T&D Grid

To manage the new instability, inherent in many renewable resources, it becomes necessary to introduce more intelligence and automation. That’s what makes the smart grid so compelling.

In the emerging era of distributed energy resources, we will find the distribution utility increasingly in the role of an integrator and enabler – more than their longstanding role as energy provider. Accordingly, the regulatory approach must go through its own structural shift to keep pace and restore the system to regulatory equilibrium.

The next frontier, and the logical extension of integrated resource planning. Self-generation, the connected home, the celebrated internet of things – they all suggest it’s time to focus on the local grid.

Florida Power & Light Company partners with PetroQuest Energy to develop natural gas production wells in southeastern Oklahoma; First Solar receives financing approval to build a 141-MW solar power plant in Chile; DTE Energy will deploy Tollgrade’s LightHouse MV smart grid sensors and predictive grid analytics platform within its distribution network in Detroit; US DOE chooses Abengoa, together with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Colorado School of Mines, to develop a new solar storage technology for thermoelectric plants.

Wireless sensors open new, novel applications for utilities, replacing expensive cabling network options to sense incipient equipment failures.

Algonquin Power & Utilities enters partnership with Siemens Canada for 10 wind turbines expected to start operation early next year; Strata Solar installs nine utility-scale solar projects in North Carolina; Ontario Power Generation establishes agreement with Westinghouse to consider nuclear plant refurbishment, decommissioning and remediation; JinkoSolar successfully connects solar power plant in Jiangsu Province; El Paso Pipeline acquires 50 percent interest in Ruby Pipeline from Kinder Morgan

Solar Reserve commissions 110-MW solar thermal plant with molten-salt heat storage; Minnesota Power orders 64 3-MW wind turbines from Siemens; Alstom wins contract to supply 6-MW offshore wind turbines; Itron announces subscription-based service offering; plus announcements and contracts involving SunEdison, Lockheed Martin, Washington Gas Energy Systems, and others.