1 / 44

ICT and Power (Electricity)

ICT and Power (Electricity). Prof. Rahul Tongia School of Computer Science CMU 17-899 Fall 2003. Topics for Discussion. Electricity and Development Power for ICT ICT for Power. Fundamentals. Electricity is a form of energy (kWh) Does not exist in usable forms

sshrum
Download Presentation

ICT and Power (Electricity)

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. ICT and Power (Electricity) Prof. Rahul Tongia School of Computer Science CMU 17-899 Fall 2003

  2. Topics for Discussion • Electricity and Development • Power for ICT • ICT for Power

  3. Fundamentals • Electricity is a form of energy (kWh) • Does not exist in usable forms • Conversion usually requires prime movers (steam turbines, water turbines, etc.) • Access to fuels (primary energy) is a key issue for developing countries • Electricity is only about 125 years old • Widespread use is much more recent • US required special programs • Rural Electrification Administration (REA) [now Rural Utilities Service] • TVA • Electricity from the grid can not be easily stored (AC) • Most electronics use DC

  4. What’s Special about LDCs? • Very low levels of Electrification • 2 billion+ lack electricity • Bad quality, intermittent, and often expensive power if available • Lower Level of Economic Development • Large rural agricultural sector • Large quantities of crop residues: primary energy source • Special needs for agricultural services (e.g., pumping water ~ 1/3 of India’s electricity) • Heavily subsidized in many countries • Industrial-Political Organization • State-centered economies • State-owned enterprises (SOEs) handle not just power but much of the economy • Weak formal institutions • E.g., regulatory institutions, courts, corporate governance

  5. Energy-Economy Correlation 1996 Calculated from EIA Data

  6. (Lack of) Access to Electricity South Asia (India) Sub-Saharan Africa East Asia (China) Source: WEO 2002

  7. Investments in LDC Power Sector Source: World Bank (2003)

  8. Where Does Electricity Go? • US • ~ 1/3 residential, 1/3 industrial, 1/3 commercial • Developing Countries • Varies significantly by country • Typically higher shares for non-residential (function of large, centralized design) • Grid penetration to rural areas is very low • Kenya used to have more homes served by Decentralized Generation (DG) than the grid (mainly solar) In reality, a fair amount is lost along the way, or stolen!

  9. Electricity in LDCs Source: World Bank (2003)

  10. How Much Electricity Does ICT Use? • Numbers as high as 13% of US electricity were claimed • End users, servers, networking, etc. • Later debunked • ICT – Energy (Power) linkages • Greater Service Economy, even in developing countries • But, increased globalization

  11. What Consumes Power (ICT Applications)? • Components of an ICT solution • Computing • Display • CRT 80 W normal 10 W suspend • LCD 15-25 W normal 5-10 W suspend • Storage variable • Uplinking 12 W Wifi 40 W VSAT • Role of advanced technologies • Chips (processor is largest component) • Pentium 4 uses 50+ watts! • LCD screens, OLEDs, etc. • Wireless • Cognitive Radios – reduce power to lowest required level • But, emitted power is << power drawn from supply • 100 mW is legal limit for WiFi • Laptops – much less power but less robust (?)

  12. Details of Desktop Power SCSI CD-RW Drive - 17W SCSI CD-ROM Drive - 12W 5400RPM IDE Hard Drive - 10W 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive - 13W 7200RPM SCSI Hard Drive - 24W 10000RPM SCSI Hard Drive - 30W Floppy Drive - 5W Network Card - 4W Modem - 5W Sound Card - 5W SCSI Controller Card - 20W Firewire/USB Controller Card - 10W Case Fan - 3W CPU Fan - 3W AGP video card - 20-30W PCI video card - 20W AMD Athlon 900MHz-1.1GHz - 50W AMD Athlon 1.2MHz-1.4GHz - 55-65W Intel Pentium III 800MHz-1.26GHz - 30W Intel Pentium 4 1.4GHz-1.7GHz - 65W Intel Pentium 4 1.8GHz-2.0GHz - 75W Intel Celeron 700MHz-900MHz - 25W Intel Celeron 1.0GHz-1.1GHz - 35W ATX Motherboard - 30W-40W 128MB RAM - 10W 256MB RAM - 20W 12X or higher IDE CD-RW Drive - 25W 32X or higher IDE CD-ROM Drive - 20W 10x or higher IDE DVD-ROM Drive - 20W Source: FLECOM

  13. Standalone (DG) Power • What are the options if If AC power is unavailable? • Backup or primary supply? • Non-Conventional Sources of Power • Issues of Scale • For ICT or more (single point or village level)? • Local availability • Solar • Only 3-5 hours equivalent per day (1 kW INPUT/m2 of panel; ~10% efficiency) • Wind • Windspeeds vary by location; highest efficiency for megawatt class turbines • Biomass • Conversion options limited, typically require tens of kW size • Microhydel • Location sensitive, and typically 10s of kW • Diesel • Expensive to run, typically AC output

  14. Designing a DG system • Battery Life examples • Alkaline (from Duracell) NOMINAL VOLTAGE (volts) RATED CAPACITY (ampere-hours) D 1.5 15 C 1.5 7.8 AA 1.5 2.85 AAA 1.5 1.15 Gets very expensive, quickly, even if rechargeable • Lead-acid batteries give much more power and are standardized • Limits on dischargeability - ~20 kWh total charge • Matching supply to demand • AC grid –“infinitely” flexible • Power storage is key • Else peak capacities must be matched • Intermittency issues for many DG systems • Theft is a major concern for DG design (!)

  15. Designing a DG system (cont.) • Solar Systems • Components • PV modules (in series, in panel form) • Power Conditioning Equipment (economies of scale) • Housing (with or without directionalizing)/mounting • Batteries – most expensive operating costs* • Inverter – if AC is required • Costs • Capex at small scale is ~5/peak watt • Gives an operating cost around 20-30 cents/kWh * cell phone example – Obsolescence of equipment vs. battery

  16. Designing a DG system (cont.)

  17. ICT for Electricity Systems • Two main issues • Supply << Demand • Requires investments of billions • Ability to pay is limited • Often, power companies are loss-making; some of that is inefficiency • Where can ICT contribute? • Components of power sector vertical • Generation • Transmission • Distribution • Consumption

  18. Conventional Wisdom • One can not do real-time power flow management (transactions and billing) for transmission level flows • Today, pools operate based on historical or aggregated information • One can not measure demand (usage) from all consumers in real-time with high granularity What has changed to make these outdated – the growth of IT technology

  19. Focus here on Distribution/Consumption • IT is already extensively used in generation/transmission in developed countries • Other Synergies • Stringing Optical Fibers along power lines • Smart Cards (pre-payment) • Found extensive use in S. Africa in Black Townships (12 years experience) • Can link to other utilities or consumer services (pre-paid cell-phone cards are very popular)

  20. Using IT to Enable Sustainability • Sustainability has many components • Resource utilization • Efficiency and loss reduction are sine-qui-non • Economic viability • Theft reduction • Management • IT can improve power sector distribution, consumption (utilization), and quality of service • Requires a change in mindset, and the willingness of utilities to innovate

  21. Case study on IT for power sector improvement in India • India today has the world’s largest number of persons lacking electricity •  400 million (equivalent to Africa’s unserved!) • Reforms began in 1991 • Vertically integrated government department monopolies are being broken • Initial focus was on generation • New realization that distribution is the key to India’s power sector viability • Newer entities should be run as businesses Many parallels to other developing countries

  22. India’s Power Sector Overview • 5th largest in the world – 107,000+ MW of capacity • But, per capita consumption is very low • 350 kWh, vs. world average over 2,000 kWh • 40% of households (60% of rural HH) lack electricity • In very dire straits • Supply << Demand • Blackouts are common, with shortfall estimated between 10-15% • Most utilities are heavily loss-making, with an average rate of return of negative 30% or worse (on asset base) • High levels of losses = 25+% • Technical losses – poor design and operation • Commercial losses (aka theft) often over 10%

  23. Reasons for the problems • Agricultural sector • Consumes 1/3 of the power, provides <5% of revenues • Pumpsets are overwhelmingly unmetered – just pay flat rate based on pump size • Adds to uncertainty in technical losses vs. commercial losses and usage • Utilities lack load duration curves to optimize generation and utilize Demand Side Management • All generation is assumed to be baseload, and priced accordingly • Leads to poor energy supply portfolio • Doesn’t send correct signals to consumers, either • Utilities end up using just average costing numbers, not recognizing the marginal costs

  24. Idea – use IT for power sector management • Posit – If new meters are to be installed, why not “smart” digital meters, which are also controllable, and communications-enabled? • Incremental costs would be low • Instead of just quantity of power, can also improve quality of power • Analysis presented is based on collaborative work with a major utility in India (name withheld for confidentiality reasons)

  25. Quality of Power • India is focusing on quantity of power only • Current “shortfall” numbers are contrived • Based only on loadshedding with minor correction for frequency • Do no factor in peak clipping fully • Do not account for lack of access (e.g., over 60% of rural homes lack connections) • Quality norms are often missed • Voltage – often deviates by 25+% • Frequency – often deviates by 5% (!) • Even farmers pay a lot for their bad quality power (around 1 cent/kWh implicit, even higher in some regions) • Use of voltage stabilizing equipment • Additional capital costs (in the multiple percent range) • Efficiency losses (2-30% lost!)

  26. Power Quality: ITI CBEMA Curve

  27. Why the Focus on Distribution? • It’s where the consumer (and hence, revenue) is • High losses today • Technical losses, 10+ % in rural areas • DSM and efficiency measures possible • Use of standards required • Use a combination of technology, industrial partnership, and regulations • Learn from experiences elsewhere • Bulk of India's consumption is for just several classes of devices • Pumpsets • Refrigerators • Synchronous motors • Heating (?)

  28. US Refrigerator Efficiency Standards Similar standards can be established for “smart appliances” Source: www.standardsasap.org

  29. Future of Appliances and Home Energy Automation Networks • Incremental cost of putting networking and processors into appliances approaching a few dollars • Could allow time of use and full control (utility benefit/public good/user convenience) • Link to a smart distribution system • Micro-monitor and Micro-manage every kWh over the network • E.g., refrigerators – don’t operate or defrost during peaks (5% of Indian electricity usage) • 5% peak load management could lead to a 20% cost reduction • Feasible, as most peak loads are consumer-interfaced • Bimodal peaks in India, residential driven • Italy is already implementing such a system (ENEL)

  30. Objectives and design goals for a new IT-enabled • Implement a basic infrastructure to… • Micro-measure every unit of power across the network • Allow real-time information and operating control • Devise mechanisms to control the misuse and theft of power through soft control • Which would… • Reduce losses • Improve power quality • Allow load management • Allow system-level optimization for reduced costs • Increase consumer utility, satisfaction, and willingness to pay

  31. Additional Benefits • A system which will offer • Outage detection and isolation • Remote customer connect & disconnect • Theft and tamper detection • Real time flows • To allow real time pricing • Suitability for prepayment schemes • Load profiling and forecasting • Possible advanced communications and services • Information and Internet access • Appliance monitoring and control • Managing such “extra” power (from theft) is enough to give subsistence connectivity to the poor • Requires ICT to determine and manage the margin effectively • Telecom is special – very short-run low marginal cost; in electricity it is much more difficult

  32. Data Center Network Schematic Last Few Hundred Meters ~ 20 km Couple Coupler Uplink r Coupler House Secondary LV Concentrator Distribution House Voltage Coupler Distribution Transformer (pole or ground) Sub-Transmission and Transmission Substation Users Smart Meter (Can be off-site outside user Control; Is partly a modem) (> 11 kV) Access (440, 220, or 110 V) Low Voltage Distribution (~11 kV) Medium Voltage

  33. Components of the solution • One segmentation – locational • At consumer • Meter/Gateway • Meter could be pole-side if required • In home network • Needed connect to enabled devices (appliances) • Eventually, homes would also have Decentralized Generation available (?fuel cells, flywheel storage, etc.) • Access (low voltage distribution) • From gateway to a concentrator, on user side of distribution transformers – Using PowerLine Carrier (PLC)

  34. Solution Components (Cont.) • Concentrator upwards • Concentrator – Each Distribution Transformer (aka Low Voltage Transformer) feeds on the order of 100-200 homes in India (as in Europe). In contrast, US Distribution Transformers feed 5-10 users. • Communications medium • Over Medium Voltage PLC to the Sub-station or • Wireless • Limited Coverage in Developing Countries • Substation upwards (uplinking) • Usually based on leased lines or optical fiber

  35. Technologies for various segments • In-Home Network • Appliances • Emerging Standards are talked about by appliance companies (Maytag, Samsung, GE, Ariston etc.) • Using Simple Control Protocol (or other appropriate “thin” protocols) • Meters • Solid-State meters exist, but not yet the norm in developing countries • Most have communications capabilities for external ports • Lowest cost solution (if feasible) – PLC – target 5$ incremental cost

  36. Technologies for various segments (cont.) • Access • Low Voltage PLC is available today • Being explored for Internet access, in fact (Megabits per second) • MV • Crossing through transformers remains a technical challenge • Going long distances an issue • Uplinking • Availability of optical fiber or leased lines can be met through planning

  37. Technologies vs. Capabilities

  38. Design Model and Business Case • Only target specific users • All agricultural (almost one-third of the load) • All Industrial and larger commercial users • Only the larger-size domestic users • Estimated 2/3 of homes only use <50 kWh per month • Include every network node that needs monitoring and/or control • Substations • Transformers • Capacitor banks • Relays etc.

  39. Design Model and Business Case (cont.) • Investment in long run only a few thousand rupees per targeted user (Target <75$ capex) • When amortized, implies requirement of improvements in system of only a few percent! • Savings will come from • Lower losses/theft • Increased sales possible • Lower operational costs • Load management • Better consumer experience (and hence, possibility for higher tariffs) • Future interaction with smart appliance and smart home networks • Possibly new services

  40. Economics of case system • Estimated System (Rural-centric) • 62 Consumers (all classes) per Distr. Transformer • 98 Distribution Transformers per Sub-Station

  41. Economics (cont.) • 6-7 year payback on investment (conservative) possible with just 3% improvement in system • Savings will come from • Theft Reduction • Time-of-Day and DSM measures (peak reduction) • System Quality, reliability, and uptime • Higher Collection

  42. Challenges • Protocols • Use of thin protocols to reduce capex for embedded systems • Security – PLC can be a shared medium • PLC • How to couple around transformers or other obstacles • How to go long runs with low errors (and high enough bandwidth) – Shannon’s theorem provides a limit • Noisy line conditions in many developing countries • Appliances • Need for standards to bring down costs and ensure inter-operability • Design – Should the PLC signals pass through the meter/gateway directly to appliances? • How active or passive should consumer behavior modification be? • Costs (as always)

  43. Challenges – Implementation and Management • Utilities are typically risk-averse • They face increased regulatory uncertainty • Without some portions of a market, how do they benefit? • Will they (should they) pass all pricing information on to the consumer? • Developing country management issues • Utilities were typically State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) • Utilities were run with social engineering goals • Increased automation, control, and sophistication (and theft detection) poses risks to the large cadre of current employees

  44. A New World for Power Systems • Includes “smarts” for significant improvements in efficiency • New services can be enabled once the appropriate infrastructure is in place • Segmentation of development allows independent, modular innovation, e.g., home automation and appliances • Developing countries (esp. Asia) can lead the way through leap-frogging

More Related