Engineering Opportunities in the Electric Power Industry

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Engineering Opportunitiesin the Electric Power
Industry

• Tom Ferguson
• Vice President -Power Delivery and Transmission
• Minnesota Power

UMD ECE 1001 November 9, 2004
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Topics

• Basics
• Blackout of August 14, 2003
• Duluth-Wausau Transmission Project
• The Industrys Future
• Engineering Opportunities

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Elements of a Power System

• Generation
• Transmission
• Distribution
• Other

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What Makes Power Systems Unique?

• Speed of Light Delivery
• No Storage
• Thousands of Machines
• DC to Optical Technologies
• Solar Impacts
• Geographic Extent

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Energy Conversion Basics
Converter
Fuel
Electricity
Losses
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Energy Conversion Basics
Converter
Fuel
Electricity
(Chemical, Hydraulic, Nuclear, Wind)
Losses
(Thermal, electrical)
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Traditional Generation

• Coal
• Nuclear
• Hydro
• Gas
• Oil

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Emerging Generation

• Coal Gassification
• Advanced Nuclear
• Biomass
• Wind
• Solar
• Distributed Generation

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High Voltage Transmission

• Lines
• Substations
• Protective Systems
• Control Centers

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The Blackout of August 14, 2003
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The Blackout of August 14, 2003

• 60,000 Megawatts Lost
• East Coast, Ohio River Valley, Ontario
• No substantial damage to grid
• Systems worked, but humans erred
• Huge political event
• New industry oversight

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The Blackout of August 14, 2003

• Who to Blame?
• Terrorists
• Hackers
• Misguided regulators (Deregulation)
• Greedy Utilities and Marketers
• Complacent System Operators
• Federal Government/State Government
• Republicans/Democrats
• Environmentalists
• NIMBYs
• Customers

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Regional Lightning June 25, 1998
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The Industrys Future
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The Future . . . A Vision for the Grid
Dominated By

• Power Electronics
• Digital Controls
• Two-way Metering
• Distributed Resources
• Robust Renewables Portfolio
• Supportive Regulatory Environment

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Engineering Opportunities

• Highest Activity (related to growth)
• Generator Manufacturing and Construction
• Control Systems and Intelligent Systems
• Power Flow and Stability Analysis
• Distribution Networks
• Environmental Systems

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Major Employers

• Utilities
• Power Marketers
• System Operators
• Manufacturers
• Consulting Firms

• Regulators
• Education
• Research and Development

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What Makes Power Unique?

• Complex
• Digital Control across Large Regions
• Expensive Assets, High Stakes
• Cross Disciplinary
• Crosshairs of Deregulation
• Fundamental to Economic Security

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My Recommendations

• Pursue registration
• Be a spokesperson for technology
• Develop communication skills
• Understand business
• Get involved in industry, community
• Carry the right attitude
• Always, always learn