Connected devices are disrupting many industries, and the power utility sector is no exception. Power utility companies currently face four primary challenges driven by the growth of the Internet of Things (IoT):
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Manufacturers of machines, controllers, HMI, and SCADA systems are increasingly connecting their equipment to the cloud, promising enhanced analytics and insights via their data for predictive and preventative maintenance. However, strict quarantine policies governing critical assets prevent power companies from fully utilising these new IoT features offered by machine and controller vendors.
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As the costs of solar and wind power microgrids continue to decline, utility companies will soon experience a reduction in revenue from traditional power generation. To offset this loss, companies must aggressively pursue new revenue streams, such as offering home energy management as a service, energy storage as a service, grid services for EV charging, and grid services for peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading between homes, between homes and microgrids, between microgrids, between microgrids and batteries, and between homes and batteries. These services require facilitation through smart metering, smart grids, and secure transactions enabled by distributed ledger technology (DLT) like IOTA. Furthermore, utilities are exploring the provision of smart city services to municipal authorities.
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For critical infrastructure such as dams, ICOLD (International Committee of Large Dams) mandates real-time Structural Health Monitoring (SHM). This allows for early warning of potential collapse risks in dams, rock formations, or tunnels, enabling the timely evacuation of people in affected areas.
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Additionally, EV charging in parking facilities represents an emerging revenue area. The question remains: how can IoT facilitate smart charging and smart parking solutions?
Over the past three years, engineering within the IoT domain has undergone massive changes, primarily driven by tech giants like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon. These industry behemoths have invested billions of dollars to develop IoT platforms that are easier to manage and more secure. Furthermore, IoT edge computing has gained significant momentum in both research and deployment as the primary method for practical IoT implementation. The advent of 5G promises to transform the IoT business landscape, leading to unprecedented funding for new areas of IoT research. Consequently, for any practising engineer, it is absolutely essential to understand the IoT platforms developed for major players such as AWS, Google, and particularly Microsoft.
However, none of the aforementioned platforms offer an exhaustive or entirely comprehensive solution for scalable IoT. For instance, deploying smart metering to millions of homes requires additional technologies to secure the smart meters, radio networks, IoT management technology, and many other secured services. The strategy, pricing, and security of any IoT deployment must be optimal and acceptable. Given the vast amount of interdisciplinary knowledge required, it is almost impossible for any company to assemble a team capable of meeting all these requirements.
This course is a modest attempt to educate key decision-makers, developers, and security experts on the challenges, risks, and practical approaches to deploying IoT for their next-generation power utility business.
Furthermore, with scalable deployments, managing IoT services for thousands of sensors and connections is emerging as a separate field of engineering research. This area, formerly known as managed IoT services, is experiencing rapid growth as the challenges for scalable IoT are far greater than merely building them. This includes securing over-the-top firmware/software updates, managing sensor and system calibration, auto-diagnosing connection issues, identifying the root cause of API failures, and tracking the hardware and service health of distributed systems.
Course objectives
The main objective of the course is to introduce emerging technological options, platforms, and case studies of IoT implementation in Power Utility Companies, including Smart Metering, Smart Cars, SHM (Structural Health Monitoring), Power Quality Diagnosis, and Smart Contracts. Participants will receive a basic introduction to all IoT elements: Mechanical, Electronics/sensor platforms, Wireless and wireline protocols, Mobile to Electronics integration, Mobile to enterprise integration, Data-analytics, and control plane applications.
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IoT Technology Stacks: Devices, Gateways, Edge, Edge Cloud, Public Cloud, IoT databases, Web & Mobile Applications for IoT, Centralized vs Decentralized IoT
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IoT ecosystem for Business, third-party device management, and risk management of the entire IoT ecosystem
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M2M Wireless protocols for IoT: WiFi, SigFox, LORA, LPWAN, Zigbee/Zwave, Bluetooth, ANT+: When and where to use each one
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Fundamentals of IoT Gateways: Risks, Management, and Ecosystem
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Mobile/Desktop/Web apps for registration, data acquisition, and control – Available M2M data acquisition platforms for IoT: AWS IoT, Azure IoT, Google IoT
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Security issues and solutions for IoT: A review of the security of all technology stacks
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Enterprise IoT platforms such as Microsoft Azure IoT suites, AWS IoT, Google IoT, Siemens MindSphere
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Smart Metering, Open Smart Grid Protocols (OSGP), ANSI C2.18 Protocols, NIST Standard for HAN (Home Area Network), Home Plug Powerline Alliance, Security Standard for Smart Meter: IEC 62056
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Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) such as Blockchain, HyperLedger, and DAG (Directed Acyclic Graph) for smart contracts, P2P transactions, and smart car charging
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IoT for critical infrastructure like Dams, Transformers, Sub-stations, and High Tension Wires
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