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Distribution Management System

E. J. Gonzales, J. Hermias, R. G. Victoria EECE Department, Mindanao State University Iligan Institute of Technology A. Bonifacio Ave., Iligan City, Lanao del Norte, Philippines

Abstract This paper provides a basic knowledge about Distribution Management System and the different features and applications that help improve the reliability and quality of customer services. 1. Introduction SCADA systems have been a part of utility automation for at least 15 years and contributing to the decision making process of the control rooms. However, majority of the existing solutions are closely related to distribution network data acquisition and are not closely mapped to control room operations. With the use of a Distribution Management System (DMS), there is considerable scope for improvement in control room operations which would in turn improve key performance indicators like fault localization & restoration time etc. In the recent years, utilization of electrical energy increased exponentially and customer requirement and quality definitions of power were changed enormously. As the electric energy became an essential part of the daily life, its optimal usage and reliability became important. Real-time network view and dynamic decisions have become instrumental for optimizing resources and managing demands, thus making a distribution management system which could handle proper work flows, very critical.

2. What is DMS? A Distribution Management System (DMS) is a collection of applications which shall monitor & control the entire distribution network efficiently and reliably. It acts as a decision support system to assist the control room and field operating personnel with the monitoring and control of the electric distribution system. Improving the reliability and quality of service in terms of reducing outages, minimizing outage time, maintaining acceptable frequency and voltage levels are the key deliverables of a DMS. Distribution Management System (DMS) is a central component to implementing Smart Grid. DMS enables utilities to manage distributed renewable generation, implement grid efficiency improvement measures, and control the isolation and restoration of outages. Why DMS? DMS will enable a smart, selfhealing grid by providing the following improvements: Reduction of outage occurrences and durations by applying advanced fault location and network reconfiguration algorithms. Minimization of losses through improved monitoring. Optimization of utilizing assets by management of demand and distributed generation. Reduction of maintenance costs by online condition monitoring.

The smart management of electric distribution grids, is one of the key success factors to reach ambitious Smart Grid goal How does it work? The typical data flow in a DMS has the following components: Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system, Information Storage & Retrieval (ISR) system, Communication (COM) Servers, Front-End Processors (FEPs) & Field Remote Terminal Units (FRTUs). A DMS takes an Outage Management System to the next level by: Automating the complete sequences and providing an end to end, integrated view of the entire distribution spectrum. Accesses real-time data and provides all information on a single console at the control center in an integrated manner. 3. FUNCTIONS of DMS: a. Network visualization & support tools b. Applications for Analytical & Remedial Action c. Utility Planning Tools d. System Protection Schemes e. Network Connectivity Analysis (NCA) - an operator specific functionality which helps the operator to identify or locate the preferred network or component very easily. NCA does the required analyses and provides display of the feed point of various network loads. Based on the status of all the switching devices such as circuit breaker (CB), Ring Main Unit (RMU) and/or isolatorsthat affect the topology of the network modeled, the prevailing network topology is determined.

f. State Estimation (SE) - mainly aimed at providing a reliable estimate of the system voltages. This information from the state estimator flows to control centers and database servers across the network. The variables of interest are indicative of parameters like margins to operating limits, health of equipment and required operator action. g. Load Flow Applications (LFA) analyzes the power systems in normal steady-state operation. The goal of a power flow study is to obtain complete voltage angle and magnitude information for each bus in a power system for specified load and generator real power and voltage conditions. Once this information is known, real and reactive power flow on each branch as well as generator reactive power output can be analytically determined. h. Volt-VAR Control (VVC) - refers to the process of managing voltage levels and reactive power (VAR) throughout the power distribution systems. A VVC application shall help the operator to mitigate such conditions by suggesting required action plans. i. Load Shed Application (LSA) - plays a vital role in emergency operation & control in any utility. It detects the emergency situation and performs predefined sets of control actions, like opening, closing of noncritical feeders, reconfigure the downstream or sources of injections, or performs a tap control at transformer. j. Fault Management and System Restoration (FMSR) - automated switching applications plays an important role in ensuring reliability and quality of power supply. It receives faults information from the SCADA system and processes the same for identification of faults and on running switching management application; the

results are converted to action plans by the applications. The action plan includes switching ON/OFF the automatic load break switches/RMUs/ Sectionalizer. The action plan can be verified in study mode provided by the functionality. The switching management can be manual/automatic based on the configuration. k. Load Balancing via Feeder Reconfiguration (LBFR) - an essential application for utilities where they have multiple feeders feeding a load

congested area. To balance the loads on a network, the operator re-roots the loads to other parts of the network. l. Distribution Load Forecasting (DLF) provides a structured interface for creating, managing and analyzing load forecasts. Accurate models for electric power load forecasting are essential to the operation and planning of a utility company. m. Standards Based Integration

4. References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distribution_management_system Distribution Management Systems presented by: Bob Uluski of the Electric Power Research Institute

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