oa Smart grid opportunities for Qatar

Smart Grid Opportunities for Qatar Summary Smart grid is defined as the next generation of the electricity grid that meets the following objectives (according to a recent NETL study funded by the DOE in the USA): * Enabling informed participation by customers * Accommodating all generation and storage options * Enabling new products, services, and markets * Providing the power quality for the range of needs in the 21st century economy * Optimizing asset utilization and operating efficiently * Addressing disturbances through automated prevention, containment, and restoration * Operating resiliently against all hazards. This paper will explore each of the above objectives focusing on some generic technical issues and challenges, as well as some specific circumstances defined by geopolitical and strategic Qatar enablers. The generic technical issues will focus on the technology, new applications and implementation issues related to smart grid solutions. The technology discussion will focus on advanced sensors, communications, data processing, and visualization solutions that are relevant to the new smart grid applications. Topics that will be discussed are big data and their role in smart grids, as well as the importance of cloud computing and pervasive web applications. Special attention will be placed on the issues of interoperability and standardization. The discussion of applications will be related to advancements in outage management, asset management and demand side management. The implementation issues will focus on the IT infrastructure, availability of good power system models, and future trends in EMS/DMS deployment. Special attention will be placed on the cyber-physical security and privacy issues in smart grid deployments. The specific Qatar circumstances that will be of interest are the ability to exploit the solar energy and to introduce large scale use of electrical vehicles, as well as an ability to provide hardened power grid for ultimate reliability and security of power supply to the end customers. Integration of such solutions into the existing power grid in Qatar will also be discussed. The research issues that need to be pursued to better understand circumstances of how to get the best use out of such advanced technologies will be the final point of the paper. The paper will end with some examples of smart cities developed around the world to offer an inspiration about possible smart grid projects in Qatar. Examples of recent developments in the USA, Europe and the Far East (Korea, Japan and China) will be mentioned as examples. The need to define unique Qatar approach to the smart grid development will be emphasized at the end.