The proliferation of connected devices is reshaping industries, with power utilities being no exception. Power utility companies currently face four primary challenges driven by the expansion of the Internet of Things (IoT):
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Vendors are increasingly connecting machines, controllers, Human-Machine Interfaces (HMI), and SCADA systems to the cloud, promising enhanced analytics and insights for predictive and preventative maintenance. However, strict quarantine policies for critical assets prevent power companies from fully leveraging these IoT features offered by machine and controller vendors.
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As the cost of solar and wind power microgrids continues to fall, utility companies are projected to experience a decline in revenue from traditional power generation. To offset this loss, companies must aggressively pursue new revenue streams such as Energy Management as a Service, Energy Storage as a Service, and grid services for EV charging and peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading between homes, microgrids, and batteries. Facilitating these transactions requires smart metering, smart grids, and secure operations 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 on Large Dams) mandates real-time Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) to detect impending collapse risks in dams, rock formations, or tunnels, allowing for early evacuation of affected populations.
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Another emerging revenue opportunity lies in EV charging within parking facilities. IoT can facilitate smart charging and smart parking solutions to address this need.
Over the past three years, IoT engineering has undergone significant transformations, largely driven by tech giants Microsoft, Google, and Amazon. These companies have invested billions in developing IoT platforms that are easier to manage and more secure. Additionally, IoT edge computing has gained substantial momentum in both research and deployment as the primary means for practical IoT implementation. The advent of 5G promises to further transform the IoT business landscape, leading to unprecedented funding for new IoT research areas. Consequently, it is essential for practicing engineers to understand IoT platforms developed for major players like AWS, Google, and particularly Microsoft.
However, none of these platforms provide an exhaustive or fully comprehensive solution for scalable IoT. Deploying smart metering across millions of homes requires additional technologies for securing smart meters, radio networks, IoT management tools, and other secure services. The strategy, pricing, and security of any IoT deployment must be optimized and acceptable. Given the interdisciplinary knowledge required, it is nearly impossible for a single company to assemble a team capable of meeting all these demands.
This course aims to educate key decision-makers, developers, and security experts on the challenges, risks, and practical methods for deploying IoT in next-generation power utility businesses.
Furthermore, with scalable deployments, managing IoT services for thousands of sensors and connections has emerged as a distinct engineering discipline. This area, formerly known as managed IoT services, is experiencing rapid growth because the challenges of scalable IoT extend beyond initial construction. These challenges include securing over-the-top firmware/software updates, managing sensor and system calibration, auto-diagnosing connection issues, identifying root causes of API failures, and tracking hardware and service health in distributed systems.
Course objectives
The main objective of this 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. It provides a basic introduction to all IoT elements, including mechanical aspects, 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 and mobile applications for IoT, centralized vs. decentralized IoT.
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The 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/Z-Wave, Bluetooth, ANT+: Understanding when and where to use each protocol.
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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. Overview of available M2M data acquisition platforms for IoT, such as AWS IoT, Azure IoT, and Google IoT.
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Security issues and solutions for IoT, including a review of security across all technology stacks.
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Enterprise IoT platforms such as Microsoft Azure IoT Suite, AWS IoT, Google IoT, and Siemens MindSphere.
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Smart Metering, Open Smart Grid Protocols (OSGP), ANSI C12.18 Protocols, NIST Standard for HAN (Home Area Network), HomePlug Powerline Alliance, and Smart Meter Security Standard (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 applications for critical infrastructure such as dams, transformers, substations, and high-tension wires.
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