According to the CSIRO, an Australian energy distributor could soon trial technology that would allow energy consumers to slash their power usage in return for cash, and help cut the likelihood of power brownouts in Australia.
Meeting energy demand during peak times such as summer -- when air-conditioners and cooling requirements blitz energy supplies -- is a real problem for Australian energy distributors, Dr Alex Zelinsky, director of ICT, CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) told ZDNet Australia. If energy distributors can't meet demand during such times, consumers face "power brownouts".
In recent years, Australia's peak energy requirements have grown faster than base loads -- the minimum energy supplied regardless of demand -- increasing the chances of brownouts affecting businesses and homes, explained Dr Zelinsky. To avoid this occurring without having to build more power plants, energy distributors need a mechanism through which they can trade with consumers and ration limited energy supplies.
"If you can find a way to make the curve between peak and base loads come down -- without building extra infrastructure -- it leaves more energy to operate datacentres," said Dr Zelinsky.
The system the CSIRO has developed to achieve this is a "distributed agent bidding system", which uses information collected from a network of "smart sensors" located at businesses and homes which calculate the total amount of energy required at a given time of day. Using that information, a network of energy traders or "agents" could bid for energy at crucial times of day, resulting in limited energy supplies being allocated to the highest bidding agent. Dr Zelinsky said the ability to ration energy will help reduce peak load demand for energy and thereby prevent brownouts.
"When the cost of energy is high, you could pay people to turn off their energy-consuming devices or reduce consumption, such as turning off or adjusting an air-conditioning system," said Dr Zelinsky. "What we're talking about here is actively managing demand as opposed to supply."
Currently energy distributors such as AGL, Energy Australia and Energex pay power stations for energy, however under the CSIRO's bidding system, Dr Zelinsky said: "An energy distributor could -- rather than pay a power station for energy -- negotiate with consumers via a distributed agent system." Consumers who agree to cut their usage could then be rewarded with cash or energy credits.
The first step to making this system a reality, said Dr Zelinsky, is enticing a commercial partner to establish a prototypical demonstration centre where people can see the system work. He said an energy distributor is "considering the technology" and once the prototype has been built, it would take two years for it to be released commercially.
However, Dr Zelinsky said the Australian energy distributor that is considering the technology still needs to source a critical component to build the prototype: smart sensors, which he said will likely come from General Electric or Honeywell.
Another benefit to businesses, and eventually home energy users, is the potential to profit from alternative energy supplies such as wind or solar.
"We have been looking at using a wind power system. If the price is better than the cost of running your own turbines, you could contribute that energy to the power grid," Dr Zelinsky said.
Dr Zelinsky said a first release of what is called the "GridAgents software framework" has been built, and the wind power system test site is being built at the CSIRO Energy Centre in Newcastle.
I know the initiative with this is to provide incentive to engery consumers to reduce their usage. But I can't help thinking that this initiative rewards those who, at the time it's implemented, have high usage. Those consumers who have already reduced their usage miss out.