scholarly journals A Statistical Framework for Evaluating the Effectiveness of Vegetation Management in Reducing Power Outages Caused during Storms in Distribution Networks

2022 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 904
Author(s):  
William O. Taylor ◽  
Peter L. Watson ◽  
Diego Cerrai ◽  
Emmanouil Anagnostou

This paper develops a statistical framework to analyze the effectiveness of vegetation management at reducing power outages during storms of varying severity levels. The framework was applied on the Eversource Energy distribution grid in Connecticut, USA based on 173 rain and wind events from 2005–2020, including Hurricane Irene, Hurricane Sandy, and Tropical Storm Isaias. The data were binned by storm severity (high/low) and vegetation management levels, where a maximum applicable length of vegetation management for each circuit was determined, and the data were divided into four bins based on the actual length of vegetation management performed divided by the maximum applicable value (0–25%, 25–50%, 50–75%, and 75–100%). Then, weather and overhead line length normalized outage statistics were taken for each group. The statistics were used to determine the effectiveness of vegetation management and its dependence on storm severity. The results demonstrate a higher reduction in damages for lower-severity storms, with a reduction in normalized outages between 45.8% and 63.8%. For high-severity events, there is a large increase in effectiveness between the highest level of vegetation management and the two lower levels, with 75–100% vegetation management leading to a 37.3% reduction in trouble spots. Yet, when evaluating system reliability, it is important to look at all storms combined, and the results of this study provide useful information on total annual trouble spots and allow for analysis of how various vegetation management scenarios would impact trouble spots in the electric grid. This framework can also be used to better understand how more rigorous vegetation management standards (applying ETT) help reduce outages at an individual event level. In future work, a similar framework may be used to evaluate other resilience improvements.

2013 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 43-53
Author(s):  
Chuong Trong Trinh ◽  
Anh Viet Truong ◽  
Tu Phan Vu

There are now a lot of distributed generation (DG) using asynchronous machines are connected to power distribution grid. These machines do not usually generate reactive power, even consume reactive power, so they generally affect the voltage stability of whole power grid, and can cause instability in itself it is no longer balanced by the torque to work. In this paper, we investigate the voltage stability problem of the asynchronous machine of wind turbines used in power distribution networks. From the static model of the asynchronous machine, this paper will apply the pragmatic criteria to analysis the voltage stability of the asynchronous machine based on the results of the power flow in power distribution network.


Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (17) ◽  
pp. 3355 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paolo Castello ◽  
Carlo Muscas ◽  
Paolo Pegoraro ◽  
Sara Sulis

Phasor measurement units (PMUs), which are the key components of a synchrophasor-based wide area monitoring system (WAMS), were historically conceived for transmission networks. The current trend to extend the benefits of the synchrophasor technology to distribution networks requires the PMU to also provide trustworthy information in the presence of signals that can occur in a typical distribution grid, including the presence of severe power quality (PQ) issues. In this framework, this paper experimentally investigates the performance of PMUs in the presence of one of the most important PQ phenomena, namely the presence of voltage fluctuations that generate the disturbance commonly known as flicker. The experimental tests are based on an ad-hoc high-accuracy measurement setup, where the devices under test are considered as “black boxes” to be characterized in the presence of the relevant signals. Two simple indices are introduced for the comparison among the different tested PMUs. The results of the investigation highlight possible critical situations in the interpretation of the measured values and provide a support for both the design of a new generation of PMUs and the possible development of an updated synchrophasor standard targeted to distribution systems.


Processes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zifan Zhang ◽  
Zhidong Wang ◽  
Zhifeng Chen ◽  
Gan Wang ◽  
Na Shen ◽  
...  

As the largest global renewable source, hydropower is a useful supplement to mountainous distribution networks with abundant water resources, and shoulders a large portion of the regulation duty in many power systems. In particular, in the form of decentralized energy sources located to their customers, small hydropower (SHP) improve grid stability by diversifying the electricity system and reducing power loss. The mountainous distribution networks supplied by small hydropower are closed-loop design but open-loop operation, which easily causes the tripping of tie line even further the off-grid operation of small hydropower system. Once the tie line trips, the current countermeasures—such as hydropower shutdown and load shedding—do not fully guarantee the reliability of power supply and the utilization efficiency of hydropower. This paper studies the amplitude-frequency characteristics of SHP off-grid, according to the typical integration of hydropower in South China, a SHP on-grid/off-grid model is established based on the Power Systems Computer Aided Design (PSCAD) platform. It is found that due to the inertia of SHP, the amplitude-frequency characteristics of SHP island system are relatively slow, and the process of non-synchronization with the main grid is gradually expanded. The characteristic of SHP has a certain degree of synchronization with the main grid in the initial island operates stage, which helps to find a novel grid connection method. This paper further proposes the strategy of using fast busbar automatic transfer switch (BATS), which quickly connect the trip-off SHP to the distribution network under the condition of permitting distributed energy grid-connected. The PSCAD simulation results show that proposed strategy has a limited impact on the power grid and prove the effectiveness of the method.


Author(s):  
David Wanik ◽  
Emmanouil Anagnostou ◽  
Brian Hartman ◽  
Thomas Layton

Abstract Electric distribution utilities have an obligation to inform the public and government regulators about when they expect to complete service restoration after a major storm. In this study, we explore methods for calculating the estimated time of restoration (ETR) from weather impacts, defined as the time it will take for 99.5% of customers to be restored. Actual data from Storm Irene (2011), the October Nor’easter (2011) and Hurricane Sandy (2012) within the Eversource Energy-Connecticut service territory were used to calibrate and test the methods; data used included predicted outages, the peak number of customers affected, a ratio of how many outages a restoration crew can repair per day, and the count of crews working per day. Data known before a storm strikes (such as predicted outages and available crews) can be used to calculate ETR and support pre-storm allocation of crews and resources, while data available immediately after the storm passes (such as customers affected) can be used as motivation for securing or releasing crews to complete the restoration in a timely manner. Used together, the methods presented in this paper will help utilities provide a reasonable, data-driven ETR without relying solely on qualitative past experiences or instinct.


2019 ◽  
Vol 241 ◽  
pp. 397-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason R. Parent ◽  
Thomas H. Meyer ◽  
John C. Volin ◽  
Robert T. Fahey ◽  
Chandi Witharana
Keyword(s):  

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (19) ◽  
pp. 3640 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamia Handayani ◽  
Tatiana Filatova ◽  
Yoram Krozer

The power sector is a key target for reducing CO2 emissions. However, little attention has been paid to the sector’s vulnerability to climate change. This paper investigates the impacts of severe weather events and changes in climate variables on the power sector in developing countries, focusing on Indonesia as a country with growing electricity infrastructure, yet being vulnerable to natural hazards. We obtain empirical evidence concerning weather and climate impacts through interviews and focus group discussions with electric utilities along the electricity supply chain. These data are supplemented with reviews of utilities’ reports and published energy sector information. Our results indicate that severe weather events often cause disruptions in electricity supply—in the worst cases, even power outages. Weather-related power outages mainly occur due to failures in distribution networks. While severe weather events infrequently cause shutdowns of power plants, their impact magnitude is significant if it does occur. Meanwhile, transmission networks are susceptible to lightning strikes, which are the leading cause of the networks’ weather-related failures. We also present estimates of financial losses suffered by utilities due to weather-related power disruptions and highlights their adaptation responses to those disruptions.


Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 1182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Konstantinos Kotsalos ◽  
Ismael Miranda ◽  
Nuno Silva ◽  
Helder Leite

In recent years, the installation of residential Distributed Energy Resources (DER) that produce (mainly rooftop photovoltaics usually bundled with battery system) or consume (electric heat pumps, controllable loads, electric vehicles) electric power is continuously increasing in Low Voltage (LV) distribution networks. Several technical challenges may arise through the massive integration of DER, which have to be addressed by the distribution grid operator. However, DER can provide certain degree of flexibility to the operation of distribution grids, which is generally performed with temporal shifting of energy to be consumed or injected. This work advances a horizon optimization control framework which aims to efficiently schedule the LV network’s operation in day-ahead scale coordinating multiple DER. The main objectives of the proposed control is to ensure secure LV grid operation in the sense of admissible voltage bounds and rated loading conditions for the secondary transformer. The proposed methodology leans on a multi-period three-phase Optimal Power Flow (OPF) addressed as a nonlinear optimization problem. The resulting horizon control scheme is validated within an LV distribution network through multiple case scenarios with high microgeneration and electric vehicle integration providing admissible voltage limits and avoiding unnecessary active power curtailments.


Energies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 1156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikoleta Andreadou ◽  
Evangelos Kotsakis ◽  
Marcelo Masera

The modernization of the distribution grid requires a huge amount of data to be transmitted and handled by the network. The deployment of Advanced Metering Infrastructure systems results in an increased traffic generated by smart meters. In this work, we examine the smart meter traffic that needs to be accommodated by a real distribution system. Parameters such as the message size and the message transmission frequency are examined and their effect on traffic is showed. Limitations of the system are presented, such as the buffer capacity needs and the maximum message size that can be communicated. For this scope, we have used the parameters of a real distribution network, based on a survey at which the European Distribution System Operators (DSOs) have participated. For the smart meter traffic, we have used two popular specifications, namely the G3-PLC–“G3 Power Line communication” and PRIME–acronym for “PoweRline Intelligent Metering Evolution”, to simulate the characteristics of a system that is widely used in practice. The results can be an insight for further development of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) systems that control and monitor the Low Voltage (LV) distribution grid. The paper presents an analysis towards identifying the needs of distribution networks with respect to telecommunication data as well as the main parameters that can affect the Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) system performance. Identifying such parameters is consequently beneficial to designing more efficient ICT systems for Advanced Metering Infrastructure.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 57-71
Author(s):  
Ramadoni Syahputra ◽  
Indah Soesanti

This study proposes a multi-objective optimization for power distribution network reconfiguration by integrating distributed generators using an artificial immune system (AIS) method. The most effective and inexpensive technique in reducing power losses in distribution networks is optimizing the network reconfiguration. On the other hand, small to medium scale renewable energy power plant applications are growing rapidly. These power plants are operated on-grid to a distribution network, known as distributed generation (DG). The presence of DG in this distribution network poses new challenges in distribution network operations. In this study, the distribution network optimization was carried out using the AIS method. In optimization, the goal to be achieved is not only one objective but should be multiple objectives. Multi-objective optimization aims to reduce power losses, improve the voltage profile, and maintain a maintained network load balance. The AIS method has the advantage of fast convergence and avoids local minima. To test the superiority of the AIS method, the distribution network optimization with and without DG integration was carried out for the 33-bus and 71-bus models of the IEEE standard distribution networks. The results show that the AIS method can produce better system operating conditions than before the optimization. The parameters for the success of the optimization are minimal active power losses, suitable voltage profiles, and maintained load balance. This optimization has successfully increased the efficiency of the distribution network by an average of 0.61%.


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