What Is Smart Grid

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Introduction

In the past decade our society has been increasingly digitalized, we are dependent on electricity more than ever before and this need will be doubled over the twenty coming years. Our need for a new electricity cleaner resources, monitoring systems, and network architectures is increasing.

An integrated high performance, highly reliable, scalable, and secure communications network is critical for the effective deployment and operation of the next-generation electricity systems starting from the generation of electric power, to its transmission, and its distribution systems—known as "smart grids"[1].

In this context, Smart grid can be considered as a combination of the electric power infrastructure and communications infrastructure. New information communication and networking technologies will simplify an improved controlling of the available assets and future smart grid deployment.

In this paper, we will start by describing the issues with the existing grid, and introducing smart grid keys features, technologies, market segments, potential impacts and perspectives.

Smart GRID: An Overview

The worldwide electric power infrastructure has served us so well for a century or more known as "the grid", it is now promptly working against its limitations. Too many risks are associated with depending on an overloaded grid mature in size, scale and complexity every day. Several challenges are to face like power system safety and security, its impacts on nature such as climate change and global worming that we should solve in the near future [2].

II.1. Issues with existing grid

The grid as it stands today has multiple risks and challenges to overcome; we are relying on a centrally scheduled, controlled and organized infrastructure made basically before the era of microprocessors that bounds our flexibility and locates us at menace on numerous critical fronts [4]:

The tremendous growth in peak demand for electricity caused by population growth, more electric appliances such as air conditioners, computers, TVs, bigger refrigerators, washing machines, microwaves etc., has surpassed transmission growth by almost 25% every year.

In order to innovate and renewal the existing grid billions of dollars should be invested – well in USA for example spending on research and development in this field– is among the lowest of all industries [2], in realty the grid is struggling to keep up.

The grid was designed on the 20th century requirements, so obviously it cannot deal with the 21st century needs, such as energy efficiency, environmental impacts, and customer choice. Back in the mid nighties expending the grid and keeping lights on was the only concern for the grid.

The reliability issue is the most important point of consideration when talking about the electric grid, over the past 40 years there have been five massive blackouts only in USA [2] .Those blackouts are happening due to the mechanical switches slow response time [5], an absence of computerized analytics, a poor visibility and a lack of situational responsiveness on the part of grid operators. This issue of reliability has negative implications on different industry segments as plant production, perishable food spoiling, traffic lights, and credit card transactions and so on. So the results of even a short local grid blackout could cost millions of dollars.

The efficiency issue at handling peak load and energy savings, in fact the new smart grid could have brilliant results on world economy. If the grid were just 5% more competent, the energy savings would associate to always excluding the greenhouse gas emissions and fuel from 53 million cars [3].

Security issues: Repetitive blackouts that have occurred in the last decades leave the society open to attacks, In fact, the interdependencies of many grid modules and components in the actual-centralized structure- can cause a domino effect – a cascading chain of disasters that could carry all finance systems, banks, traffic, communications, and security systems among others to a whole halt.

Environment /climate change issues: From all points of view the grid as it still today cause too much harm to our environment and threatens us all. For example, The United States has only 4% of the world’s population and produces 25% of its greenhouse gases [2]. Half of its electricity production is still produced by using coal, a rich electric source but a major provider to global warming. In order to reduce carbon production and help improve the global environment, by using cleaner, renewable sources of energy like wind, solar and geothermal that must be integrated into the grid. However, without the right enabling technologies standards connecting them to the grid, their prospective will not be totally recognized and utilized.

II.2. What is Smart Grid?

Our electrical grid is obsolete, and demand for energy is beating the supply. The smart grid makes over our electrical system into a modern network that empowers utilities and consumers to modernize how we generate, produce and consume energy. Smart grids carry out electricity from providers to customers using digital technology to save energy, decrease prices and amplify trustworthiness and reliability. Such a modernized electricity network is being supported by many countries as a way to address energy objectivity and global warming concerns.

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) [8] guides federal and state agencies to implement projects and programs that progress the operation of the "Smart Grid". EISA describes "the Smart Grid" as follows: "A modernization of the Nation electricity transmission and distribution system to maintain a reliable and secure electricity infrastructure that can meet future demand growth" [7].

II.3. Smart Grid Advantages

In near time, the smart grid will function more efficiently than the existing grid, delivering different layer of services that we are expecting and more in an affordable, safe and secure way in an era of growing costs, while also offering important common benefits – such as fewer impacts on our environment.

In fact, Smart grid is not a single technology, but a mixture of numerous technologies. By rational use of diverse technologies, smart grid can offer several economic potential and environmental benefits such as [8]:

Enhanced Reliability

Advanced asset operation

Improved integration of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and renewable energy

Reduced operational costs for utilities

Bigger productivity and preservation

Lower greenhouse gas (GHG) and other emissions

Smart grid key features

The way electricity is supplied and consumed today will be revolutionized by the development of smart grids. Smart grids are supported by the latest control and monitoring systems, communication and information technologies emergence. They offer the flexibility, productivity and portability needed to handle the expanded power generation, rising demand, fluctuating use patterns and gradually stretched transmission and distribution networks.

They also give a high level of control over energy networks and that’s important to decrease wasteful energy use and incorporating small, diversified generators into the grid. Smart grids will also play a significant role in falling down greenhouse gas emissions [12].

In fact, among smart grid features we can identify the following key features as the most significant:

Adaptive

The smart grid decentralized generation infrastructure is expanding to include large-scale offshore wind. A significant proportion of power will come from small generators – biomass, solar photovoltaic, onshore wind, combined heat and power, and evolving technologies like wave energy.  At the same time, energy-hungry use outlines are developing with the introduction of electric vehicles and heat pumps, for instance. Challenges include coordinating energy from various sources to iron out flows and provide power of a reliable quality. Smart grids can adapt to all types of generation.

Integrated and predictive

The incorporation of communication, security and control technologies allows data to be transferred and handled immediately. This gives communication and supply control rooms an active state of how networks are behaving in real time. There can be large differences in supply and demand, with excess in one part of the network and a unavailability in another. Smart grid communication and control technologies enable electricity to be reallocated to realize better power equilibrium across the grid.

Interactive

Customers will have exceptional control over their energy consumption, also with several environmental and financial profits. Smart meters will apply flexible prices: at agreed thresholds or when demand is on its peak, the unit cost of energy will grow up, encouraging customers to decrease consumption. 

Optimized and self-healing

Operators will be able to route electricity from supply source to point of demand via the most economical route, preventing local overload in the transmission and distribution system. If a line is severed the smart grid will find alternative paths. Existing grids are manually restored following disruption. Smart grids will be automated, making restoration of supply faster and safer.

Furthermore, smart grid has improved self-management and self-healing capacity. Using real-time monitoring, complications can be robotically noticed and replied to. By the incorporation of micro grids affected areas can be quarantined from the main networks preventing disturbance of the whole system.

Intelligent

The smart grid has the ability of sensing system overloads and redirecting power to avoid or decrease a probable outage; of working self-reliantly when circumstances necessitate resolve faster than humans can respond…and supportively in arranging the goals of utilities, customers and controllers.

Efficient

The smart grid is capable of meeting bigger consumer request without extending the network or adding infrastructure.

Accommodating

The smart grid is tolerant to energy coming from different virtually any fuel sources including solar and wind as simply and obviously as coal and natural gas; able of incorporating any and all enhanced concepts and technologies as energy storage technologies, for example.

Motivating

The smart grid is capable of enabling real-time communication between the customer and utility so consumers can adapt their power consumption founded on specific favorites and choices, like price and environmental concerns

Opportunistic

The smart grid is capable creating new markets opportunities by means of its ability to exploit on plug-and-play innovation appliances.

Reliable and Quality-focused

The smart grid has the ability of delivering the energy essential quality without disturbances and disruptions or stoppages in order to power our gradually digital economy and all electric appliances such as computers and data centers to make it run.

Resilient

The smart grid is increasingly resistant to attack and natural disasters due to its decentralized infrastructure and reinforced with Smart Grid security protocols.

"Green"

The smart grid is capable of slowing the spread of global climate change and contributing to create a genuine path toward significant environmental improvement.

Smart grid key technologies

According to (NETL) the National Energy Technology Laboratory, five key technologies area have been identified in order to modernize the grid. These categories are described as following [13]:

Integrated communications:

It consist of connecting constituents to create an open architecture for real-time information monitoring and control, permitting each part of the grid to both ‘talk’ and ‘listen’.

However, the implementation of integrated communications is a crucial need that must be solved in basis phase, mandatory by the other key technologies and vital to the modernize power grid.

Integrated communications will create an active, interactive super infrastructure for real-time information and power interchange, giving users the opportunity to interact with numerous intelligent electronic devices in an integrated system sensitive to the various speed requirements of the interconnected applications.

Sensing and measurement technologies:

These technologies are crucial in order to support faster and more precise reaction and response such as remote monitoring, dynamic pricing and demand-side management.

Sensing and Measurement is an important component of a completely modern power grid. Advanced sensing and measurement technologies will obtain and convert data into information and boost several characteristics of power system management. These technologies will evaluate equipment health and the integrity of the grid. They will support frequent meter readings, eliminate billing estimations, and prevent energy theft. They will also help relieve congestion and reduce emissions by enabling consumer choice and demand response and by supporting new control strategies.

Advanced component:

Advanced components have an active role in demonstrating the electrical performance of the grid and in spreading over the latest research in superconductivity, storage, materials, chemistry, microelectronics and diagnostics fields. They can be applied in either unconnected applications or standalone or connected together to create composite systems such as micro-grids.

Advanced control methods:

Advanced Control Method technologies are fundamental to monitor indispensable components, enabling quick diagnosis and precise solutions appropriate to any event. These devices and algorithms will help investigate, diagnose, and foresee conditions in the smart grid and describe and take appropriate curative activities to except, moderate, and avoid outages and power quality troubles and disturbances. Providing control at the transmission, distribution, and customer levels and will accomplish both real and reactive control across state frontiers.

Improved interfaces and decision support:

This technology should enlarge human decision-making, giving grid operators and managers wide vision of their systems applications, real-time view and energy equipment’s.

Improved Interfaces and Decision Support are essential technologies that must be applied to help grid operators and managers having tools and training they will need to control a modern grid. Upgraded Interface and Decision Support technologies will convert multifaceted power-system information into data that can be definitely assumed and treated by human operators. Different data display techniques like virtual reality, will prevent data overload and help operators detect, classify, analyze, and perform on evolving problems.

Smart Grid Market Segments and applications

The Smart Grid is composed of three high-level layers: the physical power layer (transmission and distribution), the data transport and control layer (communications and control), and the applications layer (applications and services) those layers shall be represented in further work.

Each of these high-level layers contains additional sub layers and more detailed market segments. The major Smart Grid market segments and applications include:

Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI): The Foundation of the Smart Grid

Advanced Metering Infrastructure is composed of the meter, AMI deployment consist of replacing mechanical meters with digital meters that permit for two-way communication.  By providing information as well as energy to the consumer and back to the grid, the consumer is authorized to shift power consumption outlines away from peak-demand times when both prices are high and system reliability and efficiency is to its lowest.  Utilities are also able to collect usage data that can be used to deliver more efficiency and less money and power waste.