ENG235 Applications of AIoT ECA July 2026: PowerGrid SG Smart Grid Use Case, Architecture, Security and RoI, Singapore

The ENG235 ECA asks students to act as AIoT advisers to PowerGrid SG, a multi-year smart grid and water utilities programme run by Singapore’s national grid operator and national water agency under the Singapore Green Plan 2030. Read the case context first, then answer eight questions grouped into four 25-mark themes: use cases and strategy, architecture and data platforms, cybersecurity and ethics, and business model and return on investment.

Case Context: PowerGrid SG

Singapore runs legacy SCADA systems for the power grid, separate electricity and water metering, and siloed environmental sensors managed by different utility entities with limited data sharing. Key challenges are:

• Rising peak electricity demand from data centres, industry and EV charging
• Integrating intermittent rooftop and floating solar generation into a stable grid
• Non-revenue water loss and tighter demand management
• Ageing underground grid and water infrastructure that needs predictive maintenance
• Public concerns about smart meter data privacy, dynamic pricing fairness and cybersecurity

PowerGrid SG aims to deploy a national AIoT platform for smart electricity and water metering, distributed energy resource (DER) management, predictive grid and pipeline maintenance and demand-response analytics, in line with the Electricity Act, the Public Utilities Act and the PDPA. Its strategic objectives are AI-driven load and demand forecasting, automatic fault and leak detection, integration of renewables and EV charging, faster data-driven maintenance dispatch, and ethical, privacy-preserving use of consumption data.

AIoT Use Cases, Value Proposition and Strategic Alignment (25 marks)

Question 1

Cite and explain ONE (1) high-impact AIoT use case for PowerGrid SG. Develop a comprehensive discussion of the selected use case by describing:

• The problem being addressed.
• How AIoT enables and supports the solution.
• The expected value and outcomes (operational, social, environmental or economic).

(15 marks)

Question 2

Describe how this AIoT use case aligns with PowerGrid SG’s strategic objectives and national energy and sustainability goals, considering public value creation vs commercial value, stakeholder benefits (households, businesses, grid operators, regulators) and short-term vs long-term outcomes. (10 marks)

AIoT Architecture, Devices and Data Platforms (25 marks)

Question 3

Create a high-level AIoT reference architecture for PowerGrid SG, including devices and sensors (smart electricity/water meters, grid sensors, solar inverters), communication technologies, edge, fog and cloud components, and data flow and integration across grid operators, the water agency and regulators. Analyse how latency, scalability and reliability issues can be addressed. (15 marks)

Question 4

Formulate a data management and analytics platform for PowerGrid SG. Explain how the 8Vs of Big Data apply; the data ingestion, storage, processing and analytics layers; and the role of AI/ML models such as load forecasting, leak/fault detection and demand response. (10 marks)

Cybersecurity, Data Privacy, Trust and Ethics (25 marks)

Question 5

Appraise the key cybersecurity risks in PowerGrid SG across IT, IoT and OT layers, including potential attack vectors, the impact on grid stability and continuity of essential utility supply, and differences between IT and OT security concerns. (15 marks)

Question 6

Appraise the ethical risks of deploying AIoT in smart metering and grid management, such as surveillance and loss of privacy through granular consumption data, bias in computer vision and decision-making algorithms, and transparency and accountability in AI-driven decisions. (10 marks)

AIoT Business Model Design and Return on Investment (25 marks)

Question 7

Recommend a suitable AIoT business model for the PowerGrid SG platform, explaining the value proposition, key customers and stakeholders, revenue and funding mechanisms, and cost structure and key resources. Analyse why this business model suits an AIoT deployment within Singapore’s public-sector critical infrastructure environment. (12 marks)

Question 8

Develop an approach for measuring the Return on Investment (RoI) of the proposed AIoT deployment for PowerGrid SG. (13 marks)