Distributed energy

Currently, industrialized countries produce the bulk of their electricity centrally at large power plants such as thermal power plants , nuclear power plants , and hydroelectric power plants . Power plants, thanks to the economies of scale, have excellent economic performance and usually transmit electricity over long distances. The construction site of most of them is determined by many economic , environmental , geographical and geological factors, as well as safety and environmental requirements. For example, coal stations are being built away from cities to prevent severe air pollution affecting residents. Some of them are being built near coal deposits to minimize the cost of transporting coal . Hydroelectric power stations should be located in places with sufficient energy content (a significant difference in levels for water consumption).

Low environmental pollution is a critical advantage of combined natural gas fired power plants . This allows them to be close enough to the city for district heating .

Therefore, in the traditional energy sector, according to the functional purpose and territorial location, three segments can be clearly distinguished:

1. Electricity Production Centers
2. High Power Power Lines
3. Electricity Zones and Local Distribution Networks

Nuclear and thermal power plants , in addition to electrical energy, produce a significant amount of heat. Unlike electricity, thermal energy cannot be transmitted over long distances due to a sharp increase in losses with increasing distance. At the same time, due to the above factors, many power plants are too far away to use their secondary heat to heat public and residential buildings. As a result, the unused thermal energy at the station itself is dissipated in the environment (lost without useful use).

This concept involves the construction of additional sources of electricity in the immediate vicinity of consumers. The power of such sources is selected based on the expected power of the consumer, taking into account the existing restrictions (technological, legal, environmental, etc.) and can vary within wide limits (from two to three to hundreds of kilowatts). At the same time, the consumer does not disconnect from the general power supply network.

The following technologies of distributed small energy can be distinguished:

• Gas piston power plants
• Gas turbine power plants
• Microturbine Power Plants
• Heat pumps
• Steam boilers
• Renewable energy (solar panels, wind generators)
• Fuel cells
• Cogeneration plants (KSU).

Moreover, in the system “consumer - local energy source”, imbalances between the production and consumption of energy or between the need for its types regularly appear, for example:

• The power of solar panels and wind generators varies depending on weather conditions, and the energy consumption of the weather may not depend or change in the opposite direction.
• In winter, the consumption of thermal energy remains constantly high, and the consumption of electricity varies by time of day.

The presence of a connection to a common electric network allows you to compensate for the lack of electricity due to its consumption from the general network, and in case of excess electricity production by your own source, to transfer it to the network, with the corresponding income.

This approach allows you to:

• reduce energy losses during transportation due to the maximum proximity of electric generators to electricity consumers, up to their location in the same building,
• reduce the number, length and necessary bandwidth of transmission lines ,
• mitigate the consequences of accidents at central power plants and main power lines due to the availability of own energy sources,
• provide mutual multiple redundancy of power generating capacities (partially),
• reduce the environmental impact through the use of alternative energy , a more complete use of the potential energy of fossil fuels,
• to participate in the management of electricity demand .

Since 2009, there have been a number of major changes in the efficiency of small (up to 25 MW) generating capacities. According to a study by the Institute of Energy of the Higher School of Economics, the efficiency of GPU power units of about 10 MW has become comparable to the efficiency of CCGT ^[1] . At the same time, the cost of building distributed generation is lower than the cost of building a combined cycle plant by 2 or more times.

The complete abandonment of powerful central power plants and the final decentralization of power generation is currently impossible both for economic reasons and because of the complexity of managing many facilities and their maintenance, the need to constantly maintain a balance of generation and consumption, the need for reserve capacities.

Legal framework

Federal Law N 35-ФЗ dated March 26, 2003 "On the Electric Power Industry"

Government Decree No. 442 "ON THE FUNCTIONING OF RETAIL ELECTRIC ENERGY MARKETS WITH FULL (OR) PARTIAL RESTRICTION OF THE ELECTRIC ENERGY CONSUMPTION MODE" - the concept of an object for generating electricity and power on the retail market and the rules of sale are introduced.

Government Decision N 823 of 10/17/2009 "On Schemes and Programs for the Prospective Development of the Electric Power Industry" - rules are defined for inclusion in the development schemes of small-generation facilities by the Subjects of the Russian Federation. Inclusion in programs entails inclusion in the investment programs of network companies.

Federal Law N 190-ФЗ dated July 27, 2010 "On Heat Supply" - objects of small cogeneration and the rules of its operation are highlighted

Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of October 22, 2012 N 1075 "On pricing in the field of heat supply" - the rules for the appointment of tariffs for thermal energy from small generation facilities are defined.

Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation N 1221 dated 12/31/2009 "On approval of the Rules for establishing energy efficiency requirements for goods, works, services in procurement for state and municipal needs" - a requirement has been introduced for the creation or modernization of thermal energy sources with a capacity of more than 5 Gcal only in cogeneration mode.

Background

• The inability to obtain the necessary capacity in full from the electric grid organization ^[2]
• High cost of technological connection to electric networks ^[2]
• Lack of centralized power supply
• Reduced consumption of imported light petroleum products ^[3]

Difficulties

• Cost

For 2011, most of the proposed solutions in the small energy sector are inaccessible to its main consumers - small remote enterprises and small settlements of Russia , at a price, in the efficiency of the ratio of capacity to mass of equipment. In addition, the commercially available imported equipment, offered as elements of small energy, is, as a rule, not aimed at using local energy sources.

• Administrative barriers ^[4] .

Implementation Options

• Container Power Units
• Mobile power units
• Prefabricated Power Units

Similar concepts

With the appropriate means of automatic remote control, the combination of distributed energy generators can act as a virtual power plant.

The term “decentralized energy production” can be used as a synonym, which does not reflect a specific feature - the presence of a common network for the exchange of electric and thermal energy. Within the framework of the concept of decentralized electricity production, it is possible to have a common electricity network and a system of local boiler houses producing exclusively thermal energy for the needs of a settlement / enterprise / quarter.

• Energetics
• Power industry
• alternative energy
• Distributed economy
• Net measurement system

• Materials of the Presidential Commission on Energy Efficiency (inaccessible link)
• Technological platform "Small Distributed Energy"
• California Distributed Energy Resource Guide
• The project "Small Energy" Institute of Energy Systems named. L. A. Melentyeva SB RAS
• IEEE P1547 Draft Standard for Interconnecting Distributed Resources with Electric Power Systems
• Autonomous energy supply system from renewable energy sources (Project of Russian scientists and entrepreneurs)
• World Alliance for Decentralized Energy
• MinEnergo "Energy Saving and Energy Efficiency"
• Electricity from the Sun and the Earth Heated
• Electrical Engineering News Magazine - article on Small Energy
• "Small Energy" - the development of "Small Energy" in Russia
• United States Combined Heat and Power Association
• Switzerland and solar energy
• Kotler V.R. Mini-CHP: foreign experience // Journal "Heat Power Engineering" . - M .: MAIK "Science / Interperiodica" , 2006. - No. 8 . - S. 69-71 . - ISSN 0040-3636 . Kotler V.R. - Ph.D., All-Russian Thermotechnical Institute