Energy Processing and Smart Grid

CHAPTER 15THE SMART GRID: AN INTRODUCTION

15.1 EVOLUTION, DRIVERS, AND THE NEED FOR SMART GRID

The purpose of this chapter is to study the application of digital processing and communications to the power grid, as data flow and information management are central to the smart grid. Various capabilities result from the deeply integrated use of digital technology with power grids, and integration of the new grid information flows into utility processes and systems is one of the key issues in the design of smart grids. Electric utilities now find themselves making three classes of transformations: improvement of infrastructure (called the strong grid in China), addition of the digital layer (the essence of the smart grid), and business-process transformation (necessary to capitalize on the investments in smart technology). Much of the work that has been ongoing in electric-grid modernization, especially substation and distribution automation, is now included in the general concept of the smart grid, but additional capabilities are evolving as well.

Smart-grid technologies emerged from earlier attempts at using electronic control, metering, and monitoring. In the 1980s, automatic meter reading was used for monitoring loads from large customers, and evolved into the advanced metering infrastructure of the 1990 s, using meters that could record how electricity was used at different times of the day. Smart meters add continuous communications so that monitoring can be done in real ...