competition. Together we have built new solutions to ensure that Finland’s own smart grid keeps abreast with leadingedge technology and that the solutions developed in Finland will become top export products on the global scale. This is the ultimate goal of our research input.
In the future, Finland will need even more high value added Cleantech expertise and innovation that happens across sectoral boundaries. The SGEM program has been a good example of creating innovation clusters. We hope that the broadbased research cooperation will continue after the SGEM program.
TAUNO HE INOL ACEO ABB Oy
8 SMART GRIDS AND ENERGY MARKETS
D ISTR IBUTED GENER AT ION
OPEN DATA SOURCES
SEL F -HEAL ING NE T WORKS
V IRTUAL POWER PL ANTS
SALE OF F L EX IB I L I T Y IN THE E L EC TR IC I T Y
MARKE T
SERV ICES FOR AC T IVE CONSUMERS
CLEANTECH EXPORT
PRODUC TS
RECOMMENDAT IONS FOR REGUL AT ION AND A ID POL ICY
SAV INGS FROM NE T-WORK UPGR AD ING COSTS
PRED IC T IVE COND I T ION MONITOR ING
DEMAND RESPONSE
SMART ME TER ING
MOBI L E DEV ICES
4G
ELEC TR IC VEH ICLES
CABL ING CONTROLL ABLE LOADS
ENERGY STOR AGES
Smart grid
CHALLENGES with security of supply and new grid components
WITH THE AID OF new information technology solutions
RESULTING IN new smart functions
GOALS new products, services and business models
REGUL AT ING POWER
HIGH VOLTAGE 1 1 0– 400 KV
MED IUM VOLTAGE 1 0–60 KV
LOW VOLTAGE 400 V / 230 V
SMART HOME , E L EC TR IC VEH ICLE , AUTOMAT IC
ME TER READ ING, CONTROLLED CONSUMPT ION…
PR IMARY POWER
WIND FARM
D ISTR IBUTED GENER AT ION
SMART PR IMARY SUBSTAT ION
SMART SECONDARY SUBSTAT ION
ENERGY STOR AGES
R AP ID DATA TR ANSMISS ION
D IREC T-CURRENT OFF -GR ID NE T WORK
REAL-T IME E L EC TR IC I T Y
MARKE T
AC T IVE NE T WORK
MANAGEMENT
TR AD I T IONAL E L EC TR IC I T Y NE T WORK
SMART GR ID
10 SMART GRIDS AND ENERGY MARKETS
‘We are approaching the biggest breakthrough in the energy sector since the introduction of electricity,’ says Jarmo Partanen, Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Lappeenranta University of Technology. The chain of reforms has started with energy production.
The popularity of renewable energy sources, such as the sun and wind, is increasing because efforts are made to reduce carbondioxide emissions, and consequently to mitigate climate change, in energy production. At the same time, the growing need for electric energy drives the industry towards change.
Distributed production in a controlled waySolar power plants and wind turbines are exceptions in the electricity systems, for example, due to their small size. With the exception of fairly large wind farms, typical producers include onefamily homes, office buildings and public facilities. These microproducers usually aim to use the electricity they generate themselves and to sell any surplus to the grid.
Energy system of the future
Renewable energy sources are revolutionizing electricity networks and markets. Previously,
only electricity generation was flexible, but in the future demand will also
be flexible.
SMART GRIDS AND ENERGY MARKETS 11
‘The challenge is how to connect distributed generation to the grid in an efficient and reliable way,’ says Partanen. According to him, the connection itself has already been solved quite well, but the network load still needs more attention in order to keep electri city production and consumption in balance. In a traditional energy system, power plants forecast consumption and regulate production according to the forecast. However, the sun and the wind produce electricity whenever they will and at a minimal cost, too. This will result in unforeseen fluctuation in production, which puts a strain not only on the management of power balance in the system, but also on the economy of electricity producers. On a sunny and windy day, the income of a traditional power plant plummets when the market price of electricity falls. In worst cases, the producer pays the customer for receiving electricity.
‘If electricity generation is not profitable, power plants will be removed from the market. But how can you then safeguard electricity supply on a cloudy day?’ According to Partanen, a second wave is starting in the reform of the electricity system.
‘Until now, we have achieved a lot of good, but also problems. We will now solve the problems and create a new model for the electricity market.’
Flexibility in demand and supplyIn a future electricity system, demand for electricity will be flexible. According to Partanen, it is essential to invite households to be flexible by offering them easy, money saving demand response solutions.
‘For example, in Finland there are a lot of homes heated by electricity. In these, the boiler could be set to heat up water at the best time in view of the system. The heating capacity of the boiler is also excellent as reserve in case of disturbances,’ Partanen explains. He expects that storage of electric energy will also be costeffective in the next decade. At that time, flexibility could be offered by, e.g. electric vehicle batteries.
Partanen emphasizes that, despite demand response, supply must also be flexible in order to maintain the reliability of electricity distribution. Nimble, controlled regulating power could be used for supplementing inflexible primary power and uncontrollably fluctuating wind and solar power.
‘Controlled production can mean, for example, a combustion engine power plant that can be started up and stopped in an instant, rapidly controlled hydro power, or combustionbased condensing and cogeneration plants that can be controlled better than at present. Increasing demand for flexible products will also promote development in existing systems according to market economy,’ Partanen points out. The load of the electricity grid would also be balanced by an opportunity to transmit electricity even longer distances.
‘For example, in Central Europe, wind and solar energy could be transmitted over long distances depending on where the sun shines at any given time. However, permit issues will then pose a challenge.’
More intelligence in the electricity gridFlexible solutions require development of the electricity grid. The current shared electricity grid connects together the equipment of electricity users, producers and distributors. In the future, more and more information will travel between the equipment through data communication links – on the industrial internet. That is when you can really talk about a smart grid.
According to Partanen, the Finnish electricity grid can already be called smart. For example, the majority of Finnish homes have a remotely read smart meter, which offers excellent preconditions for further development of the smart grid.
‘The electricity grid is constantly developing, now more than ever before,’ Partanen says.
12 SMART GRIDS AND ENERGY MARKETS
The main current used in Finland is alternating current (a.c.). One of the reasons for choosing alternating current at the time was the fact that it was easy to transform its voltage with transformers. High voltages were suitable for high transmission power and distances, and lower ones for distribution.
As power electronics have developed, direct current (d.c.) power has been raised as a worthy alternative in a lowvoltage distribution network, and it was also studied within the SGEM program.
‘According to our studies, d.c. power is a reasonable alternative especially in the distribution networks of sparsely populated areas,’ explains researcher Tero Kaipia of the Lappeenranta University of Technology. He justifies this claim with the costs of the network renovation, especially when replacing the weather sensitive overhead lines in the mediumvoltage networks, with underground cables. A process is generally on going in Nordic countries. According to him, the total cost of cabling will fall considerably if sections of the mediumvoltage network are replaced with a lowvoltage network. ‘This will be possible, because by using d.c. power, a higher power transmission capacity is achieved in lowvoltage electricity distribution. It is also cheaper and easier to connect distributed gene ration and batteries to a d.c. network,’ Kaipia explains.
According to him, d.c. power is also better than a.c. power for a microgrid of a village community, which is a part of the electricity grid that can be separated from the wider utility network into an offgrid network. A microgrid has its own generation and battery energy storages, which can provide electricity for several hours, for example, when a storm has crippled the wider electricity network.
‘As a result, supply interruptions to electricity users will be reduced and there is less need to carry out underground cabling of the mediumvoltage network.’
Direct current brings stability in
electricity distribution
According to Kaipia, the LVDC system developed in the research program can also be used in a versatile way in the distribution networks of population centres and in special areas, e.g. in street lighting, electric vehicle charging systems and even inside properties.
As LVDC network usually reaches all the way to the customer’s home, it is necessary to have a customerend inverter that changes the d.c. back to a.c., so that domestic appliances and wall sockets will work. At the same time, the inverter will filter away disturbances, such as voltage fluctuations and flickering. Therefore, Kaipia expects that the LVDC network will improve the quality of electricity in addition to reducing costs.
‘Modern converter technology will enable local management of power quality in a way that has not been possible before,’ says Kaipia. He emphasizes that the inverter installed in a customer’s property is not an extra device, because it can replace the existing electricity meter when the meter is replaced anyway in future.
Equipment technology optimized for the LVDC network, as well as tools for the designers and constructors of the networks were developed in the SGEM program. The functioning of the technology was studied in distribution networks in areas of a few customers. The test networks were built by SuurSavon Sähkö Oy together with the Lappeenranta University of Technology and by Elenia Oy together with ABB Oy. Elenia’s planning engineer Tomi Hakala expects the test network to provide longterm user experiences, which in his opinion are of primary importance when planning an extensive introduction of new technology.
‘So far, the test runs have gone well. As the next step, the manufacturers are expected to develop and launch productized equipment, which is required in extensive utilization of the LVDC distribution,’ Kaipia says.
Low-voltage direct current (LVDC) power distribution is an economically viable alternative when distribution networks are being
renewed. It also facilitates distributed generation and separation of regional networks into self-sufficient off-grid networks.
T ERO K A IP IAResearcher, Lappeenranta University of Technology
According to our studies, direct current is a reasonable alternative especially in the distribution networks of sparsely populated areas. M ICRO-GR ID CAN BE DE TACHED
FROM THE REST OF THE GR ID INTO AN OFF -GR ID NE T WORK
M ICRO-GR ID (D IREC T CURRENT )± 750 V
MED IUM-VOLTAGE NE T WORK(ALTERNAT ING CURRENT ) 20 KV
ELEC TRONIC REC T I F I ER
THE VOLTAGE OF A LOW-VOLTAGE D IREC T CURRENT D ISTR IBUT ION NE T WORK I S ± 750 V ( c f . t h e vo l tage o f a l ow - vo l tage a l te r na t i ng cu r ren t ne t wo r k i s 400 V )
14 SMART GRIDS AND ENERGY MARKETS
When electric vehicles become more widely used, the impact is felt in the electricity networks. In addition to needing energy, the charging of electric vehicles places an uneven load on the electricity grid. Jarmo Partanen, Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Lappeenranta University of Technology, is sure that the energy demand can be managed, but the un even load must be tackled before electric vehicles become more common. The subject was also studied in the SGEM research program.
If a large number of electric vehicle users charged their car after returning home in late afternoon, the charging would put a considerable burden on the electricity network and, according to Partanen, it would require significant investment in the network. When the research team at the Lappeenranta University of Technology simulated network load, it turned out that by carrying out controlled charging the extra costs would be almost negligible.
‘If it is enough for a car owner that the battery is full in the morning, charging can be carried out at any time of the day or night before the morning, and the costs would be quite marginal.’
At their best, electric vehicle batteries can even balance out the network load by functioning as an energy storage for distributed generation.
‘A solar panel on the roof produces electricity during the day. This electricity is used by the vehicle or, if the vehicle is not there, the electricity is stored in a battery located in the basement, to be used by the vehicle – or even by the grid – in the evening,’ Partanen outlines. The network companies would make cost savings in investments, and that way also consumers would save money in distribution prices. VTT also showed through simulation that the flexibility offered by electric vehicles would make it easier and more profitable to utilize distributed production than at present. This, in turn, could reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the entire electricity system.
Currently, the electric vehicle charging systems do not support smart charging, but the standard on charging already provides that opportunity. Elektrobit has been among the first companies to utilize this opportunity: it has developed a charging protocol program, which takes into account the status of the grid and the user’s needs, which are related, e.g. to the time of charging and the price of electricity.
‘When the number of electric vehicles rises, connecting them to the grid in a smart way is a precondition for managing grid loads,’ says Director Hannu Hakalahti of Elektrobit.
When there is a high number of electricity vehicles in use, their uncontrolled charging may interfere with the balance of the electricity grid. However, at their best, electric vehicles can balance out the network load.
Electric vehicles helping the smart grid
JARMO PARTANENProfessor, Lappeenranta University of Technology
At their best, electric vehicle batteries can even balance out the network load by functioning as an energy storage for distributed generation.
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1 4 1 6 1 8 20 220
D IREC T N IGHT-T IME CHARGING
STAGGERED N IGHT-T IME CHARGING
COMBINED WORKPL ACE AND HOME CHARGING
OPT IM IZED CHARGING
CURRENT POWER NEED WI THOUT E L EC TR IC VEH ICLES
POWER MW
T IME OF DAY
JAN SEGERSTAMDevelopment Director, Empower IM Oy
With the SGEM program, we are able to model a future environment together in a comprehensive way. Nobody can do it alone.
E L EC TR IC I T Y CONSUMPT ION IN F INL AND OVER ONE WINTER WEEK
MW
h/h 16,000
14,000
12,000
10,000
8,000MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN
FOR EX AMPLE , W I TH CONTROLLED HEAT ING, HOUSEHOLDS COULD BAL ANCE CONSUMPT ION PEAKS .
I F THE CONSUMER PR ICE OF E L EC TR IC I T Y WA S BA SED ON THE E L EC TR IC I T Y PROCUREMENT PR ICE AT THE T IME OF CONSUMPT ION , I T WOULD MOT IVATE CONSUMERS TO BE F L EX IB LE IN CONSUMPT ION ACCORD ING TO PRODUC T ION F LUC TUAT IONS .
SMART GRIDS AND ENERGY MARKETS 17
The foundation of the electricity system has remained unchanged from the beginning of electricity distribution. Production and consumption must be balanced to ensure that the quality of electricity is high and the network is in good condition. Traditionally, production has been regulated according to consumption, but solar and wind energy is stirring up these practices. Its production is not flexible, and it is hard to forecast.
‘Restriction on production is one alternative, but it goes against the principles of renewable energy use. Therefore, it is increasingly important that the demand for electricity is flexible,’ says Development Director Jan Segerstam of Empower IM Ltd. According to Segerstam, the structures of the market and electricity networks do not support flexibility particularly well in small distributed sites, such as in households. One of the research subjects in the SGEM program was the question of what could be done about the structures.
In the unregulated electricity market, a structural reform requires cooperation between a number of different participants and harmonization of conflicting targets. For energy producers and users, demand response can provide financial benefits. However, for electricity distribution system operators flexibility means, above all, costs in the current situation. Flexibility requires a smart network, and smartness costs money. However, at its best, flexibility helps network companies to avoid or at least to postpone investments related to the strengthening of network infrastructure.
‘With the SGEM program, we were able to model a future environment together in a comprehensive way. No one could do that alone,’ Segerstam says. In his opinion, Finland’s advanced electricity market is an exceptionally good development environment. Remotely readable smart meters installed in almost
every Finnish home are an excellent starting point. The meters have the technical readiness to control, for example, electric heating in 600,000 homes.
The SGEM program paved way for demand response control through various methods and created the necessary function chains to flexibilityrelated data exchange. Information exchange was studied in four different towns from slightly different aspects, and consumers took part in the definition of control in one of the studies. Control systems installed in customer properties were also used as an alternative to remotely read smart meters. These systems can be fully controlled and updated from the control room.
Segerstam expects the studies to result in a business model for electricity sales and distribution where demand response has been taken into account. According to him, the model may also be of benefit in the other Nordic countries and in Central Europe. He points out that changes to legislation in Finland would promote the utilization of pricing that encourages flexibility. At the moment, consumers can choose timebased pricing and control, which usually divides the price of electricity between hourly prices or day and night prices. Segerstam trusts that a consumer market that promotes flexibility could become a reality if electricity meters with the control option could be widely utilized in the unregulated market.
‘More incentive pricing would be based on the actual procurement price of electricity at the time of consumption. It is important that those who are truly flexible would also gain the benefits. However, pricing alone is not enough. It is also important that all parties to the customer’s supply chain take part in flexibility control in order to avoid hidden costs of flexibility in different parts of the supply chain.’
Flexible electricity demand – cost-effective
flexibilityThe production of solar and wind energy is not
flexible, and therefore electricity consumption must be flexible. The structures of the electricity grids
and markets must be upgraded to make flexibility worthwhile for consumers.
PERT T I JÄRVENTAUSTAProfessor, Tampere University of Technology
When demand response cuts consumption peaks, it balances the network load, which is also beneficial to system operators.
NE T WORK COMPANY
ELEC TR IC I T Y MARKE T
€
Detailed information about consumption and the opportunity for demand response and forecasting » costs are down
Detailed information about consumption » reduction of costs » quality of electricity improves
Detailed information about consumption and the quality of electricity, as well as automatic reports on network faults » more effective fault management » more accurate load modelling and estimation of network status » more effective loss compensation and allocation of investments
SMART GRIDS AND ENERGY MARKETS 19
By law, 80 per cent of distribution network customers in Finland have to have a remotely read electricity meter, a smart meter. In practice, almost all Finnish households have the meter. This solution is exceptional on the global scale, and Finland is a forerunner. Meter readers no longer go around knocking on doors, but what else can be achieved with the meters? This question was dealt with in a number of different contexts in the SGEM program.
‘In the SGEM program, we were able to examine the utilization of meters in a comprehensive way, taking all parties into account,’ says Pertti Järventausta, Professor of Power Engineering at the Tampere University of Technology.
The benefits are obvious from the consumer’s and the electricity retailer’s points of view. With the meter, an electricity retailer can monitor and bill the customer’s electricity consumption based on real hourly consumption, and the consumer can save money by using electricity at the most favourably priced times of the day.
‘An electricity company can also develop services that help customers to monitor and control their consumption.’ When demand response cuts consumption peaks, it balances the network load, which is also bene ficial for system operators.
Järventausta points out that there are also other possibilities to utilize smart meters in the energy system of
the future. When the meters collect detailed information about each customer’s consumption, the loads of different customer types can be modelled even more accurately than before, which will help in network design and loss assessment.
Network companies also use smart meters in fault management in addition to other network automation. The data systems of control rooms collect and analyze data from different parts of the network, for example, to prevent and identify faults.
‘Smart meters can offer extremely precise information, e.g. on the quality of electricity, especially in terms of voltage,’ Järventausta explains. The meters also send automatic notifications of a network fault and that way direct a maintenance team straight to the fault location, which reduces the duration of power cuts.
While the utilization of electricity meters increases, the meters themselves are also developed. Home energy management systems, offering more versatile possibilities, e.g. in demand response, are also developed. Järventausta is not worried about the question whether these systems will surpass the current meters in terms of functionality.
‘In any case, the maximum life cycle of a meter is 15 years. The forerunners will start replacing meters already in the next few years.’
Full benefits from smart metering
Almost all customers in Finland have a smart meter. When used in a versatile way, it provides an
opportunity for smart management of the power grid and development of the electricity market.
SEPPO HÄNN INENTechnology Manager, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
In the simulation environment, wind power developers can test wind power protection systems by simulating different types and lengths of faults.
10–28 22:0010–28 18:00 10–29 02:00
WHOLE COUNTRY
Out
put [
MW
] 200
150
100
50
010–28 14:00 10–29 06:00 10–29 10:00 10–29 14:00 10–29 18:00 10–29 22:00
CURR
ENT
MO
MEN
T
MODEL DEVELOPED IN THE SGEM PROGR AM FORECA STS WIND POWER PRODUC T ION IN F INGR ID ’S CONTROL ROOM.
95% confidence interval
The need for provision before the model developed in the SGEM program.
AC TUAL FORECA ST
ACTUAL / 120 MW
2-H FORECAST
12-H FORECAST
FORECAST – ONLINE
FORECAST – ALL / 230 MW
SMART GRIDS AND ENERGY MARKETS 21
Finland’s national electricity transmission grid operator Fingrid ensures that the balance of electricity generation and consumption is maintained at every moment. This task is made easier by the fact that the major producers are obliged to estimate and regulate their production. However, there are an increasing number of producers who do not find it sensible to regulate production. For example, it is typical of distributed generation that electricity is produced when it is windy or when the sun shines.
In order to prepare for wind power production, too, Fingrid itself also carries out forecasting. In the SGEM program, VTT studied different methods of forecasting and developed a model that forecasts production over the next 24 hours and shows actual production for the past 12 hours.
‘The model is based, e.g. on wind forecasts and probability calculations. It also takes into account the volumes of electricity that different power plants have produced under different wind conditions,’ explains VTT’s senior scientist Seppo Hänninen.
Fingrid’s control room operators have monitored VTT’s forecast for about a year. ‘The program has been a good addition to existing tools and it has a clear user interface, and therefore we are considering using the forecast also in the future,’ says Adviser Markku Piironen of Fingrid.
In view of wind power, dimensioning of power lines was also studied. Safe electricity transmission requires that the conductor does not heat up too much. The heating is affected by the volume of electricity transmitted with respect to the crosssectional area of the conductor and by the conditions in which this takes place. Cooling of lines improves, for example, in high winds.
The electricity market, temperature and transmission capacity information in situations where the line load turns into a bottleneck in electricity transmission was studied in the SGEM program. According to Hänninen,
it is possible to achieve considerable savings by increasing the permitted load capacity of lines within the limits of environmental conditions.
Wind turbines can be problematic to the electricity networks, but problems can also stream into the wind turbine through the network. For that reason, it is important that wind turbines are automatically detached from the network when a serious network fault takes place in order to protect them. According to Hänninen, a wind turbine can, however, be unnecessarily detached from the network due to a harmless or momentary network fault.
In order to study these kinds of situations, a simulation environment was created in the SGEM program to model wind power production and the electricity network with the aid of physical equipment and simulation programs.
‘In the environment, wind power developers can test wind power protection systems by simulating different types and lengths of faults.’
As distributed generation increases, the preconditions for offgrid use of electricity networks improve. Offgrid use means separating a network in a certain area, a microgrid, from the rest of the network, for example, as a result of network fault when the area’s own electricity generation is sufficient for the consumption in the area in question. In the SGEM program, control of the microgrid and its internal electricity generation, as well as automatic identification of offgrid use and network protection, were selected as a research area in the SGEM program.
‘After identification, network protection must be changed to correspond with the situation. This has to take place rapidly and automatically because the offgrid mode can be turned on and off again several times in a single day, depending on the preconditions of the offgrid electricity generation in the area,’ says Hänninen.
Wind power and the electricity network challenge each other
Forecasting of wind power facilitates its utilization in the electricity network. The use of wind power is also promoted by the development of protection in the
network and in the turbine.
MERJA PAKK ANENSenior Researcher,University of Vaasa
The experiences have been positive, and almost all were happy to recommend the panels to others.
SMART GRIDS AND ENERGY MARKETS 23
The visions of increasing renewable energy sources are largely based on distributed microgeneration. Companies and households are expected to generate electricity, for example, with a small wind turbine or solar panels.
The interest of Finnish households towards microgeneration of solar power was investigated in the SGEM program. In the first part of the study, 20 energy experts and 17 owners of solar panels gave their opinions on the subject.
According to the study, the greatest reason for the low popularity of microgeneration is the long repayment period of the equipment investment, which can be as long as 25 years. ‘Experts believe that the repayment period for the investment should be less than 10 years before the consumers would be interested in microgeneration of their own,’ says Senior Researcher Merja Pakkanen of the University of Vaasa. According to her, the majority of those who had already installed solar panels also regarded the repayment period as too long.
‘However, the same people may have justified their purchase with the fact that the panels will generate free electricity,’ Pakkanen points out. Many explained their investment also with environment values, and some were interested in the technical side of electricity generation although the product package did not require technical expertise.
Before acquiring solar panels, singlefamily house owners were interested in safety in relation to the roof of the building. ‘The experiences have been positive, and almost all were happy to recommend panels to others.’
All microproducers who were interviewed had an opportunity to use the electricity they produced them
Households are gradually becoming
microproducers
selves or to feed it to the grid. It would be most favorable to use the electricity yourself, but the sunny hours and the electricity consumption of the household do not necessarily go hand in hand. According to Pakkanen, many microproducers had systematically started using electricity during sunnier hours, but not everyone was interested or had the time to do that.
The average age of the interviewed microgenerators, 59 years, corresponded with the estimates of the interviewed experts, according to which the most potential microgenerators were over 50 years old.
‘Young people may wish to acquire distributed generation of renewable energy, but they may also have to move properties in the near future. Therefore, it is important to see solar panels as an investment that raises the value of the property with immediate effect and pays in the longer term,’ says Product Manager Olli Raatikainen of Fortum. According to him, the study illustrated well the popularity of distributed generation and the preconditions for its increasing popularity.
In the second part of the study, the researchers conducted an online questionnaire among those consumers who had not acquired solar panels. A total of 198 respondents living in a detached home took part in the study. 74% of them found that the electricity bill has a great significance, and those with electric heating regarded it even higher.
The consumers had both positive and negative views of wind and solar power, but the majority supported their increase. Most of the respondents knew only little or nothing about electricity generation carried out by households. The respondents regarded about EUR 4,000 as a suitable investment cost of solar panels and eight years as a fair repayment period.
Households have a place in future electricity systems as electricity consumers, but also as microproducers.
Are the Finnish people ready for this?
24 SMART GRIDS AND ENERGY MARKETS
Remote control of electricity networks has increased strongly in Finland in the past few years. Network faults can be localized even faster and fault areas can be limited so that fewer and fewer customers suffer from power cuts and network equipment is much less likely to be damaged due to fault current. ‘Advanced remote control is also a necessity in reliable management of distributed electricity generation. For example, a wind turbine has to be rapidly detached from a faulty network in order to avoid a dangerous situation,’ says Research Manager Jani Valtari of ABB.
Technologies enabling increasingly smart network management were studied in the SGEM program. For example, a fault detector developed by VTT can be connected directly to a line in the mediumvoltage network to send a wireless message, e.g. to a wind turbine or substation. At the substation, the centralized automation system studied by ABB collects and analyzes all messages related to network protection.‘It is easier and cheaper to update a centralized automation system than every single protective relay in the substation,’ Valtari points out. According to him, centralized data processing also helps to notice faults hidden in the network even before they turn serious. Forecasting is also supported by an analyzer developed by Mikes, which offers increasingly precise metering results.
Valtari regards it as important that it was possible to study the technologies and develop them in electricity networks in use. He believes that technologies developed by Finnish experts can grow into commercially significant products and also be successful in the export market.
In addition to equipment, network intelligence requires rapid data transmission. ‘In the wireless 3G and 4G networks, we have achieved latencies of up to 40 milliseconds. In that time, the message is transmitted, for example, from the substation to the production facility, and the level of reliability meets the network companies’ requirements,’ says Valtari.
VTT also studied the reliability and costefficiency of commercial mobile data communication net
Smart grid requires new technology
works. The power and mobile data communication networks and their functioning were modelled in a selected rural area with measurements and vegetation data.
‘In the model, we created fault situations in the electricity networks in order to see how they affect the data communication network and the wireless remote control of the electricity network,’ explains VTT’s Principal Scientist Seppo Horsmanheimo. As the base stations of data communication networks need electricity, a long power cut affects the data communication links and thereby the remotely controlled equipment in the power grid, as well as the mobile phones of maintenance workers repairing the network in the field. This was clearly highlighted when the data from the Patrick storms were being analyzed.
‘With the data, we were able to accurately model how the storms affected the electricity and data communication networks and how the networks recovered from them,’ Horsmanheimo explains.
Some of the research focused on the urban environment where buildings pose new challenges in the reception and delays in the wireless network. ‘We carried out the measurements in the field and simulated network operation on the basis of the measurements,’ says Horsmanheimo. Research carried out in defined areas offer a good basis for analysis in different areas in Finland and overseas. Horsmanheimo believes that modelling is of interest primarily to electricity distribution system operators who have to choose where and how it pays to use the wireless networks. On the other hand, the results will probably also be of interest to mobile operators who want to develop their operations.
Studies have long shown that commercial data communication networks are suitable for smart grid communications in Finland as long as the network companies and mobile operators know the possibilities and limitations of wireless networks and take into account the mutual dependencies of networks.
Remote control of an electricity network requires advanced equipment and reliable data communication links. The existing technology has
capabilities to this.
MED
IUM
VO
LTA
GE
20 K
VH IGH VOLTAGE 1 1 0 KV
FAULT DE TEC TOR
SMART SUBSTAT ION
R AP ID DATA TR ANSMISS ION
JAN I VALTAR IResearch Manager, ABB
Technologies developed by Finnish experts can grow into commercially significant products and also be successful in the export market.
AREA IN WH ICH FAULT MUST BE SOUGHT WI THOUT FAULT DE TEC TOR (ABOUT 50 KM)
AREA IN WH ICH FAULT MUST BE SOUGHT WI TH FAULT DE TEC TOR ( 1 -2 KM)
FAULT DE TEC TOR
NE T WORK RECLOSER
OSMO S I IRTOUnit Manager, Helen Sähköverkko
The objective is an extensive and smart fault management system. In an urban area, automatic localization and separation of network faults essentially speeds up fault management.
!
SMART GRIDS AND ENERGY MARKETS 27
At the beginning of the SGEM program, network failures in Helsinki resulted in power outages lasting for an average of almost one hour. Helen Sähköverkko Oy calculated that the faults in electricity distribution cost the customers about two million euros per year. The network company also estimated that the costs would be diminished to a fraction of this if the power cuts were shortened to one minute.
‘In five or ten years, we can talk about a few minutes at best. We have already achieved about 40 minutes on average. We have introduced new technologies, learned about practices in other countries and drawn up our own optimization models,’ says Unit Manager Osmo Siirto of Helen Sähköverkko. He emphasizes that the optimization models can also be utilized in other electricity networks in Finland and abroad.
The technical improvements by Helen Sähköverkko are largely related to the utilization of remote use and control in fault localization and the isolation of the fault area. The logic of fault management, as well as affordable fault detectors suitable for an urban network, which can be installed close to each other in the entire network, have been defined in the SGEM program.
‘The objective is an extensive and smart fault management system. In an urban area, automatic localization and isolation of network faults essentially speed up fault management. That way, it is possible to avoid problems related to field work, such as movement in slow traffic and difficulties to gain access to
Smart grid repairs itself
properties and transformers in order to carry out connections,’ Siirto says. He describes future networks as selfhealing, and this term is also used by Smart Grid Project Manager Oleg Gulich of Caruna. In practice, this does not mean repairing, but it mainly means that, in case of a fault, a new route is automatically found for electricity distribution.
In the SGEM program, Caruna developed fault management in rural mediumvoltage networks, and together with ABB it studied automation solutions in Masala in Kirkkonummi, where overhead lines are susceptible to strong winds and, due to the rocks, the environment is not favourable to installing underground cables. The research program also launched wider test use in Pusula. Data management was centralized in substations with new equipment, and fault detectors were added to the network.
Challenges faced by the overhead line network include trees and branches that fall over the lines. Branches can conduct electricity from one line to another or to the ground, resulting in a short circuit or earth fault. In a traditional electricity network, the fault location has to be searched within a radius of up to 50 kilometres, whereas in Masala and Pusula the fault can be found with an accuracy of 1–2 kilometres.‘Power cuts have been reduced to a half,’ Gulich tells. He emphasizes that, at its best, a smart grid is able to even prevent short power cuts, flickers, which can be caused by tree branches that fleetingly touch the electricity lines.
Faults in the electricity grid cannot be completely prevented. However, it is easy to cut down the number and length of power outages in the countryside and in urban areas by increasing intelligence in the network.
New solutions are already in test use.
USER GROUPS
AUTOMAT IC INFORMAT ION
FROM OPER ATORS’ SYSTEMS
PEKK A VERHOProfessor, Tampere University of Technology
We developed a situation awareness system, in which the authorities and the electricity users to whom the availability of electricity is crucial can also feed information.
MAP-BA SED USER INTERFACE
MANUALLY UPDATED STAT IC DATA
DSO D ISTR IBUT ION SYSTEM OPER ATOR
DSO D ISTR IBUT ION SYSTEM OPER ATOR
RESCUE SERV ICES
WEATHER FORECA STS
TR AFF IC REPORTS
DEF IN I T ION OF CR I T ICAL S I T ES
RESCUE SERV ICES CUSTOMERSMUN IC IPAL I T Y
SMART GRIDS AND ENERGY MARKETS 29
There are still plenty of overhead lines in the mediumvoltage network in Finland, and they are susceptible to disturbances. A typical fault is an earth fault, which usually happens when a branch or a fallen tree touches the line. If the tree conducts electricity neatly to the ground, the protective relay in the substation immediately detects the fault from the changes in the current and voltage. However, when the tree and the ground are frozen or the ground is rocky, they do not conduct electricity so well, and the protective relay does not necessarily react to the situation.
‘This kind of a highimpedance fault also usually turns more dangerous and harmful,’ says Postdoctoral Researcher Ari Nikander of the Tampere University of Technology. An earth fault may cause an electric shock to people moving in the area, and in the network it can result in an extensive power cut. Therefore, it is important to detect even a tiny fault before it turns into a major one.
A centralized protection method was developed for this purpose in the SGEM program. When a traditional protective relay takes care of the situation in the feeder where it is installed, the new method utilizes the information of all feeders and their protective relays in the centralized computer in the substation.
Rapid flow of information helps
in fault situations
For the development of the method, the electricity network and the substation with its physical equipment were modelled, and highimpedance faults were successfully identified in this environment.
However, it is not possible to completely eliminate fault situations especially in the overhead line network. Therefore, the flow of information between the electricity network companies, the authorities and customers was also researched in the SGEM program.
‘We developed a situation awareness system in which you can gather essential information, for example, on the extent of the power cut. The authorities and the electricity users to whom the availability of electricity is crucial, such as hospitals, can feed information into the system,’ explains Pekka Verho, Professor of Electrical Energy Engineering at the Tampere University of Technology. Say, during a destructive storm, the system can help the network companies in the prioritization of repair work and the authorities, such as the fire and rescue services, in the planning of their own operations. It can also send automatic warnings between the parties.
The system was developed in cooperation with the authorities, and a demonstration on the basic principles of the system, used in the web browser, is currently at hand.
When a tree falls onto an overhead line, a smart grid notices the fault even before it causes a hazard or
an extensive power outage. In fault situations, fluent flow of information between the system operator, the
authorities and customers also helps.
JAN I VALTAR I
SGEM Program Manager, CLEEN [email protected] / +358 50 335 2730
JAT TA JUSS I L A-SUOK A S
CTO, CLEEN [email protected] / +358 40 825 6500
TOMMY JACOBSON
CEO, CLEEN [email protected] / +358 40 828 2711