Hello learners. Welcome to this topic on Automatic Metering Infrastructure, AMI, which can be also called as the Advanced Metering Infrastructure. Advanced Metering Infrastructure is to describe the whole system, starting from smart meter communication network in both direction to control center equipment and all the enabling applications that gather and transfer energy usage information in near real-time. The AMI enables two-way communications with customers possible. You did the backbone of the smart grid. AMI has the following objectives. Remote meter reading, error-free data, identifying network problem, load profiling, energy audit, and in place of load shedding, partial load curtailment. Let us try to have a recap about what we already learned in earlier weeks. We have in different locations, degenerating stations where the power is getting generated at a lower voltage generally up to 21kV level. The power is getting generated, which is then stepped up in the generating station itself to either 132 or 230, or 440, or 765kV AC, and it is getting transmitted. From 132kV received, power is being stepped down to either 33kV or 66kV in the sub-transmission system. After that, the medium voltage substation receives the power at a either 33kV or 66kV. For bulk customers, the power is supplied at 11kV or 6.6kV, and for real-T customers, the poverty is supplied at 240 volts single-phase or 415-volt three-phase. Now, if you happen to see in this, you will be able to understand that energy accounting is being carried out at three levels. One is at the generating station level, how much energy has been accounted. Next is that the transmitted energy, how much has been accounted in the transmission system, and at the distribution level, it is measured as billed and audited energy. Now, in this system, you will be able to observe that the generating station accuracy is working out at higher crazy level of plus or minus 0.1, and it is called as the class A accuracy level. In the transmission line system, the accuracy level is only at moderate, which is called as Class B, which is working out to plus or minus 0.2 level. Coming to the Class C, it is the lowest accuracy level that is plus or minus 0.5 or 1. From this, you will be able to understand that losses at the last level is much more when compared with losses at Class B and Class C. Now, if you happen to see how the energy is being measured, in olden days, the energy is being measured with the electromechanical meters. Later on, we have shifted to electronic digital meters. Now, we are trying to go for smart energy meter, which is in line with the Indian standard 16444 Smart Metering Protocol and the DLMS protocol. Following our mode of communication, which may deploy to have two-way communication, that is, from meter to utility and vice versa. Power line communications, or fiber-optic communications, or fixed radio frequency, or GPRS through the application called the Head End System, HES, data acquisition occurs from meters by a communication network. Acquired data is then sent to Head End System, or HES, Meter Data Management System, or MDMS. The tasks of receiving, storing, and analyzing the data is carried out by Meter Data Management, or MDM. This is the host system for monitoring information. It is considered as the brain of AMI where all the business logics are available. Smart meters have the capacity to collect information about energy usage at various intervals and transmit the data through pixel communication networks to utility, as well as receive information like pricing signals from utility and convey it to the consumer. Let us now look at Head End System, or HES. Critical interface to the field devices which shall support MDA, two-way communication, poll meters for data collection, send upgrades programmable parameters inputs to the meters. Send load curtailment signals, connect or disconnect and sending of pricing and other signals as generated from the MDMS/other applications to the smart meter. Support both PUSH and PULL modes of polling. Standard web service. CAM or DLMS protocol compliance. The application which performs long term data storage and management for huge data delivered by the smart meters to HES. Some of the key features of MDM are meter data depository, configurations: meter configurations, VEE, etc., calculations, aggregations, and analytics on-demand meter reading, remote disconnection/reconnection, event/alarms, dashboards and reports. Now let us try to understand the communication system which is available in the distribution. We have a substation here and we have data concentrator here. We do have the meters available in different areas like residential buildings, commercial buildings, and factories. What happens is, either through programmable logic controller, or through radio frequencies, or through GPRS and other modes, we'll try to have this data coming to the data concentrator. From the data concentrator, it is going to the substation. From there, it is being transmitted to the utility area. Let us now look at two communication options, wired and wireless. Wired options include PLC, narrowband or broadband, ethernet, coaxial cable, twisted pair, optic fiber, or radio, RS-232, RS-485. Wireless options include low power radio frequency, for example, 6LOWPAN, ZIGBEE, proprietary, NB-IoT, cellular, GPRS, EDGE, 3G, HSPA, LTE, WiMax, Wi-Fi, V-SAT, infrared, Bluetooth, private point-to-point microwave links, private point-to-multipoint microwave links. If you try to see, for example, programmable logic controller and RF architecture, you have a combination of PLC and smart meters and PLC-GPRS data concentrator unit. The data concentrator unit is available here, and it has got an antenna. All the individual meters are getting connected to the PLC communication of the data concentrator unit through the hardware system, and from there through GPRS, the signals are getting connected to the Cloud. In combination of RF smart meters and RF-GPRS DCU, meters are getting connected to the Cloud through RF band data concentrator unit. Then communication of GPRS, either in 2G, or 3G, or 4G architecture, different meters are then connected to the HES system through GPRS and it is going to be a two-way connection. If you happen to see all the smart meter projects, how it operates is that you have the smart meters, from smart meters, that is from one, it is getting connected to the GPRS system. From the GPRS signal through WAN, it is getting connected to HES. From HES, it is going to Meter Data Management System. From the Meter Data Management System, it is getting connected to the Discom System which is already existing. In this area, billing is taking place, and you have the GIS, customer protocols, mobile apps, and other systems available. This is coming under the scope of the system integrator. Let us now look at the benefits of AMI. Some of the operational benefits are improved accuracy of meter readings, energy theft deduction, response to outages. Some of the customer benefits are fast energy restoration by utility, transparency in billing, more controlled energy usages, option to choose prepayments. Some of the financial benefits are better billing efficiency, better response to outages, remote disconnection, manpower saving, increase in collection efficiency. Some of the security benefits are better grid control, enhancement in system control, mitigation to cyber attacks. Planning of successful AMI implementation is selection of high loss area to get maximum benefit. For example, you have three areas there. Area A has a loss of greater than 30 percent, so bill efficiency is working out only at 70 percent. Area B, your loss is working out to be 15-30 percent. That means billing efficiency is working out between 70-85 percent. In area C, which is in green, the loss is less than 15 percent, where the billing efficiency is working out to around 85 percent. Under the ample situations, in order to get the maximum benefit, we are supposed to concentrate on this area here, which is in red, where the loss is more than or greater than 30 percent. With this, we come to the end of this topic. Thank you.
