Australia sees large scale success with smart grid deployment

Five years later, the plan has been largely a success, the Federal Auditor-General announced.

Energy resource management, the deployment of electric vehicle support and other grid-side applications all saw great success "in accordance with the fund agreement," the news source noted. And while other areas, such as technology issues, customer resistance to smart meters and difficulties with securing an electricity partner for the study fell short, it is considered to be an overall success.

Studies and projects of this scope are important to the smart grid industry because they help demonstrate the viability and benefits of deploying a system. Energy providers across the globe can take a lesson from Australia's playbook and consider their own investments, but more importantly learn from the mistakes that Australia made. Issues, such as integrating the appropriate terminal server hardware or pushing support of smart meters to customers will play a critical role in the success of a smart grid rollout.

From having the right serial to Ethernet converters to even landing the right amount of funding, various factors have to be in place for smart grid success, but continued testing of such solutions can help firms optimize their strategies for the future.

Perle offers a range of cost effective serial-to-Ethernet converters to help meet NERC-CIP compliance for the protection of critical cyberassets in substations. The IOLAN SDS HV/LDC Terminal Server is designed to meet harsh environments associated with Power Substations with attributes such as support for substation AC and DC voltage ranges, extended operating temperatures and meeting emission, immunity and safety approvals associated with substation IT equipment.