Abstract
The smart grid can be seen as a hybrid system composed by many systems. From a large scale point of view, it combines the electric power system itself and a heterogeneous information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure. Additionally, these systems are composed by many building blocks that are designed and managed as separated systems which are hard to fully integrate between each other. Relying on the experiences arisen and the knowledge gathered from the partners during the development of the FP7 European projects INTEGRIS (intelligent electrical grid sensor communications) and FINESCE (future internet smart utility services), this paper presents the software defined utility (SDU) concept for the management of the smart grid and its security, which advocates for the migration of the utility infrastructure to software systems instead of relying on complex and rigid hardware based systems. Following this approach, SDU proposes the evolution of power systems’ ICT and the usage of programmable commodity hardware, low-cost sensors, and reliable high-speed IP-based communications underneath. More concretely, this paper proposes some building blocks for the deployment of the SDU (flexible data management infrastructure, context-aware security and web of things interface) and evaluates their functionalities and benefits for the smart grids of the future.
Highlights
Power network technologies have been exceptionally stable for a long time, which is in contrast with the fast evolution of current information and communication technologies (ICT) systems.One of the main novelties of the smart grid is the addition of a telecommunications network to the electrical infrastructure in order to transport information such as the state of the grid, real-time power consumption, service fault locations, demand side management, etc
Service modules like the ones presented in this work are expressed by means of Usually,interfaces service modules like the ones presented in this work arethem expressed by means of well-defined that hide their implementation
In order to test the software defined utility (SDU) potential features, the trial shown in Figure 2 was deployed connecting a set of FIDEVs placed at different locations inside the distribution system operators (DSOs) infrastructure and outside their facilities (La Salle communications laboratory in Barcelona and some virtualized FIDEVs in the FIWARE Lab Cloud)
Summary
Power network technologies have been exceptionally stable for a long time, which is in contrast with the fast evolution of current information and communication technologies (ICT) systems. The objective of this paper is to propose a new way of managing the smart grid based on the SDU paradigm coined by the authors, that aims at enabling a more flexible operation of the power infrastructure and, sharing the on-field experiences and knowledge collected in [8,9]. As it is further discussed in this work, the benefits of using this software-based approach are manifold.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
