290 Power system SCADA and smart grids

• Lack of a robust ecosystem to support the use of DC in building-­

level electrification
• An unclear pathway for moving from AC-­centric power distribution
to DC-­inclusive distribution schemes

Attempts are being made to overcome these challenges, and the future
of DC microgrid signals a paradigm shift in the centralized generation,
transmission, and distribution of electricity to decentralized, local power
generation in DC and consumption.

7.7 Smart transmission
Smart transmission involves the installation of phasor measurements
units and developing wide area measurement systems and related appli-
cations, a complete description of which has already been provided in
Sections 5.11 and 5.12. Integration of large renewables like wind and solar
power also will have to be coordinated by the transmission control centers.

7.8 Lessons learned in deployment

of smart grid technologies [30]
The smart grid deployments have taught stakeholders many lessons,
some of which are discussed here.
Every day, our understanding of the smart grid as a “system of
systems” evolves and improves and, therefore, so does the smart grid.
Few experiences have helped foster our understanding more than the les-
sons learned through actual field deployments.

7.8.1 Lessons on technology
The challenge here is to separate hype created from the reality. The utility
expectations are that the smart grid solutions are ready for implementa-
tion as a product, whereas the reality is that the technology is not that
mature, and in many cases, the components were field re-­engineered or
upgraded to meet the objectives and expectations.
Integration and interoperability have been major technology issues,
as smart grid deployment involves integrating products from multiple
vendors. The lesson learned is to adopt and insist on standards and open
architecture methodology to enable plug-­and-­play solutions.
Extensive laboratory testing for smart grid solutions is mandatory
prior to implementation to understand the capabilities of the products and
services offered, as redoing on site will be expensive and time consuming.
Although individual components of the smart grid are thoroughly tested
Chapter seven:  Smart grid concepts 291

before installation, it has been discovered that some component technol-

ogy may not be ready for integration into a solution. Often, these com-
ponents do not interoperate well within the overall system, resulting in
costly and time-­consuming field re-­engineering or upgrading. Each of the
components of an integrated solution must perform according to its speci-
fications. If any component underperforms, the entire solution underper-
forms. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
Take the case of monitoring the health of a critical bulk-­power trans-
mission transformer. The components include the sensors in or on the
transformer, the monitoring and diagnostic equipment connected to
the transformer, and two-­way communications between the transformer
and the maintenance office and the master station in the maintenance
office. Bearing in mind that temperature variations affect the technol-
ogy, when the monitoring and diagnostic equipment fail due to immature
technology, the entire transformer monitoring solution fails.
Or consider phasor measurement units, phasor data concentrators
(PDCs), two-­way communications between the PDCs and the control cen-
ter, and the wide-­area measurement system (WAMS) in the control center.
When the PDC fails because it cannot handle the amount and speed of
synchrophasor data sent to it, the entire WAMS solution fails.

7.8.2 Lessons on implementation and deployment

The lesson learned is that integration and interoperability of each com-
ponent in the system must be achieved to help ensure smart grid success.
Testing an individual component is relatively easy, but extensive, end-­to-­
end laboratory testing of components functioning within an operational
system is mandatory prior to implementation to fully understand compo-
nent capabilities and to help ensure interoperability before deployment
as part of a larger solution. To develop an array of effective plug-­and-­play
components, we must adopt—and insist upon—open standards and an
open architecture methodology.
Compliance to standards does not guarantee interoperability.
Coordinating software functionality with hardware from multiple sup-
pliers has proved challenging. To ensure components successfully work
together, they must comply with the same standard and have been tested
for interoperability, especially if from different suppliers.
Imagine a utility with a SCADA/­EMS (supervisory control and data
acquisition/­energy management system) from supplier X. This utility pur-
chases an optimal power flow software application from supplier Y and
wants to integrate it into supplier X’s EMS. Typically, however, this is not
possible because the EMS has a proprietary, real-­time database structure.
But if both suppliers have incorporated the common information model
292 Power system SCADA and smart grids

(IEC 61968/61970) into their system and software application, the software
application will successfully integrate with the system.
To take another example, suppose a utility is implementing volt-­var
control on its distribution feeders, where the logic resides in the substa-
tion. The substation controller communicates with the feeder-­based intel-
ligent capacitor bank controller using the DNP3 communications protocol
(IEEE 1815). But the substation controller is from supplier X and the intel-
ligent capacitor bank controller is from supplier Y. Though they both use
the DNP3 communications protocol, they cannot talk with each other
because of incompatibilities in the implementation of the protocol by both
suppliers, which would have been identified and resolved if interoper-
ability testing had been done. In this case, field re-­engineering is needed
to correct the incompatibilities.
Niche suppliers, though they provide valuable components and tech-
nologies, may have small engineering staffs that do not have the resources
or familiarity to fully adopt and employ industry-­wide standards, result-
ing in a lack of system interoperability.
Building long-­ term alliances with larger suppliers that have the
resources to fully embrace industry-­wide standards, while maintaining
a holistic view of the overall solution, can help minimize interoperability
issues. Larger suppliers also generally have engineering resources to pro-
vide field support, obviating the need to engage third-­party field support;
retaining third parties may open a can of worms in that they may not
be familiar with the components or solutions that need re-­engineering or
upgrading. Rework, after all, is expensive and time consuming.
Packaged solutions from a defined group of strategically aligned
suppliers will help improve coordination and interoperability of smart
grid systems. These suppliers can work together to enhance equipment
interoperability requirements, collaborate to resolve system problems,
and develop documentation to improve personnel training.

7.8.3 Lessons on project management: Building

a collaborative management team
Coordinating multiple suppliers as well as multiple internal depart-
ments within a utility—such as substation management, distribution
engineering, and communications—has posed significant challenges.
Collaboration is needed not only to develop technical standards but to
effectively manage and steer smart grid projects as well.
Building an “A team” with the technical and project expertise to work
collaboratively to identify and solve challenges is essential. Engaging a
project manager with multidisciplinary authority for each smart grid
solution can help utilities enhance departmental collaboration and
Chapter seven:  Smart grid concepts 293

interoperability efforts within the organization and when working with

external vendors.
Establishing a program management office to oversee multiple proj-
ect managers can help ensure adherence to overall program guidelines,
including communications, status reporting, and risk management. Also,
an interdisciplinary corporate steering committee—consisting of key
stakeholders within the utility and within an alliance of suppliers—can
essentially function as a “traffic cop” to direct project deployment in a
controlled and timely manner while helping to mitigate risk.

7.8.4 Share lessons learned

Smart grid solutions involve a multitude of stakeholders, including
residential and commercial customers, utilities, and strategic suppliers.
Sharing information among all stakeholders is critical to success. An
enormous amount of data is compiled every day from projects around
the world, delivering new insights about equipment performance, sys-
tem interoperability, new successes, and new challenges. Lessons need to
be shared with all stakeholders so that data turn into knowledge that is
actionable to help utilities, suppliers, and consumers build on past suc-
cesses and avoid potential pitfalls. The development of “use cases” for
each component and system is an effective means of disseminating les-
sons learned from deployments. Use cases can provide specific studies of
how users interact with a system, besides giving a detailed description of
a scenario. They can also define benefits, actors, functional requirements,
business rules, and assumptions.

7.8.5 The lessons continue

The smart grid is a new, complex, and expansive system, and with each
new project comes a new set of experiences and a new set of lessons to
be learned. Adherence to industry standards and interoperability testing
is critical for successful operations and performance success. As we con-
tinue to develop, test, and deploy smart grid solutions, we will continue to
learn lessons that we can build upon to improve our performance and the
performance of a smarter grid.

7.9 Case studies in smart grid

Smart grid implementation case studies are available all over the world, as
the utilities have embraced smart grid in a big way. Here a few cases are
presented which are typical in implementation and extension of SCADA
systems to aid smart grid.
294 Power system SCADA and smart grids

7.9.1 PG&E improves information visibility [31]

Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) is using PMUs to improve the distribution
system, utilizing the 60 to 120 scans per second of the PMU data capture,
for real-­time view of the distribution system as a whole. This was done
to help the operators anticipate and address the state and stability of the
system. A distributed state estimation (DSE) platform was created, the
processing of data was done in the field, and only relevant data were sent
to the control center. The distribution substation-­based state estimation
for the utility was done using the selected real-­time values. The imple-
mentation is underway as a pilot project in PG&E.

7.9.2 Present and future integration of diagnostic

equipment monitoring [32]
The Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) has a number of equipment con-
dition monitoring (ECM) devices that are monitored locally or by remote
dial-­in, and the data downloaded used to be stored in separate databases.
The company found the usefulness of a corporate data warehouse to store
all the information and use it more effectively for equipment diagnosis, as
well as for substation training simulator usage. ECM was used to extend
the life of a generator step-­up (GSU) transformer with static electrification
to enable OPPD to prepare a request for proposal (RFP) for a replacement
transformer, evaluate the proposals, select a bidder, build and factory test
the transformer, ship the transformer to the site, schedule an outage, and
replace the transformer.

7.9.3 Accelerated deployment of smart grid technologies in India:

Present scenario, challenges, and way forward [33]
As part of the smart grid vision, the Ministry of Power, Government of
India, funded 14 smart grid projects to accelerate the power distribution
sector reforms focusing on AMI, OMS, peak load management systems,
renewable energy integration, and so on. The projects are underway and
will be completed in 2015:

1. CESC (Karnataka)—AMI, outage management, peak load manage-

ment, microgrid, and distributed generation with an initial 21,800
consumers in the Mysore Additional City area
2. Andhra Pradesh CPDCL—AMI, outage management, peak load
management, and power quality management with 11,900 consum-
ers in the Jeedimetla suburb of Hyderabad
Chapter seven:  Smart grid concepts 295

3. Assam PDCL—AMI, outage management, peak load management,

power quality management, and distributed generation with 15,000
consumers in the Guwahati area
4. Gujarat VCL—AMI, outage management, peak load management,
and power quality management with 39,400 consumers in Naroda
and Deesa
5. Maharashtra SEDCL—AMI and outage management with 25,600
consumers in Baramati in the Pune district
6. Haryana BVN—AMI and peak load management with 30,500 con-
sumers in Panipat City
7. Tripura SECL—AMI and peak load management with 46,000 con-
sumers in Agartala
8. Himachal Pradesh SEB—AMI, outage management, peak load man-
agement, and power quality management with 650 industrial con-
sumers in Nahan
9. Puducherry electricity department—AMI with 87,000 consumers
10. JVVNL (Rajasthan)—AMI and peak load management with 2,600
consumers in Jaipur
11. Chattisgarh SPDCL—AMI with 500 industrial consumers in Siltara
12. Punjab SPCL—outage management with 9,000 consumers in Amritsar
13. Kerala SEB—AMI with 25,000 industrial consumers
14. West Bengal SEDCL—AMI and peak load management with 4,400
consumers in Siliguri town in the Darjeeling district

7.10 Summary
This chapter is an attempt to introduce smart grid concepts starting with
the definition of a smart grid and moving on to a comparison of the old
and the new electricity grids. A detailed discussion of the stakeholders in
the smart grid development follows. The smart grid solutions are detailed
thereafter where the discussion is about asset, demand, distribution, trans-
mission, workforce and engineering optimizations, and smart meter and
communications. Smart distribution components are discussed in detail,
i.e., DER and energy storage, AMI, smart homes, PHEVs, and microgrids.
Lessons learned in implementing a smart grid give a suitable conclusion
to the chapter.

References
1. George W. Arnold, “Challenges and opportunities in smart grid: a position
article,” Proceedings of the IEEE, vol. 99, no. 6, June 2011, pp. 922–927.
2. Roger N. Anderson, Albert Boulanger, Warren B. Powell, and Warren Scott
“Adaptive stochastic control for the smart grid,” Proceedings of the IEEE,
vol. 99, no. 6, June 2011.