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NETWORK / 14 / JULY/AUGUST 2018 P rotection, monitor- ing and control, whilst seemingly not the most excit- ing area of running and maintaining an electricity network, is actually an absolutely essential part of it. And while not as exciting as some other areas, there is a big role for innovation projects to o er smarter solutions in this area during the seismic shi• to decentralisation, decarbonisa- tion and digitisation. Our power networks are evolving in a di erent way than they were intended to when originally designed, which means we need to control and operate our networks in a smarter way, and use smarter systems to help us do this. Such systems include Active Network Management (ANM) systems, which o er - exible connections and allow more distributed energy resources (DER), includ- ing renewables, to connect to the grid while minimising the amount of traditional reinforce- ment that's required. ANM is one of the † rst steps required as part of the DSO transition, and this is being standardised under ENA's Open Networks Project, which is laying the foundations of the smart grid in the UK. With the increase of multi- directional power - ows and also decreasing inertia in the grid, there is potential for the grid to become less stable. Increasingly, that means we need smarter and faster protection systems, PROTECTION, MONITORING & CONTROL particularly across wider areas. Typically installed at a substa- tion or feeder level, we need to look more closely at implement- ing protection systems in a co- ordinated manner across wider areas. Digital solutions for sub- station secondary systems form part of these protection systems and will mean lower down times for networks. An example of a digital solution is the IEC 61850 group of standards, which de- † nes communication protocols for intelligent electronic devices at electrical substations; this has been proven to work well in other networks, and has possibili- ties for deploy- ment across the UK. National Grid Electric- ity Transmission undertook a two year trial to look at installing protection and control equipment that complies with the IEC 61850 standard, to see if these technologies are compatible with conventional equipment. The project aimed to demonstrate the bene† ts of IEC 61850 process bus technol- ogy when applied to an existing circuit with conventional and non-conventional instru- ment transformers (NCIT). As part of the project, an NCIT integrated into gas insulated switchgear (GIS) was installed with a process bus connected feeder protection solution at a new build 400kV substation at Bodelwyddan, with convention- al analogue protection solutions at the two remote ends, in Pentir and Deeside. Compatibility between the di erent solutions at each end was monitored and analysed during the project, and the system stayed in service un- til August 2017. The project did not result in any inter- operability issues and con† rmed that the solution can operate in a stable way for a signi† cant time. The learning from this project has been fed into the National Grid's IEC 61850 con† guration and merging unit speci† cations and has enabled the rollout of process bus solutions onto the transmission system, with im- plementation of such solutions planned from 2019 onwards. As a result of increasingly connected customers and the rise of the 'prosumer', including the uptake in roo• op PV and electric vehicles, we need better monitoring at a street level. Partly this will be provided by smart meters and resulting data collection, but also from better monitoring systems installed on Reliability is key Mark Dunk, the Energy Networks Association's head of engineering, discusses the importance of protection, monitoring and control systems when it comes to maintaining electricity networks. our networks. Western Power Distribution are investigat- ing ways to better monitor the impact of low carbon tech- nologies via their three-year LV Connect & Manage project. The combined impact of di erent types of low carbon technolo- gies (LCTs), such as EV chargers and solar-battery installations, will be monitored at up to six of WPD's distribution substations in the trial area, with the goal to develop a replicable architecture for a low-voltage Active Network Management (ANM) solution, which can be utilised by WPD in their other licence areas and by other DNOs, more gener- ally. Two of the key objectives of the project are to trial and demonstrate broadband over powerline, providing a com- munications solution between distribution substations and customers, enabling a bi- directional power - ow control of LCTs, and ANM solutions with intelligence distributed into the LV network to monitor and control LCTs in real time. Due to complete in 2019, currently a demo installation has been completed in Hereford, and 28 customers have been recruited to take part in the trial. "We need to control and operate our networks in a smarter way."