Advanced Metering Infrastructure Research Articles

Analysis of Real-time Processing Approaches for Large Data Volumes in Metering Infrastructure

Smart grid systems and communication technologies, such as Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), have revolutionized utility service management and monitoring. AMI leverages smart meters equipped with advanced communication capabilities, facilitating bidirectional communication between utilities and consumers. The increasing deployment of smart meters and the adoption of sub-hourly data collection requirements by utility companies highlight significant data volume growth. Thus, there is a need for efficient real-time data processing solutions as existing approaches may not meet previously established Service-Level Agreements (SLAs) concerning performance, accuracy, and scalability metrics. This research aims to comprehensively review the latest publications relevant to distributed real-time data processing methods for smart grid applications and outline problems for further research. Specifically, the study delves into the effectiveness and application of reviewed approaches in managing the constant stream of data from smart meters and IoT devices within the smart grid context. By analysing existing methodologies and advancements, this study seeks to identify challenges and opportunities in real-time data processing for smart grid infrastructures, focusing on addressing the complexities of processing, managing, and storing large volumes of real-time data. The literature review revealed two primary applications of real-time data processing: optimization of data streaming performance and data analysis. The review encompasses various studies, each presenting distinct methodologies and technologies applied to address the challenges of processing large volumes of real- time data from smart meters and IoT devices. Future research should address the challenges and limitations discovered in this study.

Research on Privacy Issues in Smart Metering System: An Improved TCN-Based NILM Attack Method and Practical DRL-Based Rechargeable Battery Assisted Privacy Preserving Method

Smart meters, as a key component of Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), collect fine-grained electricity consumption data for demand response in smart grids. While this data improves the grid’s accuracy, it also poses significant threats to users’ privacy. In this paper, we study the privacy issue in smart metering systems from both attacker and defender perspectives. First, we propose an improved Temporal Convolutional Network (TCN) based Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring (NILM) attack method, which infers electrical appliance usage from public load curves, addressing the gradient vanishing, gradient exploding, and other problems while improving attack accuracy. Second, we develop a rechargeable battery-assisted energy management system to hide load characteristics of electrical appliances by adding physical noise, thus resisting NILM attacks. To address the privacy-cost trade-off optimization problem, we propose a Practical Deep Reinforcement Learning-based Rechargeable Battery assist Privacy Preserving Method (PRoP) that learns optimal battery charging/discharging policies. We design a novel privacy measurement method and constraints to ensure the feasibility of system deployment and prove PRoP’s effectiveness in resisting NILM attacks. Comprehensive evaluations demonstrate that our improved TCN-based NILM method achieves an attack success rate of over 80% on various electrical appliances, improving attack performance (MAE, RMSE) by 20% compared to existing methods while reducing model training time. Moreover, our proposed PRoP achieves a better trade-off between privacy protection and electricity cost than existing battery-assisted methods, reducing costs by 5% and the attack success ratio to 36%, while increasing the MAE and RMAE obtained by NILM by 3 times. <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Note to Practitioners</i> —Smart grid, which can support bidirectional information transmission, has a series of advantages, such as high efficiency and high stability. However, it also brings a significant threat to users’ electricity privacy. Although encryption-based privacy protection methods have been deployed on terminal devices of smart grids to prevent privacy leaks, this method can often only defend against intrusive attacks and has little effect on non-intrusive attacks. To this end, this paper studies the privacy issues caused by non-intrusive attacks. Specifically, to better study the protection method, we first investigate the attack mechanism and design an improved TCN-based Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring method. Then, we propose a Practical Reinforcement learning-based rechargeable battery-assisted Privacy preserving method (PRoP) to defend against this attack physically. The most practical contribution of this paper is that, compared with existing battery-assisted privacy protection methods, we do not blindly pursue algorithm performance but fully consider the practical factors of deployment, such as limiting battery capacity and constraining battery charging and discharging behavior. This can guide practitioners to better apply this technology in practice.

Real-time implementation of IoT-enabled cyberattack detection system in advanced metering infrastructure using machine learning technique

Real-time implementation of IoT-enabled cyberattack detection system in advanced metering infrastructure using machine learning technique

Electricity Theft Detection Using Rule-Based Machine Leaning (rML) Approach

Since electricity theft affects non-technical losses (NTLs) in power distribution systems, power companies are genuinely quite concerned about it. Power companies can use the information gathered by Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) to create data-driven, machine learning-based approaches for Electricity Theft Detection (ETD) in order to solve this problem. The majority of data-driven methods for detecting power theft do take usage trends into account while doing their analyses. Even though consumption-based models have been applied extensively to the detection of power theft, it can be difficult to reliably identify theft instances based only on patterns of usage. In this paper, a novel rule-based combined machine learning (rML) technique is developed for power theft detection to address the drawbacks of systems that rely just on consumption patterns. This approach makes use of the load profiles of energy users to establish rules, identify the rule or rules that apply to certain situations, and classify the cases as either legitimate or fraudulent. The UEDAS smart business power consumption dataset's real-world data is used to assess the performance of the suggested technique. Our technique is an innovation in theft detection that combines years of intensive theft tracking with the use of rule-based systems as feature spaces for traditional machine learning models. With an astounding 93% recall rate for the rule-based feature space combination of the random forest classifier, this novel approach has produced outstanding results. The acquired results show a noteworthy accomplishment in the field of fraud detection, successfully detecting fraudulent consumers 77% of the time during on-site examination.

Security in advanced metering infrastructures: Lightweight cryptography

Abstract Smart grids are designed to revolutionize the energy sector by creating a smarter, more efficient and reliable power supply network. The rise of smart grids is a response to the need for a more comprehensive and sophisticated energy system that caters to the needs of homes and businesses. Key features of smart grids include the integration of renewable energy sources, decentralized generation and advanced distribution networks. At the heart of smart grids is a sophisticated metering system, consisting of intelligent electronic devices that measure energy consumption and enable two-way communication between the utility company and the consumer. The information exchanged via these devices is critical, as it includes sensitive data such as energy consumption patterns and billing information. With the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT) and Industry 4.0, the security of this information is of utmost importance. This paper delves into the security challenges faced by advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and highlights the crucial role played by cryptography in ensuring the secure exchange of sensitive information. Cryptographic protocols such as encryption, authentication and digital signatures are essential components of a secure smart grid infrastructure. These protocols work together to ensure the confidentiality, integrity and authenticity of the information exchanged between the utility company and the consumer.

Backward–forward sweep inverse power flow for distribution line parameters estimation with metering data

AbstractThe transition towards the smart grid requires better information on the electrical networks at the distribution system level. Information about electrical line parameters is a critical part of such information. An algorithm for estimating electric line parameters of medium‐voltage distribution networks is proposed. The algorithm relies upon active/reactive power and nodal voltage magnitude data from advanced metering infrastructure and combines an Ordinary Least Squares estimator with the classical Backward–Forward Sweep load‐flow method to iteratively estimate the admittance parameters of the electrical network components. The algorithm is proposed to be applied to balanced loading situations of networks where zero‐injection non‐monitored nodes may exist. Simulations using the IEEE 33‐bus system are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the method under different loading situations and measurement noise levels.

Securing the green grid: A data anomaly detection method for mitigating cyberattacks on smart meter measurements

Smart meters, being a vital component in the advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), provide an opportunity to remotely monitor and control power usage and act like a bridge between customers and utilities. The installation of millions of smart meters in the power grid is a step forward towards a green transition. However, it also constitutes a massive cybersecurity vulnerability. Cyberattacks on AMI can result in inaccurate billing, energy theft, service disruptions, privacy breaches, network vulnerabilities, and malware distribution. Thus, utility companies should implement robust cyber-security measures to mitigate such risks. In order to assess the impact of cybersecurity breaches on AMI, this paper presents a cyber-attack scenario on grid measurements obtained via smart meters and assesses the stochastic grid estimations under attack. This paper also presents an efficient method for the detection and identification of anomalous data within the power grid by leveraging the distance between measurements and the confidence ellipse centered around the estimated value. To assess the proposed method, a comparative analysis is done against the chi-square test for detection and the largest normalized distribution test for the identification of bad data. Furthermore, by using a Danish low-voltage grid as a base case, this paper introduces two test cases to evaluate the performance of the proposed method under single and multiple-node cyber-attacks on the grid state estimation. Results show a notable improvement in accuracy when using the proposed method. Additionally, based on these numerical results, protective countermeasures are presented for the grid.

Electricity Theft Detection and Prevention Using Technology-Based Models: A Systematic Literature Review

Electricity theft comes with various disadvantages for power utilities, governments, businesses, and the general public. This continues despite the various solutions employed to detect and prevent it. Some of the disadvantages of electricity theft include revenue loss and load shedding, leading to a disruption in business operations. This study aimed to conduct a systematic literature review to identify what technology solutions have been offered to solve electricity theft and the effectiveness of those solutions by considering peer-reviewed empirical studies. The systematic literature review was undertaken following the guidelines for conducting a literature review in computer science to assess potential bias. A total of 11 journal articles published from 2012 to 2022 in SCOPUS, Science Direct, and Web of Science were analysed to reveal solutions, the type of theft addressed, and the success and limitations of the solutions. The findings show that the focus in research is channelled towards solving electricity theft in Smart Grids (SGs) and Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI); moreover, there is a neglect in the recent literature on finding solutions that can prevent electricity theft in countries that do not have SG and AMI installed. Although the results reported in this study are confined to the analysed research papers, the leading limitation in the selected studies, lack of real-life data for dishonest users. This study’s contribution is to show what technology solutions are prevalent in solving electricity theft in recent years and the effectiveness of such solutions.

Digitalization Processes in Distribution Grids: A Comprehensive Review of Strategies and Challenges

This systematic review meticulously explores the transformative impact of digital technologies on the grid planning, grid operations, and energy market dynamics of power distribution grids. Utilizing a robust methodological framework, over 54,000 scholarly articles were analyzed to investigate the integration and effects of artificial intelligence, machine learning, optimization, the Internet of Things, and advanced metering infrastructure within these key subsections. The literature was categorized to show how these technologies contribute specifically to grid planning, operation, and market mechanisms. It was found that digitalization significantly enhances grid planning through improved forecasting accuracy and robust infrastructure design. In operations, these technologies enable real-time management and advanced fault detection, thereby enhancing reliability and operational efficiency. Moreover, in the market domain, they support more efficient energy trading and help in achieving regulatory compliance, thus fostering transparent and competitive markets. However, challenges such as data complexity and system integration are identified as critical hurdles that must be overcome to fully harness the potential of smart grid technologies. This review not only highlights the comprehensive benefits but also maps out the interdependencies among the planning, operation, and market strategies, underlining the critical role of digital technologies in advancing sustainable and resilient energy systems.

Detection of electricity theft based on Minimal Gated Memory network combined adaptive synthesis sampling and decision tree

Advanced metering infrastructure is the foundation for recording and analyzing the massive, high-frequency electricity consumption data. With the increasing number of electricity theft issues caused by tampering with smart meters, it is necessary to detect electricity theft anomalies. For effective electricity theft inspection, an electricity theft detection method based on Minimal Gated Memory（MGM） network combined Adaptive Synthesis (ADASYN) sampling and Decision Tree (DT) is proposed in this paper. The proposed method considers that the number of electricity theft consumers is far less than that of honest consumers, and the electricity theft detection is a problem of data imbalance. From the perspective of data, ADASYN sampling method is selected to process the sample data of electricity theft consumers. In order to detect electricity theft effectively, the DT is further introduced for feature selection, and combined with the newly proposed MGM network to distinguish honest consumers and electricity theft consumers. Six forms of electricity theft attacks are introduced in this research. Based on real data from smart meters in Ireland, two experiments are designed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. The results show that our proposed method perform the best in Precision, Recall, F1-score and Area Under the Curve (AUC) when detecting electricity theft. The method proposed in this research can provide a new idea and approach for the detection of electricity theft and maintain the electricity supply quality and safety of smart grid.

An evaluation method for integrating EVs in distribution networks with clustering algorithms

Introduction: With the installation of advanced metering infrastructures, the operation data of EVs in the distribution networks can be obtained with time intervals of seconds and minutes. Based on these operation data, the impacts of integrating EVs into the distribution networks can be calculated and discussed.Methods: In this paper, an improved clustering algorithm with a new distance index for the daily curves of different types of EVs was proposed. The different types of EVs can be classified into several typical groups and the required number of operation scenarios can be reduced. After reducing the large-scale database to typical clusters, research can be conducted on the characteristics of EVs specific to certain scenarios.Results and discussion: In this way, the capability of integrating different types of EVs into the distribution network, such as fast EV charging stations, slow EV charging stations, and EV bus charging stations, is assessed from the perspective of load capacity size. The proposed clustering algorithm was verified with practical operation data.

A Lightweight_PAEKS-based energy scheduling model considering priority in MicroGrid

Priority-based energy scheduling is proposed, whereby the data utility of measured user information in smart meters, including the priority and power demand of power consumers and the maximum power supply of power suppliers, is leveraged to ensure that in the case of limited power resources within islanded microgrids, energy is allocated to power consumers in the order of high to low priority. Nonetheless, in terms of data utility, most existing strategies only consider high-priority power consumers, neglecting the priority of power suppliers and low-priority power consumers, thus damaging the fairness of low-priority consumers and the interests of power suppliers, to the detriment of these groups. Moreover, smart meters are vulnerable to data integrity attacks, which may result in the manipulation of measured user information during the forwarding process, thereby disrupting normal priority-based energy scheduling. Therefore, focusing on data utility without considering data security is insufficient. Researchers have extensively investigated how to secure smart meters within advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), primarily employing cryptography-based methods to encrypt user information in measured meters and decrypt it at the microgrid central controller (MGCC), thereby protecting the data confidentiality of user information during the forwarding process and preventing data tampering. However, the prevailing cryptographic methods used to secure smart meters are extremely complex, and make smart meters and local controllers on the forwarding path unable to obtain any user information in which embedded consumers’ priority and cannot leverage the data utility of priority to forward information accordingly. In other words, existing models cannot simultaneously achieve data confidentiality and data utility during the forwarding process. To solve these issues, this study investigates a Lightweight_PAEKS-based energy scheduling model considering priority in microgrid (LPESCP). As a lightweight solution, the LPESCP comprehensively considers data confidentiality and data utility, as well as the priority and fairness of all users, to ensure the security of smart meters and optimize energy scheduling. In particular, the data utility problem is solved by using an optimization model that aims to maximize the global satisfaction degree of all users in terms of priority and fairness. The Lightweight_PAEKS and Paillier encryption scheme are used so that nodes on the forwarding path can successfully match priority-related keyword and forward information in order of the keyword corresponding emergency coefficient indicating the urgency levels of information, ensuring data utility, while do not know the specific keyword, emergency coefficient and other information, ensuring data confidentiality. To verify the effectiveness of the LPESCP, experiments are conducted for three cases generated based on random numbers. The results show that the LPESCP model can effectively ensure energy supply to consumers, comprehensively considering data confidentiality and utility as well as priority and fairness of all users. In addition, the global satisfaction degree and time overhead are introduced as metrics to verify that the LPESCP strategy is more effective in providing greater global satisfaction degree and lower time overhead than existing priority-based energy scheduling models.

A data-driven ensemble technique for the detection of false data injection attacks in the smart grid framework

The major component of the smart grid (SG) is the advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), which monitors and controls the existing power system and provides interactive services for invoicing and electricity usage management with the utility. Including a cyber-layer in the metering system allows two-way communication but creates a new opportunity for energy theft, resulting in significant monetary loss. This article proposes an approach to detecting abnormal consumption patterns using energy metering data based on the ensemble technique AdaBoost, a boosting algorithm. Different statistical and descriptive features are retrieved from metering data samples, which account for extreme conditions. The model is trained for malicious and non-malicious data for five different attack scenarios, which are analyzed on the Irish Social Science Data Archive (ISSDA) smart meter dataset. In contrast to prior supervised techniques, it works well even with unbalanced data. The efficacy of the proposed theft detection method has been evaluated by comparing the accuracy, precision, recall, and F1 score with the other well-known approaches in the literature.

Correlation-driven multi-level learning for anomaly detection on multiple energy sources

Advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) has been widely used as an intelligent energy consumption measurement system. Electric power was the representative energy source collected by AMI; most existing studies to detect abnormal energy consumption have focused on a single energy source, i.e., power. Recently, other energy sources such as water, gas, and heating have also been actively collected. As a result, it is necessary to develop a unified methodology for anomaly detection across multiple energy sources; however, research efforts have rarely been made to tackle this issue. In this study, we propose a new correlation-driven multi-level learning model for anomaly detection on multiple energy sources. The distinguishing property of the model incorporates multiple energy sources in multi-levels based on the strength of the correlations between them. Our model is scalable to integrate arbitrary new energy sources, with further performance improvement, considering both correlated and non-correlated sources. Through extensive experiments on real-world datasets consisting of three to five energy sources, we demonstrate that the proposed model clearly outperforms the existing multimodal learning and recent time-series anomaly detection models and makes further performance improvement as more energy sources are integrated, showing the scalability of the proposed model.

Incorporating quantum key distribution and reinforcement learning for secure and efficient smart grid advanced metering infrastructure

Incorporating quantum key distribution and reinforcement learning for secure and efficient smart grid advanced metering infrastructure

Novel AMI in Zigbee Satellite Network Based on Heterogeneous Wireless Sensor Network for Global Machine-to-Machine Connectivity

This study endeavored to enhance the efficiency and utility of microcomputer meters. In the past, their role was predominantly confined to remote meter reading, entailing high construction and communication transmission costs, coupled with subsequent maintenance and operational expenditures. These factors collectively impacted the enthusiasm of various stakeholders to invest in this realm. Hence, in alignment with the smart city development initiative, the natural gas industry has pioneered the establishment of an advanced metering infrastructure with heterogeneous wireless sensor networks (HWSNs) at its core. This visionary leap incorporates global machine-to-machine connectivity (G-M2MC) technology, interconnecting all facets of its operations, thereby positioning itself as a trailblazer within the industry. While advancing this endeavor, the project’s scheduling aligns with the enterprise’s sustainability goals in the early stages of digital transformation. This strategic allocation of resources is responsive to government policies and aspires to cultivate a digitally connected smart green energy hub, thereby expediting the transformation of the living environment. The objective is to provide a stable, secure, cost-effective, and reliable system that can be shared among peers. Furthermore, this study delved into the analysis of congestion avoidance in intelligent Zigbee satellite transport networks based on the HWSNs-GM2MC of non-synchronous satellite orbit system (NGSO) pivotal technologies, utilizing them to integrate the smart LNGas management system (SGMS). Concurrently, it developed application services through the smart meter application interface (SMAPI), distinct from conventional microcomputer meters. However, it is imperative to acknowledge that cloud computing, while processing sensitive data, grapples with issues of latency, privacy, efficiency, power consumption, and zero-trust security risk information management and ethical authority management capabilities in the defense of disaster relief responses.

Internet of Vehicles (IoV) Based Framework for electricity Demand Forecasting in V2G

The integration of smart grids with Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) has bridged the realms of the Internet of Vehicles (IoV) and Electric Vehicles (EVs), yet challenges persist in managing EV Battery Range and charging infrastructure effectively. This paper presents an innovative IoV-based framework tailored for EVs, with a specific focus on forecasting electricity consumption in a Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) scenario. By exploring the hurdles surrounding electric vehicle usage, the research lays the foundation for Electric Vehicles (EVs). The proposed IoV model optimizes IoT sensor utilization through a fog layer and employs a Back Propagation (BP) neural network for battery State of Charge (SoC) estimation, integrating Principal Component Analysis (PCA) for data dimensionality reduction. Leveraging substantial computing capabilities, the cloud layer predicts Electricity Consumption Data (ECD) associated with EVs in V2G scenarios. Performance evaluation metrics like Akaike Information Criteria (AIC), Mean Error (ME), Mean Absolute Error (MAE), Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE), and Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) are assessed across state-of-the-art forecasting algorithms. Incorporating EV potential into the optimal model reveals a significant 10% reduction in electricity demand. This research advances IoV-based frameworks, offering insights to enhance EV efficiency within the broader energy infrastructure.

DESIGN OF SECLUDED ENERGY METER FOR TAMPERING AND UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS DETECTION IN SMART GRID

This paper deals with an energy metering system for electricity monitoring for each and every household that is different from the conventional energy meter. This proposed design is meant to be a better alternative for an efficient and more secure line for energy usage by the consumer without any illegal access to their connections so that they don’t have to pay for something they aren’t accountable for in the first place and protect the supplier/provider, which is the government, from incurring any losses from the theft as well as from customers who tamper with the meter values. These things are vital in today’s world. So,we are taking this into account and designing a smart meter with the IoT technology for monitoring data values at the tip of our fingers, readily available at any moment. It serves many purposes, from the monitoring of energy consumption to easily using mobile phones to work on managing the energy usage according to their budget. It is also easy for the supplier to monitor without manually inspecting the location. The WiFi module ESP8266 is used for the purpose of transmitting the energy data to the server. This paper also deals with a smart grid system in which energy meters are used as a two-way communication system as opposed to conventional meters with one-way communication, which will be a more efficient system. This IoT is good in terms of its development towards an easy and advanced metering infrastructure, which also needs secure communication between the supplier and consumer to protect that data.

A Brief Review on Ancillary Services from Advanced Metering Infrastructure (ASAMI) for Distributed Renewable Energy Network

Advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) is an integrated system of smart meters, communications networks, and data management systems that enable the secure, effective, and dependable distribution of power while also delivering enhanced capabilities to energy consumers. The system also can measure power usage, connect, and disconnect service, detect tampering, identify and isolate outages, and monitor voltage automatically and remotely, which were previously unavailable or required user intervention. This article focuses on AMI and effectively integrating renewable energy sources (RES). However, the study also recommends smart metering for renewables such as solar photovoltaic (PV), hydropower, anaerobic digestion (ad) metering, and renewable energy storage, in which AIM thoroughly supervises the energy utilized by users' appliances. With the prediction of new ancillary services connected with contestability, related regulation, the sufficiency of consumer protection, and safety issues, the magnitude of renewable energy sources in the AMI is an almost unprecedented problem for consumers. The present energy management problems include reducing the power supply-demand gap and boosting power supply dependability. Implementing AMI with distributed renewable energy resources might be a viable strategy for lowering power consumption, improving power supply management, and maximizing management resource use.

Optimization of low voltage distribution network configuration using forecasts based on Advanced Metering Infrastructure data

Optimization of low voltage distribution network configuration using forecasts based on Advanced Metering Infrastructure data