By their very nature, engineers are expert planners who are trained to take many factors into consideration as they design, construct, and maintain a broad range of complex systems and structures across the market’s wide variety of industries and applications. However, one variable that’s proven more difficult to account for over the years when it comes to electric grid resiliency has been the weather and its increasingly volatile nature.
According to a recent report by the American Meteorological Society, climate change is leading to more extreme weather around the world and increasing the risk of everything from violent storms to unprecedented heat waves, floods, droughts, and other natural disasters.
Resilient Electric Grids in the Face of Weather Events
The growing incidence and severity of weather events has had an especially significant impact on electric grids worldwide, with a recent report from science and technology organization Climate Central confirming that the resultant frequency of weather-related power outages is rising.
“We’re going to require a more robust grid than was built previously,” said Jen Brady, a lead analyst for Climate Central.
Consider Hurricane Ian, a Category 4 hurricane, whose widespread storm surge knocked out power to 2.7 million customers in Florida— nearly 25% of the state’s residents— in September 2022. Another example is Storm Ciarán, whose 100 mph winds resulted in power outages for millions of residents across France, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom in November 2023. Elsewhere, Typhoon Lan knocked out power to tens of thousands of customers throughout western Japan in August 2023, and over 2.1 million customers lost power following a powerful storm that hit Sao Paulo, Brazil in November 2023. More than 500,000 homes and businesses in southeastern Australia’s capital region lost power in February 2024 after a violent storm damaged a major power plant’s transmission network.
The fact is, many electric grid systems worldwide haven’t caught up to the climate reality we’re now experiencing globally. As a result, planning for unforeseen weather emergencies and taking steps to ensure the increased resiliency of electric grids has become more essential than ever for utilities and the communities they serve.
In response, electric utilities worldwide are engaging in a variety of proactive initiatives to “harden” their systems. According to Power Magazine, these measures include upgrades to the quality, capacity, and efficiency of transmission and distribution circuits and components, employment of tree-trimming and other vegetation management activities, the use of artificial intelligence platforms to better predict the impact of forecasted storms, and the installation of intelligent sensors and smart meters to help identify and restore power outages.
Starting From the Ground Up
Electric reliability and grid resiliency take on another meaning altogether for the estimated 750-800 million people around the world— nearly 10% of the world’s population— who currently have no access to electricity at all. The majority of the affected population live in sub-Saharan African countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, and Ethiopia. Here and in other underdeveloped regions, the establishment of “minigrids” has been deemed the quickest and most cost-effective way to bring power to remote locations where no large, central electric grids exist.
Distributing electricity generated by renewable sources such as solar panels, wind turbines, battery storage, hydropower, and diesel generators, minigrids are a solution which, due to their sustainable design and reliance on renewable power sources, The World Bank believes can provide electricity to up to 500 million people by 2030 while also reducing the world’s carbon footprint.
The construction and activation of minigrids is already making positive inroads globally. For example, recently implemented hydro-powered minigrids have brought much-needed electricity to over 1.5 million people in Nepal. Elsewhere, a system of nearly two dozen minigrids is successfully distributing energy to over 10,000 rural residents of West Bengal, India. Additionally, thanks to US$150 million in funding from The World Bank, Kenya’s government recently announced plans to build 137 solar minigrids designed to provide electricity to nearly 300,000 households in remote sectors of the nation.
Enabling Access
Minigrids hold great promise for providing access to electricity in undeveloped communities worldwide, especially in Africa, where the use of minigrids could impact the greatest number of people most quickly.
IEEE encourages professionals to learn more about minigrids in an effort to adopt and accelerate their deployment in communities where they can offer significant benefits.
Through Minigrids in Africa, a four-course program from IEEE, learners are introduced to the distinct opportunities and challenges of deploying electric minigrids that provide reliable power to millions of people in Africa, where many currently have no access to any sources of electricity. Topics covered include the contextual, technological, regulatory, and policy considerations for minigrids in Africa, as well as their design and deployment, operation, and future on that continent.
This course program is ideal for everyone from minigrid engineers, project managers, developers, and entrepreneurs to national grid engineers, managers, and policy and regulatory professionals.
Connect with an IEEE Content Specialist today to learn how to get access to this program for your organization.
If you’re interested in access for yourself, visit the IEEE Learning Network (ILN).
Resources
Allard, Anthony. (18 August 2022). Preparing the Grid for an Above-Average Hurricane Season. Power Magazine.
Karlin, Sam. (9 October 2022). Hurricanes Ian and Ida Hammered Two States’ Electric Grids. Nola.com.
Deger, Bill. (5 November 2023). Storm Ciarán Turns Deadly in Northern Europe, as 100-mph Winds Knock Out Power For Millions. AccuWeather.
Hersher, Rebecca. (9 January 2023). Climate Change Makes Heat Waves, Storms and Droughts Worse, Climate Report Confirms. NPR.
Boadle, Anthony and Moreira, Camila. (6 November 2023). Hundreds of Thousands Still Without Power Days After Storm Hits Brazil’s Largest City. Reuters.
Proffer, Erica. (6 October 2022). A New Report Shows Weather-Related Power Outages ono the Rise. KVUE.
Haun, Andy. (12 April 2019). Micro or Mini: There’s a Grid Type for Every Energy Need. Microgrid Knowledge.
Wood, Elisa. (28 March 2020). What is a Microgrid? Microgrid Knowledge.
(25 June 2019). Mini Grids for Half a Billion People: Market Outlook and Handbook for Decision Makers. The World Bank.
The Africa Minigrids Program. United Nations Development Programme.
(27 February 2023). Solar Mini Grids Could Sustainably Power 380 Million People in Africa by 2030 – if Action is Taken Now. The World Bank.
Mwirigi, Cosmas. (14 March 2023). Kenya to Combat Rural Energy Access Gap With Over 130 solar Minigrids. PV Magazine.
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