Smart Gird
Smart Gird
Smart Gird
Author: Xiaoyu Ma
Abstract
The paper presents information on Smart Grid. Using recent data and knowledge about Smart Grid, this paper mainly
introduces the meaning of Smart Grid, the significance and goals of Smart Grid, history of Smart Grid development.
Technologies of Smart Grid include: integrated communications, sensing and measurement technologies, advanced
components, advanced control methods, and improved interfaces and decision support. Smart Grid must have self-healing,
consumer participation, resist attack, high quality power, accommodate generation options, enable electricity market,
optimize assets, enable high penetration of intermittent generation sources. Finally, this paper takes an outlook of the Smart
Grid future. With cost and benefit analysis in Smart Grid, we found that Smart Grid can really provide people a more
prosperous, healthier, and more quality life. In contrast, for today electric power system, major questions exist about its
ability to continue providing citizens and businesses with relatively clean, reliable, and affordable energy services.
Keywords
Smart Grid, electric power grid, efficiency, reliability, environment/climate change, affordability, security, national economy,
global competitiveness, smart meters, global warming, energy independence
Description
An overview of the meaning of Smart Grid, the significance and goals of Smart Grid, history of Smart Grid development,
and Technologies of Smart Grid.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction: What is Smart Grid?
2. Significance and Goals: What is Smart Grid used for?
3. History of Development: When and Where did Smart Grid start to used?
3.1 The earliest and largest Smart Grid
3.2 In the US
3.3 In other countries
4. Technologies of Smart Grid
5. Functions of Smart Grid
5.1 Self-healing from power disturbance events
5.2 Enabling active consumers participation and operating resiliently against attack
5.3 Providing power quality and optimizing assets
5.4 Accommodating all generation and enabling new products, services, and markets
6. Features: Implementations of Smart Grid
6.1 Load Reduction
6.2 Elimination of demand fraction
6.3 Distribution of power generation
7. Vision of the future of Smart Grid
8. Summary
9. Reference
10. List of Acronyms
In the short term, a smarter grid will function more efficiently, enabling it to deliver the level of service we have come to
expect more affordably in an era of rising costs, while also offering considerable societal benefits – such as less impact on
our environment[2].
In longer term, we can expect the Smart Grid to spur the kind of transformation that the internet has already brought to the
way we live, work, play and learn[2].
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Smart Grid can offer a lot of potential economic and environmental benefits and Significance:
Reliability: because of the requirement of power increasing, the slow response time of mechanical switches, a lack of
automatic analytics, more and more blackouts and brownouts happen. Take US as an example[4], as we know, in the past 40
years, there have been 5 massive blackouts, and three of them occurred in the past 9 years. However, Smart Grid can solve
these problems, today. As technology evolves, people can make power more controllable and planned centrally. Now, with
Smart Grid’s help, we avoid this kind of risks before they happen.
Efficiency: according to research data, if the power grid can be more efficient by just 5%, it will save us the energy as the
same as 53 million cars’ GHG emission[5]. Think about it, if every American family takes off one incandescent bulb, and
use a compact fluorescent bulb instead. The whole country will conserve enough electric energy to light 3 million homes
and save at least $600 million annually[5]. Therefore, we really get the great reason to improve Smart Grid.
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3. History of Development: When and Where did smart grid start to be used?
The power grid started in 1896, based in part on Nikola Tesla's design published in 1888, but recently, in the past 50 years,
electricity networks have not kept pace with modern challenges, such as: security threats, national power employment and
distribution, high demand of power quality and so on. Therefore, the concept of Smart Grid came out, and the term smart
grid has been in use since 2005.
3.2 In the US
States such as Texas, California, New Jersey, Illinois, New York, Ohio and others are already actively exploring ways to
raise the use of tools and technologies toward the realization of a smarter grid.
In Ontario, Canada, Hydro One is in the midst of a large-scale Smart Grid initiative. By the end of 2010, this system will
serve 1.3 million customers in the province of Ontario[8].
In China, the government has embarked on a 10-year project to build a ‘smart grid’ that will catapult power transmission
into the digital age, securing electricity supplies and boosting energy conservation. The program is expected to be a boon to
companies that provide equipment and technology to the power industry[9].
Fig. 2: Investment in China's power sector
Many Implementation decisions that are still in use today were made for the first time using the limited emerging technology
available 120 years ago, but still, there are many new technologies coming out.
Table of Contents
Department of Energy (DOE) lists five fundamental technologies that will drive the Smart Grid[5]:
1. Integrated communications, connecting electronic components to get information and control every part in real time,
on the other hand, make every part of the Smart Grid both ‘listen’ and ‘talk’.
2. Sensing and measurement technologies, to provide faster and more accurate response information of each important
part of Smart Grid, such as remote monitoring, real time thermal rating, electromagnetic signature analysis, real-time
pricing and demand-side management.
3. Advanced components, to apply the latest research in superconductivity, storage, power electronics and diagnostics.
they include: flexible alternating current transmission system devices, high voltage direct current, first and second
generation superconducting wire, high temperature superconducting cable, distributed energy generation and storage
devices, composite conductors, and “intelligent” appliances.
4. Advanced control methods, to monitor essential components, enabling rapid diagnosis and precise solutions
appropriate to any event. There are three categories for advanced control methods: distributed intelligent agents,
analytical tools, and operational application.
5. Improved interfaces and decision support, information systems reduce the complexity of Smart Grid to make both
operator and manager use it more efficiently and easily, to amplify human decision-making.
New technologies bring new functions to Smart Grid, which make Smart Grid more competitive than the old power grid.
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5. Functions of Smart Grid
The government and utilities funding development of grid modernization have defined the functions required for smart
grids. According to the United States Department of Energy's Modern Grid Initiative report a modern smart grid must have:
Operators or managers can use the real-time information which comes from embedded sensors and automated controls to
anticipate, detect, and respond to system problems to automatically avoid or mitigate power outages, blackout, power quality
problems, and system collision.
Smart Grid will likely have a control system that can analyze its performance using distributed, autonomous reinforcement
learning controllers that have learned successful strategies to govern the behavior of the grid in the face of an ever changing
environment such as equipment failures. Such a system might be used to control electronic switches that are tied to multiple
substations with varying costs of generation and reliability[10].
5.2 Enabling active consumers participation and operating resiliently against attack
Smart Grid allows consumers to change their behaviors around variable electric rates. It incorporates consumer equipment
and behavior in grid design, operation, and communication system. Consumers can control the appliances of Smart Grid in
homes or businesses. The connection between energy management systems enables consumers to manage energy better, and
help them access to real-time pricing. The real-time, two-way communications available in Smart Grid will enable
consumers to be compensated for their efforts to save energy and to sell energy back to the grid through net-metering.
Smart grid can identify and respond to hacker attack or natural disruptions better. Real-time information enables both grid
operators and managers to isolate affected areas and redirect power flows around damaged facilities.
The smart monitoring of power grids can control and manage smart grids to avoid the system disruptions like blackouts. The
traditional WLS monitoring prone mass errors weakly (including topology errors, measurement errors or parameter errors).
New technology of state monitor is needed to achieve the goals of the smart grids[11].
Smart Grid can optimize capital assets by minimizing operations and maintaining lower costs. Optimizing power flows can
make full use of lowest-cost generation resources and reduce waste. Harmonizing local distribution and transmission of
interregional energy flows improves use of existing grid facilities and reduces grid jams, which can ultimately save
consumer money.
5.4 Accommodating all generation and enabling new products, services, and markets
As smart grids continue to support traditional power loads they also seamlessly interconnect fuel cells, renewable, micro-
turbines, and other distributed generation technologies at local and regional levels. Integration of small-scale, localized, or
on-site power generation allows residential, commercial, and industrial customers to self-generate and sell excess power to
the grid with minimal technical or regulatory barriers. This also improves reliability and power quality, reduces electricity
costs, and offers more customer choice.
Significant increases in bulk transmission capacity will require improvements in transmission grid management. Such
improvements are aimed at creating an open marketplace where alternative energy sources from geographically distant
locations can easily be sold to customers wherever they are located.
Intelligence in distribution grids will enable small producers to generate and sell electricity at the local level using
alternative sources such as rooftop-mounted photo voltaic panels, small-scale wind turbines, and micro hydro generators.
Without the additional intelligence provided by sensors and software designed to react instantaneously to imbalances caused
by intermittent sources, such distributed generation can degrade system quality[12].
Table of Contents
By using control systems, power grid systems have varying degrees of communication, such as in generators part,
transmission lines, substations part and major energy consumers. Normally, information only flows from the users and the
loads they control back to the utilities. The utilities attempt to supply the demand and succeed or fail to varying degrees,
such as brownout, rolling blackout, and uncontrolled blackout. Demand response allows generators and loads to interact in
real time. Eliminating the fraction of demand that occurs in these spikes eliminates the cost of adding reserve generators,
cuts wear and tear and extends the life of equipment, and allows users to cut their energy bills by telling low priority devices
to use energy only when it is cheapest[13].
Generation Distribution allows individual consumers to create power on their place by themselves. This allows individual
loads to manage their generation directly to their load, making them independent from public power grid, by which
consumers can avoid power failure. Classic grids were designed for one-way flow of electricity, but if a local sub-network
generates more power than it is consuming, the reverse flow can raise safety and reliability issues. A smart grid can manage
these situations.
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In the future, Smart Grid will connect everyone to abundant, affordable, clean, efficient, and reliable electric power anytime,
anywhere. It will offer the world the best and most secure electric services. The same type of existing electric infrastructure
will still play a very important role in the future, such as, power transmission line and substations[14].
“Smart Grid is a fully automated power delivery network that monitors and controls every customer and node, ensuring a
two- way flow of electricity and information between the power plants and appliances and all points in between.”[15]
Technological breakthroughs in superconductivity have made it possible to deliver large amounts of energy over long
distances into congested areas with no loss and near-zero voltage drops. New conductor materials enable two to three times
the power through existing rights-of-way. Advances in energy storage and demand-side management technologies have
virtually eliminated peak-load problems. Economic losses from power outages and power quality disturbances are extremely
rare (never caused by electric resource constraints), and customers routinely obtain electricity services at reliability and
quality levels tailored to their individual needs with greatly reduced environmental impacts.
1. National electricity ‘backbone’, it is possible for people to balance the supply and demand of electric power service in
the range of nation.
2. Regional interconnections, which include Canada and Mexico, The national backbone are connected with two major
North American regional interconnections: East and West.
3. Local distribution, mini- and micro grids providing services to customers and obtaining services from generation
resources anywhere on the continent.
In the future, Smart Grid will benefit the American economy, environment, national security, and people. National electric
power grid will encourage economic growth by attracting capital to support infrastructure development and investment in
new factory and business for electricity customers.
Making energy transmission and distribution more efficiently will reduce line losses, lower emission of GHG and pollution.
Operating resiliently against physical and cyber attack, faster detection of outages, and rapid restoration systems will
improve the security of electric grid.
Table of Contents
Summary
In this paper, Smart Grid’s 7 advantages were introduced: Efficiency, Reliability, Environment/climate change, Affordability,
Security, National Economy, and Global Competitiveness.
The Smart Grid creates value up and down the value chain, much like the internet has. As we have experienced with the
internet, affordable, rapid and universal communication in Smart Grid can enable sophisticated transactions, create entirely
new business models and sweep across society with surprising speed. We can see a bright future. Working together, a willing
coalition of industry, universities, nongovernmental organizations, and Federal and state government agencies can help make
Smart Grid a reality.
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Reference
[1]. Why the Smart Grid Won’t Have the Innovations of the Internet Any Time Soon, (2009-6-
5),http://earth2tech.com/2009/06/05/why-the-smart-grid-wont-have-the-innovations-of-the-internet-any-time-soon/
[2]. European Smart Grids Technology Platform, (2006) Author: European Commission Directorate-General for Research
Information and Communication Unit
[3]. the Smart Grid and Intelligent Power, (2010-2-10) Author: Larry Darter,http://electrical-
engineering.suite101.com/article.cfm/the-smart-grid-and-intelligent-power
[4]. Some Alternative Energy Names Are Ready to Power Up, (2010-4-10),http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Some-
Alternative-Energy-Names-indie-988756486.html?x=0&.v=1
[6]. ENEL’s Metering System and Telegestore Project, (2006-2-19),Author: Sergio Rogai ENEL Distribuzione
S.p.A.,http://www.narucmeetings.org/Presentations/ENEL.pdf
[10]. The SuperSmart Grid, (2008-6-18),Author: A. Battaglini, J. Lilliestam, C. Bals and A. Haas.
[11]. 2007 IBM Energy and Utilities Global Residential/Small Business Consumer Survey,http://www-
03.ibm.com/industries/utilities/doc/content/landingdtw/3165578119.html?g_type=pspot
[15]. “GRID 2030” A NATIONAL VISION FOR ELECTRICITY’S SECOND 100 YEARS, (2003-6),Author: United States
Department of Energy Office of Electric Transmission and Distribution
11 List of Acronyms
DMS Distribution Management System
DOE Access Point
GHG Lower Greenhouse Gas
GSM Global System for Mobile Communications
GPRS General Packet Radio Service
IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
IIT Illinois Institute of Technology
MANWEB Merseyside and North Wales Electricity Board
PLC Programmable Logic Controller
PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network
WLS Weighted Least Square
Date Last Modified: 4/05/2010