When The Computing Cloud Meets The Energy Cloud

Employing cloud computing technology within the energy sector to control critical grid elements poses unusual challenges to e.g. questions of scalability, availability and operating safety, including the protection against cyber-attacks of all kinds. Functionalities that would be essential for business-critical applications with real-time characteristics are oftentimes missing in today's commercial cloud offerings. Moreover, there are subjacent technical challenges that need to be tackled. While the combination of cloud computing and smart grid control poses unique challenges, we believe that the potential advantages outweigh the negative considerations. With a careful planning, implementation and trial phase, we see no major obstacle that could not be overcome at this point.