COVER FEATURE
INGENIEUR
COVER FEATURE
INGENIEUR
Distributed Generation – Shaping Future Energy
By Dato’ Ir. Dr Ali Askar Sher Mohamad Managing Director, Sher Engineering & Consultancy Sdn Bhd
Figure 1: Typical Transmission Lines
The electricity industry has been characterized by central generation, long transmission lines, and an extended distribution network, bringing power to the consumer, whether residential, commercial, or industrial. Since generation is traditionally powered by coal, gas, nuclear or large hydro, these generating plants are located far away from population centres. In an effort to reduce losses in the lines, the Transmission voltages continue to increase, from 66 kV through 132, 275 and now 500 kV in Malaysia. Other countries have gone for 750 kV and even 1000 kV. While increased power capacity can be transmitted over long distances with lower losses, the cost of erecting and maintaining these lines is enormous and is passed on to the consumers through the tariff. The distribution network, comprising of long lengths of medium voltage( typically 11, 22 and 33 kV) and low voltage( typically 400 V and 230 V) also takes a huge chunk of the utility’ s budget to operate and maintain.
RENEWABLE ENERGY INDUSTRY
Renewables have become a popular source of power generation in the past decade or so, not only in the developed West, but also in many developed and developing economies in Asia, including China, India, Japan, and the ASEAN region. The vast majority of Renewable Energy
12 VOL 75 JULY-SEPTEMBER 2018