By Eli Daccach, Global Business Development Leader for
Secure Power - Industrial Segments, at Schneider Electric
The key pillars of decarbonization include leveraging clean
energy and optimizing energy usage. However, the variability of clean energy
sources paired with the limitations of current energy storage technologies often
make efficient use of clean energy difficult.
The U.S. Department of Energy, in its report
on the grid system, highlights the department's concern. The power grid "will
now need to manage variable power output, fluctuating and unpredictable load
patterns, and bidirectional power flow, as well as enable novel grid designs." The
report recommends smart grids as a way to preserve the resilience, security,
efficiency and affordability of energy even amid uncertainty.
Smart grids: a welcome innovation in a complicated energy
environment
Smart grids can help alleviate the complexities of today's
energy generation and usage. But for smart grids to lead the charge toward
decarbonization they must run on the appropriate infrastructure.
The cloud has been a popular choice for smart grids. Technology,
like smart meters, can save data to the cloud, and companies have at their
disposal an array of cloud software solutions to help them monitor and manage that
data.
However, the proliferation of connections from hardware,
including IoT sensors, electric vehicles and even smart buildings, are pushing
the cloud's capabilities to their edge - pun intended. Sending data from these
sources all the way to the cloud results in higher latency and slower
processing times. Moreover, each additional end point that uses a network also
makes it that much more difficult to securely manage every connection.
The cloud is still a valuable part of any cyber
infrastructure. But the cloud alone isn't sufficient for the evolving bandwidth
needs of smart grids. Smart grid operators must turn to the edge to satisfy the
computing, storage and networking needs of grids with increasingly complex and durable
demand.
Smart grids by nature, help promote sustainability, since
they incorporate renewables as one source of energy supply, but this is hard to
accomplish without the added value of edge computing, which can predict demand
and match it with the renewables' intermittent energy supply. One way to do
this is to have ruggedized Micro
Data Centers in key locations along the smart grid network in order to collect
and analyze energy demand before adjusting supply in real-time.
The cloud alone
cannot manage today's dynamic electricity demand
Supporting connected hardware is just one complexity of grid
operation. Electrical grids are intertwined with other pieces of critical
infrastructure, such as natural gas, oil and transportation networks. Grids
must also support individual consumers along with energy producers, storage
providers and infrastructure operators. The only way to monitor and manage all
these moving pieces efficiently is to store and analyze data as closely as
possible to where it is generated - at the network's edge.
By bringing compute power as close as possible to the source
of data, the edge offers numerous benefits for grid operations:
- Not having to send data to and from the cloud, smart
grid operators can receive real-time insights about grid operations.
Lower-latency performance helps operators make proactive decisions, which is
especially important during demand spikes and other performance anomalies.
- Processing data locally can also improve data
security. By selecting which data they transmit to the cloud or the rest of the
IT infrastructure, grid operators can ensure a smaller attack surface for
would-be hackers.
- Data collection at the site reduces bandwidth
demand on the larger network. Freeing up demand can lead to improvements elsewhere,
such as in the forecasting and modeling required for long-term operational
efficiencies.
Smart grid operations belong at the edge
The continued transition to the digital economy and convergence
of critical systems is putting a heavy burden on electrical grids. Applying a
digital infrastructure to grids to make them "smart" can help them transmit
energy more efficiently, even in the face of increasing complexity. Yet, as more
things connect to networks and grids, sending data to the cloud for analysis
becomes untenable. Only by pushing data collection and analysis to the source can
grid operators enjoy the benefits smart grids offer and even continue to evolve
how we generate, transmit and consume electricity.
##
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Eli is currently the Global Business Development
Leader within the Secure Power division of Schneider Electric, focusing on
Industrial Segments.
He has been with the company since 2011, working in
Canada for the Industrial Automation business unit, in various roles such as
automation specialist, applications engineer and team leader for motion offers,
before moving to the US and joining the Energy Management business unit as a
Strategic Marketing Manager for Industrial Edge Computing and Data Centers.
Eli holds a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering and an
MBA in Marketing.