PLC « EMR Health Alliance of BC

The design of the electric power distributor AES Eletropaulo for deployment of 62,000 smart meters in the city of Barueri, in the metropolitan region of São Paulo, aims not only to rehearse a future large-scale expansion of the smart grid, but also test a hybrid technology of communication – for now, without direct participation of telecom operators. The company is testing a completely proprietary and dedicated network, understanding that the data platform of telcos does not offer service quality assurance (SLA).

The solution, developed in conjunction with Cisco and eat WEG vendor contracts, Itron and Siemens, is a mixture of transmission mains (PLC) and radio frequency in Mesh Network low power and IPv6 protocol, the standard 6LoWPAN. In addition, the power distributor will lease the old optical backbone AES Atimus now TIM, and even WiMAX technology with equipment on poles.

At the first level, TIM’s fiber backbone interconnects Eletropaulo Operations Center with the substations. The tips, the distributor had intended to connect the automatic circuit reclosers, which act in the electric grid. The WiMAX technology was chosen, that will be used with the unlicensed frequencies of 5.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz, depending on each region. “We needed to then define what the technology we would use the meter to communicate these meters to our network. We wanted to have the characteristic of innovation, because it is a research and development project,” says the director of AES Eletropaulo, Maria Tereza Vellano.

The choice of the mesh was 915 MHz radio frequencies in conjunction with the PLC which, in most cases, serve as redundancy for guaranteed access. “One of the challenges we had was to call the suppliers with all the meter features such as remote reading, cutting, prepayment features, and still have the hybrid communication,” he says, citing the WEG, Siemens and Itron. “At the same time, need concentrators, routers, to interface with WiMAX, and this was done with Cisco, together with Fitec (providing R & D services), it advises on the communication” says Maria Tereza.

Carriers are not discarded

The transmission via WiMAX substation to the routers is done with the use of towers and poles, which go through the same installation process and obtaining licenses. Some towers reach 60 m in height, taking advantage of the stations that AES Eletropaulo has, as the posts are lower, with smaller antennas, and built (and patented) in a modular fashion, with installation and maintenance easier. The director says that the use of unlicensed frequency at 5 GHz was an option to be able to test the project before the wider roll-out. “We have a group of distributors that are already seeing this (the Anatel) to have often licensed to companies using smart grid. We are part of a working group to have better security in the frequency range that the distribution as a whole, will use because we are talking about large volume data transmission, “he said.

The relationship with operators, however, is not ruled out. According to her, the telcos begin to prepare to also provide the service for energy distribution. “We will only grow with smart grids if the telecom sector to grow together,” assures Maria Tereza. She explains that the telemetry project is done with GPRS, but believes that there needs to be higher quality and SLA assurance that communication.

The project has yet flaw detector with network autoconfiguration features with self-healing and related systems for measurement, such as the management of devices with MDM platform, and advanced network infrastructure (RMI), with Cisco routers. “The idea is to replace all analog meters Barueri from the end of next year, because the new need to be approved. Our concern is to make the whole system to interconnect and function optimally, learn how to make monitoring network, whether it is internal or we hire third parties, “she says, also citing the need for integration with legacy system distributor.

He stopped standing

The intention of Eletropaulo is out of the pilot phase to have a more concrete project in a metropolitan area with representation and scale in the area that has a concession. “If you consider all that is needed to have a smart grid, the value is high to calculate the return, only the gaps in this particular region, such as communication, exchange of smart meters, telecommunications management system;. And this Barueri project stopped standing, was positive, with quality indicators and loss reduction, “said Maria Tereza.

The initiative is expected to be closed in 2017 to validate the assumptions and define the business model, although depending on regulatory definitions for tariff morticidade of public meters and policies for the company to check the viability of investments – the project Capex current, R $ 29 million in contracts and R $ 75 million, is part of an R & D program of the National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel), funded by Finep. “For a wider roll-out, we need clearer rules,” complains Maria Tereza. “Today, what is guaranteed is Barueri have all maintenance with suppliers as partners, but for the entire company, for the entire concession area, this will change, and even open the business opportunity to other players and their own utilities to provide specific services in this area, “he says. “Business is not going to have smart grid, but when it will be.”

http://convergecom.com.br/teletime/28/11/2014/projeto-da-aes-eletropaulo-em-barueri-aposta-em-frequencias-nao-licenciadas/

New Itron OpenWay Riva ‘Smart’ Meters Combine RF Mesh, PLC and Wi-Fi Communications and Poll Data Once per Second

Posted on November 11, 2015by SkyVision Solutions

At the recent European Utility Week, Itron provided a demonstration of its new OpenWay Riva ‘smart’ meter.

SkyVision Solutions has several concerns with this new ‘smart’ meter. First, the Itron representative made mention that the new meter polls data once per second. The frequency of this data collection would enable the ultimate in consumer privacy invasions in that the more frequent the data collection, the more precise one can analyze exactly what is going on inside the home. Here are some selected quotes from the video provided below:

“This is not your grandmother’s smart meter.”

“We’re working on 1-second data. … Forget the 15-minute polling. … 15 minutes or an hour is an eternity from an electrical perspective.”

“When 15 years ago [utilities] moved from electromechanical meters to electronic meters, they thought that was a revolution. But this is 10-times that.”

“These [meters] are really moving away from being billing devices to being intelligent devices, … intelligent devices that one of the things they do is … billing.”

https://smartgridawareness.org/2015/11/11/itron-riva-meters-combine-rf-mesh-plc-and-wifi/

Itron Riva – Industrial IoT Platform for Utilities

https://itronriva.com

References

CPL: Courant Porteur en Ligne

PLC: PowerLine Communication

PLT: PowerLine Telecommunication

PPC: Power Plus Communications

ITRON Riva : PLC (Powerline Communication) board extends mesh network via power lines

EMR Health Alliance of BC

Electromagnetic Radiation in Western Canada

PLC

Health effects of wired PLC electrical meters

Driven Out By Power Line Signals

FCC finds power line communication exceeds radiation limit

Wired PLC Utility Meter Issues

Where are PLC Smart Meter Networks?

Difference Between PLC and RF for Smart-Meter Backhaul?

Maine utility admits smart meters cause interference

“Smart Meters are interfering with a wide range of household electronic devices, from garage door openers and WiFi devices to security systems.”

Project of AES Eletropaulo in Barueri bet on unlicensed frequencies

New Itron OpenWay Riva ‘Smart’ Meters Combine RF Mesh, PLC and Wi-Fi Communications and Poll Data Once per Second

Itron Riva – Industrial IoT Platform for Utilities

References

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