Electric utilities globally are being compelled to upgrade their existing distribution and transmission systems because of the rising demand for load by residential, commercial and industrial customers. For example, the industry is seeing 6-MW spot load demand by 100% electric bus fleet depots in megacities such as New Delhi, India. In addition, customers and regulators increasingly are concerned about the reliability and resilience of distribution systems, making additional investments likely to meet these expectations. However, the cost of implementing these system upgrades may not be justifiable in the short term, considering the short duration of peak loads or low frequency of extreme events and outages. Therefore, non-wire alternatives (for example, distribution energy storage systems) and microgrids are becoming more attractive for utilities and their customers.
As these grid edge devices scale from hundreds to thousands to millions, they are more challenging and difficult to connect and control in near real time. Controller hardware in the loop (CHIL) and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) also play a role in the evolution of the power grid, especially in distribution systems with large renewable energy integration and adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), thereby reducing the risks of implementing advanced distributed energy resource (DER) control technologies.
The grid edge consists of different types of residential, commercial and industrial customers, including EV fleets. They deploy different types of flexible loads and DERs, such as manufacturing machines, heat pumps, pool pumps, light-duty and heavy-duty vehicles, solar and battery storage. Depending on their operational requirements and use cases, the control strategies for these loads and DERs may be very different. Following are several case studies on different strategies being used around the globe to scale and control grid edge devices.
The Faroe Islands
The North Atlantic may not be the most straightforward starting point for achieving 100% carbon-neutral electricity production by 2030. However, an overhaul of the energy landscape on Faroe Islands and an innovative approach to energy management is putting that target within reach. With a historical reliance on oil-fired power plants, the islands are increasingly being powered by wind, hydropower and, soon perhaps, even tidal energy. The electric utility serving the islands, SEV is implementing a virtual power plant (VPP) solution to enhance grid flexibility — using EVs as a core asset for load balancing and relying on renewable energy when it is available.
The shift to renewable energy presents challenges and opportunities for SEV. One challenge is maintaining grid stability with intermittent energy sources like wind and solar. This has led the Faroe Islands to pursue a strategy of complementary energy sources, such as wind, solar, hydro and tidal energy. Energy storage solutions, such as battery systems and hydropower dams, also play a key role, as do advanced grid management and real-time monitoring systems.
Today, EVs represent roughly 2000 out of 28,000 privately owned vehicles on the Faroe Islands. That number is expected to rise exponentially. The same applies to the use of electric heat pumps. Early on, SEV recognized the need to activate EVs in support of the grid and renewable energy. This led to partnering with True Energy A/S, a Landis+Gyr company, and activating EVs as energy assets that support flexibility and grid needs. For example, EV charging sessions can be spread throughout the night, when overall electricity consumption is at its lowest, enabling SEV to reduce grid strain.
SEV has deployed Landis+Gyr’s advanced AMI, smart EV charging solutions and combines them with AMI-integrated distributed energy resource management systems (DERMS). This integration enables SEV to coordinate and manage DERs, including EVs, heat pumps and other renewable assets in real time. Integrating these energy assets into the grid as flexible resources makes it possible to adjust energy loads dynamically, thereby increasing stability, efficiency and resilience.
Bengaluru, India
The growing electricity demand from both EV charging and data center development is surpassing all expectations, resulting in the need to locate these loads strategically. These challenges are emerging in certain global geographies, including the Americas and India. Landis+Gyr is currently engaged with Tata Motors on a proof of concept for a fleet electrification project in Bengaluru, India. India’s largest commercial vehicle manufacturer, Tata Motors has accelerated Bengaluru’s transportation electrification with the delivery of Starbus EVs to Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corp. (BMTC). A Tata Motors subsidiary, TML Smart City Mobility Solutions Ltd. and BMTC have begun operation of 921 electric buses.
A study by the India Smart Grid Federation (ISGF) on the planning and rollout of EV charging infrastructure in Bengaluru concluded the increment in EV charging stations beyond the network’s existing capacity would increase power losses and overloading situations. The feeders mentioned in the study were found overloaded and struggling with multiple undervoltage low-tension lines. Landis+Gyr and TML Smart City Mobility Solutions are collaborating to deploy an advanced e-depot management system to mitigate grid impacts from large fleet loads at the depot, while at the same time ensuring the electric buses are charged when needed and can maintain their operations.
A related case study involves the local energy provider in Manchester, UK, deploying an AMI infrastructure and commercial energy management system at a Landis+Gyr microgrid in the UK. This unique system has edge computing capability in the smart meters that is processing large amounts of grid and energy use data, while disaggregating loads and using advanced artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to optimize and control loads and DERs on-site. The site also can sell power back to the grid when accessing solar generation.
U.S. National Renewable Energy Lab
As the penetration of these grid edge devices increases, utilities increasingly are facing challenges to scale the ability to control these devices in real time, to maintain grid reliability and resiliency. With advanced AI automation and DER management capabilities being fairly new to the industry and utilities, research labs are still in the process of determining the technology readiness and cybersecurity aspects when these technologies are implemented at scale.
Landis+Gyr and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL) Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems (ARIES) are collaborating to develop a strategic experimental setup for integrating advanced metering infrastructure with next-generation capabilities into NREL ARIES project research assets. To meet the objective of ARIES in developing large-scale grid emulation infrastructure, comprising a large number and diversity of devices, work has been ongoing to include up to 5000 grid edge devices. This effort will enable researchers to evaluate the evolution of the power grid, particularly in distribution systems with significant renewable energy integration and adoption of EVs.
To add further variety to the relevant devices, it is proposed to include AMI — a research-ready infrastructure comprising 200 smart meters with enhanced functionalities — alongside 5000 CHIL devices at ARIES. These CHIL devices are capable of emulating grid edge devices, including EVs, building automation systems and distribution automation systems. The CHIL devices can emulate the operational behavior of grid devices while maintaining connections with other grid edge devices through their native communication protocols.
To establish a real-world environment in a control laboratory setting and understand the interactions, NREL will leverage the real emulation of grid edge assets by using CHIL for actual assets like AMI, distribution relays and protection systems. Where actual assets do not exist, the laboratory will capture the characterization from emulation through transfer functions to model the dynamics and nonlinearity of the operation accurately.
This setup will enable researchers at NREL ARIES and its industry collaborators to engage in rapid prototyping and technology validation related to advanced metering/smart meter and DER management technologies.
Using sophisticated hardware in the loop, Landis+Gyr AMI and DERMS technologies, and virtual emulation infrastructure, NREL can develop an emulation environment that replicates the power grid with millions of edge devices. This setup will allow for the testing of hundreds of utility use cases and de-risking technology deployments before field implementation.
Valuable Insights
As utilities and grid operators across the globe look to achieve carbon neutrality, three valuable insights can be gleaned from the case studies shared:
- l Implement real-time data monitoring — Tracking energy demand and production in real time enables utilities to make dynamic adjustments, ensuring energy resources are efficiently distributed, match consumption, and support optimal grid performance and stability.
- l Adopt edge intelligence and smart grid technologies — With edge intelligence and other smart grid technologies, utilities can more effectively gather, analyze high frequency data and control grid edge assets, while adapting to changing grid conditions to maintain grid reliability.
- l Integrate DERs — DERs such as solar panels, wind turbines and battery storage decentralize energy production, increasing the resilience and flexibility of the grid while reducing reliance on centralized power plants.
In addition to these insights, the following strategies can be replicated in other locations globally:
- l Deploy advanced data analytics tools that integrate with the grid to collect real-time information on energy flows, demand and renewable production levels.
- l Use predictive algorithms to forecast demand surges and renewable output, enabling proactive grid management.
- l Integrate demand-response systems and DERMS that can shift consumption patterns based on data insights.
- l Upgrade legacy grid infrastructure with smart meters and sensors that enable bidirectional communication between the grid, consumers and DERs.
- l Enable distributed intelligence by deploying edge computing at critical points within the grid to process data locally and rapidly adjust energy flows.
- l Invest in cybersecurity protocols to protect smart grid systems from digital threats, ensuring safe and reliable grid operations.l Implement VPPs that aggregate DERs and manage them collectively, enabling smoother integration of renewable energy onto the grid.
- l Build a robust DER management platform to effectively connect, aggregate, analyze and control DERsl
- l Offer financial incentives or rebates to encourage consumers to adopt DER technologies, ensuring widespread penetration in decentralized assets and power systems.
Editor’s note: The use cases shared in this article will be presented in detail at the upcoming IEEE PES Grid Edge Conference 2025 in San Diego, California, U.S. Refer to the sessions on “Solving Renewables and EV Grid Integration Challenges by Using AI and Edge to Enterprise Platforms” and “Lessons Learnt from Implementing EV Charging Technologies for Residential and Fleet Use Cases Globally.”
