IntelliGrid Architecture

The IntelliGrid Project (previously known as the IECSA Project) was sponsored by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). The project had two objectives:

1) The identification of current and future Power System Functions thus determining the Business Needs of power system operations requirements for the power system of today and in the future, including self-healing grid concepts. These power system functions were the drivers for the development of the IntelliGrid Architecture.

2) The development of the IntelliGrid Architecture which used these power system functional, configuration, and performance requirements as the basis for the information requirements necessary to support the envisioned power system of the future, building toward a Strategic Vision, using a Tactical Approach based on IntelliGrid Environments and technology independent techniques, based on Standard Technologies and Best Practices.

In addition, Guidelines and Recommendations are focused on the different users of the IntelliGrid Architecture so that they can understand the concepts presented by the IntelliGrid Architecture, and can use it effectively to pursue their respective goals.

These two objectives reflect the concept that the future energy system is really an architected blend of two infrastructures: an energy delivery infrastructure and a supporting information infrastructure. Progress is necessary within both of these infrastructures to effectively create the envisioned future energy system.

IntelliGrid Architecture Project Team

The IntelliGrid Architecture Project was developed by a large team of experts. The IntelliGrid Project was managed by General Electric, with major contributions from Utility Consulting International (UCI), SISCO, Lucent, EnerNex, Hypertek, and many Stakeholders. As seen in the figure, the process involved two types of experts: the power system function experts and the architecture experts:

1. Power System Function Experts. Described existing and future functions related to power system operations which rely on exchanging information across distributed systems. These functions were captured in narratives by power system experts and analyzed through the use of Unified Modeling Language (UML) Use Cases. Each function was deconstructed into a series of steps; each of the steps were then linked to an IntelliGrid Environment that best captured the information requirements (configuration, quality of service, security, and data management) for that step.

2. IntelliGrid Architecture Experts. Developed the IntelliGrid Architecture based on the information requirements of the power system functions, and linked the IntelliGrid Environments to the recommended state-of-the-art standards and best practices.

Figure 1: Two Primary Purposes of the IntelliGrid Project: Descriptions of Existing and Future Power System Functions and the IntelliGrid Architecture