Are the Current Smart Grid Concepts Likely to Offer a Complete Smart Grid Solution?

Abstract

At present, the structure of power systems is greatly changing due to the pe-netration of decentralized generations. Although they encompass a high flex-ibility potential, their large-scale penetration interferes with the power system operation at all voltage levels. To get rid of this flaw and exploit their flexibili-ty, different concepts like Virtual Power Plants, Microgrids and Cellular Ap-proach have been introduced but still no solution is in sight. Under these con-ditions, it seems quite intriguing to find out whether these concepts are likely to offer a complete solution or not. This paper presents ten criteria to assess the complete Smart Grid solution and introduces a comprehensive evaluation system based on cloud-charts. The paper looks into the already existing solu-tions, which are respectively based on Virtual Power Plants, Microgrids and Cellular Approach concepts. The investigations have shown that none of these solutions meets all criteria necessary for a complete Smart Grid solution. Even a combination of different criteria fails to yield the desired results.