Renewable energy vs. the electric grid - Solar, Wind and Land: Conflicts in Renewable Energy Development - page 161

Easing grid management through smarter grids
The most promising way to reduce grid management difficulties in an era
of wind and solar energy is to make the grid itself “smarter” and better
equipped to quickly adapt to fluctuations in electricity supply and demand.
In the case involving the Vermont wind farms described above, the parties
ultimately determined that installing a new piece of equipment could largely
ameliorate their problem. 59 Innovative enhancements to grids aimed at
dealing with these sorts of disruptions are commonly referred to as “smart
grid” technologies.
A fully updated smart grid can provide almost instantaneous infor-
mation to grid operators regarding the amounts of electricity being
supplied and consumed at any given time and can respond quickly and
effectively to changes. The following definition by the Electric Power
Research Institute (EPRI) more completely describes the concept of smart
grid technology:
The term “Smart Grid” refers to the modernization of the electricity
delivery system so that it monitors, protects, and automatically
optimizes the operation of its interconnected elements—from the
central and distributed generator through the high-voltage transmission
network and the distribution system, to industrial users and building
automation systems, to energy storage installations, and to end-use
consumers, and their thermostats, electric vehicles, appliances, and
other household devices. 60
A smart grid that fully fits the definition above is presently little more
than an idealized, “pie-in-the-sky” fantasy in most of the world. The EPRI
estimates that fully building out such a grid in the United States alone
would require a net investment of between $338 billion and $476 billion. 61
The U.S. seems unlikely to invest anything near that sum of money in grid
infrastructure improvements anytime soon.
Still, even modest upgrades focused on specific smart grid concepts
could do much to mitigate the intermittency and variability challenges
raised by the addition of wind and solar energy systems to the grid. The
U.S. could upgrade only its high-voltage transmission infrastructure with
“smart” devices for roughly $60 billion, and researchers in this area
believe such upgrades would be the “most cost-effective category of smart
grid investments.” 62 In the U.S. or in any country, these sorts of upgrades
can dramatically improve system operators' abilities to balance electricity
supply and demand as more and more renewable energy systems begin
delivering power onto grid systems. Such benefits make smart grid innova-
tions an essential element of any plan to prevent grid disruption concerns
from slowing the long-term growth of wind and solar energy.