A systematic mapping study of micro-grid architectures

Introduction:  Generation and energy consumption are a major issue in different countries around the world. Nowadays, projects under development seek the modernization of electric power generation and distribution systems. One of the main strategies is the design of context-adaptable micro-grid architectures. The micro-grid concept focuses on a controlled, monitored and highly autonomous use of electric power supported on information technologies, for the optimization of energy transfer, minimize risks and increase the system’s quality, efficiency and reliability. Goal: This article, therefore, aims to identify, classify and compare different micro-grid architectures, based on their applicability and research trends. Method: A systematic mapping study of micro-grid architectures is conducted to examine the experimental and theoretical contributions made by the scientific community. Results: This article categorizes and quantifies the different studies related to the subject, identifying and analyzing the strengths and opportunities for improvement in the applicability of micro-grid architectures. The trends observed highlight five strategies as the most relevant, whose different characteristics contribute to an automated and intelligent organization of the distribution, control and supervision of electricity according to supply versus demand

A systematic mapping study of micro-grid architectures

Introduction:  Generation and energy consumption are a major issue in different countries around the world. Nowadays, projects under development seek the modernization of electric power generation and distribution systems. One of the main strategies is the design of context-adaptable micro-grid architectures. The micro-grid concept focuses on a controlled, monitored and highly autonomous use of electric power supported on information technologies, for the optimization of energy transfer, minimize risks and increase the system’s quality, efficiency and reliability. Goal: This article, therefore, aims to identify, classify and compare different micro-grid architectures, based on their applicability and research trends. Method: A systematic mapping study of micro-grid architectures is conducted to examine the experimental and theoretical contributions made by the scientific community. Results: This article categorizes and quantifies the different studies related to the subject, identifying and analyzing the strengths and opportunities for improvement in the applicability of micro-grid architectures. The trends observed highlight five strategies as the most relevant, whose different characteristics contribute to an automated and intelligent organization of the distribution, control and supervision of electricity according to supply versus demand

The present and future of smart power grid in developing countries

Strong and huge interests on smart grid have increased extensively in recent years around the world. This scenario could be a promising reason for future research in this area. This next form of electricity grid will be able to manage various parts of power production from power plants to the customers. Smart grid has become a major challenge in developed nations in both research and utilization aspects. On the other side, application of smart grid in developing countries is still lagging behind as compared to the developed ones. However, most of developing nations are currently investigating potentials of some pilot projects or few research works. In this article, the applied activities in developing countries for smart grid are reviewed and categorized into two major groups: group of pioneer developing countries in smart grid and other developing countries are placed in another group. The findings demonstrate that a few countries such as China, India and Brazil have had proper planning and development in this technology. In some cases like China, the efforts are considered comparable with developed nations like U.S. Therefore, according to the development progress for smart grid in China, India and Brazil, a pattern of reference for other developing countries is suggested

Bringing power and progress to Africa in a financially and environmentally sustainable manner

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The future of electricity supply and delivery on the continent of Africa represents one of the thorniest challenges facing professionals in the global energy, economics, finance, environmental, and philanthropic communities. Roughly 600 million people in Africa lack any access to electricity. If this deficiency is not solved, extreme poverty for many Africans is virtually assured for the foreseeable future, as it is widely recognized that economic advancement cannot be achieved in the 21st Century without good electricity supply. Yet, if Africa were to electrify in the same manner pursued in developed economies around the world during the 20th Century, the planet’s global carbon budget would be vastly exceeded, greatly exacerbating the worldwide damages from climate change. Moreover, due to low purchasing power in most African economies and fiscal insolvency of most African utilities, it is unclear exactly how the necessary infrastructure investments can be deployed to bring ample quantities of power – especially zero-carbon power – to all Africans, both those who currently are unconnected to any grid as well as those who are now served by expensive, high-emitting, limited and unreliable electricity supply. With the current population of 1.3 billion people expected to double by 2050, the above-noted challenges associated with the African electricity sector may well get substantially worse than they already are – unless new approaches to infrastructure planning, development, finance and operation can be mobilized and propagated across the continent. This paper presents a summary of the present state and possible futures for the African electricity sector. A synthesis of an ever-growing body of research on electricity in Africa, this paper aims to provide the reader a thorough and balanced context as well as general conclusions and recommendations to better inform and guide decision-making and action. [TRUNCATED]This paper was developed as part of a broader initiative undertaken by the Institute for Sustainable Energy (ISE) at Boston University to explore the future of the global electricity industry. This ISE initiative – a collaboration with the Global Energy Interconnection and Development Cooperation Organization (GEIDCO) of China and the Center for Global Energy Policy within the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University – was generously enabled by a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies. The authors gratefully acknowledge the support and contributions of the above funders and partners in this research

The political economy of decarbonisation: exploring the dynamics of South Africa’s electricity sector

South Africa’s coal-dominated electricity sector, a key feature of the country’s minerals-energy complex, is in crisis and subject to change. This offers potential opportunities for decarbonisation. Despite positive examples of decarbonisation in South Africa’s electricity sector, such as a procurement programme for renewable energy, there are structural path dependencies linked to coal-fired generation and security of supply. Decarbonisation goes far beyond what is technologically or even economically feasible, to encompass a complexity of political, social and economic factors. Meanwhile, decision-making in electricity is highly politicised and lack of transparency and power struggles in the policy sphere pose key challenges. Such power struggles are reflected in national debates over which technologies should be prioritised and the institutional arrangements that should facilitate them

A Renewable Energy Plan for Mozambique

Mozambique has among the lowest uses of electricity in the world. Yet virtually all of the electricity it does produce from Cahora Bassa Dam on the Zambezi is shipped to its wealthy neighbor, South Africa. As the government prepares to build another costly large dam on the Zambezi that will also power South Africa rather than homes and businesses in Mozambique, a new report lays out a saner plan for developing renewable energy sources across the nation that would share the energy wealth more equitably; diversify the national electricity grid to help the nation adapt to climate change (which is expected to significantly affect large hydro), and build a clean energy sector that would also spare the Zambezi

The Motivation, Architecture and Demonstration of Ultralight Network Testbed

In this paper we describe progress in the NSF-funded Ultralight project and a recent demonstration of Ultralight technologies at SuperComputing 2005 (SC|05). The goal of the Ultralight project is to help meet the data-intensive computing challenges of the next generation of particle physics experiments with a comprehensive, network-focused approach. Ultralight adopts a new approach to networking: instead of treating it traditionally, as a static, unchanging and unmanaged set of inter-computer links, we are developing and using it as a dynamic, configurable, and closely monitored resource that is managed from end-to-end. Thus we are constructing a next-generation global system that is able to meet the data processing, distribution, access and analysis needs of the particle physics community. In this paper we present the motivation for, and an overview of, the Ultralight project. We then cover early results in the various working areas of the project. The remainder of the paper describes our experiences of the Ultralight network architecture, kernel setup, application tuning and configuration used during the bandwidth challenge event at SC|05. During this Challenge, we achieved a record-breaking aggregate data rate in excess of 150 Gbps while moving physics datasets between many sites interconnected by the Ultralight backbone network. The exercise highlighted the benefits of Ultralight's research and development efforts that are enabling new and advanced methods of distributed scientific data analysis