Smart grid technology, vision, management and control

Abstract

Energy supply has become one of the most challenging issues facing the world in the 21st Century. Growing populations, more homes and businesses and a myriad of new appliances have caused energy demand to skyrocket in every part of the country. The fundamental method of operating the nation's power grid has not changed much in the past 100 years. It has remained essentially the same, although the number of customers and their needs have grown exponentially. Utilities across the nation and indeed, around the world are trying to figure out how to bring their networks into the 21st century and the digital age. This effort to make the power grid more intelligent is generally referred to as creating a "smart grid" The industry sees this transformation to a smart grid improving the methods of delivery as well as consumption. In the paper the state of the art of "smart grid" and its applications are introduced. The title is handled starting from the energy problems, growth in Egypt particularly and in the world generally were touched. The smart grid definition, benefits, advantages, problems as well as the smart grid vendors was introduced. A real implementation of smart grid technologies around the world as well as in Egypt is illustrated. In this paper many recent references and technical reports issued from authorized agencies are studied and presented. The international and governmental committees recommend the smart grid as smart solution for energy generation, transmissions, consumption and cost estimation.

Full text

Smart Grid Technology, Vision, Management and Control
PROF. DR. MOHAMED ZAHRAN1,2
1 Electronics Research Institute, Photovoltaic Cells Dept., NRC Building,
El-Tahrir St., Dokki, 12311-Giza, EGYPT,
2 Head of Electrical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Jazan University,
KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA,
mbazahran_2007@yahoo.com, mzahran@jazanu.edu.sa
Abstract: - Energy supply has become one of the most challenging issues facing the world in the 21st Century.
Growing populations, more homes and businesses and a myriad of new appliances have caused energy demand
to skyrocket in every part of the country. The fundamental method of operating the nation’s power grid has not
changed much in the past 100 years. It has remained essentially the same, although the number of customers
and their needs have grown exponentially. Utilities across the nation and indeed, around the world are trying to
figure out how to bring their networks into the 21st century and the digital age. This effort to make the power
grid more intelligent is generally referred to as creating a “smart grid” The industry sees this transformation to a
smart grid improving the methods of delivery as well as consumption. In the paper the state of the art of “smart
grid” and its applications are introduced. The title is handled starting from the energy problems, growth in
Egypt particularly and in the world generally were touched. The smart grid definition, benefits, advantages,
problems as well as the smart grid vendors was introduced. A real implementation of smart grid technologies
around the world as well as in Egypt is illustrated. In this paper many recent references and technical reports
issued from authorized agencies are studied and presented. The international and governmental committees
recommend the smart grid as smart solution for energy generation, transmissions, consumption and cost
estimation.
Keywords: - Smart grid, renewable energy sources, future energy systems, smart grid technology, vision of
smart grid, distributed energy systems,
1 Introduction
In EGYPT, Electricity consumption is expected to
nearly double in the Conservative Scenario by 2030,
with an average annual increase of 4.8% in the
residential sector and 6% per year on average in the
High Economic Growth Scenario. In the Proactive
Scenario, the same economic performance is
assumed, but electricity consumption is expected to
be about 15% less than the Conservative Scenario in
2030, benefiting from a strong push for energy
efficiency improvements through tariffs that better
reflect the cost of service and price signals for peak
periods. The challenges faced by the Egyptian
energy sector in general, and by electricity supply in
particular with recent peaking problems, underscore
the need for action. Three key areas have been
identified [1]:
 Application of demand-side management
techniques and effective implementation of an
economy-wide efficiency improvement strategy;
 Activate the energy storage options to mitigate
electricity system constraints;
 Polices and measures to enhance market
opportunities for private investment in
renewable and energy efficiency.
As well from measures in all sectors from energy-
intensive industries to street lighting; energy
standards for the thousands of air conditioners,
refrigerators and laundry appliances that will be
purchased by Egyptian households in the next 20
years; better building codes and incentives for
sensible approaches such as solar water heating [2].
Demand-side management practices such as the
use of smart grids, interactive meters and load
shedding incentives can help to curb the peak
demand, the most expensive part of the load profile
for the provision of electricity service.
New innovative approaches to energy supply need
to be employed in order to address reliability
concerns and meet our growing energy needs. One
approach is the implementation of the smart grid.
The "smart grid" is a term used to describe the
rapid infrastructure replacement of the electrical
wiring system in the United States. When the
advanced system is completely implemented, it will
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allow for communication features across the grids
that are not currently available--hence the term
"smart." [3]. A “smart grid” is simply an advanced
electrical distribution system that has the capability
to balance electrical loads from diverse, and often
intermittent, alternative energy generation sources.
One key component of the “smart grid” is the
capacity to store electrical energy; this allows the
demand from consumers to be met.
Fig. 1, Smart Grid Definition.
Smart grid uses digital technology to deliver
energy to consumers rather than the alternating
current technology currently used by our existing
grid. Much of the existing energy infrastructure can
be used to deliver energy using smart grid
technology, but communication between the
consumer and provider will be much more efficient
and effective and therefore less expensive and more
reliable.
Fig. 2, typical configuration of Smart Grid
In attempt to harmonize the descriptions and
goals of smart grid technology, the U.S. Department
of Energy’s smart grid Task Force brought together
leading research groups in 2008, who agreed upon
the seven characteristics of a smart grid [1]:
 Enable active participation by consumers
 Accommodate all generation and storage
options
 Enable new products, services, and markets
 Provide power quality for the range of needs in
a digital economy
 Optimize asset utilization and operating
efficiency
 Anticipate and respond to system disturbances
in a self-healing manner
 Operate resiliently against physical and cyber
attacks, and natural disasters
The basic idea of Smart grids is about
information and control as much as power
management. Much of the information is sent over
the power lines using broadband over power Lines
(BPL), which superimpose information on top of the
electrical power. This information can reroute
electricity around problem spots until the problem is
fixed, and adjust power levels to match demands.
Both power suppliers and power consumers can
be accommodated by smart grids. Wind and solar
power can add to the grid, and consumers can be
charged higher rates during peak consumption hours
and lower rates when consumption is low. Smart
grids can even adjust for reduced output from solar
cells on cloudy days and from wind turbines on still
days, in addition to the increased demands from air
conditioners on hot days.
Smart grids can also quickly respond to natural
failures “Disaster Avoidance” or terrorist attacks by
rerouting around problems or closing down the
network entirely. They also manage rolling brown
outs to save electricity when demand exceeds
production.
2 Status of Smart Grid
Up until now smart integration of grid-connected
photovoltaic (PV) systems is a concept that has been
neglected in part due to the availability of subsidies.
These subsidies given under different forms of
national incentive schemes have made PV the fastest
growing energy source in the last few years.
In the future, as direct financial incentives and other
types of subsidies to PV systems are gradually
phased out, smarter grid interface will become an
essential feature of future PV systems design [4].
3 A Vision for the Smart Grid
The Smart Grid is a necessary enabler for a
prosperous society in the future. Modernizing
today’s grid will require a unified effort by all
stakeholders aligned around a common vision.
Throughout the 20th century, the U.S. electric
power delivery infrastructure served our nation well,
providing adequate, affordable energy to homes,
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businesses and factories. This once state-of-the-art
system brought a level of prosperity to the United
States unmatched by any other nation in the world.
But a 21st-century U.S. economy cannot be built on
a 20th-century electric grid. There is an urgent need
for major improvements in the nation’s power
delivery system and the advances in key technology
areas that will make these improvements possible. A
vision for the Smart Grid is needed to set the
foundation for a transition that focuses on achieving
value in the following six areas [5]:
 The grid must be more reliable. A reliable grid
provides power, when and where its users need
it and of the quality they value. It provides
ample warning of growing problems and
withstands most disturbances without failing. It
takes corrective action before most users are
affected.
 The grid must be more secure. A secure grid
withstands physical and cyber attacks without
suffering massive blackouts or exorbitant
recovery costs. It is also less vulnerable to
natural disasters and recovers quickly from
disturbances.
 The grid must be more economical. An
economic grid operates under the basic laws of
supply and demand, resulting in fair prices and
adequate supplies.
 The grid must be more efficient. An efficient
grid employs strategies that lead to cost control,
minimal transmission and distribution losses,
efficient power production, and optimal asset
utilization while providing consumers with
options for managing their energy usage.
 The grid must be more environmentally
friendly. An environmentally responsible grid
reduces environmental impacts thorough
improvements in efficiency and by enabling the
integration of a larger percentage of intermittent
renewable resources than could otherwise be
reliably supported.
 The grid must be safer. A safe grid does no
harm to the public or to grid workers and is
sensitive to users who depend on it for medical
necessities.
Modernization of the nation’s grid must start
with building a vision, followed by the deployment
of enabling technology platforms and the integration
of smart grid applications that will support that
vision.
Table 1 summarizes the seven points and
contrasts today’s grid with the vision for the Smart
Grid.
Table 1, the seven points and contrasts today’s grid
with the vision for the Smart Grid
Today’s Grid
Principal
Characteristic
Smart Grid
Consumers are
uninformed and do
not participate
with the power
system
Enables Consumer
Participation
Full price
information
available, choose
from many plans,
prices, and options
to buy and sell
Dominated by
central generation,
very limited
distributed
generation and
storage
Accommodates
All Generation &
Storage Options
Many “plug and
play”. distributed
energy resources
complement central
generation
Limited wholesale
markets, not well
integrated
Enables New
Markets
Mature, well-
integrated
wholesale markets,
growth of new
electricity markets
Focus on outages
rather than power
quality
Meets PQ Needs
PQ a priority with a
variety of quality
and price options
according to needs
Limited grid
intelligence is
integrated with
asset management
processes
Optimizes Assets
& Operates
Efficiently
Deep integration of
grid intelligence
with asset
management
applications
Focus on
protection of
assets following
fault
Self Heals
Prevents
disruptions,
minimizes impact,
and restores rapidly
Vulnerable to
terrorists and
natural disasters
Resists Attack
Deters, detects,
mitigates, and
restores rapidly and
efficiently
4 Smart Grid Benefits
Several quantifiable benefits the smart grid will
bring today as many other significant benefits exist
that will not become apparent until the smart grid
begins to be implemented. There is compelling
evidence that supports the following long-term
benefit assumptions [1]:
 Significant reductions in residential peak
demand energy consumption achieved by
providing real-time price and environmental
signals in conjunction with advanced in-home
technologies
 Additional reductions in residential peak
demand by fully integrating the utility system
with distributed generation technologies
(scalable for mass penetration)
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 Up to 30% reduction in distribution losses from
optimal power factor performance and system
balancing
 Potential carbon footprint reduction as a result
of lowered residential peak demand and energy
consumption, improved distribution losses and
increased conservation options
 Possible reductions in the number of customer
minutes out as a result of improved abilities to
predict and/or prevent potential outages, and
more effective responses to outages and
restoration
 Expected deferral of capital spends for
distribution and transmission projects based on
improved load estimates and reduction in peak
load from enhanced demand management
 Potential utility cost savings from remote and
automated disconnects and reconnects,
elimination of unneeded field trips and reduced
customer outage and high-bill calls through
home automation
The utility industry today is faced with not only
supplying resources to accommodate the projected
growth in demand for energy, but also minimizing
and reducing the impact we have on the
environment from producing that energy. The smart
grid provides a solution to this challenge. The
benefits and payoffs are numerous.
5 Smart-Grid Technologies
Renewable energy systems (RESs) cannot directly
replace the existing electric energy grid
technologies. The latter are far too well established
to abandon, while the new technologies are not
sufficiently developed to meet the total energy
demand. Therefore, it is sensible to gradually infuse
renewable energy sources into existing grids and
transform the system over time [7].
A smart grid is modelled by two concentric
circles the outer circle represents energy flow and
the inner circle models information flow over
communication networks. Different approaches to
the management of energy flow in active grids
integrating distributed power generation have been
proposed. One of the most interesting ideas employs
energy hubs to manage multiple energy carriers
(e.g., electricity, natural gas, and district heating).
Within each hub are energy converters that
transform part of the energy flow into another form
of energy. Fig. 3 is a possible scenario of the future
power system based on smart-grid technologies,
with power electronic building blocks (PEBBs) and
mechanical building blocks (MEBBs) as intelligent
energy conversion nodes.
Fig. 3, intelligent energy conversion nodes.
With the development of smart grid technology,
the intelligent meters will be likely to control home
appliances, when users can adopt more sensible
strategies to reduce the cost of electricity during the
high electricity price. So peak load shifting can be
achieved, and the system will tend to be more
economic, intelligent and environmental friendly[8].
6 Smart Grid Platform
Shahram Javadi and Shahriar Javadi have reported
in [9] that, in principle, the smart grid is a simple
upgrade of 20th century power grids which
generally "broadcast" power from a few central
power generators to a large number of users to
instead be capable of routing power in more optimal
ways to respond to a very wide range of conditions.
Fig. 4, Smart Grid Standards
A realization is emerging that a new view of
energy, beyond oil, coal and other fossil based fuels,
will result in decentralized components of the
External
HAN
Field
LAN
Enterprise
WAN
Meter / Gateway
Collector
Metering System
Portal
Normal
Program
Critical
Peak Event
Emergency
Stage 1
Emergency
Stage 2 Current
Temp
$
Stat
us
NOR
MAL
PEND
ING
ACTI
VE
OV
ER
-
RID
E
!
03/03/2007
8:48am
Progr
am:
AW
AY
Retailers
Aggregators
Regulators
Customers
Providers
MDMS
CIS/Billing
OMS
WMS
EMS/DMS
Routers
Towers
Ground Stations
Repeaters
Rings
Relays
Modems
Bridges
Access Points
Insertion Points
Thermostats
In-Home Displays
Smart Appliances
Field Tools
PCs
Building Automation
Internet Protocols
World-Wide Web
ebXML
IEC 60870-6 ICCP
IEC 61970
IEC 61968
Web Services
Multispeak
Message Buses
SONET, WDM, ATM
MPLS
Frame Relay
Satellite
Microwave
IEC 61850
DNP3
WiMAX
BPL / PLC
Wireless Mesh
ADSL
Cellular
Cable (DOCSIS)
ZigBee
WiFi
LonWorks
BACnet
HomePlug
OpenHAN
Example
Members Example
Technologies
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electricity grid, a far cry from the central generation
and structured system of the past.
Fig. 5, Control Center in all parts of grid
Fig. 6, an Integrated Communication System
7 Smart Cities and Smart Grids
The Smart City concept reflects the growing
importance of Information and Communication
Technologies (ICT) – in addition to social and
environmental factors – in defining the
competitiveness of cities and improving the quality
of life of their citizens. Smart City projects
frequently utilize a networked infrastructure to
enable economic and political efficiencies and
social, cultural and urban development. They may
focus on social and environmental sustainability
through the participation of citizens in processes and
the balancing of growth initiatives with the
protection of valuable natural resources. Smart City
projects often look to tap into collective community
intelligence, based on effective planning for urban
and regional development, and innovation
management [8].
A smart information network the energy internet
for the electric grid is seen as necessary to manage
and automate this new world. The integration of
communications networks with the power grid in
order to create an electricity communications
superhighway capable of monitoring its own health
at all times, alerting officials immediately when
problems arise and automatically taking corrective
actions that enable the grid to fail gracefully and
prevent a local failure from cascading out of control,
as happened in 2003 Blackout in US. Increased
reliability and efficiency in the low voltage power
grid is an essential part of future energy efficiency
efforts. However, the Smart Grid makes many
customers wonder what it actually is, what it will
cost to implement and within what time frame.
It is supposed to implement the Smart Grid from the
ground up, starting with LV substations, smart
meters and streetlights. Once we have full control of
these components in the grid, we can detect
leakages, provide streetlight dimming, enable smart
households, and perform load balancing and a
number of other Smart Grid features [9].
Fig. 7, Smart City Planning
7.1 Smart meter of smart grids
Key benefits of the point to point smart meter
solution to utility companies include:
 Improved speed of deployment over traditional
meshed networks
 Simplicity of an open standard, IP-based
network
 Ability to communicate directly with each
meter.
Fig. 8, Smart Meter
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Table 2, Modern Hardware and control for Smart
Grids
Modern Hardware for Smart
Grids
Modern Control Methods
for Smart Grids
1 Power Electronic Devices
 Unified Power Flow
Controller (UPFC)
 DVAR or DSTATCOM
 Static Voltage Regulator
(SVR)
 Static VAR Compensator
(SVC)
 Solid State Transfer Switch
 Dynamic Brake
 AC/DC inverter
2 Superconductivity
 First Generation wire
 HTS cable
 Second Generation wire
3 Distributed Generation
 Microturbine
 Fuel Cell
 PV
 Wind Turbine
4 Distributed Storage
 Nas battery
 Vanadium Redox Battery
(VRB)
 Ultra capacitors
 Superconducting Magnetic
Energy Storage (SMES)
5 Composite Conductors
 Aluminium Conductor
Composite Core Cable
(ACCC Cable)
 Aluminium Conductor
Composite Reinforced Cable
(ACCR Cable)
 Annealed aluminium, steel
supported (ACSS)
1 Distributed Intelligent
Agents
 Digital Relays
 Intelligent tap changer
 Energy management
system
 Grid friendly appliance
controller
 Dynamic distributed
power control
2 Analytic Tools
 System performance
monitoring and control
 Phasor measurement
analysis
 Weather prediction
 Fast load flow analysis
 Market system
simulation
 Distribution fault
location
 High speed
commutating
3 Operational Application
 SCADA
 Substation Automation
 Transmission
Automation
 Distribution
Automation
 Demand Response
 Outage management
 Asset optimization
Fig. 9 presents an application of smart grid on a
small residential or commercial building. The smart
meter is used to collect the power and market
information and update the customer with real time
energy price.
8 Management and Control SG
In the application technologies for SG, an Intelligent
Universal Transformer (IUT) has been introduced
by [14]. It is a power electronic base transformer
introducing for Advanced Distribution Automation
(ADA) in future. ADA is the state of art employing
the new architecture based on both the flexible
electrical network and open communication
construction comprise the Future Distribution
System. IUT is a basic resource enrolling a key
point in ADA conceptual construction which is
fundamental part in smart grid network. In [15] and
[16], a distributed and integrated power systems, it
is vital to ensure that each power source (generator,
wind turbine, etc) is working within its allowed
parameters. These parameters are normally based on
the current power load that are sometimes have been
forecasted within regular intervals (weekly, monthly
or yearly). Anyway, these non real-time forecasts
have their drawbacks and may not supplying correct
information when any of these events occurred:
 Sudden failure of any of the power sources
 Unexpected increase or decrease of power
demand within a short timeframe.
The future electrical grids will consist of large
small-scale generation units of renewable energy
sources and other disparate energy sources. Highly
scalable and decentralized integrated
communication, computing and power networks
will be necessary to monitor these smart grids of the
future.
Fig. 9, the solar energy grid integration system
integrated with advanced distribution systems
9 SCADA and Smart Grid
Central & distributed generation Virtual aggregation
of generators and loads for system management
Grid components connected by both electrical and
data networks Bi-directional power flows. The
following figure shows how Smart Grid will look
like [17].
These technical solutions can be very useful for
the new electrical system. A smart grid, which
aggregates LV consumers, DG plants, controllable
loads and energy storage systems, has the possibility
to disconnect itself form a faulted distribution
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system to assure the energy supply inside the isle
(intentional islanding operation) [18-19].
9.1 SCADA Advantages in SG
 The Tolerant of attack – mitigates and stands
resilient to physical and cyber attacks
 Provides power quality needed by 21st century
users
 Fully enables competitive energy markets –
real-time information, lower transaction costs,
available to everyone
 Optimizes assets – uses IT and monitoring to
continually optimize its capital assets while
minimizing operations and maintenance costs –
more throughput per $ invested.
 Accommodates a wide variety of generation
options central and distributed, intermittent and
dispatchable.
 Empowers the consumer – interconnects with
energy management systems in smart buildings
to enable customers to manage their energy use
and reduce their energy costs.
 Self-healing – anticipates and instantly responds
to system problems in order to avoid or mitigate
power outages and power quality problems.
10 Implemented SCADA System for
Smart Grid Monitoring and Control
A new generation of Remote Terminal Unit (RTU)
for SCADA system based on microcontroller for
customer side distribution automation system is
designed and implemented.
Fig. 10, Two RTU’s with Air Station Wireless High
Power Module.
We have a common trend of attempting to lower
SCADA costs on RTU side. Our system goals are to
go to deep in lowering the cost of RTU unit, freeing
the software so lowering system cost, and to expand
the open source technology culture away from the
restricted one of the large companies. The presented
microcontroller-based SCADA system with an open
source software and graphical user interface is
introduced in this paper. The implemented system is
modular where the main terminal unit (MTU) with a
human machine interface (HMI) can access many
RTUs that can plug and play. The system is
designed, implemented and gave excellent results in
collecting data, transmitting, monitoring, and
applying system control as well.
One of the most appropriate applications for
SCADA is the remote area photovoltaic standalone
systems. The SCADA is used as monitoring, control
and management system. The system is tested in
three mode; wired, wireless “local network” and
broadcasting over network application. The
following two figures show the images of the
implemented new SCADA MTU and RTU’s while
test working [10] as shown in Fig. 11.
RTU is composed of microcontroller Ethernet
units (AT328 microcontroller board and Ethernet
controller) serves as system server. The
communication protocol software is open source
SCADA software with multiple communication
capability. The system is attached to an emulator
board with analog and digital input and output
capability as shown in Fig. 12
Fig. 11, Two RTU’s with MTU in operation mode.
Fig. 12, RTU Emulator Board.
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In the GUI HMI window; Fig. 13, left group
shows the status and control signals of RTU_1 while
right group shows the status and control signals of
RTU_2. The upper four bars show the values of the
output analog signals, matching could be found
between the white LED’s brightness and the high of
each bar slider. Slider bar is used to control of the
value of each output analog signal.
The six bars in the middle represent the analog
input signals, the high of each bar changes
according to the change of each analog input signal.
Each analog signal value is changing from 0 to 1023
decimal as 10-bit resolution A/D is used. This
reading is displaying in a text box under the
displayed bar taking a color varying from green to
red according the strength of the signal as shown
clearly in Fig. 13. The check boxes down shows the
status of two digital output signals that controls the
operation of green LED’s. Each LED is illuminating
according the related signal. The right two signals of
each RTU block shows the status of digital input
signal.
Fig. 13, MTU GUI Menu.
11 What If the Smart Grid Isn't So
Smart?
The idea is simple: supply people with smart meters
that give real-time information on electricity use and
price. Armed with the new information, consumers
might opt to plug in their laptop in the middle of the
night instead of, say, the middle of the day. As a
bonus, the system would lead to more use of
renewable energy sources like the wind and sun.
But there's a hitch. If everybody aims to use
cheap electricity, the slow time in the middle of the
night becomes the high demand time. In the worst
case, everybody's laptops start recharging,
refrigerator compressors kick on, dishwashers start
up and so on, at the exact same moment. At least so
say M.I.T. researchers in a paper presented at a
recent meeting of the Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers.
Instead of charging on the cheap, you get a huge
spike in demand and, potentially, a blackout. That's
because electricity must be produced at the same
second it is consumed and utilities must precisely
match supply and demand.
One solution would be to give consumers
imperfect or non-instantaneous price information,
though that kind of defeats the original purpose. But
it does keep the smart grid from outsmarting itself.
12 Problems with Smart Grid
Smart grid power systems use digital technology to
deliver electricity. They are being rolled out in the
U.S. Though they are promoted as a means to create
energy savings, some problems exist with this
technology. Some of the problems inherent in smart
grid power systems include customer privacy
problems, security problems, grid volatility and
inflexibility. Implementing a smart grid power
system has considerable implications for personal
privacy because the grid has the ability to control
power access. Security experts believe that this
technology may allow someone other than the
customer to control the power supply.
12.1 Privacy Problems
The infrastructure supporting the smart grid will
have the ability to inform consumers of their day-to-
day energy consumption. It will reduce greenhouse
emissions and consumer's bills by monitoring and
managing power usage. However, the process
required to implement the smart grid may sacrifice
consumer privacy. U.S. consumers should be
allowed to protection the information that flows
from their power usage to government agencies.
However, if data does not travel back to the power
supplier due to privacy regulations, the lack of data,
in turn, may inhibit the development of the smart
grid.
12.2 Security Problems
Security experts believe that smart grid technology
may enable some people to get control of the power
supply. The security risks are similar to those related
to the Internet. Hackers can get control of innocent
people's computers by exploiting the weaknesses in
Internet communication. Likewise, communication
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between utilities and the meters at residential homes
and businesses increases the chance of someone
gaining control over the power supply of a single
building or an entire neighbourhood.
12.3 Grid Volatility
Smart grid network has much intelligence at its
edges; that is, at the entry point and at the end user's
meter. But the grid has insufficient intelligence in
the middle, governing the switching functions. This
lack of integrated development makes the grid a
volatile network. Engineering resources have been
poured into power generation and consumer energy
consumption, which are the edges of the network.
However, if too many nodes are added to the
network before developing the software intelligence
to control it, the conditions will lead to a volatile
smart grid.
12.4 Flexibility Questions
Smart grid networks need to have the capacity to
connect innumerable devices and must maintain
reliability and stability. However, growing
environmental concerns are placing more demands
on the grid's performance. While automation within
the network can help generate the information
needed to operate the system, utilities are still
reluctant to take the risk and are hesitant to adopt
this new, untested technology.
13 Smart Grid in Egypt
Electricity energy demand growing rapidly in Egypt
with an annual average growth of around 7%, which
requires huge investment in expansion of electrical
power generation, transmission and distribution. The
electricity sector in Egypt act to support the
legislation policies, making laws and also provide
fund to encourage research and development of
existing and new technologies in the areas of the
most efficient equipment and processes, and
specifically by:
 Enhance the consumer awareness about energy
efficiency improvement economic benefits.
 Announce the minimum standards requirements
for equipment efficiency.
 Provide incentives for investments in energy
efficiency technologies in all residential,
commercial and industrial sectors.
 Improve and develop utility systems to reduce
energy consumption.
 Use communications systems and information
technology.
 Activate energy demand management programs
to reduce the maximum load.
Energy efficiency improvement programs
considered as planning to implement policies and
advanced developed technologies for the various
activities (industrial, commercial, facilities, etc.) in
order to conserve energy and fuel without any
prejudice to the quantity and the quality of energy
production [11].
13.1 Vision of Smart Grid in Egypt
Due to the dramatically increasing if energy demand
in Egypt, the application of “smart grid” is not an
optional solution for current grid configurations but
it is a must. This idea confirms the opinion of [5]
which reports that, “The Smart Grid is a necessary
enabler for a prosperous society in the future.
Modernizing today’s grid will require a unified
effort by all stakeholders aligned around a common
vision”.
We are agreed with [4] in that, “Up until now
smart integration of grid-connected photovoltaic
(PV) systems is a concept that has been neglected in
part due to the availability of subsidies. These
subsidies given under different forms of national
incentive schemes have made PV the fastest
growing energy source in the last few years. In the
future, as direct financial incentives and other types
of subsidies to PV systems are gradually phased out,
smarter grid interface will become an essential
feature of future PV systems design. Many countries
start stopping of supporting their population with
subsides and the price of electricity, fuel and foods
are doubled or tripled the previous values; you can
notice that in the economic news of the European
committee as well as in the Egyptian market. So, a
problem solution must be found.
To do that, we are agree with [3] in that, “both
power suppliers and power consumers can be
accommodated by smart grids. Wind and solar
power can add to the grid, and consumers can be
charged higher rates during peak consumption hours
and lower rates when consumption is low. Smart
grids can even adjust for reduced output from solar
cells on cloudy days and from wind turbines on still
days, in addition to the increased demands from air
conditioners on hot days”. In Egypt as stated in [1,
11], renewable energy sources are present in Egypt
with high rates of solar insolation and enough levels
of wind speeds in many sites. So the application of
smart grid by incorporating the renewable energy
sources with traditional one to handle the peak
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Mohamed Zahran
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Issue 1, Volume 12, January 2013

demand and reduce the pollution emission is
necessary in Egypt.
Many references [2, 5, 12, 13] confirm that, the
smart grid has a positive impact on the electric grid
during the peak times, environment friendly and
customer economics. In Egypt, the infrastructure of
the electric network is quite different from site to
site. It could be clearly depicted that the power
generation, distribution and protection in the capital
and large cities are much better than those stated in
Delta or Upper Egypt. Also, the life style and houses
of the people live in large cities is quite different.
This means that “smart grid” could be fully
applied on both the customer and the electric
network infrastructure by adding smart devices and
replacement of conventional meters with other
smarter one’s that has the ability for power and
information exchange between the electric energy
provider and the customer. In large cities; most of
the customers has enough culture and finance
capabilities for revolution from classical apparatus
to smarter one’s. This modernization leads to have
economic and reliable use of electricity, enhance the
performance of the installed power utilities, and
eliminate or prevent the blackouts.
On the other hand in Delta and Upper Egypt, the
“smart grid” technology could be applied only on
the level of energy generation and distribution
substations.
14 Conclusions
Smart Grids are most comprehensive technology
during recent years and it has been grown rapidly
because of its benefits. The Smart Grid has many
features and could be summarized in the following
paragraphs:
For consumers, a smart grid means they can use
electricity more wisely and save money by setting
“smart” appliances that slow down or shut down on
a hot, sunny day when demand for power and its
corresponding cost are high. It means having many
different options for using energy, and it means
having a much better understanding of their overall
energy use.
For environmentalists, a smart grid means using
technology to help solve climate change by
conserving energy and using it more wisely. It also
means better integration of renewable resources into
standard operations, avoiding the creation of more
carbon gases that have been linked to global
warming.
For investors, it provides additional revenue
opportunities, will lead to the deferral of significant
capital infrastructure investments, and will provide
the ability to dramatically upgrade systems. It also
means significantly improving reliability and
increasing customer satisfaction. “Smart grid”
enabled distribution could reduce electrical energy
consumption by 5-10%, carbon dioxide emissions
by 13-25%, and the cost of power-related
disturbances to business by 87%. (Source: The
Electric Power Research Institute). Smart grid
enabled energy management systems have proven in
pilots to be able to reduce electricity usage by 10–
15%, and up to 43% of critical peak loads. (Source:
The Brattle Group, SMUD and PNNL.) The Smart
Grid vision generally describes a power system that
is more intelligent, more decentralized and resilient,
more controllable, and better protected than today’s
grid.
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Mohamed Zahran
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ISSN: 1790-5117 and ISBN: 978-960-474-
151-9
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Mohamed Zahran
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