Dynamic network reconfiguration for medium voltage system automation

The reconfiguration of MV (11 kV) distribution networks is typically executed manually. Reconfiguration is necessary for a number of reasons, including the restoration of supply to consumers following fault events and for removing plant from service for the purposes of maintenance and refurbishment. The system described determines all switching plans effecting restoration of supply to parts of the network which have been isolated following a fault on a section of the network. Each switching plan, or reconfiguration option, is evaluated in terms of its electrical effects on the network and the optimal option is thus determined, using calculated post-reconfiguration electrical effects of each plan. It is proposed that the functionality of the system described in this paper could be integrated within a distribution automation scheme, resulting in several advantages for both the supplier and consumers. The algorithm employed in the system described in this paper is readily scaleable, as the search routines employed within the algorithm terminates at supply points in the network and the electrical analysis of the proposed network reconfiguration operations are intentionally simplified. In the UK context supply points would typically be the 33/11 kV primary substations. Accordingly, the search space does not become unmanageable and a large system is easily divisible into individual areas supplied by one (or more) primary substation(s). The system described in this paper has been applied to actual data from a UK Regional Electricity Company, and examples of the system's operation are included in the paper.