Page 95 - From Smart Grid to Internet of Energy

80 From smart grid to internet of energy

2.3.4 Demand side management
Besides the discussed functions, another important feature of smart meters is
DSM that is accomplished thanks to detailed control and monitoring capabili-
ties through two-way communication. The conventional grid structure was
based on supply side management (SSM) since the generation and control pro-
cesses were centralized and load management has been performed considering
generation capacity. However, decentralized control and DG integration that
are brought by smart grid to conventional grid enabled DSM considering con-
sumer side requirements and DR programs. The most important target of DSM
is to move energy demand of customers to out of peak periods and to decrease
energy consumption at peak periods. Thus, load shifting processes are per-
formed by some technical methods called peak clipping, valley filling and peak
shifting. The peak clipping defines decreasing the energy consumption during
peak time while valley filling refers to increasing the energy consumption dur-
ing valley times since generation is sufficient to meet demand of load. The peak
shifting that is combination of peak clipping and valley filling methods facili-
tate to ensure generation and demand balance through the utility grid. It is
apparent that such a control operation requires rapid and accurate measurement
system to ensure instant monitoring of generation and load sides. Moreover,
other fundamental functions of smart meters such as data storage, alarm and
warning, and data transmission are needed to enable DSM programs.
Decision-making algorithms to generate an appropriate DR program for chang-
ing customer tendencies process the measured consumption data. The most
widely used dynamic pricing methods are noted as time of use (ToU), incremen-
tal tariffs, critical peak pricing (CPP), critical peak rebate (CPR), and RTP [10].
These pricing programs are used to sustain balance between generation and load
demand by the support of smart metering.

2.3.5 Theft and fraud control
The improved intelligent electronic devices (IEDs) such as digital relays, circuit
breakers, fault passage indicators, and protective relays can be integrated to
smart meters. Besides, fundamental sensors of smart meters can be used to detect
unauthorized consumption, theft and fraud use of electricity. The advanced com-
munication infrastructures facilitate detection and addressing of theft and fraud
with the support of smart meters. The time-stamp feature of smart meters that is
used to reporting consumption with exact logging can provide increased control
on detection of losses and leakages through utility grid. Network operators
can immediately detect any abnormal consumption or unauthorized use of elec-
tricity and can prevent utilization by remotely disconnecting the detected smart
meter. To this end, network operators benefit from GIS and CIS services to iden-
tify corresponding customer and smart meter [10, 14].