Yesterday, I attended the launch of the Intelligent Grid Research Program (iGrid) at UTS in Sydney. This is a 3 year series of research projects and a collaboration between the CSIRO and several Australian Universities to investigate "smaller, greeener energy generators and advanced control systems".
The launch was a smorgasbord of ideas from industry, Energy providers, Universities, and CSIRO, and included two video conference keynotes - one from Nancy Ryan, California Public Utilities Commission, and the other from Associate Prof. Ho Hiang Kwee, Director A*Star Sinergy Centre, Singapore. While there was obviously a huge amount of expertise (virtual and in real time time space) in one room, it also became clear that no one person or entity had all the answers. And that the ideas would come out of initiatives such as these. But ideas must be turned into practical solutions, and that's the opportunity for business and industry.
Intelligent grid's of the future will provide the flexibility that we need to integrate local power generation and help us manage peak loads. Smart metering is a key to engaging users and to help modify energy patterns, and will provide important data for planning. Some of the seven identified projects will also address the regulatory barriers to the Intelligent grid -and this will underpin the next steps - a Grid that meets our needs in a world where smarter and smaller are an integral part of the solution. I see this as a hopeful and necessary part of future intelligent grids, where businesses, or individual homeowners are able to make intelligent choices about sourcing power from a range of suppliers of all levels and sizes.
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