Vision ＼ Smart Sending

Smart Distribution
In the past, when a typhoon, an earthquake, an object collision or an equipment abnormality leaded to the power outage, Taipower had to send the first line of repair personnel, rushed to the power outage area to find the line fault location, and then operated the switch to isolate the accident section and reduce the disaster area in person.However, this does not only cause the time-consuming and the high-cost, but also makes the repair personnel trapped in public security. Therefore, we need a new system to remote and monitor the power situation.“TPC Feeder Automation” to speed up the recovery time, reduces the labor cost and improves safety in work.
In weekdays, Feeder Remote Terminal Unit (FRTU), the one part of TPC Feeder Automation, is like a scout to check in emergency. Each electric grid is all under the surveillance and report to the command center. When the cable is out of order, the system will signify the detail of this problem. It also can automatically and remotely operate.

Explaining Smart Distribution

The system takes three steps, which are disorder detection, section separation and electricity recovery to shorten the power failure. When incidents happen, FRTU will find out the disorder section and turn off the switch remotely, then narrow down the affected range, and finally recover electricity to unaffected area. Downstream user will use contact point with other cable to support the electricity. Even without contact point, neighbors can activate the micro-grid to maintain the basic support to electricity. If user has Home Energy Management Systems with storage system, it can support the electricity while Taiwan Power Company is repairing. With this system it can shorten three to five minutes.
In the future, the Power Line Feeder Automation system will upgrade to Advanced Distribution Management System (ADMS). ADMS will manage the power, predict the power generation and control the voltage. From surveillance and allocation, ADMS can maintain the stability and quantity of the grid. Power Line Feeder Automation System has been covered more gradually. Taiwan Power Company will make the service and quantity better by renewing the system.

Smart Dispatching
Taiwan’s power system consists of more than 100 power plants, including firepower, hydropower, nuclear power, and wind power, and transmission and distribution lines with a total length of more than 386,000 kilometers to make a complex electric grid. Taipower load dispatching center is the heart of power system. The dispatcher needs to monitor the operation status of the power system 24 hours a day, and dispatch the generator’s power generation in time to maintain the stability of the power system and meet the power demand of the whole station.
In order to achieve the goal of energy transformation and non-nuclear homes, Taiwan has fully utilized local natural resources to promote renewable energy power generation projects actively. For example, it is suitable for setting the offshore wind turbine in the middle of Taiwan because it is a neritic sea with a lot of wind, and it is suitable for promoting solar energy in the south because it is very shiny. The proportion of renewable energy power generation will reach 20% of the whole system by 2025. The power system is transforming from the traditional centralized power supply structure to the distributed power supply gradually, so the large increase in renewable energy will become a big challenge in power dispatching.

Explaining Smart Dispatching

A cloud or a gust of wind will cause dramatic changes in power generation due to wind and solar power is affected by the seasons and weather. Therefore, the dispatch center needs surveillance and prediction, and dispatch other units and equipment in time to provide stable power. Take the “one-day load curve” as an example, solar energy starts to generate electricity after sunrise, and after reaching the peak at noon, the power generation is gradually reduced to the end till sunset. In order to balance the demand for electricity in each period, traditional power plants must respond to the unstable power generation of renewable energy. When solar power is gradually increasing, other units need to be unloaded to avoid oversupplying power. However, solar power generation begins to plummet in the evening, and the power generation of other power plants will increase rapidly to make up for the power generation gap to avoid a whole power system collapse. There is a famous “Duck Curve” of power generation because when the percentage of renewable energy is higher, the duck neck is longer. Taipower is planning many projects to face amount of risks and challenges of grid-connected energy.

Interactive device for Smart Dispatching

On the side of supply, Taipower must improve the efficiency and flexibility of the power plant, build gas units can stop and load quickly, and flexibly dispatch water pumping power plants. In addition, a large-scale energy storage system is installed to convert intermittent renewable energy into stable dispatched power.On the side of user, Taipower promotes the “demand response” to encourage users to reduce electricity consumption during peak hours or to suppress electricity demand through time electricity prices actively.On the side of power dispatching, Taipower uses timely climate information, introduce artificial intelligence and big data analysis, cooperate with meteorological bureaus or private industry, and establish electric weather maps to improve the accuracy of renewable energy power generation forecasting, so that dispatchers can respond to system changes in advance. Besides, they would like to modify regulations and control renewable energy generation to improve the reliability of the power supply system. Taipower hopes to use the new technology to implement energy transformation and move towards a new realm of smart scheduling.