IP/MPLS secures the journey to a net-zero emissions future

With the increasing amount of DERs coming onto the grid, upgrades to the utility’s communication network are becoming more of a priority. Dominique Verhulst, head of utilities for Nokia, writes on how, in line with this need, utilities are turning to IP/MPLS networks for their grid modernisation.

Around the world, governments, enterprises and utilities have set ambitious goals to reduce carbon emissions on their journey toward net zero in 2050. This transition from fossil fuels, which in Europe has accelerated with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is driving the electrification of transportation, home heating and cooking, agricultural production and many industrial processes from concrete to steel worldwide.

After years of nearly flat demand, the energy transition is generating a growing demand for electricity with the most inexpensive non-carbon alternatives being renewables such as solar and wind, which are reaching price parity with coal and gas in many areas of the world.

Even as utilities face new spikes in demand as transportation, households, farms and industries electrify, they are also seeing shifts in generation, especially with distributed energy resources such as rooftop solar and home storage. These new distributed generation sources create bi-directional energy flows that pose a challenge for utility grids, which need to become more flexible and dynamic to balance rapid shifts in both generation and consumption.

This will require greater intelligence and communication between nodes on the grid. Artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) will play a critical role in balancing the grid with advanced software systems that enable utilities to automate and streamline operational control. Linking these distributed energy resource management systems (DERMS) to all the nodes on the grid will also require an upgrade to the utility’s communication network.

IP/MPLS: Meeting the needs of the modern grid

With so many changes happening in the energy industry, it may come as a surprise that many utilities are turning to a communication technology that has stood the test of time for nearly a quarter of a decade. Companies, such as Ameren in the United States, Finland’s Fingrid, Spain’s Red Electrica, France’s Réseau de Transport d’Électricité (RTE) and Greece’s Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO), are just a few of the many energy companies choosing IP/MPLS networks for their grid modernisation.

One reason is IP/MPLS’ ability to support a mix of applications on the same network, both new and old, including those that previously required support on dedicated networks using legacy TDM/SONET/SDH technologies. IP/MPLS is more than capable of meeting the strict low latency demands needed for grid protection (including current differential protection), while also supporting applications such as SCADA, voice, CCTV security monitoring and many new IP-based applications.

The ability of IP/MPLS networks to provide the required performance for applications such as synchrophasor monitoring – devices that take precise measurements 120 times more frequently than was possible using SCADA – is what enables DERMS to precisely balance the grid as demand and generation rapidly shift. With its multicast abilities, IP/MPLS also supports the multiple flows of data that DERMS uses to manage the grid. IP/MPLS can also support critical voice communications and augmented reality applications for greater visibility and efficiency in operations and maintenance.

US power company Ameren, which serves 2.4 million electric and 900,000 gas customers, has seen how IP/MPLS can transform grid protection and control. The company replaced legacy leased lines over copper by rolling out a private IP/MPLS fiber network in 2017 to improve reliability for its customers. The Ameren network was used to connect hundreds of substations, operations centres and other critical locations spread across both densely populated areas, industrial cities and stretches of farmland in the states of Illinois and Missouri.

Ameren redeployed teleprotection support to the new IP/MPLS network, which provided the quality of service (QoS) required for this latency-sensitive application. By improving protection systems, substations can react more quickly to isolate faults, thereby adding resilience to the services Ameren can provide its customers. 

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Growing adoption of IP/MPLS

As utilities move away from centralised power sources and control, they need to adapt to changes in the way that power is generated and consumed. IP/MPLS allows flexibility in design and deployment and the highest resilience. This flexible approach to design includes simplifying the way connections are provisioned, with nodes automatically recognised on the network.

IP/MPLS also gives utilities the option to choose between fiber, microwave radio, private LTE or telco Ethernet services transport, so they can choose the best medium available, making it an even more attractive and easy-to-integrate solution.

As one of Europe’s leading users of renewable energy, Finnish national transmission system operator (TSO), Fingrid, was charged with finding a more agile and automated way to manage and balance new variable, bi-directional power flows. When Fingrid wanted to digitalise and automate the management of its national electricity grid to manage the growing adoption of variable DERs, such as wind, solar and bioenergy, it turned to IP/MPLS as the resilient, reliable technology.

Spanish TSO, Red Eléctrica, announced last year that it too will modernise its communications network using IP/MPLS and Dense Wave-Division Multiplexing (DWDM) optical transport to replace a legacy synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH) fiber network. This will support grid operations across 800 sites nationwide, including the Canary and Balearic Islands.

The networks will provide the Spanish utility with enhanced bandwidth and efficiencies to manage DERs such as rooftop solar and residential power storage. It will provide support for substation communications as well as low-latency transfer of IoT sensor data required for measurement, protection and control activities for SCADA systems and synchrophasors.

The French TSO, RTE, is responsible for the nation’s high-voltage transmission system, which includes more than 105,000km of lines and 50 interconnection points with neighboring countries. Balancing supply and demand on a per-second basis required RTE to invest heavily in digital technologies to make its grid smarter and capable of handling future electricity usage patterns. That investment included replacing its older PDH/SDH-based network with IP/MPLS.

This not only upgraded the network but made it possible for RTE to adopt modern IP-based smart grid applications to extend remote monitoring, control, and automation to nodes throughout its network. At the same time, it supports legacy applications such as teleprotection and differential protection. The new network supports a wide variety of use cases including IP VPN services to connect applications, assets and personnel.

Looking to the future, IP-capable networks are essential for supporting IEC 61850 standards, which will advance the digitalisation of substations and enable the deployment of smarter grid protection schemes, such as wide-area protection. And because Ethernet and IP interfaces provide latency an order of magnitude lower than that supported by TDM interfaces, TSOs like RTE can even consider using cloud computing to virtualize grid protection and control functions in the future.

Constantly evolving to tackle cybersecurity threats

Security is a major concern for any utility. As power sources become more distributed throughout the grid, ensuring security becomes more challenging. Power utilities are an essential service, keeping homes warm and lit, and our economies on track. They power industries, hospitals and other vital infrastructure. With growing cyberterrorism threats, the power industry is one of the most rigorously regulated industries in many countries.

Networks are highly scrutinised and must comply with the strictest standards and regulations around the globe such as those set by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation Critical Infrastructure Protection (NERC CIP) as well as ENISA – the European Agency for Cybersecurity. 

Since its introduction, IP/MPLS has evolved, being made more robust to tackle the growing number of cybersecurity threats. Today IP/MPLS networks boast extensive defense-in-depth (or zero trust) security features that allow utilities to combat cybersecurity threats and ensure the continuous flow of data to deliver safe, reliable power to their customers. 

Cutting complexities in an ever-changing world

It’s clear to see why more and more utilities are choosing IP/MPLS for their network transformation. In addition to its evolution over the last 20-plus years, and to remain secure as threats of cyberattacks increase, it also has the flexibility to adapt and accommodate the needs of newer, greener, distributed energy sources as they are incorporated within the power grid. It’s this reliability and scalability of IP/MPLS that will help utilities as they transition toward a net zero emissions future.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dominique Verhulst leads Nokia’s Global Energy Practice, with over 30 years of experience in the telecommunications industry. He and his team provide complete end-to-end solutions to utilities, oil&gas and mining companies.

He is the author of “Teleprotection over Packet Networks”, and co-author of several publications from the University of Strathclyde.