Electric utilities are undergoing a monumental shift towards grid modernization. With growing energy demands and the need to integrate sustainable energy sources, the industry is seeking enhanced reliability and efficiency. Key to this transformation is the modernization of the grid's communication network to facilitate the flow of valuable data.
A strategic and comprehensive approach is essential for effective grid modernization.
At DISTRIBUTECH 2024 in Orlando, Florida, utilities voiced their concerns, highlighting the urgency to:
Cisco's Industrial IoT team has been collaborating with utilities for over two decades, recognizing that a modern grid necessitates a modern network. Our focus is to provide industrial networking products and solutions built for utility needs, ensuring security, simplicity, and scalability for the modern grid.
Cisco in the Utilities sectorLet's discuss some of our recent key innovations in these areas.
The utility grid's distributed architecture calls for a network infrastructure that covers multiple locations. This infrastructure faces numerous challenges, including latency, bandwidth, redundancy, scalability, and cybersecurity. Updating and managing such a widespread network is resource intensive.
Cisco's Catalyst SD-WAN solution with Cisco Catalyst Industrial Routers, meets these stringent grid requirements. It brings together enterprise-level security, scalability, simplicity, with industrial-strength reliability to maintain grid communication uptime for increased grid resilience.
All of these capabilities come together in the latest version of our Cisco Validated Design for the substation, which provides a complete blueprint for successful Digital Substation deployments with Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN.
Additionally, for Distribution Automation in the Field Area Network, Cisco IoT Field Network Director now offers a new, secure, and simplified router management system capable of handling up to 25,000 routers, enhancing operational efficiency.
As utilities digitize the grid, visibility and threat protection become crucial to ensure cybersecurity and compliance with upcoming NERC-CIP standards for Internal Network Security Monitoring (INSM). Cisco Cyber Vision provides OT network visibility, acting as a security sensor and delivering actionable insights to secure utility networks. With Cyber Vision's latest advancements, substations can achieve improved visibility for NERC-CIP compliance.
Read more about boosting your NERC-CIP Compliance with Cisco.
As the utility industry moves forward with grid modernization, Cisco Industrial IoT remains committed to supplying the specialized hardware, software, and solutions necessary to ensure the safe, efficient, and reliable delivery of electricity.