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Date:The energy sector

The energy sector is an important sector for any development to occur in a country. This sector drives the industrial development and in essence, economic growth in a country. A country with a well-established energy sector will most likely achieve tremendous economic growth. Perhaps the importance of energy is clearly seen by the scramble to control and access the world’s oil reserves by the major superpowers notably The US and China. The energy sector, oil energy in particular, is one of the sources of tension between these two superpowers. The energy sector is broad and consists of various energy sources and sub-sectors.

The most common energy industry is the petroleum industry which is controlled by oil companies who mine, refine, transport and at times, sell the refined oil at its products. The gas industry and coal industry are other non-renewable industries apart from oil industry, in the energy sector. The use of nuclear power industry has increased tremendously since the late 20th century. However, this industry has a lot of challenges such as lethargic accidents and environmental hazards. This has made many countries to plan shutting down their nuclear power plants in the future for instance, Germany.

Electric Energy Industry

Electric power energy is the commonly used energy source in the world besides oil energy. Production of electric power is done by power stations. These power stations can produce electricity through hydro-generation commonly referred to as hydroelectricity. Hydroelectricity relies on waterfalls and dams to power generators to produce electricity. Solar and wind power can also produce electricity if well harnessed. Electricity is then transported using grid connection to consumers. Nearly all sectors of the economy use electric energy. Its uses range from; domestic, industrial to commercial lighting use in streets, towns and cities. Electrical energy sector is my area of interest and I desire to apply symphonic thinking and Cougar’s problem solving model to help solve the problems in this mercurial industry. The organization of electrical energy sector in the country is based on specific regions. Electric utilities serve each region and are legally entitled to provide electricity within the regions. As a result, there are specific problems in this sector in each geographical region in the country. However, majority of the problems experienced, applies to nearly all the regions in the country. The problems are discussed below.

Demand Forecasts

It is difficult to accurately estimate the demand of electricity in some regions. This has negatively affected the generation of electricity because investment in this industry is based on the electric utility. Electric demand determines the construction plans of electric power stations. Accurate demand estimation techniques are therefore crucial in electric power generation and investment. Unfortunately, energy demand estimation techniques in this sector are archaic and erratic. Thus; proper and modern electricity demand estimation measures are paramount in order to solve this problem. The short-gap measure employed is the use of steam and gas powered generators to breech demand gaps caused by wrong demand estimation methods. Using steam and gas powered generators is costly resulting to increased prices of electricity to users.

Capital Planning

Capital planning just like demand estimation is critical in the electrical sector. Correct estimations of the amount of capital required in electrical investment depend on the estimated demand. However, other factors are equally important in estimating the capital investment required. One necessary factor is the amount of the load required and variations of the load. Availability of power generating plants in maintaining the power schedules and outages is critically important too. Capital estimation entails examining the required capacity representing a stable load. Varying capacities of peaks requires provision using other means with lower capital costs. Accurate estimation of both marginal and operating costs likely incurred is compulsory. Errors in capital planning can result to inadequate capacities to meet the demand. Alternatively, it can also result to high operating costs of power supply and generation.

Demonstrate

Electrical energy sector is capital intensive sector and therefore requires accurate planning before any investment is done. My aim is to help solve these problems upon completion of my studies. Am passionate about the electrical sector and will apply my symphonic thinking to improve the electrical energy sector in our country. This will ensure that more homes, industries and streets have adequate and reliable electrical power connection. This will enhance the welfare of consumers as well as improving the economy due to increased production by industries. My desire is to eliminate the inefficiencies in this sector by applying Cougar’s critical thinking skills.

Analyze

Error prone demand estimation methods have led to production below capacity in many electric utilities in the country. Most utilities underestimate the demand of electricity among consumers. Estimation of electricity demand is frequently difficult in the industrial sector. This case worsened due to development of small private industries with high electricity demand. Climate change contributes too to this problem. This is because the changing climatic patterns have led to increased demand of electric heaters in homes as a result of the cold weather. Accurate demand estimation of electricity is therefore very difficult. Power plants should increase their capacities in by using nuclear power to breech the energy gap in some areas in the country. These companies should avoid usage of steam and gas generators as they have high operational costs than nuclear power. Power plants with excess capacities should use the energy in simple manufacturing processes of goods. These goods will act as by-products t the power plants therefore enabling the plants to remain profitable. Such goods may include productions of toys which require in-built energy power to function. This is in line with Cougar’s problem solving techniques of generating new ideas to solve a problem.

Application of symphonic thinking applies in solving the problem of capital planning. Accurate capital budgeting involves 1st determining the capacity demand. Power plants need to establish the number of homes and industries in a particular geographical area. I will establish a method of estimating power demand in a given geographical region by examining the number of homes, industries and towns cities within a given region. Energy demand is classified according to these three categories. The highest and the lowest possible demands in each category are then calculated thereafter; the average demand established. Power plants then should operate slightly above the average demand. This is a new way of estimating demand and an application of Cougar’s problem solving skills.

Evaluation

The solutions offered above are new ways and an indication of cougar’s problem solving skills. Counting the number of homes, industries and towns within a given geographical area will help to establish accurate ways of estimating electricity demand. Power plants should have records of all the electricity consumers in their database and establish individual electricity demand according to these three categories. Power companies should also produce excess capacity and use the surplus energy to manufacture simple goods that are not complex to manufacture. This will solve the problem of wasting excess capacity but at the same time ensure adequate supply of electricity in the country. This will also enable the power plants much freedom in their capital planning.

Learn

My passion of electrical energy allowed me to examine this sector with the aim of applying Cougar’s problem solving skills to help improve the sector. Though there are many factors affecting this industry, I established the above two as the ones easily eliminated through symphonic thinking. This is because these two problems do not require any new invention, but just proper symphonic thinking to solve them.