Greentech Lead America: Technology major IBM is driving
advancements in smart grid technology with two major projects in the U.S. and
Europe.
In the European project, IBM is using the analytics,
warehouse sensors, supply chain schedules and real time energy data from the
grid to transform supermarket freezer warehouses in Switzerland into buffers or
cushions for the smart grid.
The Pacific Northwest Smart Grid Demonstration Project, a
five-state project involving 60,000 electric utility customers, is said to be
the largest in the world. The project, which will be live after two years, uses
the “transactive control system” signal that will fuel new methods of
integrating renewable energy generation, optimizing energy storage technology,
improving reliability and lowering costs.
The system optimizes energy usage based on the
availability of solar and wind energy. When the sun shines and the wind blows,
the air conditioning units in the freezer warehouse run high. When
renewable energy isn’t available they will run less or shut down completely,
easing pressure on the grid, enabling the grid to become more adaptive, smarter
and resilient, according to IBM.