Question

Need to prepare 6 minutes of presentations on these topics:

1. The main challenges of future power systems
2. Storage (explain The role of storage in the future energy system)
3. The main challenges of renewable energy technologies
4. Microgrids (describe The role of microgrids in future power systems)

Answer 1

1.main challenges of future power system

This presents a framework for evaluating decisions regarding extent and pace of change, and defines pathways for transformation. Powerful trends in technology, policy environments, financing, and business models are driving change in power sectors globally. In light of these trends, the question is no longer whether power systems will be transformed, but rather how these transformations will occur. Three approaches to policy and technology decision-making can guide these transformations: adaptive, reconstructive, and evolutionary. Within these approaches, we explore the pathways that have emerged as viable models for power system transformation, listed below.

• Next-generation Performance-based Regulation Pathway: In this adaptive pathway, vertically-integrated utilities remain in a recognizable form, but evolve to prioritize delivery of value instead of minimizing costs.

• Clean Restructuring Pathway: In this reconstructive pathway, new power market restructuring efforts are initiated, incorporating lessons learned from the past 20 years, including design features to facilitate clean energy integration and system optimization. Hindsight is 20/20—this reconstructive pathway brings hindsight to bear on restructuring and reform.

• Unleashing the DSO Pathway: Distribution system operators (DSOs) are poised to innovate in order to drive clean generation deployment and power system flexibility. In this evolutionary pathway, regulatory and policy frameworks give clear signals to these DSOs, empowering them as the centerpiece for orchestrating distributed energy resources and low-voltage market functioning.

• Bottom-of-the-Pyramid (BOP) Coordination Pathways: Accelerating energy access has been a chronic challenge for decades. New technology configurations and business models are opening up opportunities for innovative approaches to energy access, especially when linked to broader social development goals. In this context, two pathways emerge: o Adaptive Bottom-up Coordinated Grid Expansion o Evolutionary Bundled Community Energy Planning strategies, leading to integrated, socially-customized energy access solutions.

Increased Interactions with Other Sectors Globally:

power systems increasingly compete for scarce water and land resources, sharpening debates about the sector’s evolution but also encouraging improved accounting approaches. Parallel evolutionary processes taking place in the built environment (from super-efficient appliances to home-based thermal storage to campus microgrid projects) also need to be accounted for in power system planning.

Existing Solutions for Energy Access Customers

In the expansive Bottom-of-the-Pyramid (BOP) market face energy shortages due to unreliability of supply or lack of grid connectivity. Energy poverty is often tackled through three approaches fragmented energy services, community-scale energy services, and expansion of traditional grids

2.Storage (explain The role of storage in the future energy system):

In today's world, there is a continuous global need for more energy which, at the same time, has to be cleaner than the energy produced from the traditional generation technologies. This need has facilitated the increasing penetration of distributed generation ( DG ) technologies and primarily of renewable energy sources (RES). The extensive use of such energy sources in today's electricity networks can indisputably minimize the threat of global warming and climate change. However, the power output of these energy sources is not as reliable and as easy to adjust to changing demand cycles as the output from the traditional power sources.

CONTRIBUTION:

After years of rising prices and increasing demand, there is change in the air for energy supply, with many seeking to accelerate the shift to renewable. Although there are short-term factors in matching current supply and demand in varied regions, most agree that long-term we will move to a renewable -based energy system. At the moment solar energy is playing a small role, contributing around 0.6% of the world’s energy mix, but is expected to increase to between 5% and 20% by 2020 (depending on whose view you believe). The key variable is around cost. Today in some regions solar is already comparable with the cost of electricity from natural gas, in others government subsidies are used to make it competitive.

CONCLUSION:

Successful transformation of the energy system is increasingly being linked with development and scaling of storage solutions. There is much optimism that substantial improvements in energy storage will be achieved over the next decade. There are though several misconceptions around energy storage – in particular that, by itself, it will not transform the energy system overnight as it will take many years or even decades to shift from fossil fuels to renewables. The existing energy system is not designed for renewable energy – rather it is focused around fossil fuels which simply hold their energy until ignited.

3.The main challenges of renewable energy technologies

Renewable energy is defined as energy that is collected from natural resources. Recently there has been growing interest in renewable energy and it has become one of the main sources of energy generation.

Availability of Power:

One of the biggest concerns in the field of renewable energy is power generation depending on natural resources that are uncontrollable by humans. For example, solar powered electricity is generated only when sunshine is available and turns off at night; wind energy also depends on the availability of wind, so if the wind speed is very low, the turbine will not turn, and this result in zero power flow to the grid.

Power Quality Issues

Consistently high power quality is needed to ensure stability and high efficiency of the network. The quality of the power supply allows the system to work well with high reliability and lower costs.

Resource location:

Most renewable energy plants that share their energy with the grid require large areas of space. In most cases, renewable energy sources are dictated by location which can be off-putting to users. Firstly, some renewable energy sources are simply not available in different regions.

biggest barrier:

The biggest barrier to the use of renewable energy in the United States is a lack of available and affordable ways to transmit the energy to the consumer.

Micro grids (describe The role of micro grids in future power systems):

About:

Micro grids are localized grids that can disconnect from the traditional grid to operate autonomously. Micro grids support a flexible and efficient electric grid by enabling the integration of growing deployments of distributed energy resources such as renewable like solar.

Role:

A micro grid is a localized group of electricity sources and loads that normally operates connected to and synchronous with the traditional wide area synchronous grid (macro grid), but can also disconnect to "island mode" — and function autonomously as physical or economic conditions dictate.

In detail:

Micro grids are now emerging from lab benches and pilot demonstration sites into commercial markets, driven by technological improvements, falling costs, a proven track record, and growing recognition of their benefits. They are being used to improve reliability and resilience of electrical grids, to manage the addition of distributed clean energy resources like wind and solar photo voltaic (PV) generation to reduce fossil fuel emissions, and to provide electricity in areas not served by centralized electrical infrastructure

Very often, various renewable technologies such as wind turbines and solar panels can be placed within residential buildings, alongside a battery to provide an alternative power source to the grid – not only providing environmental benefits, but also increasing energy efficiency and cost-savings. However, the performance of renewable is subject to variable weather conditions, which frustrates their ability to provide 100 per cent reliability.

For future technology:

As a modular and scalable technology, additional fuel cells can be added to a micro grid as our energy demands grow. Unlike solar and wind farms that require large spaces of land, fuel cells are also significantly easier to install in urban environments. Producing zero emissions, near silent and with no vibrations, fuel cells can sit outside or inside a building – so, in the case of hurricanes or severe weather, they can be placed within protected environments and be operational throughout and directly after the incident with no disruption to life-saving power.