AMI: Communications and Integration Options

Vinod Namboodiri Wichita State University

Additional Team Members:

Ward Jewell, Visvakumar Aravinthan Wichita State University

1 PSERC Future Grid Initiative Webinar Series March 06, 2012

Advanced Metering Infrastructure

• A popular tool to modernize the electric grid • Facilitates two-way communication between smart meter and control

center • Captures and transmits energy-use on a hourly or sub-hourly basis

– As opposed to the current meters that provide daily energy usage and monthly bill

• Expected to facilitate consumer participation in the Smart Grid

Smart Grid Power network which has the ability to self heal from a disturbance, enables active participation by consumers in demand response, operating resiliently against physical and cyber attacks, accommodates all generation and storage options, provides power quality for the 21st century needs and optimizes assets and operating efficiency

– U.S Department of Energy

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Outline 1. Context – AMI and its benefits

– Utilities, consumers, society 2. AMI status

– Penetration, technologies 3. Communication Requirements and Design Considerations

– Backhaul – HANs

4. Future Needs – Research – Standards – Policy

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Benefits

• Utilities – Peak shaving, load control, power quality

measurements, improved outage management systems (OMS)

• Consumers – Energy use awareness and possible efficiency

savings, automated billing (even daily or weekly), potential bundling of water, gas, and electric billing

• Society – Financial and environmental benefits from:

Improved system efficiency and reliability Improved integration of EVs and DERs

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Deployment Status in the U.S

5 Source: FERC, www.ferc.gov/legal/staff-reports/2010-dr-report.pdf

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Global Status

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Source: Energy Retail Association, UK, 2010 http://www.smartmeterdangers.org/index.php/smartmeter-

facts/178-world-smart-meter-map

Some EU countries and

U.S lead in AMI

Deployments

AMI and the Distribution System

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Backhaul Requirements – Low-Latency

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Control Commands

Alerts

Backhaul Requirements –Low Infrastructure Costs

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• Ability to re-use existing infrastructure • Zero or small licensing fees • Easy to setup and reconfigure • Low maintenance/recurring costs

Backhaul Requirements - Scalability

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Backhaul Requirements – Information Security and Network Availability

• Information Security – Backhaul typically carries aggregate of data – Traditional mechanisms, wide-area network security

principles could be applied – Wireless medium challenges should be considered

• Some aspects covered in White Paper on “Cyber-Physical Systems Security for the Smart Grid” – Prof. Manimaran Govindarasu (Iowa State) at http://www.pserc.org/recent_publications.aspx • Network Availability

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Communication Backhaul - Options

• PLC • Pros: Reuse power lines, upgrades needed mainly at only

one location --- the substations • Cons: Low data rates, interference from noise, repeaters

add to the cost

• Wireless • Pros: Greater data rates, flexible, re-use of feeder poles,

could use mesh topology or community networks for additional reliability

• Cons: Needs careful planning to avoid interference and security, larger investments needed

• Other • Pros: Greater data rates • Cons: Large investments needed, less flexible

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Comparison of Wireless Technologies

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Wireless seems to provide best mix of flexibility and performance

Attribute WiMAX Wi-Fi ZigBee GSM/UMTS

Cost

High

Medium

Medium

High

Range

500-900 m, 4 km (rural)

100-200 m

70-100 m

1-2 mi

Max. Data Rate

70 Mbps

54 Mbps

250 kbps

20-800 kbps

Frequency Band

2-11, 10-66 GHz

2.4, 5 GHz

2.4, 5 GHz

700 MHz, 2.1 GHz

Band License

Free and Licensed

Free

Free

Licensed

Robustness

Medium

High

High

Low

Single-Hop Multi-Hop

Backhaul: Little Consensus on Architecture and Technologies

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AMI and the Distribution System

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Assessment of Communication Standards for Smart Appliances: The Home Appliance Industry’s Technical Evaluation of Communication Protocols October 2010 www.aham.org/ht/a/GetDocumentAction/i/50696

Home Area Network Model and Load Classifications

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Will assume EMS is Co-located with Meter

HAN Technology Options

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Technology Data-Rate (Mbps) Range (meters) Security Cost Flexibility

Ethernet 10-100 100 High High Low

PLC 20-100 10-100 High Medium Medium

Bluetooth 0.7-2.1 10-50 Medium Low High

Wi-Fi 5-100 30-100 Low Medium High

Zigbee 0.02-0.2 10-75 Low Low High

Greater Consensus on Architecture, Less so on Technologies

FUTURE NEEDS

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Data Collection and Management

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Integration with other

utilities

Integration with the Internet

Impact of trends from

emerging countries

Scalable Data Collection and Management

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Network Availability and Reliability • How does availability impact

operations? • How reliable should this

communication network be?

Neighborhoods

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Commercial and Residential Towers

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Impact of Partial AMI Implementation

• Does X % AMI penetration mean X % of stated benefits? – “opt-out” by customers may mean X = 100 is more

distant than initially thought

• Impact on Performance and Fairness due to constraints in AMI communication technology capabilities

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Security Threats to AMI

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Availability Confidentiality Integrity Time Sensitivity

o Two Party

Dynamics o Authentication

Pressing Needs in Standards

• Network planning as it relates to the TCP/IP stack will be essential

• HAN aspects such as – communication and control – how and what loads can be part of HANs – how to classify loads

• Security • Interoperability testing will be essential

– SGIP is a good platform

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Policy Needs - Infrastructure

• Support for utilities to advance from “tentative” to “long-term” investments in AMI – Incentives, subsidies, usage of community

networks, spectrum allocation

• Motivate customer participation – Incentives similar to federal energy-efficiency

programs – Education on AMI benefits to customers and

society

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Conclusions

• AMI adds an information/ communication/ control layer to the electric power grid

• Potential to provide more data on operation status, and allow fine-grained control of loads; enables active consumer participation.

• AMI seems to provide some similar services as the internet

• The challenges to realize AMI have similarities to those of creating and maintaining the internet

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AMI: Summary of Recommendations

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