UK’s first smart grid installed in Orkneys

The Orkney Registered Power Zone (RPZ) has been installed by Smarter Grid Solutions, a Glasgow-based company that provides smart grid products and services to the power industry.

Smart Grid technology allows the management of multiple renewable generators running on a grid network through the monitoring and controlling of power flows. This flow management is vital when dealing with the inconsistent power generated through renewable devices that are dependent on elements, such as the strength and movements of the wind and tide that cannot be controlled.

Through collecting data from measuring devices distributed around the network, and feeding it through to a central controller, smart grid technology can ensure that potential network problems are avoided. These include ‘thermal bottlenecks’, whereby transformers overheat or overhead lines sag, or a renewable device running at full output at a time of minimum demand.

Alan Gooding, managing director of SGS, said: “This technology will allow the cost effective and faster connection of significantly more megawatts of renewable generation to existing electricity networks and help the UK achieve its very ambitious renewable targets.

"The Orkneys are an excellent location to investigate how smart grid technology can help us manage the technical strains that renewable energy devices put on conventional power grids.”

SGS is backed by Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) and Scottish Enterprise’s Scottish Co-investment Fund. The company is a spin out of the University of Strathclyde and its 'active network management' technology, SGi, has been created and tested collaboratively over the last six years, with SSE.

The Government has pledged to invest £6 billion in smart grid and the technology is expected to be more in demand as further renewable energy devices are connected to the grid to meet the UK's 2020 emissions targets.