A Model-Based Design of Distributed Automation Systems for the Smart Grid: Implementation and Validation

Abstract

<jats:p>The paper aims at describing a model-based approach to design automation logics for fault location and supply restoration in medium voltage distribution networks. The application of automation functions along medium voltage feeders and, in particular, the installation of protection devices in secondary substations mandates the design and the implementation of complex logics to coordinate the operations of this hardware in case of fault occurrences. This synchronization is realized with the exchange of IEC 61850 GOOSE messages, but the correct usage of this information must be implemented in each protection device through dedicated logics, which are not in the common out-of-the-box system configurations. To support the introduction and the design of these logics, an automata-based approach has been proposed and successfully demonstrated in a real environment in the European research project IDE4L. This formal methodology has been introduced to simplify the design phase and to standardize the logics implemented in the protection prototypes realized in the project. The same models have also been used in the implementation phase with a semi-automatic code generation procedure, considering as a target system the software programmable logic controllers (soft-PLCs), available on the protection devices. Based on the test results and the short time to set up the test bench, this approach proved to be a reliable and effective way to implement complex medium voltage (MV) automation logics such those needed in modern smart grids.</jats:p>

Optimization of IEDs Position in MV Smart Grids through Integer Linear Programming

“…In particular, the proposed IED-OLP formulation minimizes the AV20 index, i.e., a parameter establishing the economic penalty suffered by the energy supplier, as a result of the inefficiency caused to costumers due to a fault in the network. The proposed approach has been tested using a real radial network, constituted of 41 nodes, considering different customer distributions and varying the number of IEDs to be installed within the range (2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8).…”

“…In Table 1, we report the AV20 value over all the failure scenarios for different numbers of installed IEDs where each row corresponds to a different customer distribution. In particular, we solved the IED-OLP-ILP1 with a number of IEDs belonging to the range (2,8). In terms of AV20 value variations for the different customer distributions, we can observe that, generally, the AV20 value increases when customers are distributed among a greater number of nodes.…”

“…The use of IEDs allows the implementation of extremely fast and efficient methods for locating and isolating the fault [6]. An example is the localization of the fault through a logic selectivity approach [7,8]; it is based on the ability of the IEDs to communicate with each other and, on the basis of the exchanged messages, to decide autonomously to command the trip of a circuit breaker, so isolating only the faulty grid portion in a time interval compatible with the fault current tolerable by the line conductors [9].…”

Implementation of an IEC 61850-Based Metering Device Using Open-Source Software

“…Existing literature also indicates that the use of the IEC 61850 standard for data modelling, mapping and high-speed Ethernet-based communications is a critical aspect of modern monitoring systems. The implementation of the IEC 61850 standard for data modelling and mapping is demonstrated in [15], [16], [17], [18] and [19], and the utilisation of high-speed Ethernet-based communications networks for data transfer is shown in [20], [21], [13] and [22]. When more closely examining examples of the aforementioned literature, the IEC 61850 modelling approach described by [15] may be seen as a framework with which [16] uses to develop the network of PV plants communicating with deployed PQ monitors via IEC 61850.…”