text: The Smart Grid is not just about the digitalization of the Power Grid. In its more visionary acceptation, it is a model of energy management in which the users are engaged in producing energy as well as consuming it, while having information systems fully aware of the energy demand-response of the network and of dynamically varying prices. A natural question is then: to make the Smart Grid a reality will the Distribution Grid have to be updated? We assume a positive answer to the question and we consider the lower layers of Medium and Low Voltage to be the most affected by the change. In our previous work, we have analyzed samples of the Dutch Distribution Grid in our previous work and we have considered possible evolutions of these using synthetic topologies modeled after studies of complex systems in other technological domains in another previous work. In this paper, we take an extra important further step by defining a methodology for evolving any existing physical Power Grid to a good Smart Grid model thus laying the foundations for a decision support system for utilities and governmental organizations. In doing so, we consider several possible evolution strategies and apply then to the Dutch Distribution Grid. We show how more connectivity is beneficial in realizing more efficient and reliable networks. Our proposal is topological in nature, and enhanced with economic considerations of the costs of such evolutions in terms of cabling expenses and economic benefits of evolving the Grid.
  @cite_31: Local assortativity has been recently proposed as a measure to analyse complex networks. It has been noted that the Internet Autonomous System level networks show a markedly different local assortativity profile to most biological and social networks. In this paper we show that, even though several Internet growth models exist, none of them produce the local assortativity profile that can be observed in the real AS networks. We introduce a new generic growth model which can produce a linear local assortativity profile similar to that of the Internet. We verify that this model accurately depicts the local assortativity profile criteria of Internet, while also satisfactorily modelling other attributes of AS networks already explained by existing models.
  @cite_16: We review the recent rapid progress in the statistical physics of evolving networks. Interest has focused mainly on the structural properties of complex networks in communications, biology, social sciences and economics. A number of giant artificial networks of this kind have recently been created, which opens a wide field for the study of their topology, evolution, and the complex processes which occur in them. Such networks possess a rich set of scaling properties. A number of them are scale-free and show striking resilience against random breakdowns. In spite of the large sizes of these networks, the distances between most of their vertices are short - a feature known as the 'small-world' effect. We discuss how growing networks self-organize into scale-free structures, and investigate the role of the mechanism of preferential linking. We consider the topological and structural properties of evolving networks, and percolation and disease spread on these networks. We present a number of models demonstrat...
  @cite_37: 
summary: The concept of network evolution of a technological infrastructure is considered in @cite_31 where a model for the evolution of the Internet Autonomous System (AS) is provided. As most works (e.g., @cite_16 @cite_37 ), this one focuses on creating a model of the existing evolution of the Internet rather than proposing new ways of evolving networks. The interesting aspect on the modeling of the Internet is the better results of the proposed model Parallel Addition and Rewiring Growth (PARG) compared to other models in the literature to capture specific features of the AS topology. In particular, the model is able to capture the dissortativeness of hubs (i.e., the most connected nodes in the network) and linear local assortativeness of nodes. The model proposed proves successful, however one must recognize that the AS connection are mainly logical and are due more to business and contractual agreements than physical interconnections, therefore missing part of the problem that is essential in the case of the topology.