Decimal States Smart Grid Operations Concept: Technical Solution and Benefit for Renewable Energy Integration

Abstract

The energy transition is a global challenge that retains the attention of a wide range of stakeholders including engineers, regulators, consumers, investors, and academicians. With higher intermittent renewable energy penetration, electrification of mobility, and intensification of air conditioning demand, important stress on the power grid, resulting in overloading of distribution network infrastructures and grid stability issues may arise in near future. Various solutions such as smart metering, demand response, and energy storage have been explored, however, their cost-to-benefit ratio is still not satisfying. This paper explores a new grid operation concept named "Decimal State" grid which dynamically throttles the subscribed power to match the grid supply capability without a direct load control. A simple yet effective communication method has been built and tested to support the implementation of the decimal state grid. Also, simulations showed that decimal state grid operation can avoid power outages in both fossil fuel or fully solar powered grid with a power deficit. Further, the simulation revealed that a decimal state grid can significantly reduce the size of long-duration energy storage.