Overview of Communication Systems for Smart Grid

1. Overview of Communication Systems for Smart Grid Hao Liang Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering University of Waterloo Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 3G1 h8liang@bbcr.uwaterloo.ca BBCR Smart Grid Subgroup 2011.11.3

2. Outline • Group Organization, Purpose, and Members • Overview of Communication Systems for Smart Grid • Article I: Heterogeneous Communication Architecture for the Smart Grid • Article II: Communication Systems for Grid Integration of Renewable Energy Resources • Summary

3. Group Organization, Purpose, and Members • Group Organization – Emphasize smart grid and energy efficient networks – Project-oriented organization -> regular meeting – Weekly presentation: 1) Interesting research papers 2) Individual/collaborative research work 3) etc. – The Bibliography of Smart Grid (a website)

4. Group Organization, Purpose, and Members • Long-Term Goal – Specialize in 2-3 research areas in smart grid – Currently, we are working on: electrical vehicles, smart microgrids • Short-Term Goal – Tutorial papers for smart grid (overall picture + new research issues)

5. Group Organization, Purpose, and Members • Members from BBCR Group Hao Liang: Delay Tolerant Network David (Bong Jun) Choi: Energy Efficient Network Xiaoxia Zhang: Information Theory Sandra Cespedes U.: Mobile IP Zhongming Zheng: Energy Efficient Network Zhiguo Shi: Wireless Sensor Network Yujie Tang: Cognitive Radio Hongwei Li: Network Security • Members from Energy and Power System Group Ahmed Samir: Smart Grid Kun Zhuge: Electrical Vechicle

6. Overview of Communication Systems for Smart Grid

7. Overview of Communication Systems for Smart Grid • Backbone Network – High-bandwidth – Fiber optics, digital microwave radio • Access Network – Lower-bandwidth – Copper twisted-pair wire lines, power line communications, and wireless systems

8. Overview of Communication Systems for Smart Grid • Power Line Communications (PLCs) – Basic idea: Use existing electrical wires to transport data – High bit rates: Up to 200 Mb/s – Applications: Broadband Internet access, indoor wired local area networks, utility metering and control, real-time pricing, distributed energy generation – Standardization: ITU-T G.hn, IEEE 1901, NIST has included HomePlug, ITU-T G.hn and IEEE 1901 as “Additional Standards Identified by NIST Subject to Further Review” for the smart grid in the USA – Advantage: 1) Communication signals travels on the same wires that carry electricity 2) No “Wall Effect” – Disadvantage: 1) Victim of electromagnetic interference (EMI) since power line cables are often unshielded 2) High cost (compared with ZigBee), 1-3 customers per transformer in North America (while 100–300 customers per transformer in Europe) 3) Practicality: Water/gas meters are powered by batteries without power lines

9. Overview of Communication Systems for Smart Grid • Wireless Home (Local) Area Networks – Zigbee: Leading standard – WiFi: High data rate vs. high cost and power consumption – Collaboration: Smart Energy 2.0 (a standard promoted by ZigBee, to work on Wi-Fi)

10. Overview of Communication Systems for Smart Grid • Wireless Wide Area Networks – Public cell phone carriers: 1) Reduction of the costs (by not having to build a new network) 2) How to meet the requirements in the machine-to-machine area? – WiMAX: 1) Provide wireless broadband communications 2) Cost of using licensed spectrum 3) Risky since the network is not deployed at scale – Interoperability: IEEE P2030

11. Article I: Heterogeneous Communication Architecture for the Smart Grid

12. Article I - Outline • Smart Grid as an Ubiquitous Sensor Network (USN) • Access Network Level • Sensor Network Level • Next-Generation Network (NGN) Level • Middleware Level

13. Smart Grid as an USN

14. Smart Grid as an USN

15. Access Network Level • Baseline Technology – PLC – WiMAX – IEEE 802.11s (A draft from IEEE 802.11 for mesh networks) – IEEE 802.22 (TV frequency spectrum between 54 and 862 MHz based on cognitive radio)

16. Sensor Network Level • Baseline Technology – IEEE 802.15.4 – IEEE 802.15.5 (a mesh architecture in PAN networks based on IEEE 802.15.4) – Upper layers: e.g., Zigbee

17. NGN Level

18. Middleware Level

19. Article II: Communication Systems for Grid Integration of Renewable Energy Resources

20. Article II - Outline • Bear Mountain Wind farm (BMW) in British Columbia • Grid Integration of Photovoltaic Power Systems

21. BMW in British Columbia • Introduction to BMW – Large-scale wind farms are normally integrated into power transmission networks so that the generated electric power can be delivered to load centers in remote locations – Small-scale wind farms can be integrated into power distribution networks to meet local demands

22. BMW in British Columbia • Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) BMW data together with protection information and line telemetry data are transmitted to the system control center through ADSS fiber cable and power line carrier. Every 4 s, the data will be updated.

23. BMW in British Columbia • Research Challenges – Standardization of protocols – Implementation of synchronized phasor measurement – Application of wireless technologies – Make use of full capabilities of wind farm SCADA and wind turbine reactive capability (two-way communications can activate advanced applications such as voltage control system (VCS)) – Enhance communication systems reliability – Islanding detection and operation through communication systems (fast and accurate communications)

24. Grid Integration of Photovoltaic Power Systems Typical Advanced

25. Grid Integration of Photovoltaic Power Systems • Research Challenges – Power consumption of the end device – Reliability, coverage, and flexibility – Addressing and localization (for a large number of devices) – Islanding detection

26. Summary of This Talk • Overview of communication systems for smart grid • Example 1: Heterogeneous network architecture • Example 2: Integration of renewable energy resources