Standards and Interoperability of Equipment and Systems for Smart Grid in India

Abstract

The smart grid is the complex system which leverages the convergence of communication, various hardware and software technologies adding intelligence to the electric power industry. To achieve this objective, standards and interoperability of the various system is a pre-requisite. Standardization of the product/services would be required for scaling up of the prototype. A standard is an established norm for accomplishing defined task. Standardization is a formal document to establish engineering design, technical parameters, guidelines, processes, and practices. These standards are formulated to bring together all stakeholders towards achieving common objective. Interoperability is the capability of two or more devices, systems, appliances, networks, applications, or components to share and readily use information securely and effectively without any inconvenience to the stakeholders. It promotes open architecture of technologies considering both physical and logical interaction with other systems. An interoperable SG fosters competition among suppliers, innovation, choice, reduced costs and reduced capital risk caused by technology or vendor obsolescence, and enables automation to improve system value and reliability. Unfortunately, interoperability cannot realistically be achieved by a single entity and requires collaboration from numerous organizations including utilities, regulatory bodies, standards bodies, market players, stakeholders and more. Due to the system complexity, scalability and devices involved in creating an effective SG solution, interoperability between the various systems is the key to success. Utilizing a standardized approach methodology to develop use cases and functional requirements to support integration of emerging technologies as well as identify gaps in existing standards providing focus for research and development.