How utilities + energy companies can best use mMTC
Massive IoT (massive Machine-Type Communications (mMTC)) is impacting multiple industries, from fleet management to environmental monitoring and smart grid management, to a host of consumer applications that include smart watches, smart buildings and, ultimately, entire smart cities. mMTC is a worldwide phenomenon, aggregating the power of myriad sensors, connectivity as well as data processing to create new paradigms and effective solutions.
Heralded by many as the future, clearly, mMTC can transform businesses. Given its obvious applications to the Utilities Sector (smart metering and smart grid management), is the sector harnessing the full value of these opportunities?
Alastair MacLeod
Alastair MacLeod, the CEO at Ground Control (a satellite focused, IoT and M2M connectivity and critical communications provider) examines the opportunities and challenges and how satellite communications (SATCOM) can plug the critical gaps in connectivity to improve efficiencies, productivity, and worker safety.
Massive IoT is all around us. We live in a vast, connected ecosystem of data-gathering applications that draw on comparatively low levels of data at their source but which when aggregated by the application vendor or, for example, a Utility company, the end result is simply enormous. Think smart thermostats, alarm and access control systems for the home, smart bulbs, smart meters — you can see where this is going.
Massive IoT is an information system that uses cloud and edge computing, big data and AI to make huge amounts of data more accessible for individuals as well as for businesses, not the least of which are the Energy and Utilities market segments. mMTC-enabled sensors allow for remote monitoring, maintenance and assessment of data across a wide range of applications, including smart grids, water plants, substations and much more.
The sheer volume of devices involved in mMTC and their respective networks place ever greater demand on the network coverage, battery life and device cost, as well as the cost and resilience of the connectivity itself. Many of these devices are communicating through cellular — 4G and now 5G — networks and are reliant upon long-life batteries.
At the same time, we are experiencing an ‘energy trilemma’ — the inherent tension between energy affordability, energy security and the environmental impact of most of the energy consumed on the grid. A perfect storm perhaps, but advancements in technology have a history of providing the solutions we need.
A report by the International Energy Agency expects global energy demand to increase 37% by 2040 and, in a world that’s so connected, Massive IoT can be the catalyst for ensuring Utilities are more efficient, even through periods of geopolitical unrest and instability.
The Benefits
On the flip side, there are, of course, countless benefits. Remote monitoring in smart grids reduces human error and lost time in manual visits and processes, and that can have a huge impact on operational efficiency as well as the bottom line. Likewise, predictive maintenance allows Utilities to forecast when equipment may fail, so servicing can be carried out to avoid costly downtime. For smart meters, data is collected, sent, and evaluated in real-time by the Utility company, rather than once the energy is consumed.
All this allows Utilities to provide real-time alerts around meter, grid damage or outages and adjust pricing and supply based on data insights if necessary.
It can aid the monitoring and control power quality, and increase energy savings for the customer and install software updates, again in real-time.
The Challenges
With the ever greater adoption of mMTC inevitably comes a number of challenges. On the one hand, there is capital outlay for Utilities operators for equipment modernization or installation of new of hardware. However, much of the legacy hardware doesn’t need to be immediately changed. Furthermore, while battery-life tends to be long, the cost to replace millions of batteries in the field for many Utilities may not seem a viable option.
Ultimately, this highlights a scalability challenge for Massive IoT programs within the Utilities sector. The ability to quickly adapt to surges, peaks, and troughs with the transfer of data, and of course, the accessibility of that data where connectivity indoors may be an issue — with many smart meters being housed in less accessible areas, such as a basement.
Of course, there’s also the security of collected data to be considered. Utilities need to ensure that a minimum of customer data is required for the tasks at hand and secure from the reach of hostile parties.
Plugging the Gaps with Satellite
To combat some of these challenges and gaps, suppliers need to ensure ubiquitous and seamless connectivity, from the grid or smart meter back to the provider. Low power, wide area networks (LoRaWAN) that connect devices wirelessly to their host network help to solve many of the needs of massive IoT in transmitting sensor data to a central gateway and then forwarding these data packets as raw or processed data using satellite or cellular as WAN data backhaul.
LoRaWAN is quite cost effective and enables Utilities to embed arrays of monitoring sensors and instrumentation into their assets to constantly monitor and transmit key parameters such as temperature and fluid levels. Using LoRaWAN, Utilities can implement preventive maintenance, offering greater value for their customers whilst reducing operational costs and strengthening the customer relationship.
However, it is estimated that only 10% of the Earth is supported by cellular2, whereas, for example, the Iridium Satellite Network covers 100% of the planet. Automating control across the entire network is enabling companies to respond rapidly to outages, fluctuations, and peaks in demand. Clearly, none of this is possible without reliable data and failsafe connectivity.
mMTC via satellite is helping Utilities workers in the field, where lone operators are constantly visiting remote areas outside normal cellular coverage.
As Utilities and their customers navigate the energy trilemma, it’s vital that mMTC is helps the customer to be efficient with their energy consumption and that providers are able to ensure both the grid and smart meters are delivering the data required to manage peaks and troughs in demand without costly downtime. Given the wide geographical footprint across which Utilities need to operate, satellite is increasingly becoming a key component.
Massive IoT is providing Utilities with the real-time information they require, while the grids of tomorrow will become even more connected as infrastructure improves. SATCOM will be pivotal to this now and in the future, as without a connection, nothing is smart.
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