The Autonomic Power System

This proposal focuses on the electricity network of 2050. In the move to a decarbonised energy network the heat and transport sectors will be fully integrated into the electricity system. Therefore, the grand challenge in energy networks is to deliver the fundamental changes in the electrical power system that will support this transition, without being constrained by the current infrastructure, operational rules, market structure, regulations, and design guidelines. The drivers that will shape the 2050 electricity network 2050 are numerous: increasing energy prices; increased variability in the availability of generation; reduced system inertia; increased utilisation due to growth of loads such as electric vehicles and heat pumps; electric vehicles as randomly roving loads and energy storage; increased levels of distributed generation; more diverse range of energy sources contributing to electricity generation; and increased customer participation. These changes mean that the energy networks of the future will be far more difficult to manage and design than those of today, for technical, social and commercial reasons. In order to cater for this complexity, future energy networks must be organised to provide increased flexibility and controllability through the provision of appropriate real time decision-making techniques. These techniques must coordinate the simultaneous operation of a large number of diverse components and functions, including storage devices, demand side actions, network topology, data management, electricity markets, electric vehicle charging regimes, dynamic ratings systems, distributed generation, network power flow management, fault level management, supply restoration and fuel choice. Additionally, future flexible grids will present many more options for energy trading philosophies and investment decisions. The risks and implications associated with these decisions and the real-time control of the networks will be harder to identify and quantify due to the increased uncertainty and complexity.We propose the design of an autonomic power system for 2050 as the grand challenge to be investigated. This draws upon the computer science community's vision of autonomic computing and extends it into the electricity network. The concept is based on biological autonomic systems that set high-level goals but delegate the decision making on how to achieve them to the lower level intelligence. No centralised control is evident, and behaviour often emerges from low-level interactions. This allows highly complex systems to achieve real-time and just-in-time optimisation of operations. We believe that this approach will be required to manage the complex trans-national power system of 2050 with many millions of active devices. The autonomic power system will be self-configuring, self-healing, self-optimising and self-protecting. This proposal is not focused on the application of established autonomic computing techniques to power systems (as they don't exist) but the design of an autonomic power system, which relies on distributed intelligence and localised goal setting. This is a significant step forward from the current Smart Grid vision and roadmaps. The autonomic power system is a completely integrated and distributed control system which self-manages and optimises all network operational decisions in real time. To deliver this, fundamental research is required to determine the level of distributed control achievable (or the balance between distributed, centralised, and hierarchical controls) and its impact on investment decisions, resilience, risk and control of a transnational interconnected electricity network. The research within the programme is ambitious and challenges many current philosophies and design approaches. It is also multi-disciplinary, and will foster cross-fertilisation between power systems, complexity science, computer science, mathematics, economics and social sciences.

The impact of this activity is potentially far reaching and global, as the aim of this project is to conceptualise a paradigm change in electricity network operation and design to facilitate the development of a low carbon economy while enabling consumers, through the provision of unrestricted choice, to drive the development of the electricity sector. The beneficiaries of this research therefore include all the stakeholders associated with electricity networks including domestic, commercial and industrial consumers, generation companies, network owners and operators, information and communications technologies sector, regulators and policy makers as well as relevant research communities. The proposed research would not only benefit from the input of a wide range of disciplines but it also has the potential to move each of these disciplines forward as scientific breakthroughs are made in the energy context. A self-controlling, self-healing, self-optimising and self-protecting power system would be a significant step forward towards sustaining a low carbon economy. Realising such a paradigm shift would involve cross-disciplinary cutting edge research and should put UK at the forefront of global research initiatives on future electricity networks, in essence quite a way beyond the mainstream smart grid activities. The development of Autonomic Power System concepts and technologies, from a whole system perspective, is a massive challenge. This challenge could be turned into a significant opportunity for the UK research community and commercial sector to gain early experiences and to lead system integration of advanced future grid technologies, and contribute to creating a new international industry. This research will inform regulators, policy makers and government about the paradigm shift required in the planning, operation and control of our future electricity networks. Methodologies, techniques and prototype algorithms for short and long term policy and decision making will be critical for managing effectively the significant level of uncertainty and complexity of a 2050 scenario. Our inter-disciplinary approach, involving engineers, statisticians, complexity scientists, economists and social scientists, will provide a whole-system approach that is needed to inform policy and regulation. The multidisciplinary nature of this research means that there is considerable scope for dissemination and thought leadership activities across all the disciplines involved. This significantly increases the likely impact of the research as the interested audience for the work is much broader than traditional single discipline research.