2014 Global Smart Infrastructure - Smart Grids and M2M are Key Developments

Smart Grids are part of a larger move towards Smart Energy development

The transformation to a Smart Grid not only delivers benefits to the electricity industry but also to the community and to individual business and residential customers. Real-time visibility of the grid enables better balancing of supply and demand and greater efficiency of network operations – which allows the investment in the energy supply chain to be optimised.

Smart Grids can provide visibility and control of energy usage to a level not previously possible. This allows all involved from customers to network operators to participate in programs that encourage reduced electricity use during periods of high demand. Further, Smart Grid technologies are important for managing and supporting increased penetration of renewable energy, such as photovoltaic (PV) panels on the roofs of our buildings. Electricity networks were traditionally designed to distribute energy in one direction – from large central generation sources to the consumer.

As we move into an era where everybody is able to participate in electricity generation, the electricity network becomes a multidirectional “any-to-any” grid, interconnecting power distribution across all parts of the network. This is also known as Transactive Energy.

The electricity grid is becoming the enabler in all these changes, and by making it an intelligent grid and adding telecoms to it, the power will shift away from the electricity companies to the customers. The appliances that will be developed will assist this process; some of that on a M2M basis using networked sensors and SCaDa technology. Another term being used for these broader developments is the Internet of Things (IoT).

Smart Grids encompass a broad portfolio of technologies, and different power companies will choose to deploy those elements that promise the best return on investment. What is important is that the world embraces a culture of modernising its electricity networks so it can meet the needs and expectations of future generations.

With a better understanding of the complexity involved in the transformation of the electricity industry the words ‘smart energy’ are becoming more prominent. BuddeComm believes that the term ‘smart grids’ is too narrow and that eventually ‘smart energy’ will become the accepted terminology, especially once the communications developments in national broadband networks and mobile broadband start to converge with smart grid developments.

BuddeComm’s new report, Global Smart Infrastructure – Smart Grids and M2M are Key Developments, provides important insights into why smart communities of the future require smart grid infrastructure to meet growing demand and supply the platform for smart energy developments. The report explores how the Internet of Things, based on machine-to-machine (M2M) and sensor developments are intrinsically linked to Smart Grids. This unique report also provides interesting examples of smart grid and smart meter projects from around the world and includes an overview of the global market, supported by statistics.  Please note: for Smart City information, see separate annual publication titled: Global Smart Infrastructure – Smart Cities and Artificial Intelligence the Way Forward.

Data in this report is the latest available at the time of preparation and may not be for the current year