Deployment of power line communication by European utilities in advanced metering infrastructure

Abstract

In this paper we analyze the current deployment of the smart metering by the utilities across the European continent, which is dictated by the EU Directives (2009/72/EC and 2009/73/EC). First we discuss the rollout of smart metering in Europe and the initial finding about the deployed communication technologies. In a second phase, we focus on the position of the Power Line Communication (PLC) in the strategy of power utilities.

Cybersecurity Vulnerability Analysis of the PLC PRIME Standard

“…NB-PLC is cheap, fairly reliable, and suitable for dense areas such as cities. While RF-Mesh and Zigbee are widely used in the United States [8], NB-PLC technologies are winning momentum worldwide, especially in Europe [13].…”

“…Among the different NB-PLC standards, G3, Meters and More, and PRIME are largely deployed in Europe [13], where PRIME started its worldwide expansion in the new version of the standard, by not only supporting European CENELEC-A band, but also expanding to FCC and ARIB regulated bands for USA and Japan, respectively [14].…”

Measurements and characterization of power transformer and low voltage access network for NB‐PLC

“…Such kind of challenges can be addresses by advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) that is considered to be a cornerstone for the future smart grid (SG) . Therefore, a lot of research and development in AMI has been observed in the last decade especially in European countries such as Italy, Spain, France, United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, and Greece have installed 32, 6.4, 0.25, 1, 0.1, 3, and 0.16 millions smart meters, respectively . It is observed in the last few years that renewable energy systems (RES), distributed generation (DG), and rapidly growing ICT infrastructure are adding more complexity to the existing power grid.…”

“…3,4 Therefore, a lot of research and development in AMI has been observed in the last decade especially in European countries such as Italy, Spain, France, United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, and Greece have installed 32, 6.4, 0.25, 1, 0.1, 3, and 0.16 millions smart meters, respectively. 5,6 It is observed in the last few years that renewable energy systems (RES), distributed generation (DG), and rapidly growing ICT infrastructure are adding more complexity to the existing power grid. There is a strong need to convert the existing typical power grid to a futuristic SG by facilitating it with a state-of-the-art ICT infrastructure.…”

Transfer function of power line channel — Influence of topology parameters and power line topology estimation

“…Narrowband PLC has its main area of application in the automation of buildings or in the Smart Metering [4].…”