Electricity System Built on Cyber-physical Enterprises: Architecture Analysis

Abstract

Energy distribution systems can improve in adaptiveness by applying the concepts of cyber-physical systems (CPS), cyber-physical enterprise, and service-oriented architecture. With these paradigms, the information and communications technology (ICT) systems can respond to changes in the requirements and conditions of the environment, improving responsiveness to the fluctuation of electricity production from renewable energy sources (RES). This paper analyzes the suitability of a CPS architecture for the electricity distribution system. The novelty comes from a service-oriented model where customers and microgrids can sell services to one another and operators, building added value on existing energy resources. The architecture is analyzed with a coordinated voltage control (CVC) use case. The results suggest that the architecture can open new possibilities in utilizing energy resources and enables a customer-driven, distributed scheme instead of the strict operator-centric hierarchy of the contemporary systems.