Informed choices

Smart meter data will allow network companies to employ technologies that dramatically improve the efficiency and resilience of power grids. Mike Ballard runs through some of the offerings.

This winter, a seemingly endless string of storms caused outages in energy networks across the UK and left hundreds of thousands of households and businesses without power. Major weather events such as these have a taxing effect on local grids, contributing to sudden spikes in voltage that can trigger cascading failures across the network.

Triggers for a surge are not limited to heavy storms or natural disasters – localised surges in consumption during exceptionally hot summer days can also stretch power grids to the point of failure.

There is no way to control weather patterns, but utilities can help reduce the risk of grid overloads and outages by taking measures to optimise the flow of energy through their networks. With the right technologies in place, energy providers can even scale and dispatch repair efforts more quickly in the event of damages to network assets.

The impending rollout of smart meters will bring exceptional levels of control over the grid. By automating network management with new technologies, distributors can make the most of the information they collect from across the grid by gaining the ability to adapt their services and operations to shifting network conditions in near real time. To add to this, instant feedback from network smart meters will allow network companies to spot warning signs for before problems materialise, and take proactive action to avert some outages.

To add to this, geospatial analytics tools can provide energy distributors with up-to-the-minute visualisations of flow across the grid, allowing them to oversee the status of their networks as major weather events progress. In the event that damage does occur, these solutions can help utilities engage consumers through mobile and social media channels to react to issues more quickly and with more appropriately scaled responses.

As dynamic, intricately connected networks, distribution grids present unique engineering and safety challenges that make them particularly complex to manage. Often troubleshooting works carried out at one point of the network may resolve a localised issue but can redirect flow to other points on the grid. If not managed effectively, this “moving fault” can become particularly dangerous during major weather events, which can add to the already great pressure placed on the grid.

For energy companies, the key to building more responsive networks lies in the data they will collect and analyse from the smart grid. This will include not only consolidating the vast amount of information that next-generation grids will provide, but also quickly converting this into valuable network insight.

With this knowledge, network companies can make more accurate predictions about future energy demand, and even overlay their data with seasonal weather trends from previous years to develop exceptionally well-founded forecasts.

Whether during extreme weather or periods of normal operation, the analysis of smart meters can help utilities take advantage of widespread data points to gain a better vision of how stably electricity is being distributed throughout the network. With this information, they can automate network functions to identify signs of flow issues before problems occur.

To give utility providers even more control over their networks, real-time data analysis applied to information collected from smart meters can be used to develop live visualisations of network status, which can be used to spot outages more quickly and managed more efficiently.

As the smart grid rollout takes form, utilities will begin collecting and analysing information from a growing number of metering points to better understand how voltage is being distributed throughout their networks. Modern network management systems can help make the most of this information by allowing them to automatically adapt demand response to network conditions in near real time.

With the ability to automatically balance power supply and demand in the grid, distributors will be able to tailor their energy strategy to match real-world network behaviour, and open the door to new levels of power efficiency. Once they can redirect flow as required in this way, they can drastically reduce the risk of localised overloading or outages.

By outfitting themselves with an advanced geospatial data tool, working in tandem with a big data appliance, utilities can profit from relevant real-time information to improve network performance and gain more focused and responsive control.

A major benefit to be gained from embedding a spatial analysis tool in a network management system is vastly improved troubleshooting and risk-assessment capability. Most notably, with the ability to assess the impact of events on services using a real-time virtual map of the network, the speed with which utilities can react to damages or potential overloads has increased dramatically.

In the event of a major storm, providers can keep an eye on energy patterns to pinpoint major disruptions and initiate response protocols. In the UK, where sustained heavy rainfall regularly tests water infrastructure, the ability to anticipate danger zones for storm drain overflows or to monitor system performance in overloaded sectors can help utilities limit damages to network assets and keep their services online.

While there is no way around extreme weather, or around dealing with occasional damage during major storms, energy distributors that take measures to develop proactive response strategies fuelled by modern technologies stand to limit their effects.

Data analytics appliances, network management applications and geospatial tools can help network companies moderate flows and react more efficiently to potential hazards. Utility companies that make the most of these technologies will be well placed to keep their systems running as smoothly as possible during major weather events, and provide energy users with a more stable and responsive service no matter that the weather looks like.