New technology created by Duke Energy can simulate how the electric grid will operate in the future – down to customers’ needs to power behind-the-meter devices like electric vehicles (EVs).
Patented in August 2024, the Advanced Power Distribution Platform is helping to accelerate a smarter approach to grid management and optimization. By creating a computer model of key grid components – power lines, transformers and more – the platform can identify potential problems or operating constraints that could affect customers, and proactively resolve them using a diverse mix of solutions.
Say the tool forecasts an equipment overload, it automatically identifies a fix – like rerouting power. It also generates an hourly forecast, enabling engineers to screen for distributed energy sources to power customers when demand for electricity is high.
“This patent is about optimizing the grid to reduce impact to customers now and in the future,” said John Pressley, managing director of clean energy digital strategy and engineering at Duke Energy. “It’s also about partnering with the customer to make electricity more reliable and less expensive.”
The path to the patent
The process of securing the U.S. patent took more than four years, with Pressley and other Duke Energy team members instituting the first phases of the platform’s technology from the beginning.
“This patent is one of those bucket list items I’ve always dreamt about,” he said, “so this is a big deal for us to manage the grid more efficiently for customers.”
In a way, that begins at home. “Load” refers to the amount of electricity being used at any given time by all customers connected to the grid. It fluctuates throughout the day as customers turn on high-power appliances like air conditioners, electric ovens and washing machines.
The automated platform can predict and adjust for consumption levels to ensure supply (power generation) meets demand for electricity (distribution). Forecasting loads with better accuracy means getting ahead of a potential issue so customers have power when they need it.
Applying new tools to tomorrow’s energy goals
Several Duke Energy concepts, including Advanced Distribution Planning (ADP), serve as the engine for the platform’s operations and advancement toward greener energy. Expanding renewables is critically important as the company looks to retire its remaining coal-fired facilities, while also preparing for an extraordinary increase in demand for electricity.
With this newly patented technology, engineers can feel more confident that as more intermittent renewables are added, the grid can flex up and down to maintain reliability and keep costs affordable for customers. That includes customer-owned energy sources like rooftop solar.
“The company recognizes the customer will be a key partner in how they get their electricity in the future,” said ADP Program Manager Eugene Moore. “Our work is helping integrate distributed energy resources into the grid more effectively. It will also help transform the grid to embrace this customer partnership, as well as the growth of electric vehicles, battery storage and more.”
Meeting customer demand resourcefully
In the future, the automated platform could determine the best solution based on customer usage of devices like air conditioners, pool pumps and EVs.
Most EV drivers plug in after 6 p.m., a time when demand for electricity is usually high. And the EV market is only accelerating, with more than 1.5 million electric vehicles expected in Duke Energy’s coverage areas by the end of the decade.
Through managed charging, the company has the ability to move that to the daytime or overnight hours, when fewer customers use electricity. In shifting demand away from peak periods, it reduces the unnecessary burden on utility infrastructure while saving customers money on their energy bill.
With implementation well underway, the platform’s patented technology will eventually help optimize the storage and dispatching of renewable power, which could require millions of decisions in an instant.
“In the end, the cost of the green revolution will be way less,” Pressley said, “because we’re utilizing an asset that already exists at people’s homes.”
Did you know?
For more than a century, energy flowed in one direction; wires went up, electricity went out, customers were served. Now, multiple sources of renewable energy – like solar and battery storage – direct power back into the grid, creating multi-way power flows.
Distributed energy is transforming the work of utilities. These flexible energy generation and storage technologies provide energy when customers need it most. And they support the two-way power flow needed to expand cleaner energy options, while enabling grid improvements that enhance reliability for customers.
