Summary report on NIST smart grid testbeds and collaborations workshops

Abstract

This report captures feedback from two workshops that NIST conducted to determine the challenges and opportunities in the use and design of Smart Grid Testbeds and Collaborations, which were held April 11, 2019, at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and April 23, 2019, at the University of Vermont. Both workshops were sponsored by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Communication Network Standards for Smart Grid Infrastructures

“…The electricity distribution system in countries outside Europe includes distribution sub-stations which supply energy through long-distance lines (250 Km or more). As a result, in these systems voltage losses and power outages are very serious problems, which may lead to social problems and significant revenue losses for utilities [38]. To overcome these problems, over-the-air distribution lines are supported by Sectionalizers & Reclosers [39], which can be used to reshape power in the event of a disturbance.…”

“…Low-voltage transformer stations operate manually, as there is no incentive to automate distribution feeders because, in the event of disruptions, the number of affected customers is low, as is the amount of revenue loss. Nevertheless, the increasing integration of diffuse generation systems, such as low-voltage photovoltaic systems or medium-voltage wind turbines, creates voltage quality problems and makes it difficult or impossible to protect them with conventional non-automatic surge protectors [7,24,38].…”

“…The main standards regarding AMI are IEC/TR 62051, IEC 61968 to 9, and AEIC Guidelines v. 3.0, as well as a vast array of parallel and even conflicting standards with many differences in functionality developed in different countries/geographic areas (e.g., China: GB/Z 20965, USA: ANSI/ASHRAE 135-2008/ISO 16484-5 BACnet), without the clear definition of distinct subsets of common semantics. This makes it difficult to define a common set of cross-cutting requirements between standards to facilitate the exchange of classified information [38].…”

“…Given the energy crisis, the depletion of natural resources, the destruction of the environment and the growing electricity demand the production of energy from renewable sources seems to be the only feasible solution to the upcoming energy crisis [38,75,76]. However, as such a solution is not based on quantifiable natural resources, it does not provide a solid basis for planning and leads to performance uncertainty, which in turn creates many and diverse challenges [77,78].…”

Communication Networks Standards for Smart Grid Infrastructures

“…Given the energy crisis, the depletion of natural resources, the destruction of the environment and the growing electricity demand the production of energy from renewable sources seems to be the only feasible solution to the upcoming energy crisis [38], [74], [75]. However, as such a solution is not based on quantifiable natural resources does not provide a solid basis for planning and leads to performance uncertainty, which in turn creates many and diverse challenges [76], [77].…”