Smart grid

About: Smart grid is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 37536 publications have been published within this topic receiving 627844 citations. The topic is also known as: intelligent grid.

Power Grid Vulnerability to Geographically Correlated Failures - Analysis and Control Implications

Abstract: We consider line outages in the transmission net- work of the power grid, and specifically those caused by natural disasters or large-scale physical attacks. In such networks, an outage of a line may lead to overload on other lines, thereby leading to their outage. Such a cascade may have devastating effects not only on the power grid but also on the interconnected communication networks. We study a model of such failures and show that it differs from other models used to analyze cascades (e.g., epidemic/percolation-based models). Inspired by methods developed for network-survivability analysis, we show how to identify the most vulnerable locations in the network. We also perform extensive numerical experiments with real grid data to estimate the effects of geographically correlated outages and briefly discuss mitigation methods. The developed techniques can indicate potential locations for grid monitoring, and hence, will have impact on the deployment of the smart-grid networking infrastructure.

An Intelligent Auction Scheme for Smart Grid Market Using a Hybrid Immune Algorithm

Abstract: Smart Grid technology is recognized as a key component of the solution to challenges such as the increasing electric demand, an aging utility infrastructure and workforce, and the environmental impact of greenhouse gases produced during electric generation. This paper presents the application of a hybrid optimization algorithm for distributed energy resource (DER) management in Smart Grid operation. The approach emphasizes the advantages of using multiagent systems for profitable operation of a Smart Grid in the energy market. The trading strategy adopted for the auction process is a profit-maximizing adaptive bidding strategy based on risk and competitive equilibrium price prediction. The auctioneer manages the usage of DERs by receiving bids from buyers and asks from sellers. A hybrid-immune-system-based particle swarm optimization is used to minimize the fuel cost for generation assuming realistic market prices for power, distributed generator bids reflecting realistic operational costs, and load bids customized according to the consumers' priorities. The simulation results clearly indicate that the agent-based management is effective in coordinating the various DERs economically and profitably.

Smart power grid and cloud computing

Abstract: As a consequence of rapidly increased CO 2 emissions, humanity is facing global warming. Electricity generation accounts for almost half of the emission; besides, conventional electrical production based on fossil fuel is becoming more and more expensive. One approach to significantly slow down global warming is to drive our society away from the current fossil fuel fiesta and use only renewable power such as solar and wind energy. Another approach is to improve the management of energy production, transmission, and distribution. Part of the latter solution is on the supply side, where one possible solution is to develop continent-wide smart power grids and energy storage systems. However, an equally important part of the solution is on the demand side, where technologies and applications that can work with this type of unpredictable energy consumption are becoming necessary. The smart power grid with new sources of data, fast growth of information, and proactive management requires new strategy for business and operational management. In this paper we discuss how Cloud computing model can be used for developing Smart Grid solutions. The Cloud computing model is based on the delivery of computing as a service, whereby storage, software and information are provided to computers and other devices as a commodity over the Internet. The advantages of Cloud computing – reduced costs, increased storage, on-demand performance, and better flexibility – have motivated many companies in recent years to move their IT operations to the cloud; the same advantages can be used to achieve the most important future goals of a large-scale Smart Grid, such as energy savings, two-way communication, and demand resource management.

Decentralized Controls and Communications for Autonomous Distribution Networks in Smart Grid

Abstract: The traditional power grid system was constructed in a centralized and radial topology where power is generated and delivered from one end to the other. Conventional methods for unidirectional power flow analysis will no longer be effective to control renewable energy sources implemented at the consumption sector efficiently; new strategies are called for to facilitate the bidirectional flow incurred by power production of the distributed energy resource units. The transformation will require intelligent distribution automation by means of decentralized power management as well as information and communications technologies to actualize smart grid modernization. In this paper, we design autonomous distribution networks that take scalability into account by dividing the legacy distribution network into a set of subnetworks. We tackle the power flow and power balance issues individually in parallel to optimize the global distribution operation by our proposed power-control method. Meanwhile, we propose an overlay multi-tier communications infrastructure for the underlying power network to analyze the traffic of data information and control message required for associated power flow operation. Based on the proposed schemes, we show that we can potentially improve the utilization of renewable energy production and achieve data traffic reduction under decentralized operations as compared to legacy centralized management.