140 likes | 281 Views
MA DPU Grid Modernization Working Group Grid-Facing Subcommittee Ram Rao, Chief Technology Officer Ambient Corporation. January 14, 2013. Ambient’ s role in the Smart Grid ecosystem. A leading communications & applications platform supplier based in Newton, MA
E N D
MA DPU Grid Modernization Working GroupGrid-Facing SubcommitteeRam Rao, Chief Technology OfficerAmbient Corporation January 14, 2013
Ambient’s role in the Smart Grid ecosystem. • A leading communications & applications platform supplier based in Newton, MA • Technologies enable utilities to effectively deploy & manage multiple mission critical grid applications • Platform provider to the largest utility in North America • 12+ years of development and field deployment (125K+ Nodes) • Patented and proprietary technologies • Founded in 1996, went public in 1998 – AMBT(Nasdaq)
The Challenges… • The grid infrastructure has aged to a state that cannot meet thechanged nature & expectations of the consumer • Modernization of the grid: • extends beyond new poles, wires and metering • requires new sensors and IT resources that can be adapted to changing consumer patterns, new applications, and enhanced sensor technologies • minimizes the stranding of legacy assets, while establishing an upgrade path forward in the reinvestment cycle • must address the evolving needs of the consumer, utility and regulatory constituencies • The need to convert the grid from a one-way to a two-way flow of energy • Demand Response • Metering – supportive of legacy assets while establishing foundation for migration from AMR to AMI • Improve the efficiency of the distribution system
The Questions... • What can the grid look like? • How different will it be from today’s? • What can it do differently or better than today?
An intelligent grid can evolve to meet changing technologies & demands… • A one-way energy flow becomes two-way to accommodate a variety of Distributed Generation resources • Intelligence throughout increasingly integrates with centralized management systems & processes • Resiliency • Outage detection • Storm response • Legacy assets are pulled forward • AMR to AMI • New applications to meet the changing needs of managing the grid and which suit the evolving profiles of consumers
What the grid will do differently & better than today – Resiliency. • Intelligence will bring the Utility agility and greater control of their resources • Remote fault identification and isolation substantially improve a Utility’s ability to address: • Outage Detection & Monitoring • Storm Response • Self-healing
What the grid will do differently & better than today – Enabling a broader variety of Distributed Generation resources. • Solar, other DG, CHP • Storage • Electric Vehicles • Regulatory landscape similar for all distributed generation technologies • Variable output vs. continuous technologies must be considered when determining feasibility and “level of modernization” for two-way energy flow • State level microgrid programs are accessing clean DG as main source of generation • Helps address local power reliability • Increases local resiliency • Introduces the topic of “smart grid” in terms of critical load management
What the grid will do differently & better than today – Improved Efficiency. • Volt/VAR • Asset Management - Proactive Monitoring • Identification & Monitoring of System Loss
What the grid will do differently & better than today – Communications with the Consumer. • Continuously improved Time-of-Use/Variable Pricing schemes • More accurate and timely information on Outages • Retail services by third-party suppliers • Evolving roles for utilities and public utility commissions • Ability to respond to info through third parties’ products and services
The Benefits – Enhanced Service & Improved Economics • Empowering customers with information on consumption • Ability of the utility to communicate ‘price’ information in real-time • Price responsive demand can stem, even reverse, perpetual increases in peak demand • Third-party applications and services available to both the consumer and the utility
MetaVu Smart Grid Audit Summary • The Public Utility Commission commissioned an independent third party review on the cost and benefits of the Duke Ohio smart deployment, focusing on the 20 year NPV of the project. • Numbers were extrapolated from 31% of full deployment • 20 year NPV operational benefits of the deployment to be about $382.8M in a range from ($325.8M – $447.5M Benefits by Category Benefits by Category (% of $382.8M total) ($ Millions)
Smart Grid Emerging Technology Roadmap Incremental (0 – 3 Years) Strategic (3 – 10 Years) Transformational (10+ Years)
Smart Grid Emerging Technology - Gap Identification Grid Devices Telecommunications Optimization
Ram Rao Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer (617) 614-6789 Ram.Rao@ambientcorp.com