evolution toward a smarter grid must be understood in terms of “enablement” of what needs to happen in the grid, with the new ICT capabilities helping both existing and new grid components to seamlessly integrate with the grid as an enhanced system.
Some high‐level definitions (Table 1.2) have had a higher impact driving actions enabling the Smart Grid. Within the idealistic vision drawn by them, sits the ambition of a “better” electric grid, superior to the existing one, characterized or involving the following elements:
Resilient electric power system.
Grid infrastructure modernization.
Power quality assurance.
Efficiency in the power delivery system and in the customers' consumption.
Reduced environmental impact of electricity production and delivery.
Combination of bulk power generation with DG resources.
Storage as technology increasingly available in the grid edge.
Automation of operational processes.
Increased number of sensors and controls in the electricity system.
Monitoring and control of critical and non‐critical components of the power system.
No two conventional grids are the same today. Thus, even with common objectives, and despite the efforts in standardization and proper frameworks definition, Smart Grid implementations in utilities will be different one from the other.
1.4 Why Telecommunications Are Instrumental for the Smart Grid
Out of the four high‐level definitions of Smart Grids in Table 1.2, two of them refer to ICTs when they mention “digital technologies.” It is encouraging that high‐level definitions come that close to our topic of interest.
Technical references on Smart Grids show a more precise idea of the relevance of ICTs and Communications in particular. Franz et al. [29] highlight the “convergence of the electricity system with ICT technologies” aspect of the Smart Grid; [30] is more comprehensive with the purpose and signals the difference between information technologies and communications (“two way exchange of electricity information”) in its application to the Smart Grid: “A Smart Grid refers to a next‐generation network that integrates information technology (Smart) into the existing power grid (Grid) to optimize energy efficiency through a two‐way exchange of electricity information between suppliers and consumers in real time.” This approach is also expressed in [20] that highlights the enabling aspects of the different components of the ICTs, in connection with the elements of the grid, and the ultimate goal of getting smarter grids (“A Smart Grid is the use of sensors, communications, computational ability and control in some form to enhance the overall functionality of the electric power delivery system”), and in [18], that is more explicit in what the improvement of the grid should be (“The IntelliGrid vision links electricity with communications and computer control to create a highly automated, responsive and resilient power delivery system”).
The importance of the communication’s part of the ICTs is highlighted in [31] (“Technologically, the Smart Grid can be viewed as a superposition of a communication network on the electric grid”). And the explicit reference of the telecommunications connectivity pervasiveness comes from [32] in its Grid 2030 as “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 plant and the appliance, and all points in between.”
Table 1.2 Main definitions of the Smart Grid.
| Body | Definition |
|---|---|
| The Smart Grid European Technology Platform [24] | A smart grid is an electricity network that can intelligently integrate the actions of all users connected to it (generators, consumers, and those that do both) to efficiently deliver sustainable, economic, and secure electricity supply. |
| The U.S. Department of Energy [25] | A smart grid uses digital technology to modernize the electric system – from large generation, through the delivery systems to electricity consumption – and is defined by seven enabling performance‐based functionalities [17]:Customer participation.Integration of all generation and storage options.New markets and operations.Power quality for the twenty‐first century.Asset optimization and operational efficiency.Self‐healing from disturbances.Resiliency against attacks and disasters. |
| The International Energy Agency (IEA) [26] | A smart grid is an electricity network that uses digital and other advanced technologies to monitor and manage the transport of electricity from all generation sources to meet the varying electricity demands of end‐users. Smart grids coordinate the needs and capabilities of all generators, grid operators, end‐users, and electricity market stakeholders to operate all parts of the system as efficiently as possible, minimizing costs and environmental impacts while maximizing system reliability, resilience, and stability [27]. |
| The World Economic Forum [28] | Key characteristics of the Smart Grid [17]:Self‐healing and resilient.Integrating advanced and low‐carbon technologies.Asset optimization and operational efficiency.Inclusion.Heightened power quality.Market empowerment. |
The reference to ICT within the “digital technologies” concept is needed when referring to the wider aspects of the Smart Grid. ICT definition is a broad concept intended to cover all technologies (hardware and software) that manage and process information data and transmit them through telecommunication networks. ICT is certainly used extensively, but a dissection of its different parts is needed if we want to understand its impact to Smart Grids, and specifically the areas that can limit its realization.
The two main components of ICT are the information and the communications. “Information” is again a broad term defined by IEC as “knowledge concerning objects, such as facts, events, things, processes, or ideas, including concepts, that within a certain context has a particular meaning.” The idea is better identified when the definition of Information Technology (IT) equipment is analyzed: “equipment designed for the purpose of (a) receiving data from an external source […]; (b) performing some processing functions on the received data (such as computation, data transformation or recording, filing, sorting, storage, transfer of data); (c) providing a data output […].”
“Communication” is the other component of ICTs. Communication is, according to the definition of the IEC, the “information transfer according to agreed conventions.” The “agreed conventions” piece refers to the protocols or language that is used, and the “information transfer” is what traditionally is implicit in the term “Telecommunications.” Indeed, “telecommunications” are defined as “any transmission, emission or reception of signs, signals, writing images and sounds or intelligence of any nature by wire, radio, optical or other electromagnetic systems” in [33] and implies connectivity provided over different physical media, allowing a variety of information sources.
ICTs, understood as computing and electronic elements coupled with telecommunication networks, have historically been appreciated and used by the power utility industry at the core of their operations. Distant grid elements have evolved
