Trends in emerging technologies in power systems

The electrical power industry is about to enter a transition towards more sustainable, reliable and clean solutions as a policy. It is a quiet but continuous revolution trending to a larger fraction of decentralised production, that is influenced by a number of overruling factors. These include long term financial risks being no longer acceptable unless under written by governments. Short term quick returns on investments are now essential. Risks are now taken by shareholders rather than captive customers in monopoly markets. Traditional electricity whereby remotely sited stations generate electricity and send it out as synchronised alternating current over long overhead lines to local delivery networks is no longer the most appropriate option only, in fact its key assets all face financial and environmental problems that may become insuperable. These pressures have forced renewed examination of alternative means of producing, dispatching and use of non-polluting forms of electrical energy. These emerging technologies are being made possible in particular by rapid developments in material sciences. The newer generating technologies include renewables and small high efficiency generating units, which can be located at or close to the loads. An architecture of power subsystems develops, which, with intelligent system interface technologies can be designed to for independent operation and self-healing dynamics. We are moving towards the concept of a power Internet, whereby any one section can be taken out of service without affecting adjacent sections, thus also increasing both system and strategic security. This also allows the entry of true competition into the industry