Confidential. Not to be copied, distributed, or reproduced without prior approval. 

EIA: “Electricity Industry in Transition”

Eric Gebhardt, Chief Innovation Officer, GE Power

Washington, DC | June 2018 
© 2017 General Electric Company - All rights reserved

DECARBONIZATION ELECTRIFICATION 2.0

ELECTRIFICATION OF ENERGYINTENSIVE USESBy 2026, RENEWABLES will 

represent 40% of global installed 

generation capacity*

DECENTRALIZATION

GROWING PENETRATION of 

Distributed Energy Resources

IMPACT

• End users become active actors 

of the power system (‘pro-sumer’) 

... growing grid complexity

IMPACT

• Step increase in electricity 

consumption ... accelerating 

Decentralization

IMPACT

• Growing share of renewables 

an increasing challenge to the 

traditional power system model

DIGITIZATION

EXPONENTIAL GROWTH 

of connected devices 

& smart sensors

IMPACT

• Real time decision making 

becomes possible ... new 

software solutions open 

breakthrough optimization

Powerful trends shaping the nature of electricity

2
GE, Internal – For internal distribution only.

Evolving Electricity Network

3

Thermal

[Hybrid]

Wind

[Hybrid]

Solar

[Hybrid]

Hydro

[& PSP]

Hybrid Gas Turbine

Microgrid

Storage 

and Solar

GENERATION DISTRIBUTION

CHP

Storage

TRANSMISSION BEHIND THE INTERCONNECT

EMS SW END-TO-END DIGITAL THREAD DMS SW

EVs

Electrification

COMMERCIAL

NE: ¢15

WHOLESALE

US: ¢3-¢6

RETAIL

Germany: ¢30

Hawaii: ¢24

CA: ¢15

Electricity 

Price (¢/kWh):

Enabling system benefits: lower cost, lower emissions, higher reliability, more resilient
GE, Internal – For internal distribution only.

Microgrids and Distributed Energy
© 2017 General Electric Company. Confidential information. All rights reserved.

Philadelphia Navy Yard microgrid 

Grid Modernization 

• Smart meters, communications, microgrid management & DERMS

• Optimize consumption efficiency & environmental footprint

On-site Generation 

• 10 MW substation with PECO tie-ins

• 6 MW natural gas peak shaver/back up power

• 1 MW on-site solar generation

Customer Benefits

Enable local load growth in congested area without expanding city infrastructure

 Local Capacity

 Capex

 Resilience

 Opex

Economic Development
© 2017 General Electric Company. Confidential information. All rights reserved.

GE’S RESERVOIR STORAGE UNIT . . . Up to 4MWh Capacity

Reservoir Storage Unit: Large Energy Application (1.2 MW / 4 MWh)

15 MW / 60 MWh Solar Hybrid Reservoir Solution 

Enhanced to reduce installation cost and shorten project schedule

UP TO 15% EXTENDED BATTERY LIFE 

UTILIZING PROPRIETARY BLADE 

PROTECTION UNITS

UP TO 50% REDUCED 

CONSTRUCTION TIME WITH FACTORY 

BUILT & TESTED SOLUTION

IMPROVE SAFETY BY REDUCING FAULT 

CURRENT BY UP TO 5X

ENABLE UP TO 50% MORE SOLAR 

ENERGY SALES WITH ENHANCED PV TO 

INVERTER LOADING RATIO

Copyright © General Electric Company.
© 2017 General Electric Company. Confidential information. All rights reserved.

TYPICAL RESERVOIR APPLICATIONS

Integrated Hybrid Solution Applications

Synthetic Inertia: Compensate losses of grid inertia caused by high renewable penetration.

Frequency Regulation: Provide fast regulation of grid frequency to balance supply and demand.

Firming: Prevent undesirable short-duration effects from rapid fluctuations in solar generation

due to intermittency and weather conditions.

Improved Operations: Optimize thermal generation fleet operation and costs.

Contingency Reserve: Provide fast ramp-rate to meet grid requirement for online dispatch 

within a short delay of operating reserve.

Curtailment Avoidance: Avoid wind output curtailment at certain times, preventing loss of 

energy production.

Dispatchable: Control solar generation at request of power grid operators or according to 

market needs.

Solar Wind Thermal

POWER ENERGY

Primary Benefit

Typical use case 
© 2017 General Electric Company. Confidential information. All rights reserved.

TYPICAL RESERVOIR APPLICATIONS

Standalone Applications

Voltage Regulation: Compensate anomalies or disturbances (e.g., voltage magnitude, 

harmonics, etc.) by sending reactive energy into system.

Frequency Response: Provide fast regulation of grid frequency to balance supply and demand.

Frequency Regulation: Provide regulation of grid frequency to balance supply and demand 

based on signals sent by the grid operator. 

Renewable Integration: Balance the local excesses or deficits of renewable generation caused 

by rapid weather fluctuations.

Black Start: Energize part of the generation asset without outside assistance after a blackout.

Back-Up: Store energy to maintain service continuity and grid resilience in the event of an outage.

Peak Management: Reduce grid capacity needs during peak periods with local storage.

Shifting: Buy or produce electricity at low price (off-peak) to store and sell at peak price.

Capacity: Store renewable energy production for peak and base load consumption.

Generation Transmission Distribution

Primary use case 

POWER ENERGY

Typical use case 
© 2017 General Electric Company. Confidential information. All rights reserved.

9

2017

Innovation

of the Year!

Confidential. Not to be copied, distributed, or reproduced without prior approval. 
© 2017 General Electric Company. Confidential information. All rights reserved.

Conclusions

The power grid is becoming increasingly diverse

Energy Storage + Distributed Energy can support grid 

Existing assets will be important facilitator of system change

New business models & market structures are critical