Smart Grid (SG) and Data Center (DC) Integration: A New Conceptual Framework

As SG is heading towards “Mega Grid”, there is a pressing need to interface SG to fast-processing engines called “Data Centers” (DCs), possessing massive computational power and extreme storage capabilities. Considering the above, this paper elaborates alarming issues of SG that forced attention towards its computational needs due to system complexity, nonlinearity, computational cost, and computational burden. Moreover, in the light of alarming SG problems, we surveyed promising features of DCs, such as massive computational power, fast processing engines, extreme storage capabilities, on-demand services, and cloud interaction. Furthermore, this paper presents bi-directional services integration between DCs and SG to justify their mutual interaction. Based on the above claim, we discussed a computational model that validated the mutual services of DCs and SG. Finally, a computer-based simulation study is conducted for SG power and control stability enhancement, while DC received a reliable power supply and increased revenue through the Service Level Agreement (SLA).