Question

New electric grid elements and technologies are changing the traditional grid model of “generation ? transmission ? distribution ? load.” Identify what these new disruptive technologies and initiatives are and describe the impacts that each of these is likely to have on the traditional grid.

Answer 1

Block diagram of typical smart grid components and connections

A smart grid is an effective mix of power grids, communication networks and information management systems, which contributes to green and cost-effective energy generation. Generally, a smart grid constitutes a data communications infrastructure integrated with an electrical grid that collects and analyzes data captured in near real time about power transmission, distribution and consumption

First, power plants produce power from a variety of sources, including solar, wind and nuclear sources, for distribution. As the power approaches the customers’ homes, it is again stepped down to the voltage required for residential use. Finally, home appliances access power through their electric smart meters

or example, power generation can be dynamically controlled by using the real-time energy consumption of the end users. Meanwhile, the end user can visualize the real-time power usage of the home and can obtain the real-time cost of the power supplied from the power provider. In a smart grid, electricity can also be returned to the grid by users. For example, home users may be able to generate electricity using photovoltaic (PV) systems and return it to the grid or electric vehicles may provide power to help balance loads by “peak shaving”, i.e., sending power back to the grid when the demand is high. This backward flow is important. For example, it can be extremely useful in a microgrid that has been “isolated” because of power failures. With the help of the energy feedback from the customers, the microgrid can continue to function, albeit at a reduced level.

By exchanging information between different elements, the smart grid provides predictive information and recommendations to utilities, their suppliers and their customers on how to manage power in an optimal manner?.
Figure 1a shows an example of a three-tier hierarchical smart grid network that is organized by wide area networks (WANs), neighbor area networks (NANs) and home area networks (HANs). The HAN is an end-user network that is constructed by the connection between smart household electric appliances. The NAN is a capillary of the smart grid that provides large-scale data communication and connectivity between each household and a WAN. The WAN is a high capacity data network between NAN gateways and the head-end system (HES). In this smart grid network, all devices need to use the same communication policies, such as the routing strategy and quality of service (QoS) properties of the application, in order to provide the 3S autonomous network functions, namely self-configuration, self-healing and self-optimization. Figure 1b shows the layer-based information and power-flow model of the smart grid. In this figure, all objectives between the power facility and end-user system, such as the power generator, substation and AMI, are connected to the wired power grid infrastructure. The information data from each objective is exchanged via the data-communication infrastructure, which can be established using both wired and wireless communication protocols, such as powerline communication (PLC), Ethernet, IEEE 802.11 wireless local area network (WLAN) and the IEEE 802.15.4 family of protocols
This conceptual architectural reference model enables us to analyze use cases, to identify interfaces for which interoperability standards are required and to facilitate the development of a cyber-security strategy.
In this layered smart grid model, the electric and communication infrastructure support the two-way flow of electricity and information. Note that it is straightforward to understand the concept of the “two-way flow of information”. “Two-way flow of electricity” implies that the electric energy delivery is no longer unidirectional. The synthesized requirements of the desired smart grid are as follows:

The smart information subsystem is responsible for advanced information metering, monitoring and management in the context of the smart grid.

The smart communication subsystem is responsible for communication connectivity and information transmission between systems, devices and applications in the context of the smart grid.

The smart grid technologies employed for industrial and mission-critical environments require new network-management technologies to provide simple system management between smart grid sub-layers from the application and information sub-systems to the communication infrastructure. Currently, the smart grid concept is a relevant critical-use case, which includes the protection, automation and control of electric power systems and which is supported by ICT facilities that must meet the real-time requirements of these applications with high dependability and security.
The smart grid is a complex and interoperable system that needs to process meaningful and actionable information between different subsystems. The exchanged information will be shared by the systems, and this information will elicit agreed-upon types of responses. The reliability, fidelity and security of the information exchanges between smart grid systems must achieve the required performance levels.
The smart grid technologies employed for industrial and mission-critical environments require new network management technologies to provide simple system management between smart grid sub-layers from applications, information sub-systems and communication infrastructure. Currently, the smart grid concept is a relevant critical use case that includes the protection, automation and control of electric power systems and which is supported by ICT facilities that must meet the real-time requirements of these applications with high dependability and security. However, the current communication infrastructure may not dynamically adapt to the new business model of the smart grid due to its hardware dependability. For example, in the traditional network paradigm, each network device, such as switches (AMI meter), individually manages its routing table by using a pre-defined routing protocol. In this architecture, the pre-defined routing protocol of the network device cannot be flexibly changed or configured to adapt network dynamicity. From a service (application) perspective, the system administrator cannot dynamically manage the network system because the network and service layer are isolated from each other. Thus, the service administrator would not be able to directly identify a network problem even when the application service is down due to network instability. Further, a new application profile of the utility service or network function needs to be added to legacy AMI infrastructure, and all AMI devices need to be replaced or upgraded with service interruption. According to smart grid researchers, smart grid communication technologies are required to evolve in order to solve these various complexity problems affecting the large-scale smart grid system.
Implementing smart grid is a multifaceted challenge. Investment, regulation, business models, consumer education, cybersecurity and even weather in space are leading factors.