Energy Central Welcomes our Expert Alex Boyd to their Grid Processionals Group

We are please to announce that Alex Boyd, PSC’s President and CEO, has been welcomed as and Energy Central Expert in their Grid Professional group.  As part of their welcome, Energy Central conducted an exclusive interview with Alex.  We would like to share the interview below: 

The technology that’s driving the power grid today is not the same as it was in decades past. In many areas where modernization has recently taken, in fact, the technology making up the grid makes up some of the most advanced and exciting technologies across any industry sector. This transformation taking place across the grid creates unprecedented opportunities, especially when guided by the expert voices who are watching and implementing on the front line. One such organization is PSC Consulting, an Energy Central partner who is empowering sustainable solutions across the utility sector, and PSC is led by the latest addition to the Energy Central Network of Experts, Alex Boyd.

Alex, PSC’s President and CEO, has spent several decades in the power sector and been a part of numerous key technologies and deployments that have guided the evolution of the grid that we’re still witnessing today. Based on his leadership and expertise living and driving grid modernization, he made for a more than suitable Expert to add to our Grid Professionals Group.

In this insightful interview, as a part of the  New Expert Member Interview series, Alex highlights the technologies today that have him most excited, the ongoing challenges, and advice for the sector as regulation, market forces, and a drive for a modern and sustainable future are creating a new-look power sector:

Matt Chester: Thanks for agreeing to be one of our experts, Alex. Can you give your background in the industry so our community better understands what went into you being established as an expert?

Alex Boyd: I’ve spent over 25 years in the electricity industry, covering a whole range of responsibilities from hands-on engineering work at power stations through to the transmission grid and on to project management of various electricity industry technology projects around the world. It allows me to bring an important breadth of experience to my role as the leader of the corporate management team for a specialist engineering consultancy focused on the electricity sector.

MC: What are some of the upcoming technologies that you and your team are really investing in and rolling out for your partners that have you particularly excited?

AB: There are numerous exciting developments underway, particularly in the area of Net Zero. The rise of renewables and the electrification of transport is experiencing significant growth, but we’re also seeing a push on the transmission grid, notably new HVDC that help improve the security of supply, system efficiency and integration of variable renewable energy resources. And while they aren’t a silver bullet, scaling the use of grid-forming inverters to allow solar and wind power, for example, to restart the grid independently in the event of an outage is something we’re excited about.

We’re also interested in how ambient weather ratings can maximize the performance of existing assets and the positive role artificial intelligence will play in the modern grid. Further down the line, there’s a lot of interest in power-to-X as a new global green energy commodities market emerges. There’s a whole toolbox of solutions and new ones are emerging all the time. They all have a role to play in the energy transition. The key is selecting the right tool for the job in each specific application.

MC: Are there any specific common mistakes or misconceptions from new partners when you open up discussions with them that you’ve seen time and again that you wish you could easily clear up across the sector?

AB: At the heart of a lot of the issues that our clients and partners face is dealing with the scale of the challenge and the complexities associated with the interconnected nature of the energy system. The equivalent of rebuilding the entire national generation capacity in the next decade is a tremendous undertaking, but we have to be mindful that it is a lot more than simply building new green power plants. All the other systems, controls and market structures have to be in place too.

MC: The policy and regulations that guide this sector are fundamental factors to consider, but they aren’t uniform across the globe or even within the country given how many different regulators, grid operators and jurisdictions there are across the U.S. grid. Can you point to any region or grid that has the type of regulations that are most favorable and beneficial that you wish were more common in other regions?

AB: Grid codes and the regulatory frameworks that underpin them are continually evolving in response to the dynamic nature of the electricity system. One constant that is vital to attract necessary investment in network infrastructure and the associated systems is a long-term vision. The European Association for the Cooperation of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E) recently opened a public consultation on their Ten-Year Network Development Plan for 2024. A pan-European electricity infrastructure development plan, it provides a vision of the future power system, including a study on system dynamics and operational challenges with a focus on the 2040 horizon. This kind of approach is always worthwhile.

The other important element is regulatory harmonization. With the growing development of transnational interconnectors across Europe, for example, the electricity system is becoming far more homogenous, and the grid code and regulations should also reflect that. As renewable resources are being increasingly exported across the US, it is inevitable that regulators will follow suit and put in place more harmonized grid standards and codes that facilitate the most efficient use of our valuable energy resources. And this will give us greater geographic diversity of generation resources, helping to address intermittency.

MC: Why did you feel compelled to get more involved in the Energy Central Community? And what value do you hope to bring to your peers on the platform?

AB: If we are to meet our net zero ambitions and avert the worst excesses of climate change, we need to instigate massive change on the scale of a Manhattan project and with the same kind of urgency. That requires a collaborative global effort and Energy Central is a hub in which ideas and experiences can be exchanged to drive the collective knowledge base forward. That is why communities like this are so important and why I am keen to become a part of it. None of us, and no one company, no matter how large, can do this alone!

MC: What’s the final message you want to share with members of the community as they learn about you and get excited to see you in our community?

AB: I’d encourage readers to talk to folks outside our industry about the energy transition. Energy Central’s forum is great, but it sometimes feels like we’re ‘preaching to the choir.’ I was recently asked to give a presentation about the energy transition to a group of pensioners in New Zealand. This is an audience we don’t generally have an opportunity to talk to but who were genuinely curious about the topic. Their subsequent questions highlight the areas that for us in the energy industry aren’t necessarily at the top of our minds and yet are important for us to consider and address. They wanted to know about the unexpected consequences of new technologies involved in the energy transition. (Maybe not coincidentally, the speaker before me was from Microsoft and gave a short demo of Bing’s AI tool.) They want to know if the industry is considering the unexpected impact caused by high penetrations of wind farms, for example.

I also recently had the opportunity to speak with a group of college engineering students who spent a week at our corporate headquarters working with our engineers and others as part of a spring practicum. The younger generation already understands the concept of renewable energy sources being abundant. They are engaged in the issue of climate change. The students I interacted with were passionate about not only their careers but about society’s future and being a part of something transformational. Speaking with them gave me even more reason to be optimistic about where we’re headed together. So my advice for readers is to diversify who you talk to – and listen to – as it can be an uplifting and educational experience.  

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Thanks to Alex Boyd for joining me for this interview and for providing a wealth of insights and expertise to the Energy Central Community. You can trust that Alex will be available for you to reach out and connect, ask questions, and more as an Energy Central member, so be sure to make him feel welcome when you see her across the platform.

The other expert interviews that we’ve completed in this series can be read here, and if you are interested in becoming an expert, you can reach out to me or you can apply here.