Diverse Strategies and Applications

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By Vishu Gupta, Rajesh Kumar & BK Panigrahi

With limitations on fossil fuels and increase in the amount of released emissions, the transportation sector is being redesigned. The use of Electric Vehicles (EV) instead of harmful emission releasing Internal Combustion Engine vehicles (ICEV) proposes to not only solve the problem of accessibility and affordability of expensive fossil fuels but also helps with the reduction in the emissions from the growing number of vehicles. A number of countries across the globe have targets set out for electrification of transportation and hope to replace a certain percentage, if not all, of their ICEVs. This is a challenge, especially in densely populated countries such as India where the number of registered vehicles currently exceeds 200 million.

By Daniel Kushner and Aleksi Paaso 

A resilient and sustainable electric grid isn’t just a luxury; it’s the basis of a long-term economy. In Puerto Rico, failure of the grid due to Hurricane Maria has led to a startling loss of life and large-scale emigration as many lost hopes in the economic prospects of the island. The challenges of building a grid that can meet the needs of the communities who rely on it are tremendous, both in terms of cost and implementation. This is especially significant as we simultaneously seek to integrate higher levels of renewable generation in order to make it possible to mitigate the effects of climate change. Fortunately, accomplishing all of these is becoming significantly more possible thanks to microgrid technology.

By Peter Palensky and Ties van der Heijden

The Netherlands is a low-lying country in the Rhine-Meuse delta. The rivers Rhine, Meuse and Scheldt flow through the Netherlands. Besides that, a large part of the country lies below mean sea level (MSL). This makes managing water-levels necessary. The country has many pumping stations (with combined pump-power of about 221MW) that are used to control the inland waterway system for transport, flood mitigation, drought mitigation, water quality control, and more. The everyday use of pumping stations has a predictable nature, which could actively help stabilize the electricity grid through smart control. In this article, we discuss a DR method using the day ahead and intraday market to minimize energy costs.

By Giuliana Leone, Rossano Musca, Mariano Giuseppe Ippolito, Eleonora Riva Sanseverino, Gaetano Zizzo, Marina Bonomolo, Marco Beccali, Biagio Di Pietra, Francesco Monteleone

Small islands are, in most cases, autonomous energy systems not supplied by the main power grid and essentially based on local diesel generators and renewable energy plants. The energy efficiency issue for such systems has become one of the hottest subjects for the EU and various research organizations worldwide. In the last ten years, ENEA (Italian National Board for New Technology, Energy and the Environment) in collaboration with the University of Palermo has extensively studied both the transition of the traditional power system of such islands towards a smart grid structure and the rational utilization of the local resources for hot water production, air-conditioning, heating and other building services. The article will discuss the main challenges of such a transition.


Past Issues

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IEEE Smart Grid Bulletin Editors

IEEE Smart Grid Bulletin Compendium

The IEEE Smart Grid Bulletin Compendium "Smart Grid: The Next Decade" is the first of its kind promotional compilation featuring 32 "best of the best" insightful articles from recent issues of the IEEE Smart Grid Bulletin and will be the go-to resource for industry professionals for years to come. Click here to read "Smart Grid: The Next Decade"