EET&D : With the ‘winds of change’ blowing like we’ve never seen in the history of T&D, what do you feel are the key trends and how do you perceive the industry is adapting?

Bryant : Before we cover your question, I think it would be helpful to take a quick look back at how the landscape has changed over the last several decades. For instance, back in the mid to late 1900’s, there was very little connection between the electric power companies and consumers in most parts of the world. For those fortunate enough to have access to electricity, customers simply plugged in their appliances and ran them judiciously as needed. Electricity was a consumer’s luxury and, following the great depression, folks recognized that fact and were aware of the costs. People conserved, naturally.

In the 1970’s and beyond, consumers in developed countries took electric power delivery much more for granted and only really thought about electricity during power outages when the microwave, TV and ultimately their computers wouldn’t operate. Over the last decade or so, our power companies and consumers have become much more connected.

EET&D : It sounds like you are teeing the conversation up to discuss Smart Grid.

Bryant : Well, we can certainly start there. The whole idea behind Smart Grid is to leverage data, smart meters and smart appliances to help squeeze the most out of our existing system. In other words, the Smart Grid concept allows electricity providers to control or incentivize consumers to use more electricity during off-peak hours and less during periods of high demand. This is due to the fact that demand has, in many cases, outgrown supply and development of new generation isn’t a necessarily an easy task.

Add to that new environmental goals, policy changes, the closure of conventional generation resources and grid congestion, and you can see why this has become a major movement.

As an aside, it’s quite encouraging to see how much more connected the utilities are with their customers. Many electricity providers have very informative websites and actively leverage social media to connect with an increasingly more ‘data hungry’ and informed consumer base.

EET&D : In terms of environmental goals and changing policy, where do you see us heading?

Bryant : My perception is that the climate change discussion has grown deep roots. It’s fair enough that there are still two sides of the argument, but I suspect that in the wake of superstorms Katrina, Sandy and many others, the vast majority of our utilities recognize that the concept of climate change is quite real and that the frequency and severity of extreme weather events is substantially impacting grid reliability and associated repair and maintenance costs.

This awareness, coupled with climate policy changes, very tough regulations, reduced costs associated with renewable generation resources, growing consumer awareness, and many other factors are driving the ‘environmental goal’ forward at a pace most utilities are not generally accustomed to.

EET&D : How do you believe the utilities are adapting to the non-glacial pace?

Bryant : Frankly, I don’t think they have much choice. Regulations such as FERC Order 1000 are opening things up to increased competition. Government policies that put limits on CO2 and other GHG emissions are creating tremendous pressure. And other policy changes that relate to investment returns are driving the pace. Fortunately many new technologies offer the utilities several options.

EET&D : Such as?

Bryant : On the generation side there is obviously a huge move towards renewables such as solar and wind which are still receiving favorable government incentives to develop. We are also seeing a trend to convert coal fired plants to natural gas.

Additionally, new energy storage devices such as pumped hydro, flywheels and other novel kinetic devices are supplementing new battery storage technologies. Distributed generation and micro grid technologies are also beginning to play important roles.

EET&D : What about the grid itself?

Bryant : This is a good and quite challenging question. Planners have a very tough time aiming at a moving target. Existing sources of generation are being shut down. New sources of generation are being added - often from remote locations - and many new lines, including HVDC lines, have been proposed and are working their way through the approval and funding process.

Other grid challenges relate to the fact that much of our grid is substantially aged. The American Society of Civil Engineers, for instance, gave our grid a D+ rating when they completed their last survey in 2013. In addition to the age of the grid and its vulnerability to storm damage, it can often be highly congested.

EET&D : What is the significance of grid congestion?

Bryant : Grid congestion is essentially a situation that prevents consumer access to the least expensive or cleanest source of energy due to the fact that the wires and operating system don’t have the capacity to transfer more power through a given circuit. The economic impact, historically, has been measured in the billions of dollars.

EET&D : What is being done to rectify this?

Bryant : Many congested lines are being upgraded with high-capacity, low-sag conductors such as ACSS (Aluminum Conductor Steel Supported), ACCR (Aluminum Conductor Composite Reinforced) and ACCC (Aluminum Conductor Composite Core). These upgrades - supplemented in some cases by other technologies - are definitely mitigating grid congestion and enabling access to cleaner sources of generation.

EET&D : Can you offer an example?

Bryant : Earlier this year, American Electric Power received the Edison Electric Institute “Edison Award” for reconductoring 240 circuit miles of a 345 kV line using the ACCC type conductor while the line remained energized. In addition to doubling the capacity of the existing corridor, AEP also realized a 30 percent reduction in line losses compared to the conventional ACSR (Aluminum Conductor Steel Reinforced) it replaced.

EET&D : The added capacity is obviously beneficial, but what is the significance of reduced line losses?

Bryant : Another good question. Transmission line losses in developed countries generally range from 2 to 4 or 5 percent. In underdeveloped countries such as India, overall system (technical) losses can exceed 20 percent. Commercial losses (or theft) can be significantly higher. In AEP’s case, the project was in Texas. Based on a relatively low load factor of 34 percent and a peak operating load of 3,100 amps, it is estimated that AEP will save over 256,000 MWh per year.

On the cash side, at a reported wholesale cost of electricity of $0.12 per kWh in that region, that equates to a savings of over $30 million per year. On the ‘green’ side, assuming the U.S. national average CO2 emissions from all combined sources of generation (1.372#/kWh) the CO2 savings equates to a reduction of 159,484 Metric Tons of CO2 per year. This is the equivalent emission reduction of removing over 33,500 cars from the road (1 car = 4.75 MT/year). Conversely, the reduction in line losses also freed-up 29.25 MW of generation capacity at an additional savings of roughly $35 million.

EET&D : These are impressive numbers.

Bryant : I agree. The efficiency aspect of transmission lines has, historically, been given relatively little consideration. With that said, over the last several decades we’ve spent billions of dollars improving the efficiency of generation equipment to reduce operating costs, and billions more improving the efficiency of demand side appliances to reduce the need build additional generation. Today we have the option of leveraging modern transmission technology not only to improve grid capacity and reliability, but also to improve its efficiency and support climate change mitigation initiatives.

EET&D : Thank you Dave for taking time out of your schedule to speak with us on a most interesting subject.

Bryant : My pleasure. Thank you.
 

About the Author

Dave Bryant is Director of Technology at CTC Global Corporation in Irvine, California. Dave was a co-inventor of the patented ACCC conductor and ancillary hardware components. His 35 year background as a design engineer focused on the use of advanced composite materials in numerous industrial applications which helped expedite the development, testing, and commercialization of the ACCC conductor.