In the race to the smart grid, wireless will power grid modernization
Source: The Ericsson Blog by Gautam Talagery
Sustaining a constant flow of power is complex and challenging. Utilities must not only deliver on this primary responsibility, but also address expanded pressures. Power generation is evolving to sustainable resources. With the popularity of solar panels, consumers are producing as well as consuming energy. Economic forces, security threats and natural disasters add further to the pressure on utilities. To meet these challenges, utilities are undergoing digital transformation. Let’s unpack the components of the digital power grid modernization and see how wireless private networks are enabling utilities to achieve their goals at every step of the journey.
Optimizing the world’s most complex machine
Some call the power grid the world’s most complex machine. Power grid infrastructure management must balance power generation with power consumption because grid instability can lead to blackouts. Previously, only consumption varied. Today, with the growth of sustainable resources such as solar and wind, there’s now variability in power generation as well as consumption. Ensuring that the power inserted into the grid is always balanced with the consumption from the grid takes a delicate choreography. To survive, utilities must adopt digital solutions.
This is where private networks make their mark. Network evolution to cellular brings utilities the advantages of a large and rapidly developing ecosystem of global sensors and devices. And security, reliability and independence in the design of wireless network quality is especially valuable to utilities.
The journey from power plant to your home
To set the stage for the role of wireless in power grid modernization, let’s first get a simplified view of the major functional aspects to the power grid (Figure 1).
Figure 1: The power grid
Each component of the grid must communicate with the others, a task that has grown more critical as utilities progress in modernizing their power grids. And wireless private networks are enabling utilities to achieve their goals at every step of the journey.