The beginning of digital transformation has kickstarted a new digital age, where increased technological reliance is common at both a consumer and enterprise level. Because of this, nowadays, nearly all aspects of modern life rely on a robust and resilient power grid and transmission systems. With the electrification of the transportation, heating, and data application sectors expected to continue significantly, the demand for electricity around the country will only increase the current dependence on transmission systems to new heights.
Unfortunately, according to the American Society for Civil Engineers, most of the nation’s current transmission and distribution lines were constructed in the 1950s and 1960s and have a 50-year life expectancy. This means much of the current transmission system has reached the end of its life span and that in the near future, or even sooner, the U.S. will require upgrades and modernization of the transmission infrastructure.
On top of age issues, the current transmission system also has technological and sustainability problems. The limited, one-way interaction of the transmission system makes it difficult to adequately accommodate the myriad of new devices and applications. As for ecologically, these transmission lines have transported power from coal, natural gas, and hydroelectric generators to our population centers on predictable schedules, but the clean energy future will demand more flexibility and geographical coverage from the grid.
Thankfully, the enhancement of the current transmission system is already being tackled from a variety of different angles, which is no surprise given the multitude of different aspects that need improvement. For example, topology optimization, which is a mathematical method that optimizes material layout within a given design space for a given set of loads, boundary conditions, and constraints with the goal of maximizing the performance of the system, is rapidly becoming a popular tool to pair with the abundance of innovative devices and applications available.
Led by NewGrid, a software firm in the electric power industry made up of engineers, researchers, software developers, and economists with years of experience in power systems and markets analysis and design, topology optimization can help create a more efficient transmission system. The technology leverages the high-voltage circuit breakers deployed across transmission grids, which are typically used for reliability applications such as preventing flows from disrupting or damaging equipment or causing cascading grid failures.
Theoretically, it has always been possible to open and close these circuit breakers to allow power to flow more efficiently across the transmission network in response to ongoing changes in grid conditions. But figuring out which ones should be opened and closed has been far too complex a math problem for real-time or even day-ahead grid operations.
However, topology optimization software can accurately identify the beneficial reconfiguration options among calculating the trillions of combinations of control settings that can alter the path-of-least-resistance flows of power across a transmission network. This can help engineers to avoid congestion and curtailments affecting renewable power plants by rerouting flow around bottlenecks. This is done by opening and closing transmission circuits, much like traffic lights in a big city.
According to a report done by the DOE in February, topology optimization technology has the power to provide great benefits to the current transmission system. The report states that topology optimization can “route power flow around congested or overloaded transmission elements,” which in turn “increases the transfer capacity of the grid.”
Simulations that have applied NewGrid’s optimization across entire grid-operator networks have shown the potential to reduce existing congestion costs by 30 to 50 percent. Furthermore, even for just reconfiguration projects, topology optimization can increase power flow by up to 56 percent thanks to enhancements in travel efficiency. This makes topology optimization technology practically a necessity for transmission system enhancement projects, given the advantages the technology can offer efficiency-wise and sustainability-wise.
The post Through Topology Optimization, NewGrid Routing Software Is Reducing Congestion Costs By 50% appeared first on Industrial Innovation.