Archive for April, 2011

Breathe in the scents of lemongrass ginger with green tea and indulge in the calming effects of the full-service Spa at The Diplomat. Challenge yourself with an early morning tee time on the 18-hole golf course, managed by Troon Golf. Take a tennis lesson, charter a fishing boat, ride a Jet Ski or just relax in a poolside cabana. On the Blue Wave certified beach of the Atlantic, in the vibrant city of Hollywood, Florida rests The Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa. It is easily accessible by Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood or Miami International Airports as well as two international ports-of-call. 

For more information, visit: www.diplomatresort.com

The Structure Group on Success in the Utility Business

David Shepheard from The Structure Group, a solution provider attending the marcus evans Distribution Technology and Innovation Summit Spring 2011, shares his thoughts on improving power distribution and transmission. Interview with: David Shepheard, Principal, Vice President Corporate Development and Strategy, The Structure Group

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The critical element of success for utility companies will be flexibility, according to David Shepheard, Principal, Vice President Corporate Development and Strategy, The Structure Group. Amidst climate change and renewable energy discussions, staying put is not an option. Significant improvements will have to be made as to how systems operate and integrate with each other. From a business advisory company attending the marcus evans Distribution Technology and Innovation Summit Spring 2011 in Hollywood, Florida, April 27-29, Shepheard offers his perspective on Smart Grid systems, improving distribution and transmission, and why flexibility is the key element of success in the utility sector. 

Your website states, “For many companies, discussions on Smart Grid start and end with the meter. We see it differently”. Can you share your vision?

David Shepheard: Smart Grid is a lot more than just the metering and communications backbone. Fundamentally, it is about changing the way companies operate and manage the entire electric grid. Many companies try to make their Smart Grid business case work primarily based on metering, but the best way to reduce investment risk is by putting the right operational infrastructure in place, and integrating it with key systems like geographical information, outage management, asset management, and distribution SCADA systems. This is what many utilities are now referring to as an Integrated Distribution Management System (or platform) and it is at the heart of most of the leading Smart Grid efforts in the industry.

What will it take to transition to cleaner energy and to address the issue of climate change?

David Shepheard: Today, most of the focus on clean energy and climate change mitigation is taking place on the power generation side of the business. However, most renewable generation technologies are limited in their effectiveness by intermittency, remote electrical location, and lack or correlation with demand profiles. These are issues that cannot be addressed on the supply side alone. We need to make significant improvements in distribution networks in parallel with investments in renewable power sources to allow clean energy to play a bigger part of our power generation future. Distribution automation, Integrated Volt VAR Control (IVVC), and PMU deployment are technologies that can help improve the performance and flexibility of the grid to allow a larger percentage of renewable energy. Without improvements in T&D networks, the cap on renewable capacity will likely be in the 25 per cent range.

What would improve the functionality of the electric grid?

David Shepheard: One word – Integration. The power grid of tomorrow will be characterized by literally millions of controllable intelligent devices and several orders of magnitude more data than the grids of today. And all of those devices and rich data are not going to do much on their own to improve grid efficiency and reliability without a substantial amount of thoughtful integration. There are going to be multiple layers of integration required: integration of automation and control functions across the grid (including transmission, distribution, distributed generation, etc.), integration of applications, and integration/assimilation of the massive amounts of data available into decision support frameworks to make the best use of the available information. 

How do you picture this industry in 10 or 20 years?

David Shepheard: Utility companies are going from a “build more, to sell more, to make more” mentality to more of a profit maximization through efficient operations and innovative products model. This is a big change. It has happened in airlines, telecom and healthcare.

Things are changing so rapidly, that the winners of tomorrow are going to be the companies that can embrace change and be more flexible and dynamic in how they run their business. The critical element of success will be flexibility.

Contact:
Sarin Kouyoumdjian-Gurunlian
Press Manager
marcus evans, Summits Division
Tel: + 357 22 849 313
Email: press@marcusevanscy.com

About the Distribution Technology and Innovation Summit Spring 2011

This unique forum will take place at the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa, Hollywood, Florida, April 27-29, 2011. Offering much more than any conference, exhibition or trade show, this exclusive meeting will bring together esteemed industry leaders and solution providers to a highly focused and interactive networking event. The Summit includes presentations on advanced metering infrastructure deployment trends, critical infrastructure protection and modernizing distribution systems.

For more information please send an email to info@marcusevanscy.com or visit the event website

marcus evans group – environment/utilities/ energy sector portal

Please note that the summit is a closed business event and the number of participants strictly limited.

About marcus evans Summits

marcus evans Summits are high level business forums for the world’s leading decision-makers to meet, learn and discuss strategies and solutions. Held at exclusive locations around the world, these events provide attendees with a unique opportunity to individually tailor their schedules of keynote presentations, think tanks, seminars and one-on-one business meetings. For more information, please visit www.marcusevans.com 

About Structure™

Structure is a leading provider of business advisory and consulting services focused exclusively on the energy and utilities industries. Structure relies on deep industry expertise and proven methodologies to deliver projects across Smart Grid /Distribution Operations /Distribution Automation, SCADA and Energy Management Systems, Competitive Energy Market Solutions, and Energy Trading and Risk Management. For more information, visit www.thestructuregroup.com

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