Can buildings help regulate the power grid?

Power grid operators must work around the clock to keep the frequency of electricity flowing across the grid within a narrow range in order to prevent damage to electrical equipment and keep lighting from flickering. These efforts are strained by the growing use of wind and solar power, whose rapid changes in output can cause unwanted fluctuations in the frequency of the grid. Grid operators must then quickly adjust the output of other conventional power plants to compensate, which causes wear and tear on power turbines and burns more fuel.

According to MIT researchers, grid operators may have a new ally in their efforts to regulate the grid: buildings. The systems that heat and cool large commercial and residential buildings are often powered by variable-speed electrical motors. According to detailed simulations at MIT, these variable-speed drives can be rapidly modulated in response to signals from grid operators. The heating or cooling output of variable-speed systems will vary in response, but temperatures inside the building can be kept within a comfortable range. That’s because buildings are effectively big thermal batteries, storing heat or cold within materials in the walls, floors and ceilings and in the air inside the building envelope. That thermal storage buffer gives buildings the ability to vary heating and cooling output to help regulate the grid without sacrificing the comfort of occupants.

Microgrids, local networks of distributed generators, energy storage devices, and smart electrical loads, must also keep frequency in a tight range. Yet with just a few small-scale generators or batteries, microgrids have fewer options to regulate frequency than the larger grid. Simulating an isolated microgrid, the MIT team demonstrated how buildings with variable-speed heating and cooling systems can help keep microgrids running in safe ranges while ensuring occupant comfort and avoiding long-term damage to building systems.

This article is published in collaboration with The Energy Collective. Publication does not imply endorsement of views by the World Economic Forum. 

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Author: Jesse Jenkins is a Featured Writer and Digital Strategy Consultant at the Energy Collective

Image: Medium-rise and low-rise residences and office buildings in Tokyo. REUTERS/Issei Kato