Beyond Smart Grid - Cyber-Physical-Social System in Energy Future

Smart grids (SGs) are electric networks that use innovative and intelligent monitoring, control, communication, and self-healing technologies to deliver better connections and operations for generators and distributors, flexible choices for prosumers, and reliability and security of electricity supply. SGs are a complex cyber–physical system by their very nature, and this has impacted the way energy is generated, transported and used. In our 2016 paper [1] , we examined the SG concept in the context of cyber–physical systems (CPSs), and outlined the challenges ahead alongside with fast development of advanced technologies such as Internet of Things, cloud computing, big data and complex networks.