CRITICAL FACTORS AND ICT CONTRIBUTION FOR ACCELERATING SMART GRID REALIZATION

For the realization of "Smart Grid", many and various demonstration projects have been conducted all over the world for several years. Although large economic crises and various energy problems occurred recently, approaches for Smart Grid still continue and it shows Smart Grid realization is expected to grow exponentially. However it looks the benefit of Smart Grid is unclear yet and related markets are not in rapid expansion. One of the reasons should be Smart Grid realization requires reform of the regional power supply systems and thus an enormous expense should be necessary. Such an enormous expense requires large scale investments in utility companies and also reflects to electricity price in consumer side. Another reason might be insufficient utilization of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in power supply systems, although ICT utilization should be essential in order to realize efficient management of detailed and enormous Smart Grid components such as power system equipment, networks and their management systems etc. Therefore, firstly this paper clarifies critical factors of Smart Grid realization through the research of demonstration projects focusing on benefit of Smart Grid. And then, effective research and development areas are proposed forcing on the utilization of ICT.