GE and the UK-based electricity network distribution operator Western Power Distribution (WPD) have joined forces to measure demand and voltage data across southwest England and South Wales. This will then be used as a template for utilities that are working to build lower carbon energy grids.
The 500 million pounds from the Low Carbon Network will fund the research effort of GE and WPD. Ofgem the UK’s energy market regulator will oversee the project. Sensors will record demand and voltage data in 1,000 substations across the study area. Close to 8,000 homes will record voltage profile data. Company researchers will then be able to use the data to determine the best ways to smooth loads, lower stress, optimize performance and maximize the delivery capacity of the entire network.
Peter Aston from WPD said that they were making the real world their research lab and learning what really happened when they added new generation and consumption technologies to their power grid. He added that they will know the true effects of system changes because they will be able to collect and analyze the low voltage network data in a way they haven’t been able to do before.
Keith Redfearn, general manager of digital energy in Western Europe for GE Energy said that today they were using the power grid in ways that were not even conceivable when the system was originally designed. He added that with GE sensors transmitting network data, they would help create the roadmap to lower energy’s carbon footprint and incorporate innovation more effectively and efficiently.