In this paper, the heuristic rules are proposed to derive the rephasing strategy of laterals and distribution transformers to improve the three phase unbalance of distribution systems. The distribution feeder network has been obtained by retrieving the attribute data of distribution components from the database of outage management system (OMS) in Taipower. The topology process and node reduction have also been executed to identify the network configuration and to prepare the input data for load flow analysis. With the monthly energy consumption of customers served by each transformer, which has been retrieved from the Customer Information System (CIS), the hourly loading of each distribution transformer can be derived. By performing the three phase load flow analysis, the three phase currents and neutral current of each primary trunk line section and each lateral can be calculated. The heuristic rule is employed to determine the phase adjustment strategy laterals and distribution transformers for rephasing to achieve three phase balancing. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology for three phase balancing, two practical distribution feeders in Taipower Fengshan District are selected for simulation. After rephasing the distribution transformers and laterals proposed by this paper, the three phase currents and netural of the test feeders have been collected. By companing to the neutral current before rephasing, it is found that the neutral current of test feeders have been reduced significantly and there phase balancing has been obtained by executing the proposed strategy derived using the heuristic rule.

Unbalanced operation of distribution feeders not only affects equipment utilization, voltage level and system protection, but it also increases extra energy losses. This leads to a deterioration of service quality, reliability and operation efficiency of a distribution system. This dissertation analyzes the problems of unbalanced three-phase distribution feeders, and offers potential solutions. Due to the voluminous data involved in a distribution system, analyzing the system by retrieving system data from paper maps is tedious and difficult. Thus, this dissertation uses data from the already constructed Outage Management System (OMS) of Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) to support distribution feeder three-phase unbalance analysis. The distribution feeder network was obtained by retrieving the connectivity table and attribute data of distribution components from the database of OMS. The topology process and node reduction were executed to identify the network configuration and to prepare the input data for load flow analysis. The hourly loading of each distribution transformer was derived using data of monthly energy consumption of customers served by each transformer, as retrieved from the Customer Information System (CIS), and the typical daily load patterns of customer classes. By performing three-phase load flow analysis, phase currents and neutral current of each primary trunk line section and each lateral could be calculated. Finally, an expert system is proposed to establish the rephasing strategy of laterals and distribution transformers to improve the imbalance of the three phases of the unbalanced distribution feeders. The heuristic rules adopted by distribution engineers are incorporated in the knowledge base of the expert system in the problem-solving process. The neutral current reduction algorithm is developed to support the inference engine to derive the rephasing strategy to reduce the neutral current of distribution feeder. In doing so, customer service interruption due to unexpected tripping of low energy over current relay (LCO) can be prevented, and furthermore the customer service interruption costs and labor costs to implement the rephasing strategy can be justified by the reduced power loss. To demonstrate the effectiveness of this proposed methodology in improving the three-phase unbalance of the distribution feeders, two actual distribution feeders in the Taipower Fengshan District were selected for computer simulation. After Taipower engineers implement the proposed rephasing strategies, the data of phase currents and neutral current of test feeders were collected from the SCADA system of Distribution Dispatch Control Center (DDCC). By comparing to the neutral current of test feeders before rephasing, it is concluded that the proposed rephasing strategy is effective in achieving three-phase balance of the distribution feeders after executing the rephasing of laterals and distribution transformers.

In many outage management systems, customer trouble calls have been used as the primary source of outages for distribution level outages. However the information from the trouble calls is not completely reliable as they lead to problems like okay-on-arrival reports, over escalation and extended outage times for the customers. But with the recent developments in communication and information technologies, utilities started to adopt Automated Meter Reading systems for their operational needs. In this thesis, an algorithm is developed and implemented that makes efficient use information available from the customers and powerline communication based AMR systems for outages. The work has taken advantage of the polling feature of powerline based AMR systems to identify the scope of the outage. The polling procedure uses the on demand read feature of the AMR systems that allows the utility to communicate directly with the customers. The meters in the neighborhood of the trouble calls are polled to identify the affected customers and the outages are located by back tracking to common point. In the first part of the algorithm, the distribution system is modeled as a tree and the meters are strategically polled based on the customers reporting the outages. The outage areas are identified and escalated to find the actual outage location. The crew can be directed to the outage scene to fix the cause of the outage. The algorithm discusses the rules to identify single outages, single customer outages and multiple outages. The algorithm was tested on different test systems representing distribution systems of various sizes. The algorithm is tested for different outage scenarios for all the test cases.

Master of Science / Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering / Sanjoy Das / Anil Pahwa / Outage management describes system utilized by electric distribution utilities to help restore power in event of an outage. The complexity of outage management system employed by different utilities to determine the location of fault could differ. First step of outage management is to know where the problem is. Utilities typically depend on customers to call and inform them of the problem by entering their addresses. After sufficient calls are received, the utility is able to pinpoint the location of the outage. This part of outage management is called trouble call analysis. In event of fault in a feeder of a radial distribution system, the upstream device or the device that serves to protect that particular zone activates and opens the circuit. This particular device is considered as the operated protective device. The knowledge of the activated protective device can help locate the fault. Repair crews could be sent to that particular location to carry out power restoration efforts. The main objective of this work is to study model of distribution system that could utilize the network topology and customer calls to predict the location of the operated protective device. Such prediction would be based on the knowledge of the least amount of variables i.e. network topology and customer calls. Radial distribution systems are modeled using the immune system algorithm and test cases with trouble calls are simulated in MATLAB to test the effectiveness of the proposed technique. Also, the proposed technique is tested on an actual feeder circuit with real call scenarios to verify against the known fault locations.

Taipower Company has already completed the installation of the Outage Management System (OMS) in all service districts. The attributes of all distribution equipments and customers have been included in the computerized mapping system. However, the phasing attributes of distribution transformers are not very accurate in the database because they are very difficult to be identified for the distribution systems. The phase information of transformers in the OMS database is often inconsistent with the actual service phase, which deteriorates the performance of distribution system analysis, planning, and operation of Taipower distribution systems. The objective of this thesis is to develop an innovative Phasor Measurement Unit (PMU) to support the phasing identification of distribution transformers in a very effective way. The proposed PMU is used to measure the low voltage signal at the secondary side of transformers to prevent the survey personnel from safety problem. With the measured phases information of distribution transformers stored in the embedded system, the attributes of transformer phases in OMS can be updated to improve the accuracy of database. For the underground distribution systems, it is very difficult to receive the 1PPS signal of GPS system for timing synchronous to support the proposed transformer phasing measurement because all transformers are located at the building basement. This thesis proposes a timing synchronous module by using the Temperature Compensated Crystal Oscillator, TCXO to maintain the timing accuracy with high precision. Before executing the phasing measurement, this module is calibrated using the GPS 1PPS signal with fuzzy control calibration algorithm. It is found that the proposed PMU module can maintain the timing synchronous with 6˚, during two hours time period which will support the transformer phasing measurement by providing the reference timing synchronous even without the GPS 1PPS signal.

The thesis investigates the optimal expansion planning of substations for the distribution system of Taipei City District of Taiwan Power Company. The small area load forecasting is executed with the support of Outage Management System(OMS) database. The capacity expansion of distribution substations is obtained by considering the annual load growth of each service area to achieve the cost effectiveness of substation investment. The geographic information of each service zone has been retrieved form the OMS data. With the land use planning of Taipei City Government, the load density of each small area for the target year is derived according to the final floor area and development strength of the land base. The load forecasting of each small area is then solved by considering the load growth of each customer class, which is then used for the expansion planning of substations. After determining the small area load forecasting for the final target year, the center of gravity method is applied to find the geographic blocks of all substations and the corresponding service areas at the target year. The power loading of each small area is used to calculate the power loading loss of which service area to solve the optimal location within the block for each substation. Based on the annual load forecasting of all small areas, the expansion planning of distribution substations for Taipei City District is derived by Dynamic Programming(DP) and Immune Algorithm(IA) to achieve minimization of power loading loss with subject to the operation constraint. By the proposed methodology, the unit commitment of distribution substations is determined to meet the load growth of service area and achieve power loading loss minimization of distribution systems.

When a permanent fault occurs in distribution systems, the fault location should be detected, isolated and the un-faulted but out of service areas have to be restored. The outage areas can be minimized by the switching operation based on the system load characteristics. By integrating the Outage Management Information System (OMIS), the connectivity of customers and feeder/transformer, the Customer Information System (CIS), the Automated mapping /Facility Management (AM/FM) with the customer load patterns, the hourly load demand and the service priority index of each distribution feeder and each service zone are calculated. By this way, the service restoration of the most power demand and customers can be obtained for the fault contingency of distribution system. To enhance the effectiveness of switching operation for fault contingency of distribution system, the Expert System with CLIPS has been developed by considering the operation rules in the application software program. A underground distribution system with 26 feeders in Kaohsiung District of Taiwan Power Company has been selected for computer simulation to solve the proper switching operation by taking into account the service priority of customers. It has been verified that the proposed methodology can restore the customer power service effectively by Expert System with distribution operation rules.

The increasing penetration of electric vehicles (EVs) and other distributed energy resources (DERs) offers enhanced flexibility and resilience. During extreme conditions, grid-connected EVs and DERs can provide electricity service and restore critical loads when the utility system is unavailable. On the other hand, during normal operation, these proactive devices can provide ancillary services to alleviate voltage fluctuations and support frequency regulation. In comparison with other DERs, EVs are more flexible in providing ancillary services due to their mobile nature. However, the proliferation of EVs and DERs also introduces operational challenges to the distribution grid. For instance, EVs primarily fulfill their transportation needs. Uncoordinated charging of a large number of EVs can increase the burden on the distribution system. Due to the limited charging rate and battery size, it is generally impractical for a single EV to directly participate in the ancillary service market. A conventional distribution system is designed for unidirectional flow of electric energy. With the growing installation of DERs on the distribution system, the flow of electric energy is bi-directional and, therefore, there is a higher risk of protection miscoordination due to the fault currents resulting from DERs. With limited communication capability, these undetected protective device (PD) actuations can cause uncertainties and delay the service restoration process. This dissertation makes contributions to the coordination of EVs and DERs. It introduces four innovative models for EV coordination: 1) A transactive energy (TE) trading mechanism is proposed to coordinate EVs and aggregators. 2) Optimal tools are provided to assist EVs and aggregators in optimal decision making while participating in TE. 3) A charging station model is developed to allow EVs to provide ancillary service aligned with their mobile nature. 4) A utility function model is presented to capture the EV owners' behaviors for providing ancillary services and charging vehicles. Charging stations can estimate the electric energy demand and optimize ancillary service provision to meet their goals. Simulation cases validated that the proposed optimization tools can align EV owners' preferences in providing ancillary service to enhance distribution system operation flexibility. To enhance the resilience of distribution systems, two novel optimization strategies are presented: 1) An advanced outage management (AOM) is proposed to utilize smart meters and fault indicators (FIs) to identify the most credible outage scenario and fault locations. 2) An advanced feeder restoration (AFR) is developed to provide an optimal restoration strategy to enhance system resilience. The proposed optimization models have been validated with realistic simulation cases. / Doctor of Philosophy / As Electric Vehicles (EVs) and other Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) become more common, they are changing how our distribution systems work. For example, during power outages, grid-connected DERs and EVs can be deployed to sustain essential electricity services such as hospitals and communications. On the other hand, during a normal operating condition, they can help maintain the stability of our electricity systems. It is a technical challenge to integrate these new EV and DER devices into the existing power grid. For example, EVs are mainly designed for transportation. Their clustered charging patterns can significantly increase the electrical demand if they are not managed properly. Also, the limited battery capacity and charging speed make it difficult for a single vehicle to provide meaningful support to the grid operation. For the EV management side, this research is concerned with how to better integrate EVs and similar technologies into the power grid. Four key contributions of this dissertation are: 1) Developing a trading mechanism for EVs and aggregators of EVs to exchange energy and ancillary services efficiently; 2) Creating computational technologies to help these entities optimize their decisions while meeting their requirements; 3) Structuring charging station operations that cater to the preferences of EV owners while supporting grid operation; and 4) Modeling EV owners' decision-making to set optimal pricing and service strategies at charging stations. These mechanisms and strategies will allow EV owners to support the power grid while meeting their transportation needs. Moreover, the study addresses the issue of enhancement of the distribution system's capability to restore services under extreme conditions. It provides an advanced outage management method that utilizes remote monitoring and control technologies, including smart meters and fault indicators, to identify the location of electrical faults and reduce the outage areas. The advanced feeder restoration method determines an optimal strategy to restore the electricity service efficiently while keeping the distribution grid stable.

The contents of this thesis are the introduction to mesh grids, the method of dispatch control of these grids and the description of technology used in mesh grids distribution nodes in the city of Brno. This thesis also describes low voltage switchgears used in these types of grids. The development of dispatch control in ECD company is also mentioned. The development describes the grid dispatch control methods prior to implementing the OMS system and the changes which followed after the implementation. The process improvements of the new system resulting from this thesis can be found in this thesis as well. The improvements are incorporated in the OMS system and are used for more efficient dispatch control of the low voltage mesh grids. There is a more detailed analysis of the mesh grid Brno – Bohunice in the practical part of this thesis. The practical part contains analyses of mesh grids stabilized conditions measurements and analyses of mesh grids fault conditions measurements. The analyses assess the power load in transformers, minimal and maximal phase current and maximal power load at the time they were observed. The analysis of the measured data is accompanied by the assessment of differences in current phase measurements and differences in voltage phase and combined measurements. The result, based on the analysis and collection of the data, is a proposition of adding switchgears for the support of the dispatch control of the mesh grid Brno – Bohunice. In the summary of the thesis there is a comparison of the result of the factual and theoretical analysis. An experimental model of the mesh grid Brno – Bohunice was created in PS CAD software as a part of the theoretical analysis.

A importância das novas tecnologias de informação, automação, monitoramento e sistemas eletrônicos inteligentes têm aumentado significativamente nos últimos anos. Essas tecnologias desempenham um papel fundamental na sociedade moderna e contribuem de forma decisiva para a resolução de importantes desafios para uma sociedade que quer ser mais próspera, internacionalmente competitiva, saudável, segura e sustentável. Como eixo de \"inovação\", essas tecnologias são fatores importantes para todos os setores produtivos da economia. O motor destas tecnologias, entretanto, é a energia, particularmente a eletricidade. Assim, em uma sociedade cujo estilo de vida é fortemente dependente dela, desenvolver tecnologias que permitam não somente a geração, mas também a distribuição de energia de forma barata e limpa e que garantam seu fornecimento ao longo do tempo com a máxima eficiência é uma questão prioritária. Os sistemas baseados em redes inteligentes (do inglês: Smart Grid) vêm, justamente, atender a esses requisitos, representando o que há de mais moderno no setor elétrico, com aumento e diversificação de fontes de geração distribuída na forma de pequenos geradores, maior interação consumidor-distribuidor de energia, integração de diferentes fontes de geração renováveis (ex.: solar, eólica etc.). O cenário energético nacional está avançando de forma muito rápida. Nas distribuidoras, o foco claramente está na redução de perdas comerciais e de custos operacionais, principalmente por meio da modernização dos ativos e da crescente instalação de dispositivos eletrônicos inteligentes nos clientes de baixa tensão (ex.: medidores eletrônicos, dispositivos eletrônicos inteligentes para monitoramento e diagnóstico, relés digitais etc.). Esta tese de doutorado apresenta uma solução com tecnologia nacional que disponibiliza todos os benefícios do Smart Grid através dos equipamentos mais importantes e estratégicos presentes na topologia das Redes de Distribuição Subterrânea Secundária Trifásica: os Protetores de Redes. A partir do centro nevrálgico das Redes de Distribuição Subterrâneas (RDS), cuja topologia está presente nos centros de alta concentração de carga das principais metrópoles do Brasil, a solução desenvolvida pode viabilizar técnica e economicamente a modernização da automação da RDS, com tecnologia nacional de baixo custo, proporcionando igualmente a incorporação dos avanços do Smart Grid e da Geração Distribuída. Este salto tecnológico significaria para as distribuidoras de energia elétrica entre outros benefícios: Melhor controle do processo para uma melhor otimização da rede, desde integração das intermitentes fontes renováveis até uma interação mais dinâmica com os consumidores; Maior flexibilidade às concessionárias em relação ao uso da energia para atingir o grande objetivo social de redução do efeito estufa e otimização do consumo de energia reduzindo perdas e desperdícios; No curto prazo, os benefícios diretos da melhoria do gerenciamento da indisponibilidade, gerenciamento otimizado dos ativos e do capital, melhoria no planejamento, processos e serviços de fornecimento e usos finais de energia, aumento de eficiência de manutenção, redução de perdas técnicas e comerciais, otimização do investimento na compra de novos protetores com menores custos podendo superar a demanda reprimida pelos altos custos de alternativas importadas. / The importance of new technologies in the field of, automation, monitoring, information technology and electronic systems have increased significantly in recent years. These technologies play a basic role in the modern society and contribute of decisive way for the resolution of important challenges for a society that is in search of a more prosperous life, internationally competitive, healthful, safe and sustainable. As a key of \"innovation\", these technologies are key factors for all the productive sectors of the economy in the society. The fuel for the engine of these technologies, however, is the energy, particularly the electricity. Thus, in a society whose life style is strongly dependent of electricity, to develop technologies that not only allow the generation, but also the distribution of energy in a cheap and clean way and which could guarantee its supply throughout the time with the maximum efficiency is a priority issue. The systems based on intelligent networks fully meet these requirements, representing what there is of most modern in the electric sector. The Brazilian energy scenario is quickly changing over the recent years toward modernization, with more distributed generation, in the form of smaller generators, more customer interaction, the integration of more variable resources such as wind and solar, and more renewables overall. For the Power Utilities, especially in the Distribution Sector, the focus is clearly in the reduction of commercial losses and operational costs, mainly by means of the modernization of the assets and an increase in the installation of intelligent electronic devices at consumers side (e.g.: electronic energy meters, intelligent electronic devices for condition monitoring, digital relays etc.). This work presents a solution developed based on Brazilian technology that incorporates all the benefits of smart grid to the most important equipment that is present in the topology of the Low-Voltage Secondary Network Distribution System: the Network Protector. From the neuralgic center of these Low-Voltage Secondary Network Systems, which topology is used in the most important cities in Brazil, which has a high load concentration, the solution presented here make it feasible technically and economically the use of smart grid topology profiting from its great benefits such as: Allow utilities to better optimize the grid to support a number of public policies, from intermittent renewable integration to more dynamic interfaces with customers; Offer utilities more flexibility relative to how they use energy toward the greater societal objectives of reducing greenhouse gases and energy consumption. In the short and mid term, a smarter grid offers utilities operational benefits (outage management, improved processes, maintenance and workforce efficiency, reduced losses, etc.) as well as benefits associated with improved asset management (system planning, better capital asset utilization, etc.), lower investment to acquire new Network Protectors.