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an asset versus CapEX investment for businesses is a key driver behind their popularity. Their ability to connect with main grid and divert electricity between the main grid, or using them as backup solution, or as a complete off-grid solutions, has its distinct advantages. Terawatt hours, abbreviated as TWh, is a unit of energy representing one trillion-watt hours. A kilowatt hour is equivalent to a steady power of one kilowatt running for one hour and is equivalent to 3.6 million joules or 3.6 megajoules. [4] NEIL BROWN:TRANSFORMING POWER GENERATION:THE SHIFT FROM LARGE POWER STATIONSTO EFFICIENT MICROGRIDS AND HYBRID SOLUTIONS Electricity supply networks are moving away from large centralised power stations that can take many years to get through planning, build and are costly. Prime Movers Landscape The evolving image of the core prime mover within the power generation industry is the most critical factor towards the decarbonisation journey. The traditional internal combustion (IC) engine has served the modern industrialised world for over 100 years. Through the last century, this technology has had trillions of dollars invested to make it efficient, clean and as reliable as it stands today. However, this industry will embark on a major shift with emerging alternatives including Generator set technology may seem like a classic solution in the landscape of rapidly evolving new technologies, but it remains a fast-reacting reliable power source. With its ability to start and stop within seconds multiple units can at times provide the flexibility to switch off completely providing a significant efficiency improvement when trying to compliment unreliable sources of energy like wind and solar. In the future, instead of one 200MW power station, we may see 100 x 2MW ‘stations’. This would drastically reduce transmission losses and improve stability. In the UK and other developed markets, roughly 8% of the grid’s power is lost getting electricity to the end user. [5] If you generate the power where you need it, that loss comes out of the equation.
Future Demands for Energy We live in a world that is increasingly hungry for power. Global energy demand is expected to grow by 50% by 2050 [2] driven by population growth and economic development. This growth will be met by a combination of energy efficiency improvements and the deployment of new energy sources. Renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind and tidal power, are expected to play a major role in meeting future energy demands. Renewables are already the fastest-growing source of energy in the world. By 2050, wind (36%) and solar (29%) will supply nearly two-thirds of the world’s electricity demand [3] which is equal to 39 terawatt-hours. The big question; is it enough to balance the rate of consumption and rate of production with expected reliability and appropriate redundancies in the value chain? Emergence of Microgrids A microgrid is a small electricity grid where electricity is produced, distributed, and consumed. Microgrids can be independent from the main grid or connected to it. They are expected to play a significant role in the evolution of the electrical ecosystem. The deployment of microgrids is expected to accelerate in the coming years as the technology continues to mature and the cost of energy storage decreases. Three factors have made microgrids an increasingly popular option within the power generation ecosystem: deregulation in the energy markets; greater affordability of wind turbines, solar panels and energy storage systems; and advances in intelligent grid management software, controls systems, power electronics and other electrical components. On their own, solar arrays and wind turbines help to cut down emissions from generating electricity, however as these sources are intermittent, it limits their effectiveness. At any given time, multiple resources may be available on a microgrid to meet the electric demand. These resources may include solar and wind, diesel generators, natural gas generators, energy storage, an interconnection to the main power grid, and possibly demand response resources or fuel cells. Demand response resources are electric loads that can be turned off on demand. Using the cheapest resource at any time and actively anticipating future load and generation inevitably leads to significant savings. Microgrids can ensure their owner spends the least amount possible on electricity while ensuring continuity of supply. The versatility offered by microgrids in the form of becoming
batteries, fuel cells and solar power. The internal combustion (IC) engine:
Diesel’s future in generator applications may be evolving, but advanced IC engine technologies are setting new standards for efficiency and reduced emissions. These innovations make diesel engines cleaner and more
POWERLINE Winter 2025 | 27
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