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Getting smart
about power grids
By Kathrine Schmeichel
Intelligent energy systems that allow customers to
produce energy will help tap the potential of renewables
and make it easier for us to wean ourselves off fossil
fuels, according to cowi energy expert Jens Ole Hansen
In a not too distant future, heat and
electricity customers will also act as
producers, generating electricity,
heat and cooling for an ‘intelligent’
energy system.
By drawing on the sun, wind and
biomass to generate electricity, the
network will ensure that homes, offices
and electric cars work together
with combined heat and power
plants, wind farms and district
heating stations to meet our power
needs.
For the individual household,
the intelligent energy system will
make it possible to programme
“As it is today, we have a ton of
‘dumb’ networks for electricity,
cooling and heating that operate
totally independently”
washing machines to turn on when
there is excess capacity on the network
– normally at night – when
rates are also lowest. Rooftop solar
panels, meanwhile, can generate
electricity for use elsewhere on the
network. At night, excess electricity
can be used to recharge the family’s
electric car, or be sent out on to
the network should there be a
demand for it.
Even though this vision of the
future will not be coming true tomorrow,
Head of Department and
energy expert Jens Ole Hansen believes
the intelligent energy systems
are the only future possible if we are
to break our reliance on coal and oil.
“As it is today, we have a ton of
‘dumb’ networks for electricity, cooling
and heating that operate totally
independently. What we need to do
is to integrate them so they can
communicate with each other,”
Hansen says.
Doing so, according to
Hansen, will allow us to make
better use of renewable, but
unpredictable, energy sources
like wind and solar.
“In Denmark we get more
than a fourth of our electricity
from renewable sources,
but sometimes
our excess production
is so
high that we
wind up delivering it to the German
electrical grid for almost free.”
Being able to use more renewable
energy sources, Hansen says,
requires creating an interactive
system that allows power to flow to
and from the end-user, in contrast
to the one-way orientation of
today’s networks.
Electrical grid overhaul
In addition to
being the foundation
for our
indepen-
Smart grids building momentum
Worldwide, there are only a handful of projects involving
intelligent energy systems. One of them is in Boulder, Colorado,
where Xcel Energy is involved in a pilot project to
transform the city’s power grid to a smart grid that will use
digital technology to let its 100,000 residents track their
energy use and scale it back during peak hours. Homes with
rooftop solar panels will be able to sell any excess power
they generate back to Xcel Energy.
In March, Energinet.dk, an independent public enterprise
that owns Denmark’s main electricity and natural gas grids,
joined together with 13 European partners to apply for EUR
15 million in EU funding to build the Eco Grid EU smart grid
project on the island of Bornholm. The goal of the project is
to make it possible to use more than 50 per cent renewable
energy.
Source: Ingeniøren and sustainablecities.dk
dence from
fossil fuels,
Hansen sees intelligent
energy
systems as necessary
for preventing
global climate change.
“If we do not want
temperatures to rise by
more than 2° C by the end
of the next century, we
need to begin using more renewables
right now. But even
if countries’ renewable use
amounts to less than 30 per cent
of their total needs, the world’s
electrical grid still needs a major
overhaul.”
“Even though there are few realworld
examples to go by, global interest
in intelligent energy systems
continues to grow,” Hansen says,
adding that many wrongly use the
term ‘smart grids’ to describe them.
“Smart grids apply only to the
electrical grid. Intelligent energy
systems also include heating and
cooling networks.”
Holding the network together
Energy policy, technology and new
ways to store electricity are all key
components in the development
of intelligent energy systems.
“We want to be the engine that
drives development of intelligent
energy systems,” Hansen says. “As
a consultancy, it is our job to make
sure things work together, and that
they perform optimally, be it strategy
and project management or implementation
and development of
energy concepts. Thanks to core
competences that include energy
systems, district heating, wind,
biomass and waste to energy, we
have a competitive advantage that
we expect will make us a leader
internationally.”
When it comes down to it,
Hansen points out, many cowi
projects relate in some way or another
to intelligent energy systems.
“And that applies whether you are
talking about wind farms, micro
“We need to come up with
a system that allows everyone
to use and contribute energy,
but which does not rely on
any one single technology”
heat plant demonstration projects
for homes or sustainable energy
concepts for buildings and neighbourhoods.”
Demonstration projects
Hansen explains that in order to
ensure cowi continues to undertake
new demonstration projects that
can lead to the creation of new technologies,
the company maintains an
open dialogue with local authorities,
energy
companies,
research institutes
and manufacturers.
“Right now
we are trying
to finalise the
details of a project involving intelligent
energy systems in a mediumsized
Danish town.”
Asked what the shape of tomorrow’s
energy supply system will
look like, Hansen answers:
“We need to come up with a system
that allows everyone to use and
contribute energy, but which does
not rely on any one single technology.”
30 • International news magazine from cowi International news magazine from cowi • 31
Photo: FotoCD
@ Jens
Ole Hansen, department
head and energy expert,
jha@cowi.com
COWI department head
Jens Ole Hansen. Photo:
Morten Larsen