By Abigail Williams, Freelance Writer
Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) networks play an increasingly important role in modern-day energy systems – and the development and roll-out of AMI 2.0 technologies by utility companies is a crucial enabling element of the ongoing transition towards net-zero energy systems.
Real-Time data
The latest generation of AMI systems, dubbed AMI 2.0, feature smart, edge-computing devices that enable real-time understanding of how energy is generated and consumed across the grid. They typically include smart meters to collect power measurements, as well as communication networks such as cellular networks or powerline communications to transmit this data, and software systems like head-end systems and meter data management systems to process and deliver this data as actionable insights.
One company engaged in the development of such systems is smart metering and infrastructure technology company Landis+Gyr, which, since the launch its Gridstream Connect scalable IoT platform in 2019, has introduced several new variants of IoT-enabled residential and industrial meters. As Nick Merricks, Head of Product Management – UK Electricity & Smart Energy at Landis+Gyr, explained, this new generation of IoT-ready smart meters offers “advanced metering and edge intelligence to support DSOs in maintaining a safe, reliable, and efficient grid.”
“The new industrial and grid meters offer powerful modules for grid-edge control and voltage regulation,” he said, adding that “recent updates to our head-end systems and meter data management systems will prepare utilities to move their AMI systems into the cloud.”
The company has also developed solutions such as Grid-Flex Control for flexibility management, and a power quality monitoring service for ensuring quality of supply. Following the acquisition of Etrel, Landis+Gyr now also offers interactive EV charging solutions to help utilities and charging station operators safely manage EV charging loads while also allowing consumers to have what Merricks describes as a “direct positive impact on the environment.”
On the cybersecurity front, Merricks added that the company recently acquired Rhebo so it could “extend its AMI security offering beyond the security of its devices, systems and services by offering device agnostic threat and anomaly detection across a multi-vendor AMI ecosystem.”
Critical insights
Elsewhere, Ty Roberts, VP of Product Marketing – Networked Solutions at Itron, said that a significant recent development at the company has been the incorporation of next-generation meters, analytics, and applications capable of “providing a level of visibility and control in the low and medium-voltage grid that was previously unavailable.”
“The amount of data that the meters gather and report back to utilities has also advanced exponentially. Residential meters were previously read once per month, which shifted to once per hour, and now next-generation residential meters can be read 4,000 times per second. Our Distributed Intelligence (DI)-enabled smart meters have multiple channels for up to 32,000 measurements per second,” he said.
By pushing data analysis and control capabilities to the edge of the distribution network, Roberts said that Itron can now also analyze large amounts of data across the grid, “prioritizing critical insights and decision-making when and where it is needed most.” He observed that utility operators can then isolate the precise location of grid events like outages or safety problems and provide data directly to customers or third parties. Peer-to-peer communication also allows smart meters “to work together to make informed decisions about grid conditions, reporting critical insights to utility operators.”
Another key advance with next-generation AMI is high impedance detection – and Roberts revealed that Itron’s DI smart meters can detect impedance issues occurring between the transformer and the meter. This means that the cumulative impedance of the meter base, the wiring to and from the home, and the transformer winding resistance can all be calculated daily.
“The utility can identify high-resistance splices, damaged meter sockets, or even a tree contact on the cable using that impedance before an outage takes place. This has been a highly anticipated advancement for meters and can enhance safety by preventing fires and other unsafe grid conditions,” said Roberts.
“The ability for the systems to retrieve, analyze, and share data has evolved into more knowledge of what is happening at the edge. This information may be utilized to pinpoint areas for increasing energy efficiency, as well as to more rapidly identify and address power outages and other system irregularities,” he adds.
Holistic understanding
For Rob Hartway, Senior Director – Digital Solutions at Honeywell Smart Energy and Thermal Solutions, the unification of data from disparate devices and systems provides a more holistic understanding of not only ‘what’ is happening, but also ‘why’ – as well as of how best to optimize to meet reliability, safety, productivity, and sustainability targets. Recent advances in AMI 2.0 at Honeywell have focused on expanded data gathering and processing power, which Hartway said allows for “significantly more grid information monitoring.”
“Examples include advanced power quality measurement at every electric meter and adding pressure and temperature monitoring to every smart gas meter,” he said. Hartway added that the intelligence at each meter means they can make decisions autonomously.
“More flexible communication [also] opens a range of system and data collection choices. It eases integration, increases interoperability across the entire system, and lowers total cost of ownership. Advanced analytics also allows deeper insights,” he said.
“Our cybersecurity technology – leveraging quantum computing – allows utilities to deploy these more intelligent and capable devices into the field safely,” he said.
Meanwhile, Derl Rhoades, Director of Electric Metrology at Sensus, a Xylem brand, said that, since the early days of AMI in 2005 to its current sixth generation meter, the company is “always evolving.”
“Our second-generation network protocol enables all generations to work harmoniously on the same system – and the Stratus IQ+ residential meter combines grid edge intelligence with precise energy measurement,” he said.
According to Rhoades, the “software-defined metrology” of this meter “significantly improves” efficiency, cost saving and safety capabilities. Some key software-defined metrology features include: loss of neutral, power quality (harmonic distortion), voltage/current sampling and meter bypass, or jump around.
“When combined with the point-to-multipoint FlexNet network, utilities can measure the impact for large energy demands, as well as seasonal changes in demands and impacts to the grid. Unique features such as phase detection enable the utilities to improve reliability and manage outages,” he said.
Evolving landscape
In support of the evolving energy landscape, Merricks said that Landis+Gyr’s next steps in developing AMI 2.0 systems involve “innovations from the grid edge to the cloud.”
“Smart meters will feature advanced edge computing as we build towards distributed grid automation and flexibility management. In the cloud, our partnership with Google will leverage their expertise in cloud computing, AI, and machine learning to enhance the capabilities of our AMI solutions,” he said.
As Merricks explained, this will lead to improved efficiency, reliability, and sustainability of energy networks, along with “a deeper understanding of customers’ energy needs for personalized and responsive services.”
“[We] will also continue to innovate in end-to-end AMI security to address the expanded threat surfaces that come with the convergence of utilities’ operational and ICT systems,” he adds.
Moving forward, Hartway said Honeywell will continue to assist its customers with “efficient and effective future-proof solutions.” In doing so, he notes that a wide variety of Honeywell smart meters, including the A4 electric meter line and the AC-250NXS next generation smart gas meter, both support integrated cellular connectivity. The A4 meter line is a single platform for revenue and power quality metering applications that combines processing power for advanced grid applications, delivering real-time data insights and edge intelligence, as well as ‘capacity to grow with future grid applications.”
“The Honeywell Next-Generation Cellular Module (NXCM) allows utilities to upgrade their legacy gas and water meter investments into smart meters without requiring additional infrastructure. This technology allows utility companies to create a smarter network without replacing the existing one,” he said.
“While the next generation smart meters are the eyes and the ears of the utility distribution system, it is the next generation of software and analytics — leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning, powered by quantum computing — that provide the brain that ultimately helps the utility transcend traditional business models through smarter insights, greater optimization, increased reliance, and enhanced safety,” he said. “Through constant research and development, our scientists are innovating both incrementally and disruptively,” Hartway added.
Resilience
Meanwhile, by helping utilities improve operations with advanced digital solutions, Rhoades believes that Sensus is “ushering in the energy transition for grid resilience.”
“We are looking ahead to data disaggregation and how Xylem technology can detect when solar panels are in use returning energy, or an electric vehicle is charging and using energy all from the grid edge. This data will help with grid distribution management and will serve to educate consumers about peak load times,” he said.
In the coming years, Itron’s Roberts predicts that the future of AMI will focus on predictive analytics, continued high impedance detection, electric vehicle integration, embedded computing chips, and near continuous sampling rates.
“Predictive analytics has been a perpetual problem for utility companies, and the next generation of meters will focus on this capability,” he said.
“Technology is moving towards the ability for identification of power quality issues or voltage notching. The systems will analyze data to predict and minimize the impact of major grid incidents by improving the utility’s ability to harden the grid, anticipate impacts of severe weather, and improve the overall health and performance of grid infrastructure,” he added.
“As we continue to move towards net-zero, we expect AMI systems to adapt to the use of more renewable energy sources. They will also continue to meet customer needs and move grid management forward,” said Roberts.
About the Author
Abigail Williams is a freelance journalist based in Cardiff, specializing in business, science and technology. Her work has appeared in a wide range of publications, including Physics World, Chemistry World, SpaceNews and Robotics Business Review.
