Transportation and Power Grid in Smart Cities

8 Communication Architectures and Technologies for Advanced Smart Grid Services

Francois Lemercier¹, Guillaume Habault², Georgios Z. Papadopoulos² Patrick Maille², Nicolas Montavont² and Periklis Chatzimisios³

¹ Itron and IMT Atlantique ‐ IRISA, 2 rue de la Chataigneraie, 35510 Cesson‐Sévigné, France

² IMT Atlantique ‐ IRISA, 2 rue de la Chataigneraie, 35510 Cesson‐Sévigné, France

³ Department of Informatics, Alexander T.E.I. of Thessaloniki PC 57400, Sindos, Thessaloniki, Greece

8.1 Introduction

Over the past years, the demand for electricity has faced a drastic growth, as the number and heterogeneity of electrical devices is continuously increasing. In parallel, the power sector is undergoing major changes, mostly by the switch from fossil to renewable energies, the evolving energy policies, and the emergence of less reliable renewable micro‐generation. As stated in a 2015 Eurelectric survey [1], the grid requires taking into consideration these modifications while ensuring secure, sustainable, competitive, and affordable energy for any individual and business.

Proper operation of the electrical network is based on the balance between production and consumption, a great challenge for the network management. Actually, the grid structure is evolving from a rigid and centralized architecture with large production units at the top satisfying demand at the bottom to a more distributed one with individual premises equipped with local renewable production units. Electrical ...