Advanced ICT model for the utilities market
The main goal of the CRISP project, was to set out to investigate advanced ICT intelligence and how to use this in the management of power networks with a high degree of Distributed Generation and Renewable Energy Sources penetration. Four key targets were set out at the onset of the project. Research and information that comes out of the project was made accessible and available to the public at large. Distributed intelligence and its application to the utilities sector, were explored particularly by investigating the challenges and issues specific to this industry. Additionally companies involved in the consortium were able to assess how this technology can improve their business as well as client relations. For the universities involved, it represents an opportunity to provide new contributions to the field and to publish results for a wide audience, which will also strengthen academia's ties with industry. Following this, the report was compiled to provide an overview of the future possibilities in the realm of virtual utilities. Key concerns for the researchers were security issues and information protection and ownership. The key proposals that came out of the report included: a hierarchical coordination model between energy systems and business management systems and a general framework for defining a workable model of assessing security investments in a cost-effective way. Furthermore, it proposed that 'honey nets' be used to identify the kind of threats to this specific system.
