Critical issues and future prospects of the secondary substation in smart grid context

This paper is focused on the new role of the secondary substation in the smart grids context. This innovative view has been proposed and developed in the framework of two Research Projects: NewCabELARC Project and Reipersei Project. The latter provides a concrete and comprehensive low cost solutions for the smart grid monitoring and control, allowing the real diffusion and integration of Distributed Generation and the full exploitation of Renewable Energy Sources. In this field, this paper shows how the secondary substation (SS) takes the role of smart transducer node where innovative devices can be located, collecting the measurement data coming from the field devices (power and energy meters and Interface Devices of Distributed Generators and Energy Storage Systems) and/or performing some local automation functions. They can also communicate with the grid (utility) for the remote control and management of the grid itself. Finally, SS safety issues are discussed and some feasible features that future smart substations are introduced.