Traditional power grids are being transformed into smart grids (SGs) to address the issues in the existing power system due to uni-directional information flow, energy wastage, growing energy demand, reliability, and security. SGs offer bi-directional energy flow between service providers and consumers, involving power generation, transmission, distribution, and utilization systems. SGs employ various devices for the monitoring, analysis, and control of the grid, deployed at power plants, distribution centers, and in consumers' premises in a very large number. Hence, an SG requires connectivity, automation, and the tracking of such devices. This is achieved with the help of the Internet of Things (IoT). The IoT helps SG systems to support various network functions throughout the generation, transmission, distribution, and consumption of energy by incorporating the IoT devices (such as sensors, actuators, and smart meters), as well as by providing the connectivity, automation, and tracking for such devices. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive survey on the IoT-aided SG systems, which includes the existing architectures, applications, and prototypes of the IoT-aided SG systems. This survey also highlights the open issues, challenges, and future research directions for the IoT-aided SG systems.

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Internet of Things-Aided Smart Grid: Technologies, Architectures, Applications, Prototypes, and Future Research Directions

Currently, the demand for electricity is increasing day by day, which necessitates upgrading of the existing power grid system. The conventional power grid has already been replaced with modern ICT-based infrastructure, which is known as smart grid (SG). In SG, smart meters generate a huge amount of data, and it is a challenging task to store, process, and analyze the data, which varies with respect to volume, velocity, and variety. The data generated in an SG system is generally stored and analyzed using cloud computing (CC), which provides real-time response for various applications. However, to handle the latency issue during the data analytics in SG, fog computing (FC) has emerged as a new technology that provides most of the computing resources in proximity of the end users. It acts as a bridge between SG and CC to fill the gap between processing power of remote data centers and smart devices in SG systems. To handle the aforementioned issues, there is a requirement to set up advanced sensors and measurement systems having communication network backbones in the upcoming fifth generation (5G). In this article, we discuss the architecture of SG in the context of FC for making the decision about energy requirements by the smart devices at the fog layer. Moreover, the communication and computing aspects are also explored in the context of 5G network infrastructure. We examine the influence of FC on response time, transmission delay, and energy management costs for delay-sensitive applications.

Fog Computing for Smart Grid Systems in the 5G Environment: Challenges and Solutions

Integration of high volume (high penetration) of photovoltaic (PV) generation with power grids consequently leads to some technical challenges that are mainly due to the intermittent nature of solar energy, the volume of data involved in the smart grid architecture, and the impact power electronic-based smart inverters. These challenges include reverse power flow, voltage fluctuations, power quality issues, dynamic stability, big data challenges and others. This paper investigates the existing challenges with the current level of PV penetration and looks into the challenges with high PV penetration in future scenarios such as smart cities, transactive energy, proliferation of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), possible eclipse events, big data issues and environmental impacts. Within the context of these future scenarios, this paper reviewed the existing solutions and provides insights to new and future solutions that could be explored to ultimately address these issues and improve the smart grid’s security, reliability and resiliency.

Future Challenges and Mitigation Methods for High Photovoltaic Penetration: A Survey

Wireless cellular networks are emerging to take a strong stand in attempts to achieve pervasive large scale obtainment, communication, and processing with the evolution of the fifth generation (5G) network. Both the present day cellular technologies and the evolving new age 5G are considered to be advantageous for the smart grid. The 5G networks exhibit relevant services for critical and timely applications for greater aspects in the smart grid. In the present day electricity markets, 5G provides new business models to the energy providers and improves the way the utility communicates with the grid systems. In this work, a complete analysis and a review of the 5G network and its vision regarding the smart grid is exhibited. The work discusses the present day wireless technologies, and the architectural changes for the past years are shown. Furthermore, to understand the user-based analyses in a smart grid, a detailed analysis of 5G architecture with the grid perspectives is exhibited. The current status of 5G networks in a smart grid with a different analysis for energy efficiency is vividly explained in this work. Furthermore, focus is emphasized on future reliable smart grid communication with future roadmaps and challenges to be faced. The complete work gives an in-depth understanding of 5G networks as they pertain to future smart grids as a comprehensive analysis.

https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/11/2140/pdf

Future Generation 5G Wireless Networks for Smart Grid: A Comprehensive Review

Faults in smart grid systems: Monitoring, detection and classification

In smart grids the bidirectional exchange of large amounts of data will create a keen interdependence between electric system and communication, automation and control systems. In order to assess the performance of communication technologies for smart grid applications and find the most appropriate, co-simulation tools are crucial to simulate the behavior of both physical and cyber systems simultaneously, and properly consider their mutual interaction in planning and operation studies. This article aims at evaluating some wireless and wired communication technologies for smart grid implementation. The analysis performed shows that wireless technologies are potentially suitable for smart grid applications, while a combination of mixed wireless and wired technologies may introduce latencies that cannot match with mission critical functions, such as network protection.

Evaluation of Smart Grid Communication Technologies with a Co-Simulation Platform

In Smart Grids the flow of electricity and information is strictly interrelated with the management and control of the electricity supply system. ICT is not only an extension or a modernization of the power system equipment, but a fundamental requirement for supporting the distribution network monitoring, operation and control. To enable monitoring and control of the Smart Grid and accommodate the large realtime data flow between controlled equipment and the distribution management system it is necessary the deployment of advanced sensors and measurement systems along with the communication network infrastructure. In this paper two different strategies for power network monitoring and control are compared: an LTE-based centralized management approach and a 5G-based distributed management approach. The two types of communications systems are compared considering their performances during fault management in a Smart Grid scenario.

A 5G cellular technology for distributed monitoring and control in smart grid

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), Wide Area Measurement Systems (WAMS) and state estimation represent the key-tools for achieving a reliable and accurate knowledge of the power grid, and represent the foundation of an information-based operation of Smart Grids Nevertheless, ICT brings new potential vulnerabilities within the power grid operation, that need to be evaluated The strong interdependence between power system and ICT systems requires new methodologies for modeling the smart grid as a Cyber Physical System (CPS), and finally analyzing the impact of ICT failures on the power grid operation This paper proposes a novel methodological approach that combines Stochastic Activity Networks (SAN) modeling and numerical computation for dependability analysis of a 5G-based WAMS Internal influences such as component failures and external influences such as rain effect are considered, and the impact of these failures are assessed over the WAMS capability to provide reliable data for performing an accurate power network state estimation Different state estimation approaches (traditional SCADA and PMU-based algorithms) and weather conditions are compared in terms of mean states estimation error and safety The results highlight that 5G based WAMS result in a close-to-ideal behavior which enforces the prospect of a future adoption for smart grid monitoring applications

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Effect of Communication Failures on State Estimation of 5G-Enabled Smart Grid

Transition towards a smart grid requires network modernization based on the deployment of information and communication technologies for managing network operation and coordinating distributed energy resources in distribution systems. The success of the most advanced smart grid functionalities depends on the availability and quality of communication systems. Amongst the most demanding functionalities, those related to fault isolation, location and system restoration (FLISR) to obtain a self-healing smart grid are critical and require low latency communication systems, particularly in case of application to weakly-meshed operated networks. Simulation tools capable of capturing the interaction between communication and electrical systems are of outmost utility to check proper functioning of FLISR under different utilization conditions, to assess the expected improvements of Quality of Service, and to define minimum requirements of the communication system. In this context, this paper investigates the use of public mobile telecommunication system 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) for FLISR applications in both radially and weakly-meshed medium voltage (MV) distribution networks. This study makes use of a co-simulation software platform capable to consider power system dynamics. The results demonstrate that LTE can be used as communication medium for advanced fault location, extinction, and network reconfiguration in distribution networks. Furthermore, this paper shows that the reduction of performances with mobile background usage does not affect the system and does not cause delays higher than 100 ms, which is the maximum allowable for power system protections.

Co-Simulation of Smart Distribution Network Fault Management and Reconfiguration with LTE Communication

The evolution towards smart distribution grids requires distributed intelligence and sophisticated information and communication technology (ICT) with distributed intelligent devices to be spread along the power system. ICT devices will be not a simple add-on of the electrical system, but their availability and efficiency will be essential to the operation of the entire power distribution system as support of network management and protection. The paper is focused on modeling of ICT devices in a co-simulation platform for smart distribution networks, which permits an integrated study of the power distribution network and the ICT network. The co-simulation platform developed allows highlighting the level of detail necessary in ICT modelling to assess the efficiency of the control algorithms, the effects of the loss of control signals, and the consistence of simulation to reality in future smart distribution network.

Michele Garau

Papers

Evaluation of Smart Grid Communication Technologies with a Co-Simulation Platform

A 5G cellular technology for distributed monitoring and control in smart grid

Effect of Communication Failures on State Estimation of 5G-Enabled Smart Grid

Co-Simulation of Smart Distribution Network Fault Management and Reconfiguration with LTE Communication

ICT reliability modelling in co-simulation of smart distribution networks