Intelligent self-describing power grids

Web-based services are appreciated to be a enabling technology for implementing the vision of future smart energy networks and their correspondent enhanced customer services. Meanwhile, in the development of the Web, semantics are seen as a central key to enable and to support smarter forms of collaboration and process control. In this context, semantics may be essential to manage future power systems with significant share of power generated by distributed energy resources in an intelligent way - as required in the framework of smart grid designs. The EU funded project S-TEN (Intelligent Self-Describing Technical and Environmental Networks) lays foundations for advanced monitoring systems and sensors by applying Semantic Web technologies, Web Services and rules to potentially constantly changing networks composed of network components ranging from simple sensors to complex plants such as combined heat and power plants. This paper will present the work being done to develop and use technologies designed to provide functionalities required by future power grids.