Developing fault management in a Distribution Management System based on requirements of Finnish Distribution System Operators

Abstract

Fault management is one of the key parts of the network operation process, especially for rural Distribution System Operators. Efficient fault management is highly dependent on the Network Control Center and the operators that are responsible for the network. One of the most important tools used in fault management is the Distribution Management System and therefore it is vital that it offers adequate features to manage the different fault situations. Developing these tools and ensuring that they are compliant with the requirements and needs of the customers requires interaction with the DSOs. The main objectives of this thesis were to gather the most recent development ideas and requirements from Finnish DSOs, regarding ABB MicroSCADA Pro DMS600 and to provide implementation specifications for the most important ones. One of the objectives was also to describe the fault management processes and analyse the current fault management features of the system by simulating actual faults.

The fault simulations were carried out in a replicated environment of a certain DMS600 customer and they focused mainly on testing the automatic fault isolation and restoration feature and the fault location function that is closely related to it. According to the simulations, fault locations are rarely available and therefore the current automatic fault isolation and restoration feature is not feasible, although the switching sequences generated were mostly correct. Thus, no significant monetary benefits can currently be expected from the use of the feature but, according to the simulation results, a new automatic fault isolation and restoration feature with a redesigned logic could provide considerable reductions in the annual KAH-value. The main part of this thesis, the customer interviews, were carried out by interviewing three largest DMS600 customers. A semi-structured interview method was used and a basic structure for the interviews was provided but mostly the interviews consisted of open discussion. Numerous development ideas and requirements were presented in the interviews. The most important ones were the new automatic fault isolation and restoration feature and the new fault prioritization tool. This thesis also describes the fault management processes of the interviewed DSOs. The final part of this thesis provides specifications for the new fault prioritization tool and an automatic fault reporting feature that were chosen for implementation analysis. Future developments, regarding e.g. the new automatic fault isolation and restoration feature and some other minor, but viable additions and changes were also introduced in the final part of this thesis.