How electrical 'microgrids' might revolutionize power transmission

[azul]

The Sacramento Municipal Utility District has long been seen as a clean technology pioneer. After all, this is a utility that shuttered a nuclear reactor after a public vote in 1989 and has since blazed trails on wind, solar and energy efficiency.

The company's corporate headquarters will soon show off a new technology – a "microgrid" – that many other utilities have long loathed and resisted. Microgrids promote energy independence, even allowing customers to secede from the larger utility grid powered up by their own resources. In an energy sector dominated by monopolies and centralized planning, microgrids could be a game-changer.



http://www.sacbee.com/2011/05/29/3660062/the-conversation-how-electrical.html

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. I don't see how that is 'revolutionary'

It requires power generation close to the users - which means you can't balance out loads between one area that's windy on one day and another that's windless. The same goes for cloudy and sunny weather - you lose the ability to send the power from one place to another. It will probably, therefore, require more equipment to get the same amount of power.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

2. Nothing says that small local grids will not be interconnected

The local generation concept is still being fleshed out, driven mostly by small renewables. While expectations of some are still way out of line with what is achievable, it is coming at some level. It is a major rethink of the grid as we have it today and there are still significant engineering challenges ahead.

Of keen interest to many is what Germany does. Their experience will guide a the rest of us in many ways.