THE BEST OF POWER & ENERGY Building Blocks for Grid Modernization
Creators: -
Publisher: name: IEEE
Year: 2013

Miroslav Begovic, President, IEEE Power & Energy Society

building blocks,
indeed

March, 2014
To: Recipients of the 2014 IEEE PES
Smart Grid Reprint Journal:

"SMART GRID" IS AN IDEA AND
an outcome rather than a prescribed set
of technologies. The ideas, the technologies
and the approaches that fall under
the smart grid rubric must be tailored to
a diversity of circumstances and needs.
No wonder "smart grid" must be a flexible,
adaptable term, despite the concern
that its meaning is too diffuse. For
the concept to be suitably flexible, its
meaning must be malleable.
The same goes for the "tool kit," a
phrase that underscores the diversity
of approaches and solutions needed
to meet the diversity of utility circumstances
and needs around the
world as the grid in its many forms is
modernized.
Let's add another critical piece: curriculum
development for students and
advanced training for working professionals.
Multi-disciplinary studies and
skills have become de rigueur for good
reason: smart grid solutions often must
combine technologies and approaches
from different specialized fields. In
fact, this is true not only in power, but in
nearly every endeavor that applies technology
to solve complex challenges.
Thus it's fitting that the year-end
compendium you hold in your hands
is subtitled, "Building Blocks for Grid
Modernization." "Building blocks"
can be ideas, technologies, systems,
standards, curriculum and more, all of
which add flexibility and breadth to our
tool kit. Our colleagues presented much
new thinking to our challenges this year
in the pages of Power & Energy Magazine
and we're proud to present seven
of them in this special issue. Buckle
up, we'll be traveling from Kansas to
China, France, Germany and the
19th century and the year 2032.
In "Five Heads Are Better Than
One," five authors devised a multidisciplinary
curriculum for graduate
students at Wichita State University in
Kansas. The authors write, for instance,
about "blended learning" as a tool for
interdisciplinary education in energy
systems. Students from varying disciplines
received a customized set of
online learning modules to address
background deficiencies while classroom
learning focused on a common
theme. The value here lies in not just
what to learn, but how to learn it!
"Time in the Sun: The Challenge
of High PV Penetration in the German
Electric Grid" reveals challenges and
solutions in a country where more than
a million solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays
interconnect with the grid. It's a glimpse
at the future, for many countries are just
beginning to see PV penetration at this
level, with the accompanying technical
challenges.
The 19th century's "war of currents"
pitted ac power against dc
power, Tesla vs. Edison. Despite the
outcome in favor ac, dc continues to
present an attractive option for many
applications, from efficient longdistance,
high-voltage lines to renewable
power for dc loads in homes and
businesses. In "Harmonizing AC and
DC" the authors discuss a hybrid AC
/ DC grid for the future, driven by the
increasingly attractive gains in efficiency
it offers.
"Ecocity Up On a Hill" looks to the
European experience with microgrids, a diverse animal with one name but
many different configurations. The
authors take us on a tour of three very
different microgrids in France: one
operates as an aggregator and virtual
power plant, another as a municipal
microgrid relying on cloud services
and yet a third as a collection of
medium- and low-voltage distribution
microgrids with high concentrations of
PV and "smart houses."
China recognizes the value of efficiencies,
particularly as they relate to
its targets for energy conservation and
emission reductions. In "Balance of
Power," our colleagues report on efforts
to integrate combined heat and power
plants, expanded transmission lines and
renewable power, elements that are
not always compatible. Thus integration
requires considerable attention and
China is bringing policy, practices and
technology to bear on its quest.
<p>Miroslav Begovic, President, IEEE Power &amp; Energy Society building blocks, indeed March, 2014 To: Recipients of the 2014 IEEE PES Smart Grid Reprint Journal: "SMART GRID" is an idea and an outcome rather than a prescribed set of technologies. The ideas, the technologies and the approaches that fall under the smart grid rubric must be tailored to a diversity of circumstances and needs. No wonder "smart grid" must be a flexible, adaptable term, despite the concern that its meaning is too diffuse. For the concept to be suitably flexible, its meaning must be malleable. The same goes for the "tool kit," a phrase that underscores the diversity of approaches and solutions needed to meet the diversity of utility circumstances and needs around the world as the grid in its many forms is modernized. Let's add another critical piece: curriculum development for students and advanced training for working professionals. Multi-disciplinary studies and skills have become de rigueur for good reason: smart grid solutions often must combine technologies and approaches from different specialized fields. In fact, this is true not only in power, but in nearly every endeavor that applies technology to solve complex challenges. Thus it's fitting that the year-end compendium you hold in your hands is subtitled, "Building Blocks for Grid Modernization." "Building blocks" can be ideas, technologies, systems, standards, curriculum and more, all of which add flexibility and breadth to our tool kit. Our colleagues presented much new thinking to our challenges this year in the pages of Power &amp; Energy Magazine and we're proud to present seven of them in this special issue. Buckle up, we'll be traveling from Kansas to China, France, Germany and the 19th century and the year 2032. In "Five Heads Are Better Than One", five authors devised a multidisciplinary curriculum for graduate students at Wichita State University in Kansas. The authors write, for instance, about "blended learning" as a tool for interdisciplinary education in energy systems. Students from varying disciplines received a customized set of online learning modules to address background deficiencies while classroom learning focused on a common theme. The value here lies in not just what to learn, but how to learn it! "Time in the Sun: The Challenge of High PV Penetration in the German Electric Grid" reveals challenges and solutions in a country where more than a million solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays interconnect with the grid. It's a glimpse at the future, for many countries are just beginning to see PV penetration at this level, with the accompanying technical challenges. The 19th century's "war of currents" pitted ac power against dc power, Tesla vs. Edison. Despite the outcome in favor ac, dc continues to present an attractive option for many applications, from efficient longdistance, high-voltage lines to renewable power for dc loads in homes and businesses. In "Harmonizing AC and DC" the authors discuss a hybrid AC / DC grid for the future, driven by the increasingly attractive gains in efficiency it offers. "Ecocity Up On a Hill" looks to the European experience with microgrids, a diverse animal with one name but many different configurations. The authors take us on a tour of three very different microgrids in France: one operates as an aggregator and virtual power plant, another as a municipal microgrid relying on cloud services and yet a third as a collection of medium- and low-voltage distribution microgrids with high concentrations of PV and "smart houses." China recognizes the value of efficiencies, particularly as they relate to its targets for energy conservation and emission reductions. In "Balance of Power," our colleagues report on efforts to integrate combined heat and power plants, expanded transmission lines and renewable power, elements that are not always compatible. Thus integration requires considerable attention and China is bringing policy, practices and technology to bear on its quest.</p>