The essential role of information and communication systems in Smart Grids

                                                                 
Vincent Audebert                                                                                 Imane Oussakel
Électricité de France SA                                                                      Électricité de France SA
                                                              

                                                                  
Corina Kim Schindhelm                                                                       Daniel Hauer
Siemens AG                                                                                           Siemens AG
                                     

Introduction

Critical infrastructures are vital to the functioning of a society and economy. These include sectors like energy (electricity, oil, gas), water supply, transportation, healthcare, communication, finance, food supply, and government services. If these infrastructures were disrupted or damaged, it could have severe consequences within society, impacting national security, public safety, and the economy. The protection of such infrastructures is becoming more important due to growing technological dependence, increasing threats (like cyberattacks and climate change), global interconnectivity, and the need to maintain economic and social stability.

In the energy sector, traditional power grids were primarily designed for one-way energy flow, delivering electricity from centralized power stations to consumers without mechanisms for feedback or interaction. This unidirectional system has limited real-time monitoring capabilities, relying on manual processes for system assessment and issue resolution. Communication within traditional grids is primarily serving operational control purposes. Control over the grid is centralized, with limited involvement from consumers in energy management decisions. Additionally, these grids are typically designed for centralized power generation, making it challenging to incorporate distributed energy sources such as solar panels, as well as wind energy plants and power storage solutions like batteries and electric vehicles. The infrastructure often lacks the adaptability to respond dynamically to changing energy demands or supply conditions.

The introduction of massive local production with renewable generation at the distribution level and the arrival of new usage with the electric vehicle and heat pumps revolutionize the way the grid needs to be handled.

Smart grids utilize digital technology to facilitate two-way communication between utilities and consumers, enabling dynamic energy management. This bidirectional flow allows consumers to adjust their energy usage based on real-time pricing and demand signals, promoting efficiency and cost savings. Smart grids are equipped with advanced sensors and monitoring systems that provide real-time data, enhancing the ability to detect and respond to system anomalies promptly. The enhanced communication infrastructure supports sophisticated data analytics, enabling proactive maintenance and optimization of grid operations. Control within smart grids is more distributed, empowering consumers to participate actively in energy decisions, such as adjusting consumption patterns or integrating renewable energy sources. The infrastructure’s flexibility allows for the seamless integration of renewable energy sources, supporting a diverse and resilient energy mix. Smart grids also feature self-healing capabilities, automatically rerouting power to avoid affected areas during outages. This improves reliability, reduces downtime and consequently contributes to greater grid stability. Furthermore, robust cybersecurity measures are integral to smart grids, protecting against potential cyber threats and ensuring the integrity of grid operations.

The role of ICTs in the smart grid domain

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is fundamental to the operation and advancement of smart grids, serving as the backbone that supports their enhanced efficiency, reliability, and sustainability. By integrating ICT, smart grids can effectively manage the complexities of modern energy systems.

One of the primary roles of ICT in smart grids is enabling real-time monitoring, communication and control. Advanced sensors and communication networks allow for continuous surveillance of grid operations, facilitating prompt detection and response to anomalies, which enhances grid stability and minimizes service disruptions.

Moreover, ICT plays a crucial role in data management and analytics within smart grids. The vast amounts of data generated by smart meters and sensors are processed through sophisticated ICT systems to forecast energy demand, optimize distribution, and identify potential issues before they escalate.

Enhanced interoperability is another significant benefit of ICT in smart grids. Smart grids consist of diverse systems and devices from multiple vendors. ICT ensures these components can communicate and function together seamlessly, achieved through standardized data models and communication protocols.

The integration of renewable energy sources is facilitated by ICT, which manages the variability of sources like solar and wind, ensuring a stable and reliable energy supply. This capability is essential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting sustainable energy practices.

ICT also supports demand response management by enabling real-time communication between utilities and consumers. This interaction allows for dynamic pricing and load balancing, where consumers adjust their energy usage based on price signals, contributing to grid stability and efficiency.

As critical infrastructure, smart grids require robust cybersecurity measures to protect against potential threats. ICT systems implement encryption, secure authentication, and continuous monitoring to safeguard grid operations, ensuring the integrity and reliability of the energy supply. It also requires ICT technologies that are resilient and long lasting since the timeline of Utilities projects are in tens of years.

Finally, ICT infrastructures provide scalability and flexibility, allowing smart grids to adapt to evolving technologies and increasing energy demands. This adaptability ensures long-term sustainability and resilience, accommodating future advancements in energy generation, distribution, and consumption.

ICT integration into smart grid domain and its implications on sustainability

While the integration of ICT in the domain and systems of smart grids enhance aspects of sustainability (e.g. facilitating the integration of renewables), ICT itself brings certain impacts on sustainability on its own. Achieving a harmonious balance among the societal, economical, and environmental impacts of ICT-integrated smart grids require a holistic approach that considers the interdependencies of these dimensions. Policymakers and stakeholders must prioritize equitable access to technology to ensure that the benefits of smart grids are widely distributed, thereby enhancing social equity. Economic incentives and regulatory frameworks should encourage investment in ICT infrastructure while promoting sustainable practices that do not compromise environmental integrity. This balance can be achieved by aligning the development and implementation of smart grid technologies with the broader goals of sustainable development, ensuring that advancements in ICT contribute positively across all sustainability pillars.

The role of Smart Grids in the SUSTAIN- 6G project

SUSTAIN-6G is a project focused on integrating sustainability into the development of sixth-generation (6G) communication technologies. Its objectives encompass understanding stakeholder sustainability needs, defining comprehensive assessment methodologies, enhancing the synergy between 6G and vertical use cases to minimize negative environmental impacts, improving 6G technologies to bolster sustainability, validating and demonstrating sustainability impacts, and formulating guidelines and strategic roadmaps to steer 6G development towards sustainable practices. Within Sustain 6G three domains were selected, namely agriculture, health and smart grids. The goal is to analyse the impact and the interrelations between ICTs and these vertical domains.

Smart grids: Towards an ecosystem of heterogeneous energy sources © Siemens

The smart grid domain is explored through three interconnected use cases:

Joint Planning of 6G and Smart Grid Infrastructures: This foundational use case emphasizes the importance of designing and deploying 6G and smart grid infrastructures in tandem. Such coordinated planning ensures that both systems complement each other, maximizing mutual benefits and providing a robust foundation for advanced services and operational strategies in the subsequent use cases.

6G-Enabled Grid Balancing Services: Building upon the integrated infrastructure, this use case utilizes 6G’s low-latency and high-bandwidth capabilities to manage distributed energy resources (DERs) and other grid assets in real-time. This orchestration facilitates participation in grid balancing and frequency response services, promoting a decentralized and efficient energy system by enabling small-scale DER owners to engage in wholesale electricity markets.

Resilient Grid Section Operation: Focusing on enhancing grid reliability, this use case leverages 6G communication capabilities for advanced coordination and control of grid sections. It involves real-time monitoring and adaptive reconfiguration to automatically detect and respond to faults, such as power outages or grid congestion, ensuring stability and continuity of service even during disruptions.

Collectively, these use cases form an integrative framework addressing the challenges of transitioning to a more efficient, resilient, and integrated energy system.

Conclusion

We are no more in the traditional power grids delivering electricity from centralized stations to consumers without real-time monitoring or consumer feedback. Smart grids, utilize digital technologies to enable two-way communication, allowing consumers to adjust energy usage based on real-time data, integrating renewable energy sources, and enhancing grid reliability through self-healing capabilities. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) plays an important role in smart grids, to facilitate real-time monitoring, data analytics, interoperability, and robust cybersecurity measures.

SUSTAIN-6G is a project focused on integrating sustainability into the development of 6G communication technologies, aiming to align technological advancements with environmental goals by assessing various stakeholders and domains requirements.

This work is Co-funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement 101191936. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of all SUSTAIN-6G consortium parties nor those of the European Union or the SNS JU (granting authority). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

This document contains material, which is the copyright of certain SUSTAIN-6G consortium parties and may not be reproduced or copied without permission. All SUSTAIN-6G consortium parties have agreed to the full publication of this document.