Part II, Roadmap to an Interconnected Grid Infrastructure

The first step in any roadmap should be planning, where the utility identifies and invites all applicable stakeholders to the table. This is not just the groups that will use the network or its applications, but stakeholders from cybersecurity, construction and human resources. Stakeholder participation is critical on any large project within the utility space that deals the grid and the backbone network. In this new environment the stakeholder group is much larger than it used to be.

Together, these stakeholders will establish the goals and key criteria for success, a common understanding and definition of the project, and they should identify any gaps early in the process. They should determine the system requirements in a system requirements document (SRD) and identify baselines for the network, system and grid. These projects are being undertaken to serve a business need and those business goals must be kept in mind throughout the process.

Those goals or functional requirements will be key in determining the type of performance, throughput and redundancy necessary. The SRD should also include key performance indicators (KPIs) to help measure and track performance. Important questions are answered: What type of power systems will be used? What are the requirements in terms of hardening? The SRD addresses all technical requirements as a living document that provides a solid technical foundation for building out the utility’s network.

The assessment stage comes next – this is when the utility should identify and document the current state and future state network and infrastructure through use cases. Assessment is often very complex. Stakeholders should remember that it's really the applications that should drive the future state network. When planning out a network, the utility should identify system requirements but also the use cases, users and impacts.

This includes answering the following questions: What are the current state applications? How is your utility doing compared to other utilities of similar size and scope? How is the data and security network designed? How do you operate the network? How are you staffed? Do you have enough staff with the necessary skills? Is your utility dependent on other providers, e.g., equipment vendors? How much infrastructure is owned versus leased? What are the use cases? Stakeholders should remain aware that building a new network will sometimes mean forging a new route than what was previously followed in the utility’s current state.

Once the vision for the future state is established, it is now possible to identify the gaps between the current state and future state. All gaps will not be equal, so a method must be used to prioritize the gaps. With priorities established, mitigations can be addressed and planned out, establishing the roadmap.

With assessment complete, the utility can begin to look at the high-level conceptual design of the new system architecture. At this point, the utility doesn’t know which solutions it will deploy, but it should consider which solutions are commercially available and affordable. An RFI and RFP process may help provide the needed clarity.

Stakeholders should take equipment life cycles into account but not focus on them: The key is to design an architecture that will support the business for fifteen to twenty years, one that will adapt to new technologies as they become available. But you don't want to have to redo this architecture in seven years; instead, develop an architecture that can stand as a framework even as new technologies emerge.

Stakeholders should also keep in mind that they will need both a physical and logical architecture – not only how the circuits traverse the physical components, but also how they interconnect logically as well. What do those data paths look like? These are important considerations when developing the architectural framework for the design.

The design phase means putting pen to paper to get into the detailed plan. The utility has been through the RFI and validated the lab testing from the architecture phase, so can use this information and these testing results to create detailed functional requirements. This phase involves vendor selection and equipment demonstrations to ensure that the vendors meet all performance requirements. In addition, the utility will finalize the numbers – e.g., the capital costs and operating costs, to ensure that the plan is ready for final approval.

By the time we’ve hit the implementation phase, the utility has a well-organized, detailed plan for implementation and migration. At this point, the utility has obtained stakeholder buy-in, approved and tested its system requirements, and designed new processes as needed. Staffing resources have been coordinated and trained, and the plan is in place. Time to execute!

Assuming the first five stages have been performed correctly, the sixth and final stage, optimization, should be about refining and improving the process by making fine-tuned adjustments to the selected applications, devices, processes and converged FAN. The proof of concept has been done, and the network has been implemented.