Consumers have increasingly come to expect uninterrupted power. In her article, Mae Kowalke explains why, in order to keep pace with this demand, power utilities should start turning to the power of the smart grids. She explains how the key to smart grids is a dynamic communications network and shows that, despite the cost involved in upgrading to a smart grid, Alcatel-Lucent has proved that the cost savings can more than compensate for the investment.

“The financial benefits can easily exceed $100 million over a 10-year period according to a Utilities Telecom Council (UTC) research paper. Although the cost of implementation is significant, the Net Present Value (NPV) of the project is a positive $292.7 million and the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) is calculated at 13.8 percent, or 55.5 percent after customer satisfaction is factored in, calculated Alcatel-Lucent in its paper.”

Read the article at:
http://next-generation-communications.tmcnet.com/topics/dynamic-enterprise/articles/322896-dynamic-communications-smart-way-power-utilities-optimize-smart.htm

If you still ask ‘why an IP/MPLS Network Makes Sense for Smart Grids’, we strongly advise you to read the latest TechZine’s article and the explanation of Fai Lam, Director, Portfolio Marketing, Alcatel-Lucent.

Although the implementation of a smart grid means different things to each power utility, the need to extend reach and performance to optimize real-time applications that drive smarter energy management and usage is common to all power utilities.  Fai Lam explains why the choice of an IP/MPLS network makes perfect sense, from minimizing CAPEX and OPEX through to providing access and information to consumers in order to enable them to make informed energy consumption decisions.

Read the article at:
http://www2.alcatel-lucent.com/techzine/why-an-ipmpls-network-makes-sense-for-smart-grids/

Most of us are used to the many conveniences of the modern world. We rarely give a thought to the electricity needed to power the appliances, equipment, and machinery behind these conveniences. But when experiencing a power outage, we often feel like the world has come to a standstill.

I live in an area where many new housing developments are placing a heavy demand on the local electric grid. There was a local power failure recently that affected a large part of the neighborhood. Thankfully due to my mobile device, I was not totally disconnected. But instead of enjoying the downtime, I found myself getting anxious as many services and information were no longer readily accessible.

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During a bit of idle, late night surfing, I came across (as you do), the inventor of modern-day toothpaste. Of course, ancient Egyptians cleaned their teeth with some kind of paste, and the Chinese invented the toothbrush. But apparently it was left to pharmacist Ottomar Heinsius von Mayenburg, from Dresden in the German state of Saxony, to take the techniques that came before and apply them in a new and wholly improved way: a paste that not only cleaned and protected teeth, but also made your breath smell nice!

Other innovations coming from Saxony, so the internet assures me, include the first daily newspaper, the video telegraph, European porcelain, the beer mat and the coffee filter. I’ll let historians argue about the exact truth of these claims, but one thing seems clear to me: that the people of Saxony seem to enjoy pushing the boundaries, doing things a little differently, and ultimately coming up with something better.

Personally, I’d now add to that list of pioneers desaNet, a 100% subsidiary of ENSO, an energy provider in Germany’s Saxony. It looks to me like desaNet have made a smart move by deciding to do things a little differently in order to improve the way they manage their communications.

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Today, the 4G technology called Long Term Evolution (LTE) is gaining lot of traction counting already more than 80 LTE commercial services, and another 144 expected to be operational by the end of 2012 as reported by The Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) in June 2012. So after the excitement and massive adoption by telcos, how will the power utilities market react? What will be the place of LTE technology in their communication choices? Could its features really help to improve their operations and create new business opportunites?

In the article “Cutting the Wires: 4G for the Smart Grid” in Land Mobile magazine, Peter Johnson, energy market expert with Alcatel-Lucent, helps answer these questions by first assessing the opportunities for LTE systems in the utility industry around the world. While examining the technical properties of LTE, and its potential for Smart Grids everywhere, the article gives some insights on what the future of power utilities could look like with the right business case, a suitable deployment model and some LTE-compatible spectrum. Enjoy the read and discover the LTE demos at the Alcatel-Lucent booth at the Transmission & Distribution / Smart Grid Europe 2012 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

By Michael Roney

What’s the most impressive thing about a UTelco business, when a utility leverages assets to provide its service area with data, voice and video services?

Is it the fact that a UTelco can provide a new revenue source in tough times, or a way for a utility to fund its smart grid investments? It also can reduce a utility’s overall operational costs, so that’s pretty impressive as well. Of course, a UTelco also provides a way for a utility to keep and strengthen its business relationships with its largest customers, providing a compelling “one-stop-shop” for power and telecom services.

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We’re pleased to announce that Mark Madden, Regional Vice President for Utility Markets in Alcatel-Lucent’s Americas Region, was elected this week to the board of the Utilities Telecoms Council (UTC) Smart Networks Council (SNC).  Mark has become a recognized thought leader on Smart Grid communications, drawing on 30 years of telecommunications experience and many years of helping power utilities solve their communications challenges.

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Alcatel-Lucent and Transpower New Zealand have re-signed an exclusive managed services agreement for a further three years.

Transpower owns and operates New Zealand’s high-voltage electricity transmission network – the national grid – linking electricity generators to distribution companies and major industrial users.

Alcatel-Lucent designed, and has been building, Transpower’s IP-based, fibre optic telecommunications network since 2007 and has also exclusively maintained and operated Transpower’s core telecommunications infrastructure from a dedicated Network Operations Centre in Hamilton.

According to Andrew Miller, CEO for Alcatel-Lucent New Zealand: “For the past six years we have successfully provided Transpower with the highly reliable, secure and robust communications capabilities that are needed to deliver New Zealand’s national grid. We are excited to continue this partnership for another three years and help Transpower meet the evolving electricity needs of New Zealand.”

Transpower’s IP-based communications network features key components of Alcatel-Lucent’s mission-critical utility solutions portfolio. It gives Transpower access to advanced capabilities for transporting voice, video and data applications between sites, as well as providing scalable network architecture based on Alcatel-Lucent’s service routing and optical networking portfolios including the 7710 SR, 5620 Service Aware manager and Optical Multi-Service Node systems, to accommodate future applications.

Under the contract, Alcatel-Lucent is responsible for Transpower’s core telecommunications infrastructure life cycle management, including operations and maintenance of the multi-vendor network.

For further information please contact: Bryony Hilless – bryony.hilless@alcatel-lucent.com

In the world of electricity delivery, there’s the grid. And then there’s the smart grid. Smart is better!

By enhancing the power delivery process and collecting real-time data from within the electrical grid and from consumers, utilities can operate more efficiently and cost-effectively than ever before.

A How-To Guide “Creating Your Smart Grid” shares numerous challenges and opportunities as the transformation to a smart grid moves forward: secure, manage, integrate and extend your Smart Grid network with Communications Technology.

The smart grid promises to bring unprecedented opportunities for both utilities and consumers; improving safety, reliability, efficiency and security. And the latest communications technologies will greatly improve awareness of grid conditions in real time, for better control, management and decision-making.

This How-To Guide was created through the efforts of Global Strategic Industries Marketing,
North American Marketing and Energy SID, and was produced by Government Technology.

To download it, click here.

By Qin Yu¹, Raymond J. Johnson²

Analysts predict that a total of $200 billion will be invested globally in smart grid technologies before 2015, including development of various smart grid elements. The United States announced $11 billion in stimulus funds for the smart grid under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Deployment of “smart” technologies for sensing, monitoring, metering, communications, control, and automation is already underway. The integration of advanced communication technologies with the smart grid can lead to electromagnetic interference (EMI), as well as safety and environmental compliance issues. This represents a real need to study the impact of smart grids on communications equipment, and their EMI, safety, and environmental compliance requirements. Without appropriate compliance requirements defined, there is the potential for technologies to be developed or implemented using sizable public and private funding, without proper measures necessary to ensure performance, security, and safety. This paper provides an overview of the power grid environment, and the international standards for communications equipment. The impact of the installation environment on communications equipment in the smart grid is then addressed, with special consideration to EMI, safety, and environmental compliance requirements, standards, and testing. © 2011 Alcatel-Lucent.

READ the full article in the Bell Labs Technical issue of December 2011.