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NETWORK / 14 / July/augusT 2017 T he UK's electricity networks are facing a range of new and grow- ing challenges as the makeup of the grid changes to meet the demands brought on by decar- bonisation and the transition to smart grid operations. Such challenges are encountered across the board, but when it comes to protection and control, they are becoming particularly significant. The main driver of this new operational priority is the growth of distributed genera- tion, with renewables assets such as solar PV and wind power playing an increasingly important part against a background of the reduction in coal-fired and other more carbon-heavy methods of generation. In the area of protection and control, this shi• – and the growing role of technologies such as domestic heat pumps and a number of energy-storage applications – brings a variety of issues that must be overcome to capitalise on the opportunities that smart grids present. Chief among these challenges is the issue of fault levels. As the methods of generation change and become more distributed, the nature of fault levels and their detection is undergoing a significant shi•, putting pres- sure on network operators to change the way they protect and control their networks against faults and short circuits. "The fault level in networks is changing because of embedded generation," explains Professor Phil Taylor director of the EPSRC National Centre for Energy Systems Integra- tion at Newcastle University. "It's not just that it's changing but it's now a dynamically changing property, so the mix of genera- tors you've got connected to the grid will determine how much fault current will flow if you get a short circuit." Explaining how the tried and tested approach no longer fits the bill, Taylor says: "In the past, you could probably just set a AutomAtion, protection And control How much power is being gener- ated by distribution assets? are there any faults or short circuits in the network? are particular as- sets showing signs that they need maintenance? Could network operations be altered to maximise efficiency and reduce risk? These are the questions that network operators are increasingly have to answer on a regular basis to ensure that things run smoothly. To get those answers, more investment and resources are being channelled into real-time monitoring technology that enables control centres to gather data on operations across the network with sensors and communications that enable indi- vidual devices to send operational data back, while also communi- cating with other such devices to work collectively. For uK Power Networks, improving and expanding its remote monitoring capability has necessitated investment in new technologies. "We've heavily invested in getting highly intel- ligent information systems on our network, and that requires a lot of remote control and monitoring points," says steve White, head of network control and operations at uKPN. "We've got something like 30,000 sites now at 11kV where we can operate remotely from the control centre, so that's across our entire estate. If you wind back 20 years or even less than that, the number would be zero." Through this investment, and the smarter network it has enabled, the DNO is able to maximise both network reliability and efficiency. a key example of this height- ened reliability is a significant reduction in both the time and resources required to return power after a fault occurs. R e m o t e m o n i t o R i n g The new face of the UK's electricity grid and networks is increasing the pressure on operators to find new ways to monitor and understand what is happening on the network.