Communication architecture for monitoring and control of power distribution grids over heterogeneous ICT networks

In order to provide a comprehensive monitoring and controll infrastructure capable of fulfilling the requirements for security, control-ability and reliability of a modern Smart Grid, several factors for the adaptation of ICT technologies and architectures need to be considered. In this context Smart Grid systems operate on two time scales: first requiring delays in the order of μs for reporting events, e.g. short-circuits or component failures, and second data collection of the operational grid state from a huge number of sources, e.g. smart meters, sensors, etc., on the order of seconds to minutes. In this paper we focus on how network technologies can support this communication requirement of Smart Grid operation. Therefore, the focus is on reliability and control-ability of the network by providing the appropriate quality of service. For this purpose an overall heterogeneous communication architecture is presented, mapping the logical components and interfaces of multi-domain use cases to particular physical components and interfaces, which are implemented in testbeds and simulation models for assessment. Hereby, the major objective of the presented reference architecture is an unique definition of technical interfaces, components and information flows. It furthermore provides a framework for the specification of different technological options, information management and data aggregation. This work results in a novel approach for monitoring and controlling of energy distribution grids over heterogeneous communication networks is presented, which is based on two inter-related inner and outer control-loops for energy grid and communication network control. Furthermore, an application scenario is presented based on the integration of advanced meter reading and customer energy management systems into the overall architecture.