C I R E D Session Number: 5 SURVEY ON APPLICATION OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT) TO DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM I. Iyoda *; K. Bakic †; G. Mauri + * TMT&D; †ELES; + CESI *Japan; †Slovenia; +Italy * isao.iyoda@tmt-d.co.jp; † kresimir.bakic@eles.si; +giuseppe.mauri@cesi.it Application of Information Technology (IT) to distribution systems is an important factor for making the business profitable. Similarly to other fields of the electrical sector, IT is rapidly increasing. A survey on the current status has been executed (from December 2002 to May 2003) as an activity of the CIGRE Working Group WG (C1) 37.35. Six topics were surveyed: Intranet/Internet, Communication Media, GPS, Remote monitoring, Automatic metering, and Trading. A questionnaire has been sent to many organizations all over the world. [Intranet/Internet] All respondents mainly for in-house communication, automatic metering and remote monitoring of facilities use intranet. Problems that should be solved for further penetration are security and the initial and operation costs. Intranet will prevail in future, however, many utilities answered that for Monitoring/Control/Protection/Operation they may use dedicated communication channels too. Internet is mainly used for customer relation. Really few companies use it for remote metering, remote monitoring, and trading. Problems that should be solved for further prevalence are response time, security and the initial and operation costs. [Communication Media] There are various communication media available for distribution systems, i.e. Optical Fibber (OF), Power Line Communication (PLC) and Radio Communication (RC) (that include Cellular telephony), etc. The type of communication media for distribution system is different depending on the speed needed by applications and customers’ density. Communication media reaches secondary substations. By installing additional communication media between them and customers, last mile could be covered. Most respondents predict that optical fibre will become the dominant communication media in distribution systems. [GPS] Respondents use GPS for positioning, for time stamping of acquired data, and for synchronisation of ripple control systems. [Remote monitoring] Purpose of remote monitoring is mainly for monitoring own facilities or monitoring energy solution services. The survey highlights that home security business for utilities does not start at this moment (Not really well understood). [Automatic metering] This survey pointed out that automatic metering is not very diffused. It is not foreseen becoming popular before 2011. [Trading] 40% of respondents have customer who acquire electricity on the market. They provide participants with all the real-time information needed for the market, for this service IT has an important role. PUBBLICATO A5031114 (PAD – 670975)