The way that electrical power is distributed in the UK could be about to change as the National Grid is exploring the potential of wireless transmission technology.
National Grid Electricity Distribution (NGED) is partnering with technology firm Space Solar to investigate how high-powered radio waves could be used to essentially beam electricity over long distances. This could be utilised to augment and even eventually replace familiar overhead and underground power cables. The partners say that this could improve efficiency and resilience.
One area that the Wireless Power Transmission Project will explore is whether such a system could deliver better responses in emergency situations such as severe storms that can cause outages of traditional grid power lines. It could also help bring power to customers located in remote areas and could also play a part in efficiently transferring power from renewable sources, including offshore facilities such as wind farms. It could also transform the way that power is transmitted to and through designated National Landscapes and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Bills could even be lowered as a result of reduced bottlenecks and constraint payments – where generators are compensated for reducing their output in order to maintain system stability.
Tech partner specialises in space-based solar power
The initiative will be funded via Ofgem’s Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) and managed in partnership with Innovate UK. Space Solar, as the name implies, specialises in space-based solar power. It claims that this will be the ultimate form of clean dependable energy, as it is unaffected by the weather, seasons, or time of day. As well as orbiting satellites to harvest power from the sun, it uses power transmission technology involving coherent, collimated (or non-divergent) beams of radio waves that are transmitted to a rectifying antenna on the ground. Similar techniques could potentially be used for Earth-based power transmission.
Space Solar said that demand for electricity is set to double in the UK by 2050, requiring a fourfold increase in renewable energy. Overhead lines and underground cables will still be needed by this point, but innovations in the distribution network could help to take some of the extra strain.
Tim Polack, NGED’s Director of Strategy and Transformation, said: “Innovative thinking is fundamental to supporting the transition to a cleaner energy future, and the Wireless Power Transmission project will explore how state-of-the-art technology could transform the electricity network to deliver resilience, cost and connection benefits to customers.”
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