KiWi Power bids to tackle UK crisis

[3rdRock]

KiWi Power: the tech-savvy energy firm with a way out of Britain's power crisis

Laptop-sized product monitors customer's energy usage and can cut it off in times of high demand – and the client gets paid for it.

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/ ... rgy-crisis

[adam2]

Nothing new here, though as before, this and similar ideas have their merits.
It is doubtful if much energy is actually saved. The electricity not used from the grid in the peak will probably be replaced with grid electricity at a time of lower demand, or by use of diesel generators.

Reducing peak demand does of course postpone capital expenditure on building replacement power stations, it can probably be implemented quicker than building new power stations.

Not realistically applicable to homes or small businesses, only to larger energy users.

[Pepperman]

May not be particularly novel but this kind of tech is exactly what we need if we're going to integrate variable renewables into the grid.

I can see a softer version of this being implemented in a domestic context once smart meters are in place.

Rather than having a black box remotely switch off equipment (which would be expensive and unnecessary) you could receive a message saying that grid reserve margin is tight and suggesting that you manually switch off unnecessary equipment, not boil an electric kettle, not set off your washing machine etc etc. The smart meter would be able to quantify your reduced demand and you could be rewarded accordingly.

I'm sure I read somewhere (possibly here) about a country where they have a message flash up on TV when things are getting tight and people voluntarily switch stuff off. The smart meter approach would allow that behaviour to be rewarded.

[RenewableCandy]

Yes you did, it's South Africa (if they still do it).

Smart meters (or rather the incarnation of them here in the UK) have run into some serious problems though. They're more complex and expensive than they need to be, and The Great British Public are going to end up paying for them, which of course makes tham, and the ideas behind them ("take control of your energy use" etc) instantly, basically Satan.

[Pepperman]

I agree that they're going to be more expensive than they need to be - the mechanism being employed means that there's little incentive for the energy companies to do it in the most cost-effective way possible. But we need them and we're going to get them so let's make the best use of them as possible.

[fuzzy]

It's not a smartmeter that's required The supply companies and gov have never actually been interested in off peak discount pricing. For a start, if you sign up they charge you more for daylight supply. Where are the freezers, water heaters, tumble driers, dishwashers and washing machines, with 24 hour timers, or off peak sensors? Even if you sign up, they offer you 01:00 until 06:00 cheaper, which is pathetic.

Load shedding contracts have been available for decades for big customers. Would they actually save demand if staff go home? Also there are scams like the hospitals during the last gas balancing alert who had interruptable contracts and then used the law to avoid disconnection.

[adam2]

Off peak tariffs are readily available, and many appliances are easily controlled by a time switch so as to make the best use of such tariffs. It is not usual to build time control into most appliances, though I have seen washing machines with this feature.

At present electricity is so cheap that most people cant be bothered.

For industrial users of power, it is most unlikely that the business would close down and send the staff home at times of high demand.
More likely would be use of diesel generators instead of the grid supply at such times.
Another alternative would be to shift energy intensive processes to off peak hours, and to carry out much less energy intensive cleaning, maintenance and restocking works during the shift when power is expensive.

[BritDownUnder]

Off peak tariffs are readily available, and many appliances are easily controlled by a time switch so as to make the best use of such tariffs. It is not usual to build time control into most appliances, though I have seen washing machines with this feature.

I have a washing machine and dishwasher that have that starting time delay feature and I did use it until I got married then I instructed the wife to use equipment only when the solar generation exceeded the capacity of the equipment. A retrograde step some may say but marriage also has other benefits.

[Pepperman]

It's not a smartmeter that's required The supply companies and gov have never actually been interested in off peak discount pricing. For a start, if you sign up they charge you more for daylight supply. Where are the freezers, water heaters, tumble driers, dishwashers and washing machines, with 24 hour timers, or off peak sensors? Even if you sign up, they offer you 01:00 until 06:00 cheaper, which is pathetic.

Load shedding contracts have been available for decades for big customers. Would they actually save demand if staff go home? Also there are scams like the hospitals during the last gas balancing alert who had interruptable contracts and then used the law to avoid disconnection.

The energy companies don't offer proper variable price tariffs yet because the smart meters aren't in place (well some are, but not enough to launch new tariffs, especially since the government directed the energy companies to simplify their tariffs). You just can't do anything clever with dumb meters hence there hasn't been much activity in this area yet.

If I was in charge I would be pressing the EU to include this sort of functionality and dynamic demand in the energy using products requirements now. It'll take a good five or ten years to get a meaningful number of appliances into the market, which is already too late, but better start now than wait for market forces to drive it too late.