PANELS
Monday, October 4, 2010
16:30 – 18:00 • Room: Red Auditorium
International Standards Coordination
Since numerous countries have started or are planning to modernize their electrical grids and invest in smart grid programs, it is essential to leverage international standards to ensure cost effective and interoperable communications technology. In order to achieve this, international standards bodies need to work together in a coordinated way to drive the development of international standards to ensure coherence and avoid duplication. In the international arena, there are a number of standards development organizations (SDOs) that are involved with the development of smart grid communications standards including IEEE, ITU-T, IETF, ETSI, and others. Panelists will discuss perspectives on the communications standards needs of the Smart Grid and how their organizations are working together to provide solutions.
Moderator: George Arnold, NIST, US
Panelists: Fred Baker, IETF, US
Emanuel Darmois, ETSI, France
Alex Gelman, IEEE, US
Erich Gunther, Enernex, US
Greg Jones, ITU-T, US
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
17:00 – 18:30 • Room: Red Auditorium
Smart Grid of the Future
The Smart Grid envisions an interconnected power distribution network that streamlines transmission, distribution, monitoring, and control of electricity. In the current vision, a smart meter will be connected to each household allowing consumers to not only draw power, but also supply surplus power to the grid. This could potentially produce millions of alternate micro energy sources. Such a grid would also allow improved load-balancing through instantaneous electricity demand information that would assist power plants to match their output to demand. High capacity storage devices for surplus power may be available so that large amounts of energy saved when demand is low can be released during peak periods. Based on the technology available today, the future smart grid can be envisioned as a massive complex network composed of interconnected power plants, electricity distribution infrastructure, and consumers. It is uncertain how this vision will be achieved and how or what innovations will shape the future. We not only have to contend with current demands and issues of the power grid, but must also consider future scenarios and resulting impacts (i.e. electric cars). Just like the Internet evolved over time with changes in communication technology, protocol development, and novel applications, so will the Smart Grid. We must ensure that we learn from the past and not repeat the same mistakes.
Unfettered communication across the grid has to be an essential component of the Smart Grid. Notwithstanding, there are many other questions that merit attention. Can we ensure Smart Grid’s robustness and resilience? How would we control of the grid? Should it be self-organized or externally controlled? Should communication occur over existing power lines or should a parallel network be built? How will we ensure that inevitable anomalies in the grid will be corrected or isolated quickly?
The work required to build such a grid is demanding, involving several tasks, including: protocol development, API creation for device manufacturers, security integration, and application development. Different pieces of technology need to fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. We also need to understand the impact of Smart Grid on consumer behavior and financial markets. This panel of experts will show a glimpse into a crystal ball painting a vision for the future of Smart Grid. This panel is a precursor to a more in-depth two (2) day meeting organized by the IEEE ComSoc Smart Grid Communications Committee to further investigate these issues. Our goal is to get input from the community as a whole to aid the meeting participants in defining a Smart Grid vision that will adapt as technology evolves. Our goal is to lay out a research and development roadmap to support Smart Grid activities in context of current and anticipated needs.
Moderator: Sanjay Goel, University at Albany, SUNY, US
Panelists: John Geiger, GE, US (Power Grid Needs / Future Applications)
Stephen F. Bush, GE, US (Communications)
Anna Scaglione, University of California, Davis, US (Distributed Control / Self-Organization)
Alan Greenberg, Boeing, US (SmartGrid Security)
