Redefining sustainability in the electric power distribution context
Before the deregulation of the electric utility market purely technical considerations were governing the planning of electric power distribution systems. After the opening of the electricity market there has been a free competition among power producers and between energy sales companies. The network companies, geographically still in a monopoly position, have been imposed regulatory quality and efficiency rules. Consequently the involved parties tend to do planning just for obtaining the best short-term economical result. The trend is further emphasized by the fact that the share of investor-owned utilities is increasing. In the new environment sustainability is mainly dealt with as a power generation matter, where limitation of carbon emission and utilization of renewable and distributed energy resources are decisive issues. As far as the power distribution process and the power system equipment are concerned, sustainability aspects are, in general, not taken into account. The SmartGrid and the MicroGrid concepts, for instance, mainly focus on the utilization of distributed energy resources and on the efficient use of energy. In this paper the term sustainability is extended to also cover the power system equipment. The paper introduces a planning concept that can be applied to any area of sustainability and that focuses on each relevant aspect of the area. By using the presented approach the central aspects are covered to obtain maximum value for the involved stakeholders. The method is especially important as todays technology provides a number of possibilities, but without the right approach the installations may be insufficiently utilized. Thus the potential of the available resources is directly wasted and, furthermore, the crippled functionality may increase work efforts needed, cause additional expenses and less satisfactory output. With the method introduced in this paper the authors provide a planning concept that is easy to apply throughout the power process – from the elaboration of requirements to the evaluation of an existing installation. In the concept, any major risks related to the various process elements are identified and potential correlations are mapped and the impact on system security and sustainability is analyzed.
Sustainability Risk management Security Reliability Availability Safety Protection Management Operation Management Asset Management Business Management
Erkki Antila Goran Wiklund
University of Vaasa, Vaasa, Finland ABB Oy, Vaasa, Finland
国际会议
桂林
英文
1-18
2009-10-28（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）