Enhancing Smart Grids via Advanced Metering Infrastructure and Fog Computing Fusion

Syed Rameez Ullah Kakakhel, Aron Kondoro, Tomi Westerlund, Imed Ben Dhaou, Juha Plosila


The smart grid is a new generation of the power grid that incorporates advanced features such as distributed ener-gy resources, two-way communication and situation awareness. It is not just energy that is exchanged between consumers and producers but information. An efficient and robust smart grid requires efficient and robust com-munication and computation infrastructure to carry and process the associated data. We provide an overview of the possibilities that fog computing offer for smart grids. In our investigation, the pillars of fog computing, such as decentralization, resiliency, scalability and mobility, offer a perfect match for the decentralized smart grid. Fog computing nodes, capable of communication and coordi-nation, incorporated in smart meters, will provide dis-tributed control, communication and computation. Thus, enhancing reliability, resiliency and scalability of the smart grid as more and more distributed energy resources (DERs) are added to the grid.

(Download)