Smart Grid Trends
In present times electrical energy is universally accepted as an essential commodity. Energy is the key indicator of economic growth and is vital to the sustenance of a modern economy. Future economic growth depends on the long-term availability of energy from renewable sources. Government of India had formed a National Smart Grid Mission under Ministry of Power with an intent to enable access, availability and affordability of power to consumers. Conservation of limited resources are of paramount national interest. Urbanization, better living standards and advancement in technology has increased the demand of energy requirement. This has driven electricity consumption rise to higher levels that may no longer be manageable if left not addressed.
Energy Conservation touch points are at Power Generating Stations, Transmission & Distribution systems, Consumer premises. Steps are to be taken to enhance the performance efficiency in all areas. Energy Conservation technology adopted in Transmission & Distribution system may reduce energy losses, which is hovering around 22% compared to the global average of 8.3% of total losses in Power system. (PFC report on Performance of State Power Utilities).
The electricity grid in the present form is unreliable, has high transmission losses, poor power quality, prone to brownouts and blackouts, supplying inadequate electricity, discouraging to integration of distributed energy sources. There is a lack of monitoring and real time control in the traditional non-smart systems, which creates a challenging opportunity for smart grids to act as a real-time solution. Countering these issues requires a complete overhauling of power delivery structure, enabled by evolving technology. The trending technologies in Information Technology for adoption in Smart Grid are not limited to IOE, AI, Blockchain, Big Data/Quantum Computing, Bots, Cloud Computing, Mobile Applications, Analytics, Automation, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Edge Computing, Drones, and Spatial Computing, and the list is ever increasing with the advancement of technology and customer requirements outcome attributes like better, faster, and cheaper.
Advancement of the technologies and devices has changed the pattern of utilization of energy in an economical and environmentally friendly way. Evolution of the Smart Grid concept has potential to meet all the future needs of utilization of energy in the best possible manner by reducing carbon emission and integrating more renewable energy mix to match the SDG-7; to correct this enormous imbalance by ensuring everyone has access to affordable, reliable, and modern energy services by the year 2030. Recent research in areas like, smart meters, communication, security, demand side management systems, demand response, self-healing and big data are a source of encouragement that help further pollinate the IT trends in Smart grid technology.