Hybrid Communication Network for the Smart Grid: Validation of a Field Test Experience

The business of distribution system operators is rapidly evolving as the distribution grid is hosting more distributed energy resources. Technology for monitoring, control, and protecting the grid is progressively pervading the lower segment of the network. These changes require a performing communication infrastructure to enable data exchange among the control centers of the grid. The 7th Framework Program European Project INTEGRIS proposes a hybrid infrastructure-based on broadband power line (BPL), Wi-Fi, and fiber optics (FO)-to enable services for grid management. This mix of technologies provides a balanced tradeoff between investments and benefits, meeting most of the requirements of the smart grid. This paper investigates the technologies that could be adopted and describes the experimental assessment performed in an operational environment in Italy. Using this installation, transfer time, time synchronization accuracy, dependability, and throughput are evaluated and analyzed over a long-term campaign. Results show that the FO is the best communication media, able to provide a two-way latency of 3 ms (95 percentile), whereas BPL has a two-way latency of 57 ms (95 percentile -4 hops). Those results confirm that a careful selection of the technologies is required to satisfy requirements of smart grid.