Major change in the supply of power and energy

A "major" or "essential" or "basic" change in the supply of power and energy is underway. The electrical power industry of the future will be far more information-intensive than it is today. The business model will change from a sale of energy at relatively static prices to the management of a competitive energy market providing spot pricing to customers. This will lead to a far more dynamic environment, significantly increasing demand for accurate and timely voice and data communications. New areas, such as demand side management, will require both customer and distributor control and visibility.

The changes in the new approach to electric power generation and distribution add a considerable automation and communications load to the existing network. Most of these changes are taking place in the delivery infrastructure, where the new smart grid concept employs digital technology in three important ways:

• Intelligent devices monitor and measure what is going on.
• Two-way communications allows those devices to talk to one another.
• Advanced control systems enable computers to automatically make low-level decisions, leaving human operators free to oversee and control large operations from a central station.

Substation Automation

The IEC 61850 standard offers a broad framework for substation automation based on the huge advances in networking technology. Technologies such as carrier Ethernet switching, high-speed wide area networks, and high-performance low-cost computers are providing capabilities that could scarcely be imagined when most legacy substation automation protocols were designed.

IEC 61850 Communication Protocol Stack

The IEC 61850 framework provides the foundation for a communications network for the next generation substation that offers higher integration, greater flexibility, and plug-and-play functionality replacing hard-wired connections.

Dealing with Aging Infrastructure

The planning lifecycle of an electrical plant is often 40 years or more, and the possibility to delay the upgrade of an expensive plant can be massively beneficial to the distribution company's business model. An application capable of measuring plant degradation through monitoring assets for unusual activity may be able to predict failures and hence influence replacement cycles. Similarly, temperature monitoring of circuits enables distributors to use circuits up to the maximum practical load rather than at lower theoretical thresholds, so allowing greater efficiency and capacity enhancements to be delayed or even avoided.

Transitioning toward the smart grid will be achieved gradually. It will therefore be necessary to support both legacy interfaces, such as V11, V24, and V35, concurrently with Ethernet and other optical interfaces to maintain the current mode of operation while enabling the smooth introduction of new ones. A key feature in this context is the support of Ethernet over existing PDH and SDH radio links. This application requires a high-speed, real-time communications network that extends deep into the distribution network.

The ECI Approach

ECI provides utilities companies with the choices they need in order to optimally fulfill their networking objectives and many utilities customers worldwide have done so successfully by installing our solutions. Our wide choice of equipment, solutions, and service offerings, coupled with our networking expertise, constitutes ECI's 1Net framework, an integrated networking approach that supports and implements all networking needs.

An Integrated Communications Infrastructure is a fundamental requirement for key technologies in the functioning of the smart grid. Most utilities have implemented very large, privately owned and operated telecommunication transport networks, supporting both fixed and mobile voice and data communications for its operational functions (support for grid monitoring, SCADA, remote management of substations, etc.) as well as corporate needs (internal telecommunications, IT, and business applications). Although these two major areas typically make use of the same facilities, their requirements are quite different in terms of bandwidth, traffic, availability, performance, and security and communications protocol.

In addition, these networks are supported by a variety of technologies, including microwave radio with high capacity links, trunked radio systems, mobile data radio systems, PDH, SONET/SDH, and PCM (n x 64 Kbps), which include an immense variety of interfaces such as V11, V24, and V35 for SCADA applications, IEEE C37.94 for teleprotection, FE for video surveillance, as well as PDH and SDH facing fiber and radio links. Distribution companies require fiber at aggregation points to collect information from residential clusters and at data centers to manage the interchange of information for real-time decision-making and control. Aggregation points can be local substations, where fiber, for example, may also be a good choice as a passive temperature and monitoring sensor for electricity cables.

The Benefits of ECI's Solution

ECI's best-in-class networking infrastructure for utility telecom networks propels your network to the next level. Not only can you put your existing infrastructure to good use, but you also optimize your network to meet the most demanding smart grid communications requirements. You enjoy:

• Single-vendor solution - integrating low rate, SDH/SONET, Carrier Ethernet, and WDM services in a single platform
• High availability - supporting a wide variety of network protection mechanisms with no single point of failure
• Scalability - offering simple service deployment and uninterrupted scaling to higher capacity
• Lower Total Cost of Ownership - assuring build-as-you-grow seamless rollout of new services and applications
• End-to-end service management - supporting all network devices and technologies
• Full life cycle strategic partner - providing support from planning stages to service management