Smart Grids – Creating a Greener Future

Global demand for clean energy is rising for many reasons, including more stringent government regulation, the phasing out of fossil fuels and the ongoing electrification of transportation.

Nowadays energy consumption is not only rising it is becoming harder to predict. In the past, electricity peak demand typically occurred at specific and relatively predictable times during the day. For households, those peak hours were usually in the morning and in the evening before people went to or returned from work. But habits are changing, as this article explains.

Regardless when it happens, driven by households or industry, peak demand requires sustained levels of significantly higher than average power supply thereby straining the electricity grid. There are other factors causing these changes, too.

For over a decade there has been steady move to electrify public transportation. More recently private transportation has been going electric too, and although the volumes aren’t the same, the trajectory is increasing, meaning the strain on the grid is rising, too.

Today, stringent government regulations discourage or ban the use of fossil fuels in favour of cleaner energy sources. Renewable energy resources are growing in popularity but can be hampered by unreliable weather etc. In addition, people nowadays are also more aware about the environment and want to lessen their impact on it.

When these trends are examined collectively, it is clear why energy supply is challenging for utilities companies.