As an electrical engineer, I was stunned at the way you turned windings and electromagnetism and converters and storage into an orchestrated set that when managed provide the flexibility everyone is yearning for. Solid state transformers were identified valuable by very few, only the double EE’s. Thanks for bringing power electronics front & center, Lynne.
I’ve said for years that digital technologies and especially power electronics are the underappreciated “clean tech” as well as greatly underappreciated for how they change coordination and architecture. At some point I may even write an article about the important distinctions between what economists call coordination and what engineers call orchestration, and how power electronics enables both.
Excellent post on Power Electronics. However, I think that an AI-generated stack is a little out of touch with the reality of the evolution of Power Systems Assets. South Australia’s 6-layer deployment of SiC GFM/SI🔋 power electronics is a real-world stack that might interest you.
The Old Analog Grid has evolved since the end of the AC vs. DC Current Wars, with major asset benchmarks over the last 100 years.
Brief NEM Analog Grid Reactive Power (Q) Management History Lesson
1️⃣ SynCons were invented in the 1930s, before the invention of Transistors in 1947.
4️⃣ Silicon Carbide (SiC) Power Electronics, including Grid-following (GFL) inverters, were first made commercially viable in 2011. Advanced SiC grid-forming (GFM) control logic matured in the late 2010s to 2020s, giving rise to GFM/SI🔋.
The first NEM GFL🔋 commissioned was HPR in 2017. HPR was upgraded to GFM/SI🔋 in 2020. AEMO subsequently tested HPR GFM/SI🔋 for two years before awarding HPR the world’s first GFM/SI🔋 Contract for a variety of FCAS Services, including Black Start, in 2022.
South Australia has developed the world’s first Digital Grid.
The secret to SA’s Net 💯% Distributed Variable Renewable Energy and Storage (DVRES) Digital Grid success is deploying automated GFM/SI🔋 across the 6-layer model of:
1️⃣ Front of the Meter (FTM) Utility-scale☀️,💨,& GFM/SI🔋:
Transmission-grid-connected
1⃣ Utility-scale ☀️&💨farms supported by GFM/SI🔋, and
Really interesting piece, Lynne. The solid-state transformer section caught my attention because it takes one of the oldest parts of the grid and gives it a much more flexible role. It also seems possible that data centers become the first real proving ground for SSTs before utilities begin using them more broadly in substations. I’ll be interested to see where you take this next, especially as power electronics starts changing the way more of the grid is put together.
Part 1 is well argued. I will wait for the next installment before commenting, but I need to see further elaboration on economies of coordination.
So far the approach Satoshi took has proven to be the best. What is important is the philosophical approach. It can be applied to almost everything in having a decentralized world, and that is how we need to think: how we can decentralize just about everything. The grid needs an analog of proof of work.
Centralization always requires a trusted third party, and what we can trust is that the third party will get captured. Wherever there is an incentive to capture, it will be captured, and that has a cost, a non-material cost. Yet we keep trying to make centralization work rather than decentralization.
As an electrical engineer, I was stunned at the way you turned windings and electromagnetism and converters and storage into an orchestrated set that when managed provide the flexibility everyone is yearning for. Solid state transformers were identified valuable by very few, only the double EE’s. Thanks for bringing power electronics front & center, Lynne.
Thank you, Rudy. I’m a closet technologist :-).
I’ve said for years that digital technologies and especially power electronics are the underappreciated “clean tech” as well as greatly underappreciated for how they change coordination and architecture. At some point I may even write an article about the important distinctions between what economists call coordination and what engineers call orchestration, and how power electronics enables both.
Hello Lynne.
Excellent post on Power Electronics. However, I think that an AI-generated stack is a little out of touch with the reality of the evolution of Power Systems Assets. South Australia’s 6-layer deployment of SiC GFM/SI🔋 power electronics is a real-world stack that might interest you.
The Old Analog Grid has evolved since the end of the AC vs. DC Current Wars, with major asset benchmarks over the last 100 years.
Brief NEM Analog Grid Reactive Power (Q) Management History Lesson
1️⃣ SynCons were invented in the 1930s, before the invention of Transistors in 1947.
https://lnkd.in/gZ_G7ZXY
2️⃣ SVCs were invented in the 1970s, after the invention of high-power Silicon (Si) thyristors.
https://lnkd.in/gYa3EzKw
3️⃣ STATCOMs were invented in the 1980s, after Si IGBTS were invented.
https://lnkd.in/geYMEbfD
4️⃣ Silicon Carbide (SiC) Power Electronics, including Grid-following (GFL) inverters, were first made commercially viable in 2011. Advanced SiC grid-forming (GFM) control logic matured in the late 2010s to 2020s, giving rise to GFM/SI🔋.
The first NEM GFL🔋 commissioned was HPR in 2017. HPR was upgraded to GFM/SI🔋 in 2020. AEMO subsequently tested HPR GFM/SI🔋 for two years before awarding HPR the world’s first GFM/SI🔋 Contract for a variety of FCAS Services, including Black Start, in 2022.
https://lnkd.in/gCrApmXQ
Later in Oct 2023, Very Fast FCAS Services were introduced to the NEM after 3 years of AEMO testing on HPR GFM/SI🔋.
New Automated Digital Grid Q Management Assets are all based upon GFM/SI🔋
https://lnkd.in/gb6nUuYF
South Australia has developed the world’s first Digital Grid.
The secret to SA’s Net 💯% Distributed Variable Renewable Energy and Storage (DVRES) Digital Grid success is deploying automated GFM/SI🔋 across the 6-layer model of:
1️⃣ Front of the Meter (FTM) Utility-scale☀️,💨,& GFM/SI🔋:
Transmission-grid-connected
1⃣ Utility-scale ☀️&💨farms supported by GFM/SI🔋, and
https://lnkd.in/gkxkg-T7
Distribution-grid-connected
2⃣ Community-scale ☀️&GFM/SI🔋
https://lnkd.in/gi6Jvptb
2️⃣ Behind the Meter (BTM) Distribution-grid-connected Rooftop☀️&GFM/SI🔋:
1⃣ Industrial-scale
https://lnkd.in/gAjUkK_T
2⃣ Commercial-scale
https://lnkd.in/gXGDUjhz
3⃣ Residential-scale
https://lnkd.in/guypN6dj
4⃣ BEV-scale
https://lnkd.in/g6anc2Rq
SA redefines what frequency stability means in a NEM “Digital Grid” where:
🚀 Speed outperforms inertia,
🧠 Intelligence outperforms mass, and
🌐 Distributed automated response outperforms centralized manual control
https://lnkd.in/gXvmUGyb
Really interesting piece, Lynne. The solid-state transformer section caught my attention because it takes one of the oldest parts of the grid and gives it a much more flexible role. It also seems possible that data centers become the first real proving ground for SSTs before utilities begin using them more broadly in substations. I’ll be interested to see where you take this next, especially as power electronics starts changing the way more of the grid is put together.
Lynne,
Part 1 is well argued. I will wait for the next installment before commenting, but I need to see further elaboration on economies of coordination.
So far the approach Satoshi took has proven to be the best. What is important is the philosophical approach. It can be applied to almost everything in having a decentralized world, and that is how we need to think: how we can decentralize just about everything. The grid needs an analog of proof of work.
Centralization always requires a trusted third party, and what we can trust is that the third party will get captured. Wherever there is an incentive to capture, it will be captured, and that has a cost, a non-material cost. Yet we keep trying to make centralization work rather than decentralization.
Jeffrey