Smart Grid Communication Infrastructures

1Background of the Smart Grid

The world has been rapidly developing higher efficiency in many aspects. As one of these important aspects, power grids in many countries have been evolving from traditional power grids into smart grids in recent years. What is a smart grid? In this chapter, we will introduce the background of the smart grid, including its motivations, communication architecture, applications, and requirements.

1.1 Motivations and Objectives of the Smart Grid

The traditional power grid, or just “the grid,” is a network of transmission lines, substations, transformers, and more that delivers electricity from the power plant to consumers (e.g. your home, business, etc.). Our current power grid was built over a century ago. To move forward, we need a new kind of power grid that can automate and manage the increasing need for and complexity of delivering electricity. You may have heard of this new kind of power grid, which is called the smart grid. The smart grid is a revolutionary upgrade to the traditional power grid that adds communication capabilities, intelligence, and modern control [1–10]. The US Department of Energy (DoE), Office of Electricity Delivery & Energy Reliability has listed the benefits associated with the smart grid as follows [11]:

• More efficient transmission of electricity.
• Quicker restoration of electricity after power disturbances.
• Reduced operations and management costs for utilities and ultimately lower power costs for consumers.
• Reduced peak demand, ...