Modernizing the Power Grid through Distribution Automation
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At New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG) and Rochester Gas & Electric (RG&E), the Distribution Automation project is an important part of building a more resilient and reliable power grid across our service areas.
Distribution automation is a term that refers to efforts to make our energy distribution system smarter and more efficient, harnessing the power of technology to increase reliability and resiliency for customers. To do this, NYSEG and RG&E install different pieces of technology on the system to help make the electric system more responsive to our system operators, working from our Energy Control Center. The different devices are designed to increase automated communications feeds to our operators to allow them to identify outages and take action to restore power remotely, when possible. Examples of devices include: line reclosers, voltage regulators and capacitor banks.
Here are some key terms and technologies to understand:
- Circuit – the path an electric current follows from Point A to Point B. In our system, this refers to the power lines that run from the substation to your home or business.
- Substation – an assemblage of equipment used to direct power and change or regulate voltage
- Line recloser – equipment that can detect and interrupt (open) faults in transmission lines and, in some cases, automatically restore service
- SCADA switch – a switch that gives us increased information in real-time about why outages are occurring and provides the ability to remotely switch which circuit is powering a customers’ home or business to help provide quicker restoration times
- Sectionalizer – a device that automatically isolates a faulted section of power line from the rest of the system
- Voltage regulator – a system that maintains the distribution system voltage (electrical pressure) within a defined range giving the customers the assurance that electrical equipment will operate properly
- Capacitor bank – a group of devices used to manage reactive power flows on the network and ensure “power quality” on the network
- Loop scheme – a type of energy distribution system that loops power through a service area then returns to its original source (like a substation) which allow customers to receive their electricity through multiple paths—if one source fails, the system automatically switches customers to an alternate source of power
- Automatic grid restoration (AGR) scheme – an artificial intelligence (AI) logic that helps facilitate an effective and efficient response should outages occur. This AI logic is part of software we use in our Energy Control Centers and operates based on inputs from all the automated devices in the electric system
- There will be a blog post next month explaining everything you’ve ever wanted to know about AGR schemes so check back then!
When outages occurred in NYSEG’s Brewster division this past spring, a distribution automation pilot project helped us restore customers faster and more efficiently by leveraging the power of this intuitive technology.
In order to maximize the benefit of our automation devices, the New York Energy Control Centers have established new operating procedures to allow operators to remotely operate devices to restore customers immediately following a circuit outage. This started with a pilot project in Brewster, where the Energy Control Center took control of automation devices on 14 circuits and has now expanded to a number of other circuits across the state.
Between April 28 and May 4, there were a total of 13,000 customers impacted by five different outages where restoration was carried out using distribution automation equipment. These devices identified the issue and automatically switched customers to different circuits. In each outage, customers were restored one to two hours quicker than would have otherwise been the case if our crews would have had to drive to the outage site, assess the situation and begin switching circuits.
NYSEG and RG&E are investing approximately $35 million per year across the state to automate more and more of our system through distribution automation. We have installed to date more than 1,250 automated reclosers, SCADA switches, voltage regulators and capacitors since the program’s inception in 2018.
Automation will provide more resilient and reliable power to customers across the state, and we are still in the early stages of deploying it across the 17 NSYEG and RG&E service divisions.