COMMERCIAL FEATURE A smarter grid with the Internet of Things Introduction The Internet of Things (IoT) will deliver a smarter grid to enable more information and connectivity throughout the infrastructure and to homes. Through the IoT, consumers, manufacturers and utility providers will uncover new ways to manage devices and ultimately conserve resources and save money by using smart meters, home gateways, smart plugs and connected appliances. Making the grid infrastructure, meters, homes and buildings more connected The Internet of Things (IoT) is expected to grow to 50 billion connected devices by 2020, (Cisco, 2011) providing valuable information to consumers, manufacturers and utility providers. Within the IoT, devices across a variety of industries will be interconnected through the Internet and peer-to-peer connections as well as closed networks like those used in smart grid infrastructure. With the global focus on energy efficiency and conservation, the IoT will extend the connected benefits of the smart grid beyond the distribution, automation and monitoring being done by utility providers. Management systems for in-home and in-building use will help consumers monitor their own usage and adjust behaviours. These systems will eventually regulate automatically by operating during off-peak energy hours and connect to sensors to monitor occupancy, lighting conditions, and more. But it all starts with a smarter and more connected grid. The grid needs to change to face today’s challenges In the simplest terms, building a smart grid means securing the future energy supply for everyone in a rapidly growing population with a limited power production capacity. A smart grid reduces losses, increases efficiency, optimizes energy demand distribution and also makes large-scale renewable energy such as solar and wind deployments a reality. With an aging infrastructure, the grid is facing severe challenges including recurring black-outs in major industrialized cities, electrical energy loss from production to homes, and wasted drinkable water from leaks. The grid topology needs to adapt and shift from a centralized source to a distributed topology that can absorb different energy sources in a dynamic way. There is a need to track real-time energy consumption and demand to the energy supply: this goes with the deployment of more remote sensing equipment capable of measuring, monitoring and communicating energy data that can be used to implement a self-healing grid, increase the overall efficiency and the level of self-monitoring and decision making. The connected smart grid provides a communication network that will connect all the different energy-related equipment of the future. From the transmission and distribution power infrastructure, electrical, water, gas, and heat meters, to home and building automation, IoT developers need to be tackling global smart grid challenges and building system solutions to connect millions of new grid devices. Since smart meter deployments have begun across the globe, the next key step towards a smart grid that enables a real IoT is creating an infrastructure that can efficiently collect the data being shared on the grid. 30 Moving to smart substations: connectivity is the key The grid topology is changing, moving from a radial centralized topology to a mesh network approach with various distributed sources of energy. From production to consumption, the substation is the key piece of grid equipment that establishes the link between utilities and homes and building premises. A substation transforms voltage, drives the flow of power, isolates and reroutes the power path as needed, manages and coordinates distributed energy sources from solar to wind and deals with power outages and recovery (see Figure 1). Figure 1. The power grid and the substation automation communication network The ability to dynamically locate, map, monitor and control the substation at the city-, state-, or country-level is one of the key goals of automated distribution to ensure better grid operation. Here again, using connected substations to build a network of power- related information is the answer. First, substation systems are evolving, moving from multi-copper and wire proprietary buses to Ethernet-based communication. This communication function is enabled by intelligent equipment devices (IED) installed inside the substations, either as part of new installations or retrofitting existing equipment. Second, similar to smart meters, there is a need for interoperability across equipment vendors inside substations and with the collected data, to enable volume deployment. The IEC 61850 industry standard implemented in the IED resolves this challenge. With IEC 61850, equipment in substations like breakers, transformers, and generators create a time-sensitive network, collecting all the substation information in a centralized operation centre, which also establishes two-way communication. With connected smart meters and substations we are moving to a fully connected grid (Figure 1). As part of the substation equipment, communicating data concentrators are currently being installed at the substation- and transformer-level at the same deployment pace as smart meters. Figure 2 shows the block diagram of a smart data concentrator. It provides the ultimate level of flexibility and scalability with numerous performance, cost and connectivity options so developers can design data concentrators that adapt to any smart grid standard worldwide. A smart data concentrator enables advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), and sensor network automation applications and allows utilities to simultaneously connect and manage more than 2,000 e-meters. This version is METERING INTERNATIONAL ISSUE - 4 | 2013