SmartGrid and dynamic energy management

When it comes to energy, we all know what being “on the
grid” means. The grid is the electric utility
industry’s delivery system. So when I recently heard the term
“SmartGrid” for the first time, I thought of some
new-fangled twist on this old system. But this sells the SmartGrid
concept short, and hampers understanding its potential for helping
manufacturers dynamically manage energy costs and profitability,
says Dave Hardin, a technology officer with Invensys Process
Systems, and chairman of the new energy component track for the
International Society for Automation’s (ISA’s) ISA Expo
event this fall.

“When people in industry hear the term, ‘grid’
they tend to think, ‘Oh, that’s
transmission/distribution, and I don’t care about
that,” says Hardin.

But SmartGrid isn’t so much about carrying energy over the
grid, as it is about the information related to what’s on the
grid, such as real-time energy pricing, explains Hardin. The
concept also entails the information models and standard interfaces
for how SmartGrid-related information can be more easily integrated
with manufacturing and plant control systems for dynamic
“demand response” to varying energy costs. So SmartGrid
actually encompasses the entire data stream around electricity and
how plant-level systems can tap into that information in a more
standard way to automate the best response. Big plant automation
vendors are getting involved, say Hardin, but the impact of
SmartGrid could extend all the way up to the manufacturing
execution and factory scheduling levels for optimal demand
response.

“Because of the dynamic nature of the energy pricing, you
need to have systems that can take that into account,” says
Hardin. “You’re making manufacturing production
decisions based on the fact that energy costs vary.”

While some manufacturers have had co-generation facilities within
their plants for years, and have sold energy back to the grid, says
Hardin, the information flow and systems integration work for this
has tended to be custom. Under the SmartGrid concept, the interface
points and data streams between the SmartGrid and plant automation
systems from major vendors will be more standard. This will help
propagate dynamic energy response to more companies in more
industries, he adds, so that companies can more effectively do
things such as adjust production plans to shift loads when energy
costs are high, or ensure that sale of energy back to the grid is
done at the most profitable times.

What’s more, discussion of possible cap & trade
regulations is heightening attention on the SmartGrid concept.
“Cap and trade is going to have a major
impact—it’s going to shift the economics,” says
Hardin.

Via participation with ISA and ISA Expo’s new energy
component, says Hardin, companies can learn more about SmartGrid.
This
ISA announcement explains the new energy component track of the
show, and includes a link to the event’s Web site.

Hardin also points to organizations and efforts such as the
GridWise Architecture Council
(GWAC) and the National Institute of Standards
and Technology (NIST) SmartGrid Project as other places to
learn more about SmartGrid, or to give input on what the SmartGrid
information models should entail. “There is the opportunity
right now for industrial companies to get involved,” says
Hardin.