Smart Substation - Capgemini

Smart SubstationThe bridge to the futureWhy smart substations are needed to modernizethe grid, address the world’s climate change agenda,and unlock new revenue streams

Renewables have ushered in a new energysystem paradigm, which establishes the substationas the foundation of a smarter, more intelligentgrid and the catalyst for climate change.”Philippe ViéGroup Vice President, Energy and UtilitiesCapgeminiAutonomous control and low latencycompute is absolutely essential to a modernenergy system. As the grid is increasingly made upof intermittent loads, then the grid must be ableto adapt to intermittency changes, automatically,and in real-time.”Michael BatesGlobal General Manager, EnergyIntel

Distributed energy and distributedintelligence go hand in hand.As the grid accommodates arapidly growing mix of distributedrenewable resources, the gridmust deliver enhanced compute,communication, monitoring, andoptimization capabilities.At the heart of this change is thesmart substation—a responsive,near-autonomous, digitalconversion hub that facilitates thefrictionless exchange of power for awide variety of assets, including EVcharging stations, storage systems,and distributed and intermittentgeneration sources.In this paper, we explore theconcept of a smart substation andhow organizations can harness thisnew asset to modernize the grid,tackle the climate change crisis,and enable valuable new revenuestreams.The smart substationas the smart gridfoundation at the edgeAs utilities accommodate a rapidly growing array ofdistributed renewable resources at the edge of thedistribution grid, they must also aggregate and optimizethose resources through a range of flexible solutions,such as storage and demand response management. Thisoptimization will enable the distributed sources to act likethe types of energy they are meant to replace—namely,fossil fuel generation or other centralized generationsources that have an always-on baseload generation.Managing this new energy system paradigm requiresutilities to grow the smart grid at scale—a concept that isnow possible after years of experimentation, technologyimprovements, and the growth of industry digital maturity.This distributed generation model must be matched by adistributed intelligence model—by which we mean enablingcomputation to be deployed at the edge of the grid inorder to connect and optimize intermittent loads throughintelligent substation applications that communicate in realtime across grid supervisory control and data acquisition(SCADA) systems and protocols.This transformation requires a significant change in the waytoday’s power grid is designed, equipped, and operated;it also requires the distribution power grid to becomeintelligent at all levels.“Our current grid was built to support a one-way flow,”explains Michael Bates, Global General Manager, Energy,Intel. “However, our current electric system requires atwo-way flow between points of generation on the edgeand points of demand. Implementing a smart substationcan take away the friction associated with monitoring andoptimizing these distributed resources and enabling the useof the highest and best use electron, be it a battery, a gasplant, or other source.”We imagine the future of our energy system using the smartsubstation as the foundation of the smart grid, facilitatingthe two-way exchange of power, data and communication,as well as the seamless management of supply and demandbalanced across the grid.“Renewables have ushered in a new energy systemparadigm,” notes Philippe Vié, group Vice President forEnergy and Utilities, Capgemini. “Distributed energyresources necessitate an intelligent grid, which requiresintelligence at any node in the grid, and also at the edge.”

What’s drivingthe need for thesmart substationEVadoptionEnergystorageJourney to the edge: Realizingthe smart substationSubstation modernization requires a complete shift inthe business mindset, not just for utilities, but among thesupporting partner ecosystem.Incumbent equipment and solution providers have beenoperating, selling, and deploying closed proprietarysolutions. These are mostly point solutions, such asmetering, monitoring with local IOT appliances, or securityenhancements.This traditional model creates complexity because itrequires integrating a variety of solutions; it also createssilos of disparate and sometimes inaccessible data. Theinability to integrate devices and applications from differentvendors prevents communication and collaborationbetween these different components. As a result, the utilitycannot operate the system holistically.The basic premise of the smart substation is that it will:Intermittent anddistributed renewables Consolidate disparate grid components into a singlecompute platform that delivers intelligence at every levelof the grid. Produce a centralized data stream which can be used toidentify new insights that the grid was not able to trackbefore.Consumer-leddemandConsumption andgeneration flexibilityneeded for local balancePressure toreduce carbonfootprint Support and enable new workloads, like batteries andsolar panels, as well as new load curves.In this way, the substation becomes a server that monitorsmultiple points of input and output—in addition to itsprimary purposes of acting as a power transformer anddistribution point. The smart substation also enables theuse of intelligent automation, such as AI and ML, and pushesthese technologies to the edge of the grid, enabling local,nearly autonomous, smart functionality.“Building the substation of the future will be a bigmountain for utilities to climb,” admits Bates. “At the sametime, autonomous control and low latency compute areabsolutely essential to a modern energy system. As thegrid is increasingly made up of intermittent loads, thenthe grid must be able to adapt to intermittency changes,automatically, and in real-time.”Enabling the ecosystem to realizethe smart substationWhile utilities may recognize the need to create a single,unified compute platform at the substation level, thecurrent vendor ecosystem is generally unable or unwilling.“Many vendors are willing to work with utilities to enablethe smart substation through intelligent automation ornext-gen technology—but they are still creating closed,point solutions,” explains Vié. “For energy companies,there is a sense of urgency about the need to move to anopen solution and a frustration that they cannot get theirpartner ecosystem to shift in tandem.”

Defining and implementing the appropriate computeand communication architecture can only be done ifall members of the ecosystem share a common vision.This means that leading IT / OT solution providers andintegrators must propose and oversee such changes; thesolution must also be recognized by leading transmissionand distribution system operators.Enabling new revenue streamsthrough the smart substationThus, we see that creating the smart substation isn’t justabout building a digital platform and embracing newtechnologies, but convening the partner ecosystem,including industrial IT / OT players, industry solutionproviders, network operators, technology partners,application developers, and other utilities.As a point of comparison, we can consider the digitaltransformation of the telecom industry. Decades ago,Telcos made significant investments in broadband—aninvestment on which the modern-day empires of Amazon,Google, Facebook, and others are built. The companiesthat built the infrastructure didn’t necessarily reap therewards. What we see today with the 5G revolution isthat Telcos are being much more strategic in how theymonetize that service and use it as the foundation for newrevenue streams.“All parties must agree to use a commonarchitecture,” notes Vié. “This is the key toensuring ubiquitous interoperability, scalability, andcybersecurity.”The smart substation as aclimate change catalystNearly every industry group and authority, including theInternational Energy Agency (IEA), views grid modernizationas the main enabler of addressing the world’s climatechange needs.Grid modernization starts with substation modernization.The substation is the critical enabler of all aspects of thesmart grid, including increasing the use of renewables,EV charging, and short-term storage for intermittentrenewables. Without substation upgrades, the vision for thesmart grid cannot be realized.“What people don’t appreciate is the impact that thesmart grid can have on climate change if we remove thebottlenecks that exist at the substation level. We canthink about the grid as a climate change catalyst—in fact,the largest catalyst we have to enable widescale change,”notes Bates.Investment in the smart grid isn’t just a matter ofmodernizing the grid—it will also modernize the businessitself, unlocking new revenue streams and enabling newbusiness models for the energy industry.As utilities modernize the grid and its differentcomponents—the substation chief among them—it willbe important to consider how this data can be used tounlock new revenue streams. For example, the smart gridwill enable new electric uses, including EV charging, autoconsumption, flexibility compensation and smart heatpumps. Deploying the smart grid also positions the electricgrid as the network convergence enabler across electricity,gas, hydrogen and heating/cooling networks. Finally, thesmart grid will facilitate new energy system development,including power to gas, gas to power, Vehicle to Grid andother flexible resources.

OurSubstation& Edge-ofthe-GridAutomationsolutionPart two: Enabling thesmart substation withIntel and CapgeminiSubstation & Edge-of-the-Grid Automation is a new,real-time, adaptive solution from Intel and Capgemini thatprovides the distributed intelligence overlay to help utilitiesmonitor and manage load and flow across all grid assets,prioritize production and consumption of clean energysources, and flatten the rate structure.Substation & Edge-of-the-GridAutomation from Intel & CapgeminiOpen non-proprietarysolutionRobust partnerecosystemOT andIT integrationTrue end-to-endsolutionValidation/adoptionengagements withleading DSOsIntel and Capgemini’s Substation & Edge-of-the-GridAutomation service offer is the only non-proprietary, trueend-to-end, industry-driven solution that addresses thefull energy value chain, from technology supply, consultingand business services, to implementation and integrationthrough delivery and operations.The solution combines Capgemini’s extensive domainexpertise and business consulting services with Intel’s bestin-class technology and AI/machine learning capabilities tohelp utility clients enable the multidirectional flow neededto seamlessly manage supply and demand across the grid,including large and small loads and a variety of generationsources through a distributed intelligence model.The Substation & Edge-of-the-Grid Automation solution isfully integrated with the Intel platform and can be operatedthrough digital engineering services. System upgrades andmaintenance are also supported as a service, improvingflexibility and scalability while enabling valuable operationalefficiencies and cost savings throughout the business.Capgemini and Intel also leverage their combinedrelationships across the energy and technology sectors,as well as with network operators, industrial IT players,application developers, and other potential partners,helping utilities establish a compelling business case for anopen, non-proprietary solution.