Smart Grid - A Roadmap

Thinking of a utility without a smart grid initiative in today’s world is tough. Almost all of them are working towards it in their own capacity. Most of the times, the question that bothers utilities in taking initiatives is “Where to start?” as there are many components of a smart grid which are beneficial in their own means.

Frankly, there is no clear generic roadmap in establishment of smart grid as it majorly subjective to the priorities and requirements of the utility as well as the market they are operating in. However, there are several considerations a utility must take into account to pave their path towards the Smart Grid

1.      Communication mechanism is the most important aspect while considering a smart grid. With all the latest, hi-tech devices and systems if the communication medium is poor, the point of having everything else is lost. It depends on the infrastructure and ground realities at your customer base as well as your data center location. Many system manufacturers are now offering cloud based systems which removes the worry of establishing, maintaining and securing a data center however the communication is still the backbone. Utilities need to opt for the best suitable method according to their own environment. Many options like, GPON, M2M, RF Mesh, PLC, Zigbee etc. are available in the market, you just need to think critically which one suites you the best.

2.      Smart Meters are the fundamental elements of any smart grid. Whenever a utility is moving towards the smart grid, they should focus on the establishment of an efficient smart meter network first. Thinking of an efficient distribution management system, outage management system, demand response management system and net metering options without first establishing a smart meter network is nothing but limiting the efficiency of all these systems resulting in obtaining their limited benefits only. AMI is the base system to give you a much clear picture of the demand, usage patterns, and issues (events) at your customer’s end.

3.      Analytic capability is the key! With a gigantic container where the valuable data is continuously poured-in in huge amounts if your organization does not have analytical capabilities in your systems all the investment and efforts you have made for the availability of the data are producing negligible input for your organization’s future. The utilities must consider having a comprehensive analytical system that not only generates analytical reports and dashboards based on the data obtained from different smart grid systems but also should be able to combine the data logically that is coming from different sources to obtain better end-to-end vision. It is not necessary for the utilities to think about analytics only after all the other Smart Grid systems are in place but the analytical system should be introduced early and evolved as per the availability of new type of data in the system.

4.      Including sustainable sources of power generation at customer sites into the grid is a must with today’s increasing awareness and reachability of common customers to such power generation systems. Many utilities are lagging behind in this area of enablement which is clearly the future of power generation. The initiatives towards enablement of your grid for sustainable power generation and net metering is inevitable.

5.      With the upcoming small generation sources the generated energy surplus is expected to be the next challenge. The initiatives towards the enablement of your company for storage of surplus energy for future use is defiantly something that will set your company apart from others and ensure to make it future-ready. In addition to the cost-effective and efficient methods and establishing equipment of energy storage your organization needs to introduce new processes and services based on the changed dynamics to support this concept of “cloud-based energy provision” just like cloud based datacenters or software systems.

6.      Network and Field Management systems are another valuable area. The times for isolated systems for distribution management are gone, you now need more advanced distribution network and field management in one location with integration to AMI systems to not only monitor your grid and network but also take immediate corrective or preventive actions based on the combined view presented based on the important inputs received from smart meters and other field devices.

7.      The central monitoring and control room is a big plus for a maintaining a successful smart grid. Since the grids are more integrated now, it is essential to have a 360 –Degree view of the smart grid and all the contributing elements whether it be the systems, field devices or manually by resources. A comprehensive GIS system with near-to-accurate mapping of field devices plays a vital role in establishing an efficient central monitoring and control system.

The companies should enable their smart grid programs to have broader vision, despite of their initial steps towards the smart grid. A grid designed with broader and long term vision would result in a future proof and technology enriched state of the art grids with efficient and effective controls.