Exhibition Open
This technical workshop, led by industry experts, is designed to provide a detailed understanding of many of the technological and architectural issues surrounding both the power infrastructure layer and the network communications layer of end-to-end smart grids. The first hour of this session will focus solely on the power infrastructure layer, providing a detailed understanding of the critical power layer components in the transmission and distribution networks of large utility grids and how these components need to interact with an optimized communications layer being deployed for smart grids. The second hour of this session will provide an in-depth understanding of the many HAN, FAN, WAN and LAN networking technologies, architecture options, protocols, standards and requirements for the emerging intelligent two-way communications layer being deployed to support numerous smart grid applications.
This two-hour workshop will be comprised of three, back-to-back 40-minute case studies, presented by leading North American utilities. Each case study will provide the audience with an in-depth understanding of the primary goals and challenges of real-world smart grid deployments. The audience will walk away with an understanding of the similarities and differences between four ongoing smart grid deployments that are ultimately driving the requirements and market dynamics throughout the smart grid supply chain of products and services. Each utility may approach smart grid deployments from a common set of high-level tenets, though when putting their plans into action often face unique challenges and requirements dictated by state policy, consumer demand, existing technology infrastructure, geographic variables, etc. This session will cut through the abundant market hype and provide factual information of what's happening on the ground as we speak.
The bottom line is that the very nature of smart grid technology advancement (two-way communications networks, vastly increased number of intelligent endpoints, distributed intelligence throughout the grid infrastructure, etc.) lends itself to potential security risk and network-wide proliferation. With that said, extremely high-speed, distributed, complex networks have been built, scaled and are highly secure, so there is little technical reason these techniques won't apply to smarter grids. NIST (National Institute for Standards and Technology) recently published a 300+ page DRAFT NISTIR 7628 titled Smart Grid Cyber Security Strategy and Requirements, so clearly it's an issue that's top of mind and being addressed. This session will cover the various physical and cyber security issues that threaten large-scale smart grid deployments and the solutions that are being developed to address them.
Results from a recent GTM Research report indicate that a reduction in peak demand is the #1 benefit that utilities see as a result of smart grid deployments. The leading application which has emerged to counteract peak demand is Demand Response (DR), where grid operators pay customers to curtail their use in periods of high demand. While many successful use-cases have already proven the significant benefits of DR and many analysts are now predicting massive global market opportunities, demand response is clearly still in its infancy. New market entrants are suggesting that the current market leaders' business models are inefficient, and that new ideas such as online auctions may open the playing fields for both the curtailment service providers (CSPs) as well as potential customers. This session will explore the future of demand response and how quickly we can expect smart appliances to factor into the equation.
A few years back, microgrids, communities that can generate and store their own electricity and disconnect and reconnect from the grid in instant fashion, remained in the realm of great concepts. Recent developments, however, notably advancements in distributed generation technologies (such as solar PV and fuel cells), increased R&D in energy storage and the continued development of software platforms to support them, collectively are making microgrids increasingly viable. Many successful pilots have actually now been demonstrated (typically at universities and military bases), and the promise of customers having electricity "redundancy" or back-up will be increasingly vital as we transition further into the digital energy age. In this session we will examine the opportunities for microgrids to change the landscape of our current grids, and all of the issues, from questions of ownership to the potential for energy trading, that will correspond to their proliferation.
A lot of market hype surrounds the intelligent communications networks being built out for smarter grids, while the nitty gritty, often laborious, yet critically important process of integrating back office systems gets glossed over. In a recent GTM Research survey of utility smart grid decision makers, 57% polled are either 'very concerned' or 'highly concerned' when asked to asses their utility systems integration plan (an umbrella category that encompasses the integration of legacy and new IT systems such as SCADA/EMS, AMI, DMS, OMS, GIS, and CIS). This session will cover the details surrounding the importance of block-and-tackle IT practices in the utility back office and the challenges and opportunities that exist with integrating legacy systems and creating the relevant data paths between the multitude of new systems and applications that are being built on top of next-generation smart grid infrastructure.
The growth in numbers of electric vehicles, their required networked charging infrastructure, the extreme load they can potentially place on electric grids, the yet to be determined policies surrounding this nascent market; all of these issues and more make this topic one of the most interesting to watch as smart grids emerge to support EVs. This session will cover emerging EV policy in California, advanced smart charging infrastructure, smart grid infrastructure requirements as a result of EVs connecting to the grid in larger numbers and EVs themselves, including advanced battery technology making them more and more of a reality every day. This will undoubtedly be one of the hottest sessions at the entire conference.
Enterprise networking equipment vendors of the 1990s built massive businesses connecting PCs and printers at corporate office buildings around the globe. A similar massive market opportunity is emerging in these same corporations, but this time it's not their data LAN, it's their "Energy LAN" - efficiency-minded, advanced building automation networks covering everything from lighting to HVAC to optimizing power usage of IT and data center equipment. Will a technology as ubiquitous as Ethernet emerge for networking LED lighting? Will 6LowPAN emerge as a wireless networking standard for building automation networks? There are an explosive number of technologies and applications that can serve a very real requirement: energy efficiency. This panel will explore them all.
