The concept of an electric grid was to generate, transmit, and distribute electrical power over a country. The electrical grid was designed to work in a vertical fashion so that it can ensure the availability of electrical power to consumers in a reliable, safe, stable, and efficient mode.
Nowadays, with the increased industrial infrastructure, living standards of people, and dependency on the technology and development of cities, consumption of electrical power has increased to a greater extent. This soaring demand for electrical energy is met with the new installation of generating units, which, in turn, has made the power grid structure more complex and vast. The generating units, especially thermal power units, which are purely based on fossil fuels for the production of electrical power, are responsible for critical environmental pollution, and the available natural stock of fossil fuels is depleting drastically over time. So, renewable energy resources are getting more attention. But there are also some problems associated with these sources, for instance, variations in temperature, wind speed, solar radiation, and other environmental conditions. This is again challenging.
The economic growth of any country is based on the quantity, quality and reliability of its electrical power supply. The demand for electrical energy is increasing at a swift pace all over the world every year, especially in developing countries. In order to meet this demand, there are two possible ways: firstly, either to increase generation or to make economic and efficient use of available power. So, to find an effective or “smart” solution, proceed to the next section.
The smart grid supports the bidirectional flow of electricity and information and data communication with its associated systems. With the help of two-way communication, if a device fails to operate or any other fault occurs, the smart grid will self-heal this fault before it becomes a major issue for the system.
Smart grid technologies are defined as self-sustaining frameworks that can self-heal to any abnormal conditions in the system. These technologies work with minimum human intervention and ensure reliable, sustained and continuous supply to end users.
In this sense, a smart grid is a combination of hardware and software with self-healing capabilities. The hardware consists of smart meters and smart devices or sensors, which have the capability to communicate. Similarly, the software has the capability to detect, heal and control abnormal conditions. These features make the grid intelligent and reduce the burden on operators. For example, in normal grid, the operation is based on the prediction of demand (on the basis of experience), but in a smart grid, the operation is based on real-time data.
Blog Author
Dr. Rajendera Beniwal
(Head, Electrical Engineering Department)
Sobhasaria Group of Institutions, Sikar
Address: NH-52, Gokulpura, Sikar, Rajasthan, 332001
Contact No-01572-222650-51-52-53
Mobile No.: +91-800-3595091/93
Email-info@secs.ac.in, admissions@secs.ac.in
Blog Editor
Dr. Rajesh Kumar Gaur
(Dept. of English)
Sobhasaria Group of Institutions, Sikar
Address: NH-52, Gokulpura, Sikar, Rajasthan, 332001
Contact No-01572-222650-51-52-53
Mobile No.: +91-800-3595091/93
Email-info@secs.ac.in, admissions@secs.ac.in