Next Generation Communications - Smart Grid Archives

IP/MPLS-Based Networks Provide Unique Value for Smart Grid Initiatives

2012-01-09T17:09:27Z

By Beecher Tuttle

Skyrocketing energy demands and the push for greener, more sustainable energy solutions has helped bring smart grids to prominence, and has encourage a number of utilities to deploy a next-generation network alongside their electrical grid.

AltaLink, one of Canada's largest electricity transmission providers, is one of the utilities that is currently undergoing the complex, yet highly advantageous transition from a TDM architecture to a next-generation IP-based network.

In an effort to provide other utilities with a roadmap for the migration, Clinton Struth, principal engineer at AltaLink, and Dr. Marc Maurer, key account manager at Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) recently authored a TechZine article, IP/MPLS-based Networks for Mission-Critical Services, that details some of the benefits and challenges of embracing a smarter network.

AltaLink's initiative was born back in 2007, when the company made the decision to replace their ATM and TDM-based network with a next-generation, packet-based Wide Area Network (WAN). When looking at their options, the company felt that it had two reasonable choices; it could deploy an Internet Protocol/Multi-Protocol Label Switching (IP/MPLS) infrastructure or a next -generation Synchronous Digital Hierarchy/Synchronous Optical Network (SDH/SONET).

When looking at the SDH/SONET option, AltaLink found that it didn't offer as much value as they had hoped, other than its ability to extend the lifespan of the network itself.

IP/MPLS, on the other hand, provides a cost-effective, visually-oriented network management system that enables utilities to provision, manage and operate critical smart grid services as well as the ability to report on their statistics. Couple this with the solution's dynamic bandwidth allocation and the fact that most AltaLink services would likely transition to IP, and AltaLink made their choice.

After evaluating several vendors and completing a series of pilot tests, AltaLink selected its supplier, Alcatel Lucent, in January 2010 and began the rollout a year later.

Now about halfway through the migration, Struth and AltaLink believe the IP/MPLS infrastructure is highly capable of enabling the "better management of the transmission infrastructure to ensure more reliability, safety and cost efficiency."

Struth's confidence in IP/MPLS stems from the fact that the technology overcomes two common doubts:

Low latency
Cyber security

Some utilities have questioned whether IP/MPLS can meet the strict latency requirements necessary to run an electrical grid. Struth has found this concern to be inaccurate, noting that IP/MPLS has been used to deliver time-sensitive applications like backhauling of mobile data traffic for many years.

As noted in the posting, "IP/MPLS is sometimes and incorrectly still perceived as connection-less IP-technology that can provide very cost-efficient data transport but only with a 'best-effort' like quality of service (QoS)… This is the case for IP only however in contrast, the MPLS part of IP/MPLS makes the solution connection-oriented and capable of multiple guaranteed QoS levels."

As for cyber-security, AltaLink and ALU were able to implement a multi-tier security concept with multiple security layers and intrusion-detection check-points. This move, which adds full control plane protection, comprehensive password protection and several additional security layers, is enabling the company to align it network security with that of Tier-1 carriers.

"By successfully engineering the network to support critical applications such as SCADA and TPR, this next-generation network can not only replace existing TDM networks but is flexible enough for a smart grid future," the two authors add.

Struth and Maurer offered a few key takeaways from the migration that can help utilities that follow in AltaLink’s footsteps:

Personnel: With a drastically different network in place, employees will need significant technology and equipment training. Either that or operations of the network need to be outsourced. Utilities should plan accordingly.
Technology choices: Struth and Maurer stress that electric utilities should make their technology choice based on the current and future services that they will support. "A technology change for the sake of technology is often the wrong approach," they note. "Depending on the type and size of the utility, other technologies might be more suitable."
Strong partnering relationships: Essential for success.

While much of the attention of smart grid deployments has been on the benefits for consumers and electric utilities in terms of things like customer control and choice and utility efficiency and eco-sustainability, the next generation communications infrastructure to enable smart grid benefits to be fully realized is a critical piece of the story. And, as AltaLink’s example shows, IP/MPLS - based networks are a core part of ensuring utility communications infrastructures are up to the challenge.

Overcoming Smart Grid Challenges to Realize Key Benefits

2012-01-09T14:55:26Z

By Susan Campbell

The ever-increasing demand for energy has created the need for the development of the Smart Grid. This efficient approach to energy management and consumption will change the way we produce, consume and recycle energy. The efficient operation of the Smart Grid will be a long time in coming, however, as many challenges still exist to complete implementation and adoption.

According to a recent Alcatel-Lucent article, Dealing with the Smart Grid’s Key Drivers and Challenges, the future of smart grids includes significant changes to the way we live, work and play. It is expected to impact the business landscape, the energy marketplace and the ways in which we interact both culturally and socially.

In the future smart grids will also enhance control and convenience in the industrialized work, while also enabling positive social progress in developing nations. These benefits are expected to gain traction, but the speed and success will depend greatly on how skillfully energy providers today manage change.

The Smart Grid's challenges demand that we overcome the question of “will we thrive, or merely survive?” The Smart Grid can truly create significant change for both operators and consumers and how well players on both sides anticipate and prepare for those changes will determine the outcome.

One key area of change will be in cultural values. The Smart Grid’s key drivers have always been increased efficiency and reduced reliability on costly resources or offshore supplies. Traditionally, users thought little of their energy use, perhaps paying attention only to the number of lights on in the house or the temperature on the thermostat. In the new culture, we will be in control of how and how much and from where we consume energy.

The Smart Grid will extend beyond the walls of our homes and businesses, reaching out to transportation, communications and other key areas. Exciting and powerful new applications will allow us to fully manage all activities, determining our energy consumption and controlling just how much we rely on the grid itself.

The future of the Smart Grid includes electric vehicles and thousands of renewable generation sources that will add significant management complexity, while also assisting in the migration to peak demand issues, political instability and fluctuating energy prices. With the introduction of partnerships and coalitions, higher value will be extended to both energy operators and consumers.

All stakeholders understanding the opportunities in this space will benefit from the advanced technologies and regional regulatory environments as they create the perfect landscape for new high-potential business models. Those who can understand and effectively address the key drivers for success will benefit the most. The Smart Grid can help support these transformations as long as scalability, reliability and full inclusion for millions of consumers are included.

Ensuring the Future of the Smart Grid

2012-01-02T23:16:53Z

By Susan Campbell

Our growing reliance on energy has sparked a new focus on how to make consumption more efficient. The Smart Grid has emerged as an important focus in this space, projected to impact the business landscape, the energy marketplace and even the ways in which we interact.

According to a recent Alcatel-Lucent article, EPB Chattanooga: Customers at the Center of the Smart Grid’s Future, smart grids will also enhance convenience and control within the industrialized world while positive social progress is enabled in developing countries. The level of skill with which energy providers are able to manage change will determine when and how well the benefits of smart grid technology will gain traction.

Three things we know for certain regarding the potential in development and deployment of smart grids:

They will provide customers with unprecedented levels of control and convenience, while also ensuring communities have access to advanced communications services.
Customers will enjoy many if not most of the benefits as a result of a greater reliance on wireless technologies for access and as service enabler.
There will not be success until customer education and privacy concerns are seen as priorities for utilities going forward and properly addressed.

“These days we’re used to instant information, to quick response, and to having control over a lot more things in our homes and our lives, but that hasn’t been true for electricity, said Harold DePriest, President and CEO, Electric Power Board of Chattanooga (EPB), in the Alcatel-Lucent piece. “The Smart Grid is changing that reality, bringing electric systems into the 21st Century.”

EPB has been in the process of rolling out a gigabit passive optical fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network for its entire service area. More than 170,000 customers and 90,000 smart meters have already been installed and connected to a smart grid. This roll out will easily become the model for future innovations as it is currently the fastest fiber-based smart grid in North America managing electrical usage information in real-time.

“Whether it’s providing advanced services or dealing with outages, we’re going to be able to do it quicker, with customers communicating interactively with the electric system through mobile devices and other platforms,” said DePriest. “It’s going to make us a more relevant and convenient part of people’s lives.”

While service providers and electric companies understand the value and importance of the smart grid’s future implementation, convincing customers they must pay more for a service they don’t quite understand will be an uphill battle. As such, utilities companies must create more value for the customers to ensure widespread support and adoption.

To accomplish this, utilities must be able to create more efficiency, better reliability and additional services. EPB has effectively demonstrated all three. In fact, according to the Electric Power Research Institute, EPB has created value for its customers to the tune of roughly $300 million over 10 years in the form of reduced outages, energy conversation and other efficiencies. To promote the adoption of smart grid technology, this is a powerful case study for success.

The Future Economy of the Smart Grid

2011-12-28T15:24:30Z

By Erin Harrison

With the world’s overall energy demand increasing by what seems to be the hour, deployment of smart grids presents new opportunities for utilities and service providers – but first they need to weigh all the factors involved in the future of smart grid.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), global energy demand is expected to rise by nearly 40 percent between now and 2035, as cited in a recent Alcatel-Lucent article, “Anticipating the Future’s Smart Grid Economy.”

Power utilities are indeed presented with new revenue opportunities, but they need to determine how they fit in to the future Smart Grid.

Years from now, the Smart Grid will change our lives: it will impact our business landscape, the energy marketplace and the ways in which we interact socially and culturally. In addition it will enhance control and convenience in the industrialized world while helping positive social progress in developing nations. When and how well these benefits gain traction will depend on how well energy providers manage change.

Citing the opinion of Ravi Krishnaswamy, vice president, Energy Practice, Frost & Sullivan, Alcatel-Lucent said the optimal smart grid value proposition depends on numerous factors related to regional needs, national priorities, technology development and regulatory environment.

“It’s not a one size fits all situation,” says Krishnaswamy. “Each utility will have to weigh these factors, then arrive at elements of Smart Grid that works for them.”

Renewable energy market will start taking a significant share of the power source in many countries. Krishnaswamy notes that smart grids are essential for utilities and nations that want to grow their renewable generation base, which itself is a key element in the equation for meeting future demand

Smart grid adoption will vary from community to community based on markets being served, regulatory environment and other factors.

As Alcatel-Lucent points out, smart grid technologies are changing business models for power providers in several ways, including deferred investment in expensive power plants, reduced maintenance and service costs, more efficient and reliable load management and that expected proliferation in potentially lucrative smart services using the smart grid’s communications infrastructure.

While much progress has been made with today’s smart grid, the smart grid of the future will impact our business landscape, the energy marketplace and the ways in which we interact socially and culturally.

IPv6 Adoption Demands Clear Service Provider Strategy

2011-12-27T14:22:04Z

By Susan Campbell

The constant growth of the Internet is demanding the adoption of IPv6 and service providers must be ready with a clear strategy. Each one must be able to effectively navigate multiple technology choices and issues to define the best approach, understanding the implications and deployment options for IPv6 in both mobile and telecom environments.

A recent Alcatel-Lucent article, Making the Move to IPv6, stresses the importance of developing an IPv6 transition strategy as IPv4 addresses are nearly exhausted. Service providers have much work to do as IPv6 isn’t compatible with the technology in IPv4, introducing a number of new concepts that will change the way broadband networks are operated.

A viable alternative for the service provider is the IPv4/IPv6 operational model. To leverage the possibilities in this approach, service providers must understand the implications as they establish a clear strategy for transition.

Within the Broadband Forum, the support for IPv6 is defined as TR-187 and includes using Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoX) and/or Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM). With the introduction of IPv6 using PPPoX/Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP), no implications are suggested for access and aggregation within network elements.

To ensure IPv6 support within the telco environment, the PPPoX IPv6 Control Protocol (CP) must be in place; a prefix LAN address assignment through DHCPv6 Prefix Delegation; additional configuration parameters secured with stateless DHCPv6; RG management IPv6 addresses obtained with stateful DCHPv6 when numbered RG model is in place; and the assignment of default Gateway (GW) when route advertisements are present.

The adoption of IPv6 can also be enabled with the Bridged Residential Gateway, which requires PPPoX IPv6CP for LLA assignment; SLAAC to ensure Global-Unicast IPv6 addresses are obtained by the host; stateless DHCP to gain access to additional configuration parameters; and route advertisements to assign the default GW assignment.

The alternative to PPPoE in the adoption of IPv6 is to leverage IPoE,or Broadband Forum specification TR-177. The implications for selecting this deployment method depend entirely on the selected VLAN model, as well as the operational model of the home gateway, whether it is routed or bridged.

While service providers have a lot to consider in making the transition from IPv4 to IPv6 connectivity, other considerations have implications that can dictate the transition strategy put in place.

For one, network connectivity has to be initiated from the inside toward the outside, which could demand the deployment of a new port; private IP address space has a limited size; certain Internet services will no longer identify a hosted based on IP address; and solution selection should be based on ability to deploy both through centralized or distributed approaches as requirements can change over time. This includes making accommodation for the growing machine-to-machine (M2M) traffic whose explosive growth is coming based on the increased deployment of smart grids.

A number of challenges still exist for service providers seeking the adoption of IPv6 technologies to support both telco and mobile environments and enable customers to take broadband everywhere. A clear examination of current environments and challenges is a must, while partnering with a provider like Alcatel-Lucent could help identify the necessary tools and capabilities to have in place to move forward.

The Social Impact of the Future Smart Grid

2011-12-20T20:11:23Z

By Erin Harrison

The smart grid’s largest social impact will be seen in developing nations, notes Christine Hertzog, managing director of the Smart Grid Library, in a posting “Managing Change for the Smart Grid.” Hertzog states that approximately 2.4 billion people of the world live in energy poverty – what she terms a “permanent blackout.”

In addition, the smart grid will enhance control and convenience in the industrialized world while allowing for social progress in developing nations, according to smart grid experts. When and how well these benefits gain traction will depend on how skillfully today’s energy providers manage change. 

“The technologies in smart grid can make a huge difference in delivering electricity to these people,” Herzog says. “Whereas we will see incremental improvements in our lives, for them this will be the difference between night and day.”

Applications such as micro grids – highly local, renewably produced electricity that has selected destinations, based on a communal decision such as powering a well, will be part of that change management for the smart grid, especially in developing nations.

Smart grid design is another area of change management that needs consideration. Smart grid designs should incorporate social and cultural behaviors and viewpoints in order to fully enable the benefits of the smart grid going forward, according to Hertzog.

She notes that while the underlying technology may be the same, how information is presented could have some very localized distinctions, therefore power utilities need to make sure that their interfaces are appropriate for all of those consumers.

With a shared system for existing and new services, energy draw can be managed and systems protected with a complete view of what is happening across the network - at every level.

Other social considerations include messaging to consumers, so that those reaping the benefits of the smart grid understand how far-reaching those positive implications can go.

According to Hertzog, social acceptance and satisfaction is dependent upon three categories of messaging to consumers, not just the environmental benefits, but also how a smart grid is capable of supporting electrified transportation, therefore improving a country’s energy security.

“That message needs to be more strongly communicated. This can help eliminate wars and massive environmental cleanups based on our continuing reliance on oil,” she says.

Another area consumers need to be aware of is the rewards and the risks that go along with new types of energy consumption data made available to them as well as utilities and third parties, Hertzog adds.

Finally, consumers also need to be made aware and secure in the new kinds of relationships between various companies that are being forged in the smart grid ecosystem – for example, where a company other than the main energy provider may own the consumer relationship.

For additional information about ALU's smart grid insights and initiatives, its GridTalk resource is a good place to bookmark.

Integrated Communications Addresses Smart Grid Challenges for Improving Energy Efficiency

2011-12-02T20:19:43Z

By Beecher Tuttle

Ever-increasing energy consumption, skyrocketing operating costs and pressure from regulatory bodies to help create a greener world have forced power utilities to reassess their delivery management methods.

The need for change – along with the recent influx of innovative network technologies – has led many utilities and distribution and system operators (TDSOs) to embrace the smart grid, a concept aimed at leveraging the power of next-generation networks to improve the efficiency and reliability of energy delivery and usage. The visibility and control provided by the smart grid enables utilities to match supply and demand, optimize delivery, cut operating costs and reduce carbon emissions.

In addition, a smart grid opens up a two-way communication system between utilities and customers, thus creating additional upsell opportunities and the ability for consumers to take a hands-on approach to energy conservation. Smart grid customers have access to their own webpage that details their energy consumption and the associated costs.

Deploying a smart energy grid is vital for utilities to thrive in the current environment, but it doesn't come without complications. TDSOs need to chose the appropriate technologies, understand their network requirements and make major decisions like if they should build their own communications infrastructure or lease it from a service provider.

Many of these questions can be answered by Alcatel-Lucent, whose Integrated Communications for Power Utilities solution is a proven way to take utilities into the 21st century of energy delivery and efficiency.

With its experience designing and deploying IP and LTE broadband wireless access networks, Alcatel-Lucent has a unique perspective on what is needed to get a smart grid initiative up and running.

In a recent white paper, Smart Choices for the Smart Grid, Alcatel researchers give TDSOs a window into some of the challenges that need to be addressed before implementing smart grid initiatives as well as what is necessary to accelerate their deployment.

Some of the insight provided in the article is strategically based, while other portions center on tactical decisions. For example, Alcatel stresses that application-specific, single-purpose networks like SCADA are simply too expensive and impractical to manage.

"A better, less costly strategy would be an integrated communications network supporting all applications, with proper implementation of quality of service (QoS), reliability, security and unified network management tools to ensure delivery of critical smart grid application traffic," according to the authors.

Alcatel also believes that smart grid-related network technologies should always be IP-based. This way, reliability, redundancy and availability are all but assured. In addition, IP-based network layer technologies allow utilities to tap into innovative telecom-related products and services.

"Legacy protocols can be carried through IP using a variety of methods such as tunneling via multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) — a proven technology deployed broadly in large enterprise and carrier networks and already being adopted by the utility industry," the authors add.

The white paper delves into the common TDSO concern over wireless spectrum, a necessary component that many utilities don't have access to, at least not enough to support video surveillance and other real-time smart grid applications.

Alcatel believes that the answer to this problem is public/private partnerships and FCC spectrum allocations. If TDSOs are able to have access to lower spectrum bands with between 3 and 5 Mb/s of wireless throughput per sector, smart grid adoption would surge.

With spectrum issues front and center with the FCC and smart grid deployment in the U.S. ramping up, it will be interesting the choices electric utilities makes to assure rapid and cost-effective implementations based on the criticality of integrated communications to the future of smart grids.

The Evolution of Smart Grid Bandwidth Requirements

2011-11-29T22:09:32Z

By Erin Harrison

Wireless technologies are playing and will continue to play a significant role in facilitating the evolution of the smart grid. With high-speed wireless broadband technologies such as LTE, power utilities and industry forums are engaged in the process of acquiring spectrum for their use and/or sharing the spectrum owned by other organizations and carriers.

Given these trends, it is necessary that utilities have the required data bandwidth to determine the channel bandwidth in the possible wireless licensed spectrum such as 700 MHz and 1800 MHz (1.8 GHz).

In a recent whitepaper, “Smart Grid Bandwidth Requirements,” Alcatel-Lucent examined the bandwidth needed for an Long Term Evolution (LTE)-based Field Area Network covering a utility’s service territory.

“In particular, bandwidth requirements in LTE macrocells is estimated, taking into account expected smart grid traffic during normal operations and during critical grid incidents such as an outage, and the typical range of LTE macrocells in coverage-limited deployments,” the whitepaper explained.

Alcatel-Lucent’s Bell Labs researchers in the paper provide estimates for the “worst case” bandwidth for several scenarios based on the coverage of an LTE macrocell in different demographics and in the 700 MHz and 1800 MHz spectrum bands. The number of utility communication network endpoints in a cell is computed from LTE base station (enhanced Node B (eNB)) deployment for typical LTE designs, the whitepaper explained.

Alcatel-Lucent also maintains that most LTE deployments over 5 MHz band should be able to support the smart grid applications without any problems, because the average uplink bandwidth capacity for 5 MHz LTE deployment is about 9 Mb/s with downlink capacity being much higher.

It is critical for power utilities to successfully monitor and manage demand, and identify shifts or surges in demand, where an overtaxed system risks a cascading failure. They need an integrated communications approach to help mitigate such risks.

By connecting many points and sensors into a single, unified wide-area network, an infrastructure based on IP and Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) gives power operators a more complete and more detailed picture of their network, which makes the smart grid “smart” on supply. As Alcatel-Lucent states, it delivers the magic of 4G LTE in a very meaningful way.

Enabling Power Suppliers to Make Transformation to Smart Grid

2011-11-22T16:21:19Z

By Erin Harrison

The super-efficient generation and transmission initiative known as the smart grid is giving electric utilities around the world new challenges and opportunities as they strive to meet increasing demand while deferring additional fossil energy generation projects.

Researchers at Alcatel-Lucent believe the best way for these power suppliers to find balance with new imperatives and consumer expectations is to push innovation deeper into the distribution networks. In an interesting piece, “Smart Grid: The world's leading utilities turn promise into reality,” market leaders explain how they benefit from innovations with the smart grid.

For instance, Kamal Ballout, global vice president for Alcatel-Lucent Energy Solutions Integration Division, explains the challenges power utilities face, which include efficiency, infrastructure and new regulations. He states that these include, “Making power delivery more efficient, upgrading aging infrastructure, meeting higher security expectations, dealing with stricter regulations, and efficiently integrating and managing renewable energy resources.” He added, that simultaneously consumers have higher expectations in terms of their desire for control and understanding of their energy usage, more reliability, power for electric vehicles, a way to deliver greener energy, and other concerns, he explained.

“This is the focus point for Alcatel-Lucent,” Ballout said. “As a company we see the best way for suppliers to find balance with consumer expectations and other imperatives is to push innovation deeper into the distribution networks.”

Alcatel-Lucent offers power suppliers an integrated communications solution as a smart grid enabler. It extends utility communication networks to provide visibility and control throughout both transmission and distribution grids. This aptly named transformation solution, which currently runs across 80 smart grid networks around the world, provides advanced applications to increase:

Grid reliability
Energy security
Asset efficiency
Support of renewable energy and electric vehicle (EV)

Ultimately, the smart grid is poised to provide consumers with better reliability, fewer outages, faster response times to issues, reduced cost and increased efficiency. It also will create a safer environment for growth thanks to the integration of renewable energy, reducing carbon emissions on a macro and micro level.