IEEE Smart Grid interoperability protocol to be launched at Metering Latin America in Sao Paulo this month

The IEEE 2030™ protocol which will support the accelerated rollout of the smart grid in Brazil is to be launched officially at the upcoming annual Metering Latin America in Sao Paulo from 25 October. The event will once again unite utilities, smart metering and smart grids experts, regulators and global technology giants during the same month that Brazil’s energy regulator Aneel will announce the first of two regulations regarding the implementation of smart meters nationwide, which will officially launch a billion dollar smart meter installation rollout in Brazil.

IEEE 2030™ is a world first
Dr Claudio Lima is MD of Sonoma Innovation and a member of the IEEE P2030 Smart Grid Standards Committee and the IEEE Smart Grid Steering Committee: “this is the world’s first end-to-end, system-of-systems, foundational standard that has been created from the ground up to inform smart grid interconnection and interoperability. There is no such standard in the world that covers smart grid from a systemic and interoperability perspective.”

Globally relevant reference model
According to Dr Lima the new IEEE 2030™ standard establishes “a globally relevant smart grid interoperability reference model and knowledge base that can be used by utilities who are developing their infrastructure roadmaps, by manufacturers who are planning smart grid systems and applications, by scientists who are conducting research, by governments who are crafting regulations and by standards-development organizations (SDOs) who are writing additional standards for the smart grid.”

He says it took approximately 2 years “in a rapidly paced development environment to create this standard. “The development of 2030™ demanded the integrated contributions of hundreds and hundreds of people from across the smart grid’s three primary disciplines: power and energy systems, communications and IT.”

Impact on Brazilian rollouts
Dr Lima explains the impact of the new protocal on the Brazilian market where many smart meter rollouts are to happen soon: “the IEEE 2030™ will provide a scalable, modular and flexible reference model for utilities, regulators, governments and companies who are developing their smart grid roadmaps. As we know, the smart grid is a large and complex system of multiple sub-system, protocols and technologies that need to communicate and interoperate. Although the smart meter is at the “heart” of a smart grid development, it is only seen as a sub-system among other entities that comprises the smart grid system, as defined by the 2030™ standard.”

He continues: “the most important impact here is to understand that the smart metering programs need to be designed from a systemic perspective, considering all other smart grid applications and sub-systems in mind to make sure that the technologies used are interoperable, based on open standards, modular, flexible and easily integrated with the smart metering/AMI solutions and others. This is what the IEEE 2030™ provides.”

Brazilian launch
According to Dr Lima the IEEE 2030™ protocal was first published on 20 September this year and the team is currently working with several governments to launch this standard globally: “it has been launched in India in September, in China, and other places around the world and in Brazil, it is expected to be launched during Metering Latin America in São Paulo on 25 October, promoted and sponsored by the local IEEE team.” The IEEE is the world's largest professional association advancing technology for humanity.

Impact on utility industry at large
Dr Lima says for the utility industry at large it means that “the utility industry now has a reference model for the grid they can use, re-use, customize, adapt and create modular and flexible designs and roadmaps to meet their particular needs and compare these designs with other utilities best-practices under the same reference model.”

Event dates and location:
25-27 October 2011
Frei Caneca Convention Center, São Paulo, Brazil

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This release was published on openPR.