Software designed by Nexant, Smarter Grid Solutions, and GreenSync are coordinating to create the world's most advanced electricity network management and control system.
Image: The software partnership enable UK Power Networks to add additional renewable energy sources. Photo: Courtesy of Nexant/PRNewswire.
UK Power Networks supplies electricity to more than 8.3 million homes and businesses and is Great Britain’s largest electricity distributor.
Through this combined software solution, UK Power Networks and its customers will receive more Renewable Energy—Distributed energy resources (DERs) including solar, wind, and energy storage devices will be connected to the grid faster and at less cost, generating enough power for 250,000 homes.
Infrastructure Savings—Reducing the time to connect DERs will reduce the need to upgrade infrastructure and save money. The solution will defer other network upgrades and costs by shifting localized peak demand and providing power during planned and unplanned outages.
Efficiency and Safety—Artificial intelligence will be used to process big data and determine safe and efficient ways to run the network.
Innovative Control Schemes—The network can be seen from a complete view, providing perspective to make complex decisions and set autonomous processes that will optimize available power.
Real-time Control—The network will be able to handle and dispatch services for events such as DER non-compliance and communications failure.
Flexibility—Giving customers expedited flexible connections, enabling more solar and wind installations.
Big Platform Potential—Unlimited smart grid applications and emerging technologies can be applied to the platform, allowing the possibility for more insights via machine learning, AI, and big data analysis.
As part of the integrated platform, Smarter Grid Solutions’ ANM Strata will allow UK Power Networks to smoothly make the transition to an active distribution system operator. Nexant is supplying the control center and planning analytics via Grid360 and a public-facing market interface through iEnergy. GreenSync’s deX product is incorporated to provide a distributed energy marketplace.
Bob Currie, Chief Technology Officer at Glasgow-based SGS, said, “This is a watershed moment for the management of distribution networks and DERs. We are delighted to work with UK Power Networks to deliver flexibility services markets and innovative control schemes across its license areas to enable clean and distributed energy resources to connect to the grid and realize their full value.”
John Dirkman, Vice President of Product Management at Nexant, said, “This cutting edge project broadly enables and revolutionizes decarbonization via electrification, distributed generation, demand response, and energy storage. It’s a perfect example of how best-in-class applications can be combined to provide tremendous value to utilities around the world.”
Source: Company Press Release.