Laurent Schmitt

Cities are facing new energy management challenges to be able to cope with their carbon reduction targets whether. This requires not only to reconsider the management of their infrastructure energy efficiency but a larger introduction of Distributed Renewable and Electrical Vehicules.
This requires to reconsider the way energy systems are architected within city community with the introduction of new Public or Private microgrids to improve the integration new Distributed Energy Resources… Show more

Cities are facing new energy management challenges to be able to cope with their carbon reduction targets whether. This requires not only to reconsider the management of their infrastructure energy efficiency but a larger introduction of Distributed Renewable and Electrical Vehicules.
This requires to reconsider the way energy systems are architected within city community with the introduction of new Public or Private microgrids to improve the integration new Distributed Energy Resources. This paper analyses these new architectural options Show less

As a large system of distributed and interconnected systems, the smart grid offers an exceptionally large attack surface. Every single asset of the smart grid (i.e., home gateways, smart meters, substations, control room) is a potential target for a cyber attack. An attack over a critical node may jeopardize the grid security and lead a cascade effect to a whole system blackout.
The smart grid cyber security challenge is about protecting the ever-growing number of smart grid assets and… Show more

As a large system of distributed and interconnected systems, the smart grid offers an exceptionally large attack surface. Every single asset of the smart grid (i.e., home gateways, smart meters, substations, control room) is a potential target for a cyber attack. An attack over a critical node may jeopardize the grid security and lead a cascade effect to a whole system blackout.
The smart grid cyber security challenge is about protecting the ever-growing number of smart grid assets and their communication channels from fast-growing and continuously evolving cyber threats.
The paper co authored by MacAfee and Alstom Grid summarizes the key architectural components required to insure SmartGrids are protected end to end. Show less

Europe needs to become Smarter and accelerate its SmartGrids deployment pace

What are the strategic Smartgrid technologies ? Why should Europe deploy associated technologies faster than the rest of the world ?

The role of new Internet of Object technologies in the SmartCity space, co authored with Embix & Dotvision

The growing need for coordination of demand and renewable in eco city environments requires to reconsider how traditionnal IT and control architectures have been historically designed in Silos, heading towards architectures every city object and component may transact with each other in the future through new Cloud based architectures.

Considering the new Smartgrids challenges - namely the de-regulation of the energy value chain requiring to expose energy flow characteristics down to end user, the significant development of intermittent renewable resources as well as the new constraints on carbon emission reduction and power plant efficiency, Power Generation operators will have to lead a transformation in the way to operate their units, especially in their interactions with the overall Smartgrids system.
Flexibility of… Show more

Considering the new Smartgrids challenges - namely the de-regulation of the energy value chain requiring to expose energy flow characteristics down to end user, the significant development of intermittent renewable resources as well as the new constraints on carbon emission reduction and power plant efficiency, Power Generation operators will have to lead a transformation in the way to operate their units, especially in their interactions with the overall Smartgrids system.
Flexibility of control, Life Cycle Management of Power generation assets as well as real-time interoperability with other actors in the energy chain (Grid dispatcher, Trade down to end users selecting their energy in linger term) are critical capability to develop as part of Power Plant Control and Management Solutions.
It has to be recognized that “Smart Grid” is more than just “Smart Metering”, it’s about energy management across the whole electricity supply chain. The 4 components of the supply chain, generation, transmission, distribution and demand, are concerned. It poses a challenge to the supply end and raises issues in real-time monitoring, control and optimization of the efficiency of all components that have to be solved. Technology and equipment suppliers such as Alstom therefore have a key role to play in delivering the Smart Grid . The recent NIST initiative has comforted Alstom in its vision that there is no need to reinvent the wheel and that one of the key factors behind the “Smart Grid” solution is “standardization”. Show less

Around 50 billion devices of various kinds could potentially be connected to each other worldwide by 2020 according to one estimate. Even this figure may prove to be too conservative, given that there are already 6 billion mobile phones in the world today. Electricity grids will be the foundation of this “constellation of microgrids”, supplying power to practically all the other components in one form or another, but also exploiting the new possibilities that state of the art efficient ICT… Show more

Around 50 billion devices of various kinds could potentially be connected to each other worldwide by 2020 according to one estimate. Even this figure may prove to be too conservative, given that there are already 6 billion mobile phones in the world today. Electricity grids will be the foundation of this “constellation of microgrids”, supplying power to practically all the other components in one form or another, but also exploiting the new possibilities that state of the art efficient ICT offers.
The sum of these possibilities is often called a “smart grid”, consisting in managing the system wide energy optimum through the coordination of Microgrids optima. Definitions vary, but broadly the term is used to describe electricity networks having bi directional communication and power flow capability across generation – conventional and renewable - and end-use of point – Commercial & Industrials as well as residential,.
Electricity companies have always done this to some extent, but traditionally communication was a one-way process and limited to connection with a reduced number of dispatchable generating points. Most of the consumption end has so far been forecasted and reconcialed financially through meter readings happening few months after the facts - distribution operators actually had to send someone to read the meter for instance or monitors whether the system is operating as it should. With the smart grid, communication becomes multidimensional, with information flowing among numerous devices and stakeholders and consumption points connecting in real-time with the system. This will enable the entire system to be operated more flexibly facilitating the penetration of low-carbon technologies like electric vehicles or intermitted renewable energy. Show less

The urbanization of humanity is both a fact and a challenge. 3.5 billion people live in cities now, and 6 billion people will live in cities by 2050. Over at least the next 15 years, 95% of that growth will occur in developing and transitional countries of the global South. At the same time the population of other cities will remain nearly constant or even decline.
Behind these significant differences there is a common set of challenges, from water sourcing and supply to transport of… Show more

The urbanization of humanity is both a fact and a challenge. 3.5 billion people live in cities now, and 6 billion people will live in cities by 2050. Over at least the next 15 years, 95% of that growth will occur in developing and transitional countries of the global South. At the same time the population of other cities will remain nearly constant or even decline.
Behind these significant differences there is a common set of challenges, from water sourcing and supply to transport of goods from supporting regions, to energy use and distribution and on to waste handling and resilient infrastructure ready for the consequences of global climate change. Cities need a new plan for facing these problems.
Key technologies and social innovations needing further development include:
• Distributed renewable energy ressources and water systems integrating multiple inputs – in the case of power, strategies for integration of solar, wind, hydro, geothermal.
• Carbon footprint reduction on a neighbourhood and city-wide basis, aiming for carbon-neutral cities integrated into surrounding eco-systems – neutral carbon should be seen both from an energy and transportation usage prospective
• Planning for compact cities with logistically sophisticated transport systems interacting with intermittent energy systems
• Creation of cities without slums, to overcome the quality of life and productive gaps evident where social inequality prevails.
As further detailed in this paper Information and Communication Technologies are expected to become a central cornerstone to optimize the usage of low carbon energy for both energy consumption and transportation applications. New transactional IT platforms – kind of market place to supply lowest carbon energy & transportation services - will be implemented to optimize energy and transportation infrastructure usage within the perimeter of the eco-city. Show less

This paper results from a study by Alstom to explore a way to harmonize CIM and IEC61850, a harmonization that is needed for Smart Grid.
This study is based on the 4 layer modeling CIM methodology. It makes the assumption that SCL XML Schema is the last modeling layer described in the methodology. From this basis, it proposes to apply a discovery process in order to find what the other layers are. This approach leads to a global UML information model that describes the IEC -61850 Substation… Show more

This paper results from a study by Alstom to explore a way to harmonize CIM and IEC61850, a harmonization that is needed for Smart Grid.
This study is based on the 4 layer modeling CIM methodology. It makes the assumption that SCL XML Schema is the last modeling layer described in the methodology. From this basis, it proposes to apply a discovery process in order to find what the other layers are. This approach leads to a global UML information model that describes the IEC -61850 Substation Automation System.
Having such a UML model is a first step on the road to building a Unified Model that will harmonize CIM and 61850. There is still work to be done, but the study shows that this target is something reachable, a target that Alstom is willing to contribute to. Show less

Smart grids will play an important role in helping the power sector meet the challenges of the future. They will be required to accommodate the increase in intermittent renewable energy as well as handle and display data related to energy flow characteristics across the entire deregulated energy value chain. At the same time, power plant operators will have to change the way in which they operate in order to reduce emissions and improve efficiency. They will also have to change the way in which… Show more

Smart grids will play an important role in helping the power sector meet the challenges of the future. They will be required to accommodate the increase in intermittent renewable energy as well as handle and display data related to energy flow characteristics across the entire deregulated energy value chain. At the same time, power plant operators will have to change the way in which they operate in order to reduce emissions and improve efficiency. They will also have to change the way in which they interact with these new smarter grids.
Accordingly, plant operators will require power plant control and management solutions that allow them to demonstrate flexibility of control, life cycle management of power generation assets as well as real-time interoperability with other players in the energy chain (e.g. grid dispatcher, energy traders, end-users securing their long term energy needs).
Until now, real-time performance requirements and limited industry standardisation for data exchange with the energy eco-system outside the power plant led the industry towards highly customised solutions based on proprietary system platforms. In addition, the separation of the utility markets into generation, transmission and distribution has historically limited the opportunities to leverage software development for energy management across energy segments.
This new context justifies the need for power plant automation suppliers to evolve their platform strategies from proprietary web-based user interfaces towards SOA concepts while expanding standards and data models to their specific process characteristics. This is expected to have a significant impact on generation plant IT architectures within the next 3 to 5 years
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Many radical changes in the energy markets are likely in the next few decades. There has been dramatic acceleration in energy demand particularly India and China. Ageing infrastructure increasingly in US/Europe needs replacement. Technological advancements e.g. granular control of power plants, micro-generation, smart-metering and wireless technologies have made smart-grids more commercially viable.
Simultaneously, there is a pressure on reducing the carbon emissions. Even when all levers… Show more

Many radical changes in the energy markets are likely in the next few decades. There has been dramatic acceleration in energy demand particularly India and China. Ageing infrastructure increasingly in US/Europe needs replacement. Technological advancements e.g. granular control of power plants, micro-generation, smart-metering and wireless technologies have made smart-grids more commercially viable.
Simultaneously, there is a pressure on reducing the carbon emissions. Even when all levers are applied, there will be a big gap left in achieving the emission reduction targets, which could only be bridged if ‘Smart Energy’ becomes mainstream.
However, there are a few challenges that may hinder complete realisation of the benefits from the investments. As the landscape changes, there will be significant increase in the number of players, and the frequency of communication that would be required in these players. This would significantly increase the number of ‘transactions’ between different players in the ecosystem. For example, the consumption data needs to flow from each household to a number of utility companies on very frequent basis, potentially in 15 to 30 minute pulses, rather than a monthly meter reading to a single company. With different utilities trying to differentiate, the transactions would also become more varied. Similarly, the transactions between different players, e.g. carbon and energy markets, generators, consumers, distribution companies, regulators, storage providers etc will increase dramatically, and become more complex and varied.
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Experiences of deregulation at a world-wide scale are demonstrating the convergence of some key associated fundamentals whether on the structure or some Business Processes.

The growing exchange through Standardisation committees and working group are in the meantime supporting the progress of Common Information Model through various functional areas which will surely also accelerate this convergence.

This standardises the used market system components while the recent changes… Show more

Experiences of deregulation at a world-wide scale are demonstrating the convergence of some key associated fundamentals whether on the structure or some Business Processes.

The growing exchange through Standardisation committees and working group are in the meantime supporting the progress of Common Information Model through various functional areas which will surely also accelerate this convergence.

This standardises the used market system components while the recent changes observed into the Information Technology facilitate the integration of these components together.
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The utility operational environment has been facing over the last 10 years significant changes mainly derived from the unbundling of the overall energy supply chain as well as from fundamental changes observed in the mix of the energy resources portfolio towards lower size renewable energies. These challenges have been changing the former flow patterns observed within transmission and distribution networks towards larger amount of cross-border flows from less observable areas as well as massive… Show more

The utility operational environment has been facing over the last 10 years significant changes mainly derived from the unbundling of the overall energy supply chain as well as from fundamental changes observed in the mix of the energy resources portfolio towards lower size renewable energies. These challenges have been changing the former flow patterns observed within transmission and distribution networks towards larger amount of cross-border flows from less observable areas as well as massive counter-flows from distribution to transmission related to the larger penetration of distribution energy resources. Meanwhile the growing regulatory pressure tends to focus network operator attention to grow the return of their assets their existing asset though aging. These growing operational constraints have grown the amount of dispatcher stress while various blackouts have happened in Europe and US. Several working groups analysing the context of these major incidents have been launched, AREVA T&D technical experts having participated to several of them. This paper proposes to list the various consequence of this analysis onto energy management system technologies.

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The multiplication of DERs within distribution grid systems is likely to represent significant grid integration challenges. Considering their small size and very large number, these sources are in most of cases neither visible and nor dispatchable. New Virtual Power plant concepts are emerging through first demonstration projects such as FP7 Fenix project to facilitate DER integration. This paper summarizes 3 key aspects related to the deployment of these new concepts :
1. Optimal DER… Show more

The multiplication of DERs within distribution grid systems is likely to represent significant grid integration challenges. Considering their small size and very large number, these sources are in most of cases neither visible and nor dispatchable. New Virtual Power plant concepts are emerging through first demonstration projects such as FP7 Fenix project to facilitate DER integration. This paper summarizes 3 key aspects related to the deployment of these new concepts :
1. Optimal DER Control in the context of intermittent generation sources
2. New risk management approachs
3. Voltage regulation through DERs Show less

With the penetration of wind ressources in European Grid networks, the need of adapting network’s stability and control principles has significantly increase. This has resulted into the porgressive development of adequate Grid Codes setting some acceptable operational bandwith to windgenerators as far as fault levels, power quality and supply stability. These have to be strictly follow by every independent power producer setting indirectly new technical constraints such as to forecast and… Show more

With the penetration of wind ressources in European Grid networks, the need of adapting network’s stability and control principles has significantly increase. This has resulted into the porgressive development of adequate Grid Codes setting some acceptable operational bandwith to windgenerators as far as fault levels, power quality and supply stability. These have to be strictly follow by every independent power producer setting indirectly new technical constraints such as to forecast and curtail a windfarm energy output under certain conditions or to improve the plant response to network faults especially VAR flows.
On the other hand the same windfarms offer new VAR injection opportunities at lower network levels which theorically could reduce the investment need in network reinforcement or dedicated VAR compensation devices assuming the plant VARs can be as flexibly controlled as for conventional plants. Energy regulators are developping innovative rewarding schemes against such specific VAR control scenarios.
This paper proposed to summarize the various innovative concepts brought through Energy management software allowing in the future a better windgeneration integration to power grid systems as close as possible conventional plant models while taking into account the need for coordinated control between windgenerator excitation system, static or dynamic VAR compensation equipment as well as the latest developments in the area of windforecasting applications. Show less

With the penetration of wind resources in European and North American Grid networks, the need of adapting network’s stability and control principles has significantly increase. This has resulted
into the progressive development of adequate Grid Codes setting with some acceptable operational bandwidth to wind generators as far as fault levels, power quality and supply stability.
These have to be strictly follow by every independent power roducer setting indirectly new technical constraints… Show more

With the penetration of wind resources in European and North American Grid networks, the need of adapting network’s stability and control principles has significantly increase. This has resulted
into the progressive development of adequate Grid Codes setting with some acceptable operational bandwidth to wind generators as far as fault levels, power quality and supply stability.
These have to be strictly follow by every independent power roducer setting indirectly new technical constraints such as to forecast and curtail a wind farm energy output under certain
conditions or to improve the plant response to network faults especially VAR flows.
This paper proposed to summarize the various innovative concepts brought through Substation Automation and Energy management software allowing in the future a better wind generation integration to power grid systems as close as possible to conventional plant models while taking
into account the need for coordinated control between wind generator excitation system, static or dynamic VAR compensation equipment as well as the latest developments in the area of wind
forecasting applications. In a second part, this paper will not only explain the main features of the standard IEC 61400-25, but also highlight its advantages for the integration of wind farms into the
electric system. Show less