The town of Field, British Columbia is now home to a state-of-the-art battery back-up energy source, storing clean energy that can be used to help meet the area’s electricity needs in the event of a power outage, and to reduce system load during periods of high demand. The system is run by NSMG-Net utility partner BC Hydro, and part-funded by NSMG-Net government partner NRCan‘s Clean Energy Fund.
There are a number of issues that affect electricity reliability and response times to outages in the area due to its remote location. The distribution line that provides power to Field runs along a CP Rail line, which can make it challenging for BC Hydro repair crews to access the line and locate faults during an outage. The battery improves reliability for Field by providing a critical source of back-up power during prolonged outages.
In addition to improving reliability, the battery facility helps reduce the costs and environmental impacts of supplemental supply (such as diesel generators) that are used during prolonged power outages.
On Monday, July 15, 2013 BC Hydro experienced their first power outage since connecting the battery to the grid. The system was able to recognize the outage and switch to battery power, supplying the town’s electricity needs (about 200-300kW) for 7.3 hours before the power was restored. At that time, the system automatically disconnected the battery and reconnected the town to the distribution grid. The community is now eager to have a notification of when the battery is in use and modify their consumption accordingly. All in all it was very successful. Since the successful outage incident in July 2013, the battery is also being used to supply the town’s peak demand from 4-8 p.m. and then is recharged overnight.
The Santiago Symposium on Microgrids took place in Santiago, Chile in early September. In total there were 110 in attendance, with various presentations about innovations in different fields through the expertise from around the world. NSMG-Net partners and researchers had a significant presence at the Symposium, through presentations, poster sessions, and discussions.
Photograph of attendees of the Santiago 2013 Symposium on Microgrids.
The Symposium covered diverse topics on Microgrids including: remote communities, extreme operating conditions, advanced protection in Microgrids, renewable energy in Microgrids, energy storage systems, grid-connected Microgrids, demand-side management, energy management systems, clusters of Microgrids, economic analyses and business cases, demonstration projects and political initiatives, sizing and planning studies, and V2G applications. The final panel session involved many experts from utilities, companies, and academia discussing issues on commercializing Microgrid technologies – including standardization, barriers, market space, maturity of technologies, and economics.
The Symposium ended with a tour of the University of Chile’s facilities, which included a tour of the MicroHydro Lab, a 1.2 kW solar racing car, and a low voltage Microgrid test laboratory.
On July 26th, 2013 NSMG-Net researchers, partners and guests gathered in Vancouver, BC to share research and plan collaborations.
Our first speakers set the scene, by describing the modern microgrid context. Mark McGranaghan from EPRI spoke on “The role of the Microgrid in the electric distribution system”, Sara Bavarian described “Utility Telecommunication Strategic Planning” and Network Leader Hassan Farhangi provided an update on “The BCIT Campus Microgrid”.
This was followed by Theme Leader presentations, summarizing research progress to date, and presentations by students on select research highlights. All presentations are available for download from the publications page.
In the afternoon, students pitched their posters in quick succession, just four minutes and two slides each. This innovative session was a great way to cover a wide range of work, and allow the audience and poster judges to hear directly from students the core import of their work.
Our judging panel of Heather Quinn, Dave Michelson, Hassan Farhangi, Geza Joos and Sol Lancashire visited the posters, scored them against four objective criteria, and finally chose the following three winners:
- Michael Ross, McGill University, for his poster Multi-Objective Optimization Dispatch for Microgrids with a High Penetration of Renewable Generation
- Ahda Pionkoski Grilo Pavani of University of Alberta, for her poster Microgrid Load Monitoring Using State Estimation Techniques
- Moien Manbachi of Simon Fraser University, for his poster Smart Grid Adaptive Solution for Volt/VAR Optimization (VVO) of Distribution Networks Using VAR Dispatch
The first prize is a the chance to represent NSMG-Net at the Symposium on Microgrids in Santiago Chile. The second and third prizes were generously donated by NSMG-Net partner Schneider Electric were a suitcase and high-performance jacket respectively.
Thanks to all the student who submitted posters for the competition, and everyone who contributed to make our 2013 the most dynamic AGM yet!
Ahead of the IEEE PES General Meeting in Vancouver, the Society magazine has a feature on microgrids.
Conference attendees interested in the latest Canadian smart microgrid research are welcome to stick around for the NSMG-Net AGM, which follows on Friday, July 26th 2013. Please contact the Network Manager for more details.
Not long now until Friday 26th July, when the NSMG-Net Year Three AGM will be held at the Vancouver Convention Centre!
Researchers, students and partners at the 2012 AGM
Students preparing posters and presentations may use the NSMG-Net templates (see the Students page for more stationery). If you use your own formats, please be sure to include the NSERC and NSMG-Net logos most prominently.
Our meeting this year is timed to coincide with IEEE Power & Energy Society General Meeting, which is hosted and sponsored by NSMG-Net partner BC Hydro and which will attract professionals from many Canadian utilities and technology companies.
NSMG-Net Researchers and Students that have not yet registered for IEEE PES should do so as soon as possible. This is a great opportunity for students to meet their future employers! Researchers should use their project travel budget for all AGM expenses (travel, board and conference fee).
As a reminder, all NSMG-Net industry and government partners are strongly encouraged to participate in the NSMG-Net AGM, which is in fact open to all interested parties.
Please be sure to inform the Network Manager of your arrival and departure dates, and your party size for final catering purposes.
Remember to use Linkedin, Twitter and our own website to discuss and highlight Canadian and international microgrid news and events.
