DECK 11

Question 1

What are networks?

Answer 1

• Strong natural monopoly characteristics
• Access and pricing therefore often requires some degree of regulation
• Examples
  Electricity transmission and distribution
  Natural gas and oil pipelines
  telecom (copper and fibre networks)

Question 2

What are the wide cycles of electricity demand?

Answer 2

• Morning/afternoon/evening/night
• weekdays/weekends
• spring/summer/fall/winter

Question 3

What are the three main categories of supply when designing an electricity system?

Answer 3

• base load
• intermediate
• peaking plant

Question 4

What is base-load generation?

Answer 4

• Produces electricity all the time (except for when it is under maintenance)
• Usually high capital facilities such as nuclear or hydraulic
• Coal is also used for base-load generation

Question 5

What is intermediate generation?

Answer 5

• Needs to be bale to adjust to changing demand easily
• Capital cost should be generally lower due to the unit not being used all of the time

Question 6

What is a peaking plant?

Answer 6

• Used a relatively small proportion of the time to meet high demand periods
• Should have relatively low capital costs
• Must be able to turn it on and off in a short notice (Nuclear cannot serve as a peaking plant since it cannot be turned on and off)

Question 7

What is a load duration curve?

Answer 7

• Critical for designing the electricity system:
  Generation of various types
  Transmission
  Distribution
• Plots the number of hours that various quantities of capacity must be available:
  The maximum electricity capacity that the electricity system is required to meet
  The minimum electricity capacity that must be available at all times

Question 8

What are the major cost components when generating electricity?

Answer 8

• Capital cost
• Operation and maintenance cost
• Fuel cost

Question 9

What are examples of high capital cost in the electricity industry?

Answer 9

• Nuclear
• Hydraulic
• Solar
• Wind

Question 10

What are examples of fuel costs?

Answer 10

• Coal fired
  pulverized coal, (PC)
  integrated gasification combined cycle, (IGCC)
• Natural gasses
  natural gas combined cycle (NGCC)
  conventional turbine (CT)

Question 11

How can we compare technologies on an equal footing?

Answer 11

• Distribute capital costs over number of energy units produced
• Forecast fuel costs
• Build in maintenance cost, which often increases as the facility ages
• Incorporate efficiency
• Incorporate capacity factors

Question 12

What are the implications of smart grid innovation?

Answer 12

• Increase efficiency with power delivery
• Reduces costs through remote sensing and automated recovery
• Shortening response times in the event of malfunctions
• Facilitating the integration of distributed generation, renewable resources, storage and electricity vehicle charging technologies
• Improving overall system security

Question 13

What is Advanced Metering Infrastructure?

Answer 13

• Time of use pricing
• Dynamic pricing

Question 14

What is Phasor measurement units?

Answer 14

• Permits simultaneous measurement of key characteristics at numerous points throughout the grid
• Provides system operators with earlier warnings of any system instabilities which may be emerging and require attention

Question 15

How much electricity was generated in Ontario during 2014?

Answer 15

14 twh using natural gas

1.21 pounds per twh

Question 16

What are the fundamentals of the electricity power systems?

Answer 16

• Energy
• Voltage
• Current (direct and alternating)
• Impedance
• Power

Question 17

What is voltage?

Answer 17

• Measurement between two points
  -A measurement of the capacity of a device connected to two points to perform work per unit of charge that flows between those points
• Voltage can be considered analogous to the pressure in a water pipe
• Measured in Volts, Kilovolts, and Megavolts

Question 18

What is current?

Answer 18

• Measure of the rate of flow of charge throughout a conductor
• Measures amperes
• Analogous to the rate of flow of water through a pipe
• Has direct and alternate current

Question 19

What is impedance?

Answer 19

• A property of a conducting device such as a transmission line that represents the impediment it poses to the slow of current through it
• Rate at which energy flows through a transmission line is limited by the line’s impendence
• Has resistance and reactance
• Measured in ohms

Question 20

What is power?

Answer 20

• Rate at which energy flowing or work is being done
• Since voltage is the amount of work done for each unit of charge that flows and current is the rate of flow of a charge, the PRODUCT of voltage and current is the rate of work