Nexus - 1805 - New Times Magazine-pages

Page Content (OCR)

¢ more than 850 sensors, called "phasor measurement because appliances, meters and substations are al units", to monitor the overall power grid nationwide; inanimate items that technocrats would have ¢ 200,000 smart transformers; communicating with each other. ¢ 700 automated substations (about five per cent of the For instance, in 2008, the Pacific Northwest Nationa nation's total); Laboratory (PNNL) developed a small circuit board called a ¢ 1,000,000 in-home displays; Grid Friendly Appliance™ (GFA) Controller. According to a ¢ 345,000 load-control devices in homes. Department of Energy brochure: One such project in the Northwest is headed by the "The GFA Controller developed by Pacific Northwes Battelle Memorial Institute, covering five states and ational Laboratory is a small circuit board built into argeting 60,000 customers. The project was actually ousehold appliances that reduces stress on the power grid developed by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), a by continually monitoring fluctuations in available power. ederal agency underneath the Department of Energy. During times of high demand, appliances equipped with Since it is pointedly illegal for a federal agency to apply for he controller automatically shut down for a short period o ederal funds, BPA passed the project off to Battelle, a non- ime, resulting in a cumulative reduction that can maintain profit and non-governmental organisation, which was _ stability on the grid.” promptly awarded $178 million. According to PNNL's website: "The controller is It is interesting to note that BPA takes credit for essentially a simple computer chip that can be installed in originating the Smart Grid regular household appliances like concept in the early 1990s; termed dishwashers, clothes washers, Energy Web, it is comprehensive dryers, refrigerators, air in scope from production to You can see how conditioners, and water heaters. consumption. The chip senses when there is a According to Battelle's 27 automatic actions are disruption in the grid and turns August 2009 press release: intended to be triggered by e appliances off for a few "The project will involve more seconds or minutes to allow the than 60,000 metered customers in direct interaction between grid to stabilize. The controllers Idaho, Montana, Oregon, objects without human also can be programmed to delay Washington and Wyoming. Using J e restart of the appliances. The smart grid technologies, the Intervention. delay allows the appliances to be project will engage system assets urned on one at a time rather exceeding 112 megawatts, the an all at once to ease power equivalent of power to serve restoration following an outage.” 86,000 households... You can see how automatic actions are intended to be “'The proposed demonstration will study smart grid triggered by direct interaction between objects, without benefits at unprecedented geographic breadth across five uman intervention. The rules will be written by states, spanning the electrical system from generation to programmers under the direction of technocrats who end-use, and containing many key functions of the future | understand the system, and then downloaded to the smart grid,’ said Mike Davis, a Battelle vice president. 'The controllers as necessary. Thus, changes to the rules can be intended impact of this project will span well beyond made on the fly, at any time and without the homeowner's traditional utility service territory boundaries, helping to nowledge. enable a future grid that meets pressing local, regional and PNNL is not a private enterprise, however. It is "owned" national needs."" by the US Department of Energy and operated by Battelle Battelle and BPA intend to work closely together, and = Memorial Institute! there is an obvious blurring as to who is really in control o All of this technology will be enabled with Wi-Fi circuitry the project's management during the test period. hat is identical to the Wi-Fi-enabled network modems and In a "For Internal Use Only" document written in Augus' routers commonly used in homes and businesses 2009, BPA offered talking points to its partners: hroughout the world. "Wi-Fi" is a trademark of the Wi-Fi "Smart Grid technology includes everything from interactive Alliance and refers to wireless network systems used in appliances in homes to smart meters, substation automation _—_ devices from personal computers to mobile phones, and sensors on transmission lines." (Emphasis added.) connecting them together and/or to the Internet. According to the Wi-Fi Alliance, "|t]he need for Smart A Network of Things Grid solutions is being driven by the emergence of As the World Wide Web (WWW) is to people, so the distributed power generation and management/monitoring Network of Things (NOT) is to appliances. This brand-new — of consumption". In its white paper, "Wi-Fi® for the Smart technology creates a wireless network between a broad _ Grid", it lists the specific requirements for interoperability range of inanimate objects from shoes to refrigerators. This posted by the Department of Energy: concept is "shovel ready" for Smart Grid implementation "e Provide two-way communication among grid users, intended to be triggered by direct interaction between objects, without human intervention. A Network of Things As the World Wide Web (WWW) is to people, so the Network of Things (NOT) is to appliances. This brand-new technology creates a wireless network between a broad range of inanimate objects from shoes to refrigerators. This concept is "shovel ready" for Smart Grid implementation 30 * NEXUS You can see how automatic actions are AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2011 www.nexusmagazine.com