Tackling the challenges of the smart grid

Description

It has been reported that as we age we use both hemispheres of our brain, something called bilateralisation, enabling us to ‘see the bigger picture’. Younger brains might be able to problem solve faster on one issue, but they lack the broader view. The grid today is sadly an ‘old body’ and there is a global effort to keep it operational and to get it ‘smarter’. Early innovations focused on asset-specific monitoring and condition monitoring, and all the data was centralised. Latterly, multi-agent research in the energy sector has sought to distribute the intelligence within the energy network. My view is that the key to success in smart grid management is actually based on a fusion of smart monitoring technologies, distributed intelligence and centralised operational support.