Initiatives and technical challenges in smart distribution grid

The electricity sector is confronted by critical challenges viz. growing energy demand, high aggregated technical and commercial (AT&C) losses and quality of power supply. These challenges lead the development of smart grid technology which brings efficiency and sustainability in meeting the growing electricity demand with reliability and best of the quality. Energy demand in the world is increasing at a rapid rate. To meet the rise in demand as well as to provide an affordable, reliable and sustainable supply of electricity to the consumer, Smart Grid is the need of hour. The implementation of smart grid benefits both the utility and the consumer. This paper addresses the smart distribution grid scenario of different countries in detail. It also presents the survey about the advanced metering infrastructure, clustering of customer consumption and integration of renewable energy in the distribution sector of the smart grid.