Dave Reed.
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A relative recently sent me a video clip of a man standing in front of a Tesla charging station and threateningly warning about how much energy electric vehicles use. The point of the video seemed to be that charging stations use so much power that the grid cannot handle the increased load.
It's an important question: Can the grid handle the transition of all our cars and homes to electricity? And that question is linked to another: How will the grid, originally designed in a different era for conventional energy sources, work with far more wind, solar and distributed energy sources?
I can assure you that utility executives and electrical engineers are spending a lot of time figuring out how to manage this transition while keeping the lights on.
I recently spoke to David Bleakley, vice president of engineering at Holy Cross Energy, about this. In fact, Holy Cross is at the forefront of energy providers transitioning to carbon-free electricity and has set a goal of making the electricity it supplies 100% renewable on an annual basis by 2030.
Bleakley said that while he and his colleagues may not have all the answers today, they are confident they can resolve anticipated issues so Holy Cross can meet its 2030 goal. However, it will undoubtedly take longer for the larger network to get there.
Several factors are accelerating the transition to a greener grid. First, the cost of renewable energy has fallen by about 90% over the last decade, completely upending the economics of electricity generation. Simply put, wind and solar farms are now a better investment than fossil fuel power plants in most situations, and major utilities are quickly bringing new renewable energy online and shutting down old power plants.
Another game-changer is battery storage. About a decade ago, it was widely believed that renewable energy could only meet a small portion of demand due to its variability and that fossil fuel power plants were required to provide the “base load.” Thanks to the increasing affordability of lithium-ion batteries and the introduction of other storage technologies, utilities can use more of the electricity generated by wind and solar energy and reduce their dependence on fossil fuels. Over time, electric vehicles are expected to act as additional battery storage on the grid, providing even greater flexibility.
The grid is now becoming “smarter” and is giving energy suppliers new tools with which they can make more optimal use of the energy they have already produced.
When operating the network, the main aim is to meet peak demand – not average demand. Every energy supplier experiences peak demand; for most, it happens on summer afternoons when the air conditioners are working their hardest; Although there are winter nights in the Holy Cross area. No utility wants to fall behind schedule at times like this (as has happened in Texas in recent years), so, as Bleakley said, they have an incentive to “build the church for Easter Sunday.”
But thanks to smart meters, digital controls and an increasingly decentralized grid where power can flow in both directions, utilities can better manage demand and mitigate these peaks. If the utility avoids building another substation, it could save ratepayers millions. It is the equivalent of adding a second service instead of building a larger church.
Another way to balance supply and demand is to build more high-voltage long-distance transmission lines to integrate the patchwork of regional distribution networks into a larger network. Unfortunately, it takes several years to get regulatory approval to build such lines and they often face legal challenges. This is a major hurdle that network operators are trying to overcome.
But back to this video: Will the grid be able to meet the additional power demands of electric vehicles, heat pumps and all the other wonderful electrical conveniences that have yet to be invented and that we will eventually believe we cannot live without can? ?
I asked Bleakely this question and his answer was a nuanced yes.
Local utilities are certainly anticipating increased demand from electric vehicles, he said, but extending power to new charging stations is really no different than extending power to a new neighborhood — that's what utilities do. There are predictions that the grid will eventually need to double its capacity to power an all-electric economy, but he sees some promising signs that energy efficiency can offset some of that increase. The annual growth rate is unlikely to be much greater than we would expect based on population growth alone.
In addition to utilities, state and local governments and nonprofits are also working behind the scenes to ease the transition. Garfield County is currently developing an EV Readiness Plan to provide guidance to the county on how to prepare for expected growth in electric vehicles. The state of Colorado provides grants to install public charging stations, and CLEER provides free assistance to grant seekers in our region.
The switch to electric vehicles will be completely voluntary, so realistically it will take decades, as will the development of the corresponding charging infrastructure. Fully electrifying buildings will likely take even longer. But there are a few things to keep in mind.
First, these technologies will not increase our overall energy consumption, but rather decrease it. Rather, it is a redistribution of resources from certain forms of energy (fossil fuels) to others (renewable energy sources).
Second, although the transformation of the network will require significant investment, it will take decades. That's why utilities like Holy Cross believe they can adapt in time, even if they don't yet know exactly how everything will work. The flip side of that coin, however, is that this is why climate experts are so insistent that we have no time to waste and must make measurable progress every year to meet the U.S.'s stated goal of being carbon-free by 2050.
Dave Reed is Communications Director for Clean Energy Economy for the Region (CLEER).
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