Smart Grid Tour in the Northwest Focuses on Integrating Renewable Energy into the Grid
In Portland on July 14th, renewable energy was at the forefront of conversation. The Siemens Smart Grid Tour rolled into Portland on Wednesday, where integrating renewables into the power grid was a hot topic for local utilities. One such example, Puget Sound Energy recently announced that it will build a 350 megawatt wind turbine farm, The Lower Snake River Wind Project in Washington State. This project will supply power to 100,000 homes.
Of course, whether the conversation starts with smart power generation and renewables or smart grid, the audience in Portland knows that neither will be successful without enabling smart consumption. Siemens displayed how the Smart Grid of today will change in the coming years, as more of our power supply is generated from renewable sources and addresses requirements for distributed generation, improved customer interaction and in principle bi-directional communication as more and more smart consumers begin to utilize tools being made available to manage their consumption and potential for conservation or green generation.
Of course, getting renewable energy into the grid is only one side of the story told in Portland. The many new ways that energy will be pulled from the grid was also discussed at length. A big topic of discussion in some circles related to enabling the customer through the mandate of the utility in an integrated systems approach that unifies operations and information/communications technology so that front end grid intelligence can be leveraged in a business context and customer satisfaction.
As a fun initiative Siemens displayed their electric chopper motorcycle, for the audience to imagine the possibilities of the future of “cool” two-wheel electric transportation. Portland today is already active as a cycling community and the potential of electric choppers extends the possibilities significantly for great Sunday rides.
Paul Burkey of the Oregon Electric Vehicle Association (OEVA) displayed his Sparrow NMG (no more gas) electric vehicle. All together OEVA displayed 3 electric cars in Siemens Smart Grid dome to demonstrate how easily consumers can charge their cars. This could quite possibly “fuel” an e-car revolution!
Portland was the fourth city to host the Siemens Answers. The Smart Grid Tour, and we’re not through yet. Stay tuned for the next stop, New Jersey, in September:
- September 28 – New York City
- October 20-21 – Washington, D.C.
To learn more and register to attend in a city near you, go to: http://www.smartgridtour.com/
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