Decentralisation, through the implementation of microgrids, could be the key to improving grid resilience, US-based electricity supplier Illinois Power Company and Tucson Electric Power Company CEO Charles Bayless said at the recent Power and Electricity World conference, in Johannesburg.
The design of microgrids, which, generally, are energy systems that are able to operate independently of the main grid, could be crafted to meet the needs of each individual community and society, he said.
Microgrids “are the way forward and will be one of the waves of change in future”, Bayless said.
Other “waves of change” included blockchain technology and digitalisation, which would be key to ensuring that the industry “kept up with changes”.
Bayless cautioned that mixing new technologies, politics, economics and regulation could present some challenges for grid implementation, especially as a shift to carbon neutrality was sought.
“The big impediment to getting into a zero-carbon climate, to building the grid and bringing electricity to people, isn’t technical – it’s political and regulatory, which provide challenges of their own to grid implementation.”
Commenting on the future of fossil fuels in the energy mix, Bayless is adamant that these resources have to be phased out, pointing to the “quantum leaps” that have been taken to include renewable-energy options within the global energy mix.