Smart Grid and Enabling Technologies. Frede Blaabjerg

to power cables. The benefit of the PLC is the currently recognized infrastructure that decreases deployment costs. Drawbacks include the existence of higher harmonics in the power lines that interfere with communication signals and the limited frequency of communication. Installing a number of smart meters and communication infrastructure should be implemented according to certain standards that are acknowledged by all companies and utilities taking part in building the SG. Different organizations are working on SG standardization such as the European Committee for Standardization, American National Standards Institute (ANSI), International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and others. The well‐known standards for SG communications are IEEE P2030, which provides guidelines for interoperability of the electric power system with end‐use applications and loads; IEEE P1901 used by all classes of Broadband over Power Line (BPL) devices, entailing devices utilized for the connection to internet access services and devices utilized in buildings for LANs, smart energy applications, transportation platforms (vehicle), and other data distribution applications; IEC62351, which deals with cybersecurity issues of the SG; IEC62056 for electricity metering data exchange; PLC G3 to allow data and control messages to be transferred to generation, transmission, and distribution systems. There are more standards for SG communication including 802.15.4, ISO 1802, IPv4, DNP3, IEC61970, etc. [34]. More details on the standardization will be discussed in Chapter 17.

      1.5.5 Customer Engagement

In the traditional grid, consumers have a passive role while occupying a marginal position in the energy market. Customer engagement has been negligible in the aspect of energy monitoring, controlling, management, generation, storing, and trading. However, with the introduction of the SG paradigm, the consumers have a crucial and active role in all aspects above. The SG technologies open the opportunity for active engagement through real‐time insight in their energy consumption patterns, price changes, local renewable energy production, storing, and energy sharing. Customers engagement is the language of energy DSM in the SG which is used to achieve supply–demand balancing, load shifting, and increased reliability, high efficiency, and resiliency in the electric system. Electric utilities are putting more focus on energy demand management to realize three main tasks: enhancing energy efficiency, direct load control, and to meet a dynamic DR [35].

Energy management on the demand‐side acts on the consumers for controlling electrical energy usage. There are a number of solutions to attain demand management and flexible energy consumption. Direct load control and dynamic DR programs are addressing the biggest priorities and challenges for the successful implementation of demand management in SGs. The participant customers can rely on their generation sources to meet their demand (typical usage requirements) whenever possible. Customer engagement, through (DSM) market prices change, increases with time. Figure 1.11 shows the global market of customer engagement. The global energy management systems (EMS) (industrial, home, and building) market size was USD 9.8 billion in 2017 and is expected to increase to USD 72.73 billion in 2024 [36, 37]. The right‐side column of the Figure 1.11 indicates the spending per region. The EMS is becoming a crucial tool for both the utility and the customer to monitor, analyze, shift, optimize, and control energy and assets in real‐time.

      1.5.6 Sensors and PMU Units

Sensing and measurement technologies collect data to evaluate and monitor the state operation and equipment health status which support the grid's functionality and higher reliability. Also, this serves customers in improving their electrical usage by giving them information regarding their daily demands. Sensing and measurement technologies include sensors, phasor measurement units, and advanced metering infrastructures (AMI). All this supports a wide‐area monitoring system, time‐of‐use, assets functionality, real‐time pricing, and the system proper operation. A phasor measurement unit is a high‐speed sensor integrated with the power grid to monitor power quality by allowing data to be obtained at certain instants of time. Phasor measurement units can be considered as a health‐meter of the grid as they collect different measurements of voltage, phase, and current to be analyzed. This will help to reduce blackouts and provide a wide‐area situational awareness.

Figure 1.11 Customer engagement demand side management spending by region, 2017–2024 (USD Million).

      1.5.7 Smart Meters and Advanced Metering Infrastructure

      Smart meters are a two‐way communicator that helps create a bridge between the utilities and the end consumer. In comparison to existing meters, smart meters have included functionalities by using real‐time sensors, power outage notification, and power quality monitoring. Smart meters function digitally and permit automatic and complex transmissions of data between utilities and customers. Sharing information through smart meters can be linked to a Home EMS, which allows the consumers to see it in a comprehensible format which helps them to control their energy usage. To have a safe and reliable grid, various devices and algorithms that allow for rapid diagnosis and analysis should be developed.

      AMI includes the implementation of various technologies that allow for a two‐way flow of information, providing consumers and utilities with information on electricity cost and use, including the time and amount of electricity used. AMI gives a wide range of functionalities such as [38]:

      1 1) Remote consumer price signals, which can provide time‐of‐use pricing information.

      2 2) Collect, store, and report users' energy consumption data for any needed periods.

      3 3) Enhance energy diagnostics from detailed load profiles.

      4 4) Obtain location and degree of outages remotely.

      5 5) Provide the possibility for remote connection and remote disconnection.

      6 6) Allow identification of electricity theft and losses.

1.6 Smart Grid Control

      The future SG is expected to be a flexible and manageable interconnected network consisting of small‐scale and self‐contained sub‐areas, integrated with the large‐scale electric power grid as the backbone. Utilizing micro sources, such as renewable energy sources and combined heat and power plants, into the SG makes them feed their local loads in an economic and environmentally friendly manner [39]. Therefore, the SG control architecture should therefore be dynamic and multilayer to handle real‐time operation and provide tradeoff between performance and implementation. Advanced control uses high‐speed communication infrastructure, distributed intelligent agents, analytical tools, and operational functionalities. The advanced control systems in the SG monitor the essential components, provide timely response, and enables the detection, prediction, disconnection, and self‐healing of faults in the system.

Hierarchical control systems of the SG are distinguished between multilevel systems and multilayer systems. The multilevel system is based on the cooperation of independent controllers which cooperate to control the trading of the power. The multilayer system is based on individual actions with each controller having its own objective. A multitude of different architectures of the SG exists to realize such integrated systems. They are known as “distributed,” “decentralized,” “local,” or “central.” [40]. If an information exchange exists among the independent controllers, the control architecture is assumed to be distributed as shown in Figure 1.12. The system could be fully or partially distributed, and this is reliant on the condition that the information is shared between all controllers or among a subset of controllers.