This book presents a cross-disciplinary approach to smart grids, offering an invaluable basis for understanding their complexity and potential, and for discussing their technical, legal, economic, societal, psychological and security aspects. Smart grids are a complex phenomenon involving new, active roles for consumers and prosumers, novel social, political and cultural practices, advanced ICT, new markets, security of supply issues, the informational turn in energy, valuation of assets and investments, technological innovation and (de)regulation. Furthermore, smart grids offer new interfaces, in turn creating hybrid fields: with the increasing use of electric vehicles and electric transportation, smart grids represent the crossroads of energy and mobility. While the aim is to achieve more sustainable production, transportation and use of energy, the importance of smart grids actually has less to do with electricity, heat or gas, and far more with transforming the infrastructure needed to deliver energy, as well as the roles of its owners, operators and users. The immediate goal is to contribute positively to a sustainable world society. The chapters are revised and expanded texts based upon lectures delivered at the Groningen Energy Summer School 2014. Questions for further discussion at the end of each chapter highlight the key themes that emerge. The book offers an indispensable resource for researchers, professionals and companies in the power supply industry, and for students seeking to broaden and deepen their understanding of smart grids.

What exactly is smart grid? Why is it receiving so much attention? What are utilities, vendors, and regulators doing about it? Answering these questions and more, Smart Grids: Infrastructure, Technology, and Solutions gives readers a clearer understanding of the drivers and infrastructure of one of the most talked-about topics in the electric utility market—smart grid. This book brings together the knowledge and views of a vast array of experts and leaders in their respective fields. Key Features Describes the impetus for change in the electric utility industry Discusses the business drivers, benefits, and market outlook of the smart grid initiative Examines the technical framework of enabling technologies and smart solutions Identifies the role of technology developments and coordinated standards in smart grid, including various initiatives and organizations helping to drive the smart grid effort Presents both current technologies and forward-looking ideas on new technologies Discusses barriers and critical factors for a successful smart grid from a utility, regulatory, and consumer perspective Summarizes recent smart grid initiatives around the world Discusses the outlook of the drivers and technologies for the next-generation smart grid Smart grid is defined not in terms of what it is, but what it achieves and the benefits it brings to the utility, consumer, society, and environment. Exploring the current situation and future challenges, the book provides a global perspective on how the smart grid integrates twenty-first-century technology with the twentieth-century power grid. CRC Press Authors Speak Stuart Borlase speaks about his book. Watch the video

"This reference book covers the latest innovations and trends within smart grid and microgrid development, detailing benefits, challenges, and opportunities, that will help readers to fully understand the current opportunities that smart grids and microgrids present around the world"--

Despite the urgent need for action, there is a widespread lack of understanding of the benefits of using green energy sources for not only reducing carbon emissions and climate change, but also for growing a sustainable economy and society. Future citizens of the world face increasing sustainability issues and need to be better prepared for energy transformation and sustainable future economic development. Cases on Green Energy and Sustainable Development is a critical research book that focuses on the important role renewable energy and energy efficiency play in energy transition and sustainable development and covers economic and promotion policies of major renewable energy and energy-efficiency technologies. Highlighting a wide range of topics such as economics, energy storage, and transportation technologies, this book is ideal for environmentalists, academicians, researchers, engineers, policymakers, and students.

The creation of a flexible, efficient, digitized, dependable and resilient power grid may well be the best route to increasing energy efficiency & security, as well as boosting the potential of renewable & distributed power sources. This book covers smart grids from A-Z, providing a complete treatment of the topic, covering both policy and technology, explaining the most recent innovations supporting its development, and clarifying how the smart grid can support the integration of renewable energy resources. Among the most important topics included are smart metering, renewable energy storage, plug-in hybrids, flexible demand response, strategies for offsetting intermittency issues, micro-grids for off-grid communities, and specific in-depth coverage of wind and solar power integration. The content draws lessons from an international panel of contributors, whose diverse experiences implementing smart grids will help to provide templates for success. - Provides critical information on the technological, design and policy issues that must be taken into account to ensure that the smart grid is implemented successfully - Demonstrates how smart grids can help utilities adhere to increased renewable portfolio standards - Provides examples of successful microgrid/smart metering projects from around the world that can act as templates for developers, operators and investors embarking upon similar projects

Smart grid and microgrid technology are growing exponentially as they are adopted throughout the world. These new technologies have revolutionized the way electricity is produced, delivered, and consumed, and offer a plethora of benefits as well as the potential for further growth. It is critical to examine the current stage of smart grid and microgrid development as well as the direction they are headed as they continue to expand in order to ensure that cost-effective, reliable, and efficient systems are put in place. The Research Anthology on Smart Grid and Microgrid Development is an all-encompassing reference source of the latest innovations and trends within smart grid and microgrid development. Detailing benefits, challenges, and opportunities, it is a crucial resource to fully understand the current opportunities that smart grids and microgrids present around the world. Covering a wide range of topics such as traditional grids, future smart grids, electrical distribution systems, and microgrid integration, it is ideal for engineers, policymakers, systems developers, technologists, researchers, government officials, academicians, environmental groups, regulators, utilities specialists, industry professionals, and students.

Smart Energy Grid Engineering provides in-depth detail on the various important engineering challenges of smart energy grid design and operation by focusing on advanced methods and practices for designing different components and their integration within the grid. Governments around the world are investing heavily in smart energy grids to ensure optimum energy use and supply, enable better planning for outage responses and recovery, and facilitate the integration of heterogeneous technologies such as renewable energy systems, electrical vehicle networks, and smart homes around the grid. By looking at case studies and best practices that illustrate how to implement smart energy grid infrastructures and analyze the technical details involved in tackling emerging challenges, this valuable reference considers the important engineering aspects of design and implementation, energy generation, utilization and energy conservation, intelligent control and monitoring data analysis security, and asset integrity. - Includes detailed support to integrate systems for smart grid infrastructures - Features global case studies outlining design components and their integration within the grid - Provides examples and best practices from industry that will assist in the migration to smart grids

Pathways to a Smarter Power System studies different concepts within smart grids that are used in both industry and system regulators (e.g. distribution and transmission system operators) and research. This book covers these concepts from multiple perspectives and in multiple contexts, presenting detailed technical information on renewable energy systems, distributed generation and energy storage units, methods to activate the demand side of power systems, market structure needs, and advanced planning concepts and new operational requirements, specifically for power system protection, technological evolvements, and requirements regarding technology in ICT, power electronics and control areas. This book provides energy researchers and engineers with an indispensable guide on how to apply wider perspectives to the different technological and conceptual requirements of a smarter power system. - Includes concepts regarding conceptual and technological needs and investment planning suggestions for smart grid enabling strategies - Contains new electric power system operational concepts required by industry, along with R&D studies addressing new solutions to potential operational problems - Covers pathways to smarter power systems from successful existing examples to expected short, medium and long-term possibilities

Because society depends greatly on electric energy, power system control and protection focuses on ensuring a secure and reliable supply of power. To operate the electric systems in safe mode, the power system component should be equipped with intelligent controllers. The Handbook of Research on Smart Power System Operation and Control is a collection of innovative research on the theoretical and practical developments in smart power system operation and control that takes into account both smart grid and micro-grid systems. While highlighting topics including cybersecurity, smart grid, and wide area monitoring, this book is ideally designed for researchers, students, and industry professionals.

This book focuses on the role of systems and control. Focusing on the current and future development of smart grids in the generation and transmission of energy, it provides an overview of the smart grid control landscape, and the potential impact of the various investigations presented has for technical aspects of power generation and distribution as well as for human and economic concerns such as pricing, consumption and demand management. A tutorial exposition is provided in each chapter, describing the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. Topics in these chapters include: wide-area control; issues of estimation and integration at the transmission; distribution, consumers, and demand management; and cyber-physical security for smart grid control systems. The contributors describe the problems involved with each topic, and what impact these problems would have if not solved. The tutorial components and the opportunities and challenges detailed make this book ideal for anyone interested in new paradigms for modernized, smart power grids, and anyone in a field where control is applied. More specifically, it is a valuable resource for students studying smart grid control, and for researchers and academics wishing to extend their knowledge of the topic.