Western Protective Delivery and
Automation Conference
April 2007
A Case Study: How a Utility
Automated and Integrated
Data/Control for 4000 Pole-Top
Switches and Protection Relays,
and Reduced its SAIDI
Authors
Hydro-Québec
Hervé Delmas, Eng
Cooper Power Systems
Robert O’ Reilly – Senior Applications Engineer
Patrick Cossette, Eng.
Study about the benefits of
distribution automation
2
Distribution Automation can Impact 6 Fields
which are:
• Reliability: disparity among SAIDI index of customers
having to pay the same price
• Reduction in Labor Costs: restoration crews locate
promptly the outage site with remote control
• Carry-forward Investment: installation of transport
equipment deferred because automation allows transfer
of load on the distribution network
3
Distribution Automation can Impact 6 Fields
which are: (next)
• Social Costs: reduction of the outage duration for
industrial and commercial customers
• Energy Efficiency: Control of voltage and Vars
• Information Management, Predictive Maintenance and
Power Quality
These fields have been well documented in order to estimate the gain
that Distribution Automation can bring to Hydro-Québec Distribution
4
Hydro-Québec Decided to Automate its Network
Based on:
• Reliability
– SAIDI improvement
– Less outages
– Shorter outages
• Knowledge of the electric network
– Real time load profile
– Real time equipments status
– Maintenance schedule
5
The Rationale of Hydro-Québec's Program is
Mainly Based on Reliability Improvements
• Hydro-Québec has developed and used a reliability
software application (FIORD) to evaluate the impact of its
distribution automation project based on data from 2
years of real outages
• Hydro-Québec has evaluated 9 different scenarios, from
fault detectors information only to fully automated network
reconfiguration schemes
6
9 Scenarios Analyzed *
Fault detector without
protection
Addition of one
circuit breaker
Addition of two circuit
breaker
Control loop
Remote control
Control loop and addition of
and addition of one circuit breaker
protections
Remote control of switch
Remote control and addition
of one circuit breaker
Control loop and addition of
two circuit breaker
Remote control and
addition of protections
* Ref : Orientations sur l’automatisation du réseau de distribution
Horizon 2002-2012 - September 2002
7
A Comparison
• How can remote control with addition of protections reduce SAIDI ?
8
Schemes Before Automation:
Normal network operation
• Load block 1
• Load block 2
• Load block 3
• Recovery
source
• Recovery source
9
• Recovery source
Schemes Before Automation:
Outage occurred
• Load block 1
• Load block 2
• Load block 3
•X
• Recovery source
10
• Recovery source
• Recovery
source
Schemes Before Automation:
Customers call to signal the outage
• Load block 1
• Load block 2
• Load bloc 3
•X
• Recovery
source
• Recovery source
11
• Recovery source
Schemes Before Automation:
OMS asks for crew intervention
• Load bloc 1
• Load bloc 2
• Load bloc 3
•X
• Recovery source
12
• Recovery source
• Recovery
source
Schemes before automation :
Crew patrols line looking for outage
• Load bloc 1
• Load bloc 2
• Load bloc 3
•X
• Recovery source
• Recovery
source
• Recovery source
?
13
?
Schemes Before Automation:
Crew proceeds service operation of block 3
• Load bloc 1
• Load bloc 2
• Load bloc 3
•X
• Recovery source
14
• Recovery source
• Recovery
source
Schemes Before Automation:
The crew fixes outage
• Load bloc 1
• Load bloc 2
•X
15
• Load bloc 3
Schemes Before Automation:
The crew restores service
• Load bloc 1
16
• Load bloc 2
• Load bloc 3
Schemes Before Automation:
Finally, the crew restores network back to normal state
• Load bloc 1
17
• Load bloc 2
• Load bloc 3
Hydro-Québec Network Before Automation:
SAIDI (System Average Interruption Duration Index) : 2.05 hrs
18
Schemes After Automation:
Normal network operation
• Load block 1
• Load block 2
• T
• T
• T
• T
19
• Load block 3
• T
Schemes After Automation:
Outage occurred
• Load block 2
• Load block 1
•X
• T
• T
• T
20
• Load block 3
• T
• T
Schemes After Automation:
OMS is advised with telemetry
• Load block 1
• Load block 2
•X
• T
• T
• T
21
• Load block 3
• T
• T
Schemes After Automation:
OMS reestablishes' operations using remote control
• Load block 1
• Load block 2
•X
• T
• T
• T
22
• Load block 3
• T
• T
Schemes After Automation:
OMS sends a crew toward defective block
• Load block 1
• Load block 2
•X
• T
• T
• T
23
• Load block 3
• T
• T
Schemes After Automation:
Crew patrols the block and traces to outage
• Load block 1
• Load block 2
•X
• T
• T
• T
24
• Load block 3
• T
• T
Schemes After Automation:
Crew fixes damage
• Load block 1
• Load block 2
•X
• T
• T
• T
25
• Load block 3
• T
• T
Schemes After Automation:
OMS restores service
• Load block 1
• Load block 2
• T
• T
• T
• T
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• Load block 3
• T
Schemes After Automation:
OMS restores normal network operation
• Load block 1
• Load block 2
• T
• T
• T
• T
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• Load block 3
• T
Hydro-Québec Network After Automation:
Based on this scenario
SAIDI (System Average Interruption Duration Index) : 1.60 hrs
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Automation Benefits
• 22% improvement in service continuity (Distribution
SAIDI average should go from 2.05 h to 1.60 h per client
per year Based on results of pilot project)
– Less time for electricity restoration time.
– Smaller search zone to locate an outage, thus less
displacement.
– Reduction of the number of manual intervention done with the
staff close of a voltage source.
• Knowledge of the network
– Real time load knowledge.
– Feed back of equipment status.
– Just in time maintenance.
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In Other Enterprise in North America
• A recent poll performed for Hydro-Québec revealed, 87 % of 60 North
American electric utility use or plan to use remote control equipment on
their electric distribution network. In Europe, Électricité de France (EDF)
is already very well automated.
UTILITY
IMPLEMENTATION TYPE OR
NUMBER OF POINTS
REASONS
South California Edison
6 000 equipment
State requirements
Southern Co
(Alabama, Georgia, etc.)
2 500 equipments
Corporate decision
Excel Power
(Illinois)
Industrial parks
(High technology)
State governor decision
Detroit Edison
Automobile company
Ford needs
Florida Light & Power
Thematic parks and Internat Drive
Specific need of the client
BC Hydro
150 equipments (capacitors)
Voltage regulation
Source: E source
• Hydro-Québec Transmission and Hydro-Québec Production are
already well automated.
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Program Deployment
31
–
300 aerial switches and circuit breakers .(1990)
–
200 underground switches and fault detectors.(2005)
Automation Project: Phase I
Automation Equipment Integration
Equipment number
5000
3751
4000
2999
3000
2150
2000
1000
1199
450
450
749
849
851
852
0
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
Year
Remote controlled equipment
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Cumulative remote controlled equipment
Data and Data
More than 100 binary inputs per equipment
• Equipment status
• Environment
–
Equipment position
–
Cabinet door position
–
Recloser position
–
Handle stowed
–
Local mode
–
Water penetration (underground)
–
Alternate mode
–
Pump working (underground)
–
Neutral protection
–
Fault detection, …
• Miscellaneous
• Power status:
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–
Decoder problems (drift, calibration,
checksum)
–
Battery status
–
Power supply status
–
Over current, undershoot, …
–
Charger input status
–
Counters
Data and Data (bis)
More than 20 analog inputs per equipment
• Current, angle and magnitude (A,B,C,N)
• Voltage, angle and magnitude (A,B,C,N)
• MegaVar, MegaWatt.
• Indoor and outdoor temperature
• …
34
Geographic Disparity and Distance
• Québec
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–
1 540 680 km2 (3 times the size of the state of California)
–
7 000 000 population
–
Hard winters (ice and snow)
–
Strong thundershowers in summer
How can Hydro-Québec Cost-Effectively
Monitor and Control its Distribution Network ?
What Telecommunication media should we use:
36
-
Radio frequency (Wi-Fi, cellular, private frequency)
-
Modem
-
Broadband on power line
-
Internet provider
-
…
The Front-End Communication Processor (FEP)
• Manages communications with all field devices,
• Performs data acquisition
• Provides information to the distribution control centers
• Allows remote control of the switches and protection relays
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The Front-End Communication Processor (bis)
• Multiple protocol support such as:
–
DNP3
–
IEC870
–
61850
–
Modbus
• Cluster architecture (fail over)
• Plurality of communication links:
40
–
Modems
–
Serial line
–
Cellular
–
TCP/IP
The Human Factor
• Currently more than 2000 people are involved directly or
indirectly, some of the groups involved:
41
–
Installation technicians
–
Automation engineers and technicians
–
Communications specialists
–
Operators and their technical support teams
–
Logistics and planning groups
–
Device maintenance groups
The Information Factor
• Data dissemination - over 450,000 new information points
will be available
• Multiple entities within Hydro-Quebec wish to have access
to this new pool of information, both in a real-time context
and also from a historical perspective
42
Thank you!
Questions ?
43