The document summarizes a project by GE Digital Energy to implement a smart grid system in the remote community of Bella Coola, Canada to more efficiently manage their energy supply. The system used an optimization-based microgrid controller and energy storage to reduce the community's reliance on costly diesel generators. Initial tests estimated the system could lower diesel consumption by 200,000 liters and greenhouse gas emissions by 600 tons annually. The project demonstrated the potential of smart grid technologies to sustainably and cost-effectively power off-grid communities.

1. GE Digital Energy
Grid IQ Innovation Centre (Markham, Canada):
Generating a Sustainable Future
Background:
GE Energy, a company that helps consumers understand hydro-electric units. The lack of a water level controller
and manage energy usage, also explores new ways to and a storage device also means that renewable power is
deliver clean, renewable energy. A subsidiary division, not efficiently used leading to an excess operation of costly
GE Digital Energy, was developed as part of the global and polluting diesel units.
Smart Grid effort to modernise and optimise how the world
generates, moves and consumes energy. GE Digital Energy saw this as an opportunity to test its
smart grid technology with the main objective of reducing
In its quest to innovate, GE Digital Energy submitted its the community’s reliance on and consumption of diesel
project - “Sustainable Energy Generation and Management power and corresponding emission of greenhouse gases.
for off-grid Remote Communities based on Smart Grid
Technologies” to the 2011 IET Innovation Awards, for the Development:
Built Environment category. Centred on the implementation Amir Hajimiragha, the Digital Energy lead application
of an innovative power generation control and monitoring engineer whose inventive brainstorming with former
system, the project was tested by the remote off-grid colleague Mohammad Zadeh led to the development
community of Bella Coola in British Columbia, Canada and of the winning project. The project was launched in
its ability to reduce its dependency on diesel power. September 2010 with the monitoring system up and
running for a long period of time. Local controllers for
Demonstrating real social, economic and personal change diesel generators were successfully tested in June 2011
as well as pioneering and sustainable thinking, GE Digital and after several months of running the whole system in
Energy walked away with the 2011 accolade. The project advisory mode to collect and analyse data, the water level
was a partnership between BC Hydro, General Electric and and central controllers were finally tested in auto mode in
Powertech. The project was supported by the province of November 2011. This aimed to reduce the community’s
British Columbia and Sustainable Development Technology annual diesel consumption by an estimated total of up to
Canada (SDTC), an arm’s-length, non-for-profit corporation 200,000 litres and lower greenhouse gas emissions by
created by the Government of Canada. 600 tons annually.
Motivation:
The aim of the project was to demonstrate a more efficient
and cost effective way of covering the energy requirements
of an off-grid remote community. Bella Coola was selected
due to its energy requirements being covered by local
power generation resources - specifically, diesels and
A BC Hydro Diesel Generating Unit in Bella Coola
Essential Engineering Intelligence for Built Environment Built Environment Sector Case Study
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2. of the control system solution after several months of
running it in advisory mode which bolstered the team’s
efforts to win at the 2011 IET Innovation Awards.
“ GE Digital Energy has always been actively involved with
the IET and as one of the largest institutions in the world,
we felt recognition would be a significant milestone in this
Control Room in Bella Coola Hydrogen Storage in Bella Coola
with GE Controllers project by showcasing its achievements to an international
and respected audience,” says Hajimiragha. “The knowledge
Key to the project was the GE Digital Energy optimisation-
based microgrid controller that automatically responded to and intelligence that we have had access to through the IET’s
changes in supply and demand so that energy is managed engineering resources and contacts have been invaluable in a
efficiently. By incorporating electric and hydrogen storage variety of projects that GE Digital Energy has and is continuing
devices together with a variety of smart-grid technologies,
the system made use of hydro units by storing energy as
”
to develop, says Hajimiragha.
electricity or hydrogen during off-peak time periods and
returning this to the system at optimal periods. “ The knowledge and intelligence that we have had access to
through the IET’s engineering resources and contacts have been
invaluable in a variety of projects that GE Digital Energy has
”
“A few necessary changes have been made along the way,
and is continuing to develop.
mainly equipping the original operator dependant system
with advanced technologies, to limit the risk of operator
misjudgement.” comments Hajimiragha. “A variety of
mathematical tools and technologies are now serving a
vital technical need. As a result, we are confident that The Future:
we can deliver a cleaner, more efficient power generation Based on the prior successful test of the system, long-
system that supplies the community with sustainable, lasting and substantial benefits at Bella Coola are
more reliable energy,” he continues. expected. This is a promising future for our smart grid
technology, which is not limited to just Bella Coola
“It might seem quite obvious that the inclusion of the storage community,” claims Hajimiragha.
device either in the form of electricity or hydrogen could be a
solution to the problems of this off-grid community; however, He comments: “With hundreds of off-grid communities
how to operate this storage device and make it interact around the world and as much as 44 per cent of the global
with other generation units in the system in real time population living in rural, sometimes remote areas, there is
remained a challenging task. Our design and the resulting clearly huge potential for this kind of technology.”
product addressed this challenge,” says Hajimiragha.
Results:
The impact on the 2,000 residents has proved to be
substantial. The ability of the product to operate in real time
and in harsh weather conditions are an invaluable asset for
“ The Built Environment sector is an emerging sector and vital
to our sustainable future. Through our involvement with the IET
and having access to a trusted source of essential engineering
the community. Initial factory test results showed that with the intelligence, GE Digital Energy has been able to play a pivotal
”
deployment of the storage devices and the optimisation based role in shaping its development, Hajimiragha concludes.
controller, the total operation costs on a typical summer’s
day could be reduced from $803 to $293 and estimated
fuel savings could add up to 200,000 litres per year.
In early November 2011, the team reached another
milestone when it successfully tested the major capabilities
www.theiet.org/built-environment
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and technicians, and a trusted source of essential engineering intelligence.
The Institution of Engineering and Technology is registered as a Charity in England and Wales (No. 211014) and Scotland (No. SC038698). Michael Faraday House, Six Hills Way, Stevenage, Herts, SG1 2AY.
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