Introduction to Smart

Grid
 Syllabus
1. Electrical Grid
2. Concepts of Smart Grid
3. Need for Smart Grid
4. Smart Grid Drivers
5. Smart Grid Functions
6. Opportunities for Smart Grid in India
7. Challenges for Smart Grids
8. Smart Grid Implementation Challenges in India
9. Smart Grid Benefits
10. Difference between Conventional and Smart Grid Traditional Grid
Concepts of Smart Grid
• An electrical grid is an interconnected network for delivering electrical
energy from the generating end to customer end.
• The network contains four important modules namely
• generating station,
• substation,
• transmission system and
• distribution system.
• A smart grid can be termed as a modern grid.
• This modern grid enables a bidirectional flow of energy and uses two-
way cyber-secure information and communication technologies.
• To attain a sustainable and secured system, this grid is integrated in a
fashion across electricity generation, transmission, substations,
distribution and consumption.
• A smart grid is defined as the integration of information and
communications technology into electric transmission and
distribution networks.
• The smart grid delivers electricity to consumers using two-way digital
technology, where the customers can effectively manage the load and
avoid demand imbalance.
• Smart grid can detect faults automatically that improves service
quality, enhances reliability, and reduces costs.
• The smart grid framework 1.0 was proposed by NIST during January
2010. There are seven domains presented in that model which are
based on the different roles performed by smart grid.
Need for Smart Grid
• Curtail Power Theft
• Enhancement of Power Reliability
• Lack of Infrastructure
• Satisfying Power Demand
• Integrating Clean Power
• Environmental Impact
Curtail Power Theft
• several losses occur in the system.
• These losses are categorized as technical and non technical.
• With the support of mathematical modeling, computation of technical
losses has become simple.
• But, evaluating the non technical losses have become complex
• One such non technical loss is power theft
Enhancement of Power Reliability
• The reliability of power defines the capability of customer to access
the electricity without any disruption.
• The power flow can be made continuous by grid load balancing and
distribution automation services.
Lack of Infrastructure
• Existing power systems is becoming out-of-date and no longer can
address the sustainability, security and economic requirements of
today's population.
• This demands improvement in grid infrastructure.
Satisfying Power Demand
• The increasing population has triggered power shortage challenges.
• In country like India, there could get double within a decade.
• Such increase in power demand can be smartly managed by the smart
grid technologies.
Integrating Clean Power
• Fossil fuels will exhaust in next six decades which will lead to power
shortage.
• So, it has become essential to use renewable energy based power
resources rather conventional power plants The addition of
renewable energy to existing grid have to address few issues.
• Smart grid will address the issues related to integration of renewable
energy sources to the existing grid.
Environmental Impact
• Global warming has turned out as an alarming issue in this current
century.
• Fossil fuel based power plants has become a largest source of carbon
emission.
• To move towards zero emission system it has become mandatory to
deploy renewable energy source integration to existing grid.
Smart Grid Drivers
These factors are major driving factors
• Economic Competitiveness
• Customer Empowerment
• Inexorable Increases in Electricity Demand
• Global Warming
Economic Competitiveness
• By including alternative energy sources, a new business models can be
created
• The energy reliability can be increased through decreased outage
duration
• By replacing manual meter reading and field maintenance, labour cost
can be reduced.
• grid management can prevent power theft and fraud, which may
provide better billing and protect revenues of energy sectors.
Customer Empowerment
• Without compromising the individual’s life styles, an effective
utilization of energy usage by customer can be triggered.
• Empowering customer so that they have more control over their
energy utilization.
• To satisfy the customers energy demand and provide an
uninterruptible power.
Inexorable Increases in Electricity Demand
• The growth in population and technological advancement has
escalated the demand for electricity.
• The tremendous growth in industrial sectors for providing goods and
services has still increased the demand for electricity.
• As per world energy outlook 2014 datasheet, world electricity demand
increases by almost 80% over the period 2012-2040.
Global Warming
• To protect the world from global warming issues, a search for
alternative fuel for energy production has become essential.
• Renewable energy based energy generation has become a good choice
of energy production, where low carbon emission and high
sustainability can be attained.
• To the existing system, integrating renewable energy source can be
managed effectively by smart grid.
Smart Grid Functions
• Fault Current Limiting
• Improved Fault Protection
• Diagnosis and Notification of Equipment Condition
• Wide Area Monitoring, Visualization and Control
• Power Flow Control
• Dynamic Capability Rating
• Automated Feeder and Line Switching
• Automated Islanding and Reconnection
• Real-Time Load Measurement and Management
Fault Current Limiting
• With the deployment of sensor based technology, fault current limiting
can be achieved.
• A special device called Fault Current Limiter is employed for fault
current limiting.
• Such special devices can automatically limit high currents through that
occur during faults.
Improved Fault Protection
• Fault protection is defined as the process of identifying fault, its
location for providing isolation and service restoration.
• Such process must be speed enough to provide better fault protection.
• Various types of faults have been categorized using sensor based
technologies.
Diagnosis and Notification of Equipment
Condition
• To protect the system from fault condition, it has become mandatory
to analysis the system or equipment working condition.
• Such analysis reveals the equipment performance, and operating
environment.
Wide Area Monitoring, Visualization and
Control
• As the grid is too wide, monitoring its performance manually is highly
impossible.
• So, a monitoring and visualization requires time synchronized sensors
called Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs), communications,
information processing and actuators.
• Automated voltage and VAR control requires coordinated operation of
reactive power resources such as capacitor banks, voltage regulators,
transformer load-tap changers, and Distributed Generation (DG) with
sensors, controls, and communications systems.
Power Flow Control
• By using tools such as Flexible AC Transmission Systems (FACTS),
Phase Angle Regulating Transformers (PARs), series capacitors, and
very low impedance superconductors, power flow control can be
easily attained.
Dynamic Capability Rating
• Dynamic capability rating is defined as the ability to carry load based
on electrical and environmental conditions.
• The real-time load carrying determination of line, transformer in
presence of line tension, temperature, wind speed can be considered as
dynamic capability rating in a smart grid.
Automated Feeder and Line Switching
• Automatic isolation and reconfiguration of faulted segments of
distribution feeders or transmission lines via sensors, controls,
switches, and communications systems can be realized using
automated feeder and line switching.
Opportunities for Smart Grid in
India
• In country like India, deployment of such modern grid provides more
opportunities in the field of energy sector.
• As a technology, the smart grid is proving to be very reliable and having
multiple benefits.
• The deployment of smart grid technology at the earliest can help reduce
commercial losses.
• Apart from this, minimizing transmission or technical losses by proper grid
optimization and improving the grid infrastructure can also be obtained.
• Currently, India is under a lot of pressure to move towards zero emission
system as imposed by international regulatory organizations. Reduction in
carbon emission can be attained through integration of renewable energy
sources via smart grid.
Challenges for Smart Grids
• Government support
• Lack of policy and regulation
• Compatible equipment
• Capacity to absorb advanced technology
• Consumer awareness
Government support
• without the support of Government the industry may not have the
financial capacity to fund new technologies.
• Incentives for investments are to be done through Government support
Lack of policy and regulation
• Since smart grid is a new technology, there are no defined standards
and guidelines available for the regulation of smart grid initiatives in
India.
Compatible equipment
• The compatibility issues between existing equipment with smart grid
technologies must be addressed.
• The replacement of older equipment with intelligent electronics
devices is highly demanded.
Capacity to absorb advanced technology
• The deployment of information and communication technology in the
grid faces problems due to limited experience and skill in managing
smart grid component.
Consumer awareness
• The deployment of smart grid technology won’t be beneficial without
creating customer awareness. The end user must be educated with the
importance and benefits of advanced metering and two-way
communication. Else the features and benefits of a smart grid will not
be achieved.
Smart Grid Implementation Challenges in
India
• Power Theft
• Inadequate Grid Infrastructure
• Low Metering Efficiency
• Lack of Awareness
Power Theft
• In country like India, power theft has grown as major issues in power
sector industries.
• Several techniques are needed to be adopted for preventing such
power theft.
• Usually, power theft of energy happens through hooking lines.
Insulated overhead lines, replacement of LT overhead wires with
insulated cables are few methodologies to prevent power theft.
• Apart from these, solutions to eradicate power theft are replacement of
conventional energy meters with digital tamper proof meters and
deployment of prepaid card for energy utilization.
Inadequate Grid Infrastructure
• India can provide a stable environment for investments in electric
infrastructure, which is a prerequisite for fixing the fundamental
problems with the existing grid. To build a modern, intelligent grid,
Government has to provide funds for establishing this new technology.
Low Metering Efficiency
• By improving metering efficiency, proper energy accounting &
auditing can reduce commercial losses while increasing smart grid
efficiency. Usually, low metering efficiency, theft and pilferage are
reasons for commercial losses in a grid.
Lack of Awareness
• In many developing countries, a major obstruction in deployment of
new technologies is lack of awareness among users.
• End users have only a minimal knowledge on the way power to them.
With a deployment of new technology, it has become mandatory to
educate end users regarding benefits of smart grid.
• Consumers should be made aware about their energy consumption
pattern at home, office etc.