By Chris Welby, Good Energy’s Commercial Director

As we move the UK to a low carbon economy, one of the things  we are going to have to address is the variable nature of wind.  Currently, energy forecasting is a one-way street.  The guys who manage the network work out what we expect the electricity demand to be and then call on stream the appropriate amount of generation, primarily from gas or coal-fired power stations.  So, we control the generation side, but what about the demand side – the amount of energy consumers like you and me are using? The fact is that, currently, we do very little to control this.  We actually see controlling demand as a last resort, shutting off heavy industry in times of system stress, and suffering hysteria in the press about how close we came to blackouts.

In our low carbon future, we cannot do this. Wind generation is reliable with turbines in the right place achieving high load factors, and their output is perfectly forecastable.  Also, we will never be dependent on other countries for our wind power, like we are for gas, coal, oil or uranium.  This is a big plus for our long term energy security.  However, the option to switch on another wind turbine to deal with the evening peak or prolonged period of cold weather is not always there and, besides, we want to be maximising the use of turbines, not building them and turning them off to be used only if there is high demand.

To do this, we need to look at demand management.  We’ve become used to the idea that when we want to use energy, we flick a switch and there it is.  A lot of the time our decisions on when we need that energy are random.  Do we care when our hot water is heated, as long as we have a full tank for when we get up in the morning?  Do we care when our fridges and freezer click in and out as long as they remain cold?  And in the future, do we care when our electric car charges, as long as it is available by the time we need it?

The answer is no.  Therefore, why not pass control of such things to someone else, who then maximises the use of wind energy for us? Would this sort of management be feasible?

We looked into this a while ago and set up a project with Durham University and a renewable technology company called Senergy Econnect.  The project was called “Demand for Wind”, and looked at developing a process where domestic devices could be controlled remotely based on the availability of wind power on the network.

Devices in the trial included dishwashers fitted with a special plug, so that they could be activated remotely.  Customers could set the time by which they required it to have commenced running via an internet interface.  The system would then turn it on at a time of excess wind.  If such an occasion did not occur, then the dishwasher would kick in at a time to ensure clean dishes were available.  The principle was also trialled for washing machines and water heating, and in theory could work for any device the customer chose to set up.

The system was also tested against customers’ microgeneration.  The theory was that devices would kick in when micro wind turbines were turning, maximising the use of onsite generation.  A complication with this is that wind can be gusty, and once a device like a dishwasher is started there is no stopping it until the run is complete, but in essence it allowed microgenerators to maximise the use of their homegrown energy rather than exporting it to the network.

The project proved that the concept is feasible, and the consumers in the trials were generally positive.  People liked the fact that decisions were automated, but only taken when permission was granted by the householder, and their ability to override the system seems to be key.

With work now commencing on smart meters and smart grids, the potential to use this technology to shift energy usage to times when renewables are at their peak are vast.  This means that very soon we could all be doing our washing with the wind without even thinking about it.