Introduction to Smart Grid

This ROA Group white paper briefly introduces smart grid and the latest developments in the U.S., Europe and South Korea. Smart grid refers to a next generation electric power network that makes use of IT and high technologies.

Compared to the telecommunications networks, the electric power networks have not developed remarkably in terms of creating innovative technologies. However, smart grid by revolutionizing the electric power network and being almost as powerful as the Internet, is attracting many attentions among various industries.
Smart grid is a system that enables two-way communications between consumers and electric power companies. In a smart grid system, consumer’s information is received by the electric power company in order to provide the most efficient electric network operations. In addition to the efficient operations of a power plant, smart grid also makes it possible to control power demand and distributed energy, including renewable energies. By installing an intelligent meter (smart meter) on the consumer side, especially households, monitoring the use of energy becomes much easier and even helps to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
As power failures occur relatively often in the U.S., compared to other countries, there’s been an urgent need to renovate the country’s power network, and since 2005
research projects and government policies focusing on smart grid and next generation electric networks have been steadily carried out. A definition and detailed description on smart grid is provided in a report titled Modern Grid Initiative, published by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)/ National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) in January 2007.

The report includes a comparison between today’s grid and modern grid (smart grid) by analyzing key issues through 7 characteristics as follows: .. Self-heals, ....Motivates & includes the consumer, ....Resists attack, ....Provides power quality for 21st century needs, ....Accommodates all generation and storage options, ....Enables markets, .. Optimizes assets and operates efficiently.