Information standards to support application and enterprise interoperability for the smart grid

Copyright @ 2012 IEEE.Current changes in the European electricity industry are driven by regulatory directives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, at the same time as replacing aged infrastructure and maintaining energy security. There is a wide acceptance of the requirement for smarter grids to support such changes and accommodate variable injections from renewable energy sources. However the design templates are still emerging to manage the level of information required to meet challenges such as balancing, planning and market dynamics under this new paradigm. While secure and scalable cloud computing architectures may contribute to supporting the informatics challenges of the smart grid, this paper focuses on the essential need for business alignment with standardised information models such as the IEC Common Information Model (CIM), to leverage data value and control system interoperability. In this paper we present details of use cases being considered by National Grid, the GB transmission system operator for information interoperability in pan-network system management and planning.This study is financially supported by the National Grid, UK

Scenarios for the development of smart grids in the UK: literature review

Smart grids are expected to play a central role in any transition to a low-carbon energy future, and much research is currently underway on practically every area of smart grids. However, it is evident that even basic aspects such as theoretical and operational definitions, are yet to be agreed upon and be clearly defined. Some aspects (efficient management of supply, including intermittent supply, two-way communication between the producer and user of electricity, use of IT technology to respond to and manage demand, and ensuring safe and secure electricity distribution) are more commonly accepted than others (such as smart meters) in defining what comprises a smart grid. It is clear that smart grid developments enjoy political and financial support both at UK and EU levels, and from the majority of related industries. The reasons for this vary and include the hope that smart grids will facilitate the achievement of carbon reduction targets, create new employment opportunities, and reduce costs relevant to energy generation (fewer power stations) and distribution (fewer losses and better stability). However, smart grid development depends on additional factors, beyond the energy industry. These relate to issues of public acceptability of relevant technologies and associated risks (e.g. data safety, privacy, cyber security), pricing, competition, and regulation; implying the involvement of a wide range of players such as the industry, regulators and consumers. The above constitute a complex set of variables and actors, and interactions between them. In order to best explore ways of possible deployment of smart grids, the use of scenarios is most adequate, as they can incorporate several parameters and variables into a coherent storyline. Scenarios have been previously used in the context of smart grids, but have traditionally focused on factors such as economic growth or policy evolution. Important additional socio-technical aspects of smart grids emerge from the literature review in this report and therefore need to be incorporated in our scenarios. These can be grouped into four (interlinked) main categories: supply side aspects, demand side aspects, policy and regulation, and technical aspects.

An Assessment of PIER Electric Grid Research 2003-2014 White Paper

This white paper describes the circumstances in California around the turn of the 21st century that led the California Energy Commission (CEC) to direct additional Public Interest Energy Research funds to address critical electric grid issues, especially those arising from integrating high penetrations of variable renewable generation with the electric grid. It contains an assessment of the beneficial science and technology advances of the resultant portfolio of electric grid research projects administered under the direction of the CEC by a competitively selected contractor, the University of California’s California Institute for Energy and the Environment, from 2003-2014

TOWARD A SMART ECOSYSTEM WITH AUTOMATED SERVICES

New ICT architectures enable a better response to constant pressure on the industry and services to improve their business performance and productivity, especially in data processing. At the same time, due to the growing number of sensor modules, the amount of data that needs to be processed, in real time, is growing. Delays in communication with the cloud environment can lead to poor management decisions or user dissatisfaction. In automation and services, one of the new ICT architectures is Edge computing in the data processing. Edge computing is a networking architecture that brings computing close to the source of data in order to reduce latency and bandwidth use. Edge computing brings new power to data processing and the ability to process large amounts of data in real time. This is essential for predicting the behavior of machines, systems, or customers in order to detect errors or provide personalized service as in the case of smart vending machines. In that way, Edge computing enables taking steps toward establishing a smart ecosystem in automation and services

IoT-liiketoiminnan mallintaminen

Our world is becoming increasingly digitized. Digitalization has changed and is changing business models at accelerating pace and creating new revenue and value-producing opportunities. We are now witnessing the age where the digital technologies are harnessed for our advantage - as the physical technologies were harnessed in the first industrial revolution. Still, the digital world and the physical world are separated from each other. This is the one significant issue, that the Internet of Things (IoT) is about to change. The vision of the IoT is to connect people and devices and produce a vast variety of new goods and services. As the IoT is a novel phenomenon, it can be a difficult concept to define. It can be difficult to create a comprehensive understanding on what the IoT is and what kind opportunities it has to offer. In addition, The IoT is a complex phenomenon in terms of monetization. It can be difficult to create a comprehensive understanding on where the real value of the IoT comes from. The goal of this study is to to create a framework of possible IoT business opportunities for the target company. This is done by creating a conceptualization that unfolds the different roles there are in IoT business for the target company to take or aim for. In addition to the conceptualization, there is also a need to create better understanding of the customership and value proposition related to the IoT business, and recognize the most important barriers of adoption and capabilities required for managing the barriers of adoption.Digitalisaatio on muuttanut ja muuttaa liiketoimintamalleja kiihtyvällä vauhdilla luoden uusia mahdollisuuksia arvontuotolle. Todistamme nyt aikakautta, jossa digitaaliset teknologiat valjastetaan käyttöön, kuten fyysiset teknologiat valjastettiin ensimmäisessä teollisessa vallankumouksessa. Siltikin digitaalinen ja fyysinen maailma ovat olleet tähän asti erossa toisistaan. Tämä on merkittävin asia, jonka esineiden internet tulee muuttamaan. Esineiden internetin visiona on yhdistää ihmiset ja laitteet ja luoda laaja valikoima uusia tavaroita ja palveluita. Koska esineiden internet on uusi ilmiö, sen määritteleminen voi olla vaikeaa. On haastavaa luoda kattavaa käsitystä siitä, mitä esineiden internet on ja millaisia mahdollisuuksia se tarjoaa. Lisäksi esineiden internet on minimutkainen ilmiö kaupallistamisen kannalta. On haastavaa luoda kattavaa käsitystä mistä esineiden internetin todellinen arvo tulee. Tämän opinnäytteen tavoitteena on luoda viitekehys, jonka avulla kohdeyritys voi paremmin hahmottaa esineiden internetin tarjoamia liiketoimintamahdollisuuksia. Tämä mahdollistetaan hahmottamalla erilaiset roolit, joihin kohdeyritys voi asettua. Viitekehyksen lisäksi opinnäytteen tavoitteena on luoda parempi ymmärrys IoT-liiketoimintaan liittyvistä asiakkuuksista ja arvolupauksista, sekä tunnistaa tärkeimmät käyttöönoton esteet sekä tarvittavat kyvykkyydet niiden hallitsemiseksi

Knowledge Requirements, Gaps and Learning Responses in Smart Grid Adoption: An Exploratory Study in U.S. Electric Utility Industry

The U.S. electric utility industry is facing a number of challenges today, including aging infrastructure, growing customer demand, CO2 emissions, and increased vulnerability to overloads and outages. Utilities are under greater regulatory, societal and consumer pressure to provide a more reliable and efficient power supply and reduce its carbon footprint. In response, utilities are investing in smart grid technologies. Despite various definitions of smart grid, it is characterized by employing a set of sophisticated sensing, processing and communicating digital technologies to enable a more observable, controllable, and automated power supply. Yet, the adoption of smart grid technologies presents significant knowledge challenges to electric utilities. This study aims to advance the understanding of IT knowledge challenges in smart grid adoption by focusing on three research questions: 1) What knowledge requirements are critical for smart grid adoption? 2) What knowledge gaps are utilities facing with smart grid adoption? How do utilities vary in the level of knowledge gaps? 3) How do utilities overcome knowledge gaps through learning? How do utilities vary in the learning choices? This study adopts a qualitative approach using data from 20 utility interviews and secondary information to address the above questions. The analysis indicates four broad areas of knowledge requirements, which are smart grid technology and vendor selection, smart grid deployment and integration, big data, and customer management. The data also reveals several knowledge gaps faced by utilities in these four areas, and confirms that utilities vary in the level of knowledge gaps, which depends on a mix of factors including prior experience, IT sophistication, service territory characteristics, size, ownership form, regulatory support and support from external organizations. The data further indicates several learning practices that are commonly adopted by utilities to overcome the knowledge gaps in smart grid adoption. It is also determined that utilities vary in the configuration of these practices, and the scale and format of many practices. The variance in learning responses is jointly determined by level of knowledge gaps, knowledge relatedness, size, risk-averse culture and top management support. This study has both research and practical implications. Theoretically, it enriches IT adoption, broader IS research and organizational learning literature in several ways. From the practical perspective, it also has valuable implications for utilities, regulators and other regulated industries and economies

2012 PWST Workshop Summary

No abstract availabl

Novel processes for smart grid information exchange and knowledge representation using the IEC common information model

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.The IEC Common Information Model (CIM) is of central importance in enabling smart grid interoperability. Its continual development aims to meet the needs of the smart grid for semantic understanding and knowledge representation for a widening domain of resources and processes. With smart grid evolution the importance of information and data management has become an increasingly pressing issue not only because far more data is being generated using modern sensing, control and measuring devices but also because information is now becoming recognised as the ‘integral component’ that facilitates the optimal flexibility required of the smart grid. This thesis looks at the impacts of CIM implementation upon the landscape of smart grid issues and presents research from within National Grid contributing to three key areas in support of further CIM deployment. Taking the issue of Enterprise Information Management first, an information management framework is presented for CIM deployment at National Grid. Following this the development and demonstration of a novel secure cloud computing platform to handle such information is described. Power system application (PSA) models of the grid are partial knowledge representations of a shared reality. To develop the completeness of our understanding of this reality it is necessary to combine these representations. The second research contribution reports on a novel methodology for a CIM-based model repository to align PSA representations and provide a knowledge resource for building utility business intelligence of the grid. The third contribution addresses the need for greater integration of information relating to energy storage, an essential aspect of smart energy management. It presents the strategic rationale for integrated energy modeling and a novel extension to the existing CIM standards for modeling grid-scale energy storage. Significantly, this work has already contributed to a larger body of work on modeling Distributed Energy Resources currently under development at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) in the USA.Dr. Martin Bradley on behalf of National Grid Plc. and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC

Push, Pull, and Spill: A Transdisciplinary Case Study in Municipal Open Government

Municipal open data raises hopes and concerns. The activities of cities produce a wide array of data, data that is vastly enriched by ubiquitous computing. Municipal data is opened as it is pushed to, pulled by, and spilled to the public through online portals, requests for public records, and releases by cities and their vendors, contractors, and partners. By opening data, cities hope to raise public trust and prompt innovation. Municipal data, however, is often about the people who live, work, and travel in the city. By opening data, cities raise concern for privacy and social justice. This article presents the results of a broad empirical exploration of municipal data release in the City of Seattle. In this research, parties affected by municipal practices expressed their hopes and concerns for open data. City personnel from eight prominent departments described the reasoning, procedures, and controversies that have accompanied their release of data. All of the existing data from the online portal for the city were joined to Municipal open data raises hopes and concerns. The activities of cities produce a wide array of data, data that is vastly enriched by ubiquitous computing. Municipal data is opened as it is pushed to, pulled by, and spilled to the public through online portals, requests for public records, and releases by cities and their vendors, contractors, and partners. By opening data, cities hope to raise public trust and prompt innovation. Municipal data, however, is often about the people who live, work, and travel in the city. By opening data, cities raise concern for privacy and social justice. Results suggest the need for more comprehensive measures to manage the risk latent in opening city data. Cities should maintain inventories of data assets, produce data management plans pertaining to the activities of departments, and develop governance structures to deal with issues as they arise—centrally and amongst the various departments—with ex ante and ex post protocols to govern the push, pull, and spill of data. In addition, cities should consider conditioned access to pushed data, conduct audits and training around public records requests, and develop standardized model contracts to protect against the spill of data by third parties