Towards Future SCADA Systems for ICT-reliant Energy Systems

The emphasis on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and to produce clean energy has led to an increase in renewable energy sources making the power system more complex. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has caused a paradigm shift in this system by enabling advanced functionalities to ensure its safe and reliable operation; thus giving rise to smart grids. Consequentially, the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system is also undergoing a transition. This paper presents the future trends in smart grid SCADA caused due to ICT integration. A potential architecture for SCADA systems is proposed with a focus on incorporating ICT information in smart grid decision making. Additionally, the paper proposes six prospective research directions, namely Interdependency Analysis, ICT-monitoring based decision making, Function Vitalization, Software Architecture and Human-Machine Interface (HMI) tailored for human capabilities; all of which are focused on ICT penetration in future smart grid SCADA systems.