Sixteen European collaborators from ten countries are currently working to develop electricity distribution tools that can use more wind and solar energy. The systems to hand are a series of financial “carrots” and a smart power grid. On the Danish island of Bornholm, 2,000 electricity customers are trying to use these tools to reduce the consumption of power when the wind is too strong or too weak for the wind turbines to work on the island.
These are part of a EUR 160-million EU project, called EcoGrid EU. SINTEF Energy Research is coordinating the project and the sixteen partners are members of the EU project, which will demonstrate how an electricity grid can use unpredictable sources such as sun and wind.
The EU project coordinated by SINTEF’s Ove Grande will raise the ceiling for how much an electricity system can depend on unpredictable sources such as wind and solar power. Credit: SINTEF / Gry Karin Stimo
As reported by Ove Grande, a senior researcher at SINTEF Energy, the outcomes of this demonstration project will be instantly transmitted to wind-power nations and countries that are spending money in solar electric power, as well as to all nations that are planning for smart electricity grids.
In Bornholm, up to 50% of the electricity is provided by wind power. Customers involved in the project are requested to stop using their washing machines, heat pumps and other electric appliances when the wind turbines in the island become inoperative during harsh weather conditions. The carrot of this project is that customers will be able to minimize their electric bills with the help of a clever power system called Smart Grids. When electricity prices reach high, an automated system will cut off an agreed rate of customer’s consumption and the same system will raise the customer’s consumption when electricity prices go down.
New electricity meters will be installed in the homes of participants involved the Bornholm project. The new meters are designed in such as way that it will be able to observe when electricity is being used by customers at intervals.
The demonstration project will create a special computer system that can calculate the electricity price automatically for customers depending on the situation in the production and distribution system. The system will communicate the price of electricity continuously to a small smart box that will be fixed together with the meters in the homes of 2,000 customers. The box will automatically switch on/off electrical appliances relying on the prior assessment of customers. In the meantime, SINTEF will find out the amount of power that can be freed in this manner.
Source: http://www.sintef.no/home/