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NETWORK / 15 / July/augusT 2017 In that situation, the network of remote control points will com- municate with the control centre to identify the location of the fault, and trigger an algorithm that will reroute the power in the best way to restore power as quickly as possible. as a result, uKPN now aims to have power restored within three minutes of a loss. a major advantage of this, as White explains, is that it removes the need to send engineers out to restore power, and in most cases removes the need for on-site visits entirely. "For the low-voltage network, for the past few years, we've been using automatic reclosing devices when a transient fault occurs, and they will automatically reclose and restore the power to the custom- ers. sometimes the fault goes permanent and we'll have to send somebody out, but 80% of the time the devices will work and restore power." a critical enabler of uK Power Networks' monitoring and remote restoration capability and those of the other networks has been advances in sensor and communications technology. They have become significantly cheaper in recent years, and sig- nificantly more advanced. Remote units that are essentially small computers that communicate with the control centre over either cellular or radio frequencies have opened up new hands-off opportunities for operations to be monitored and controlled. These advances and the software through which they communicate, have enabled au- tomation to move on significantly. "With previous automation, it was pre-determined what was going to happen based on what the fault condition was and if anything went wrong. For example, if a unit couldn't communicate with a particular remote control point, it would just fault and abort," says White. "Now, what we have is a new algorithm that looks at every- thing that is available to it and if it can't communicate with one then it works out its next best option by itself, and if it can't do that it continues to work out its next best option until it can do something to maximise the number of custom- ers it restores." The advances made by uK Power Networks are just one example of a growing number of ways in which networks are using real-time monitoring to run operations more efficiently and strip out the need for manual operations. Extending asset life In his work leading the EPsRC National Centre for Energy systems Integration at New- castle university, Professor Phil Taylor has seen a growing interest in combining condition monitoring and asset informa- tion with power system operation information to maximise the efficiency of operations. "They are often kept as two separate things, the network monitoring system for the real- time operation of the network and the condition monitoring, for just maintenance planning and things," says Taylor. "But there is a move towards trying to pull those two things together and say 'might we be able to operate the network more effectively and at lower cost if we operate it know- ing what the current condition of all the assets are'." Through this approach – knowing the condition of each asset and how the network is operating – should theoretically let network operators, helped by data analysis and algorithms, predict just when a particular asset might require mainte- nance or replacement, delivering significant savings in operations and maintenance and improving work plans. "If you took the idea to its extreme, you could almost plan the day on which a transformer is going to reach its end of life and use it up to that point," says Taylor. "Instead of it failing on you and you having to do a rush job, you can almost manage its decline. you can push the date at which you replace it either for- ward or backwards in time, based on when you've got staff available to go out and do it." as well as monitoring the condition of assets against opera- tion of the network, this holistic approach to monitoring also demands that other information is factored in to get an overall and accurate picture. as a result, net- works are now also using weather forecasts and solar forecasts in their models to indicate the likely contributions of renewable generation sources such as solar PV and wind. "The forecasting tool monitors the weather, the network and the constrain points and gives us a forecast of what the best operating model is of how we should configure our network for any given situation," says uKPN's Cameron. "It allows a control en- gineer to take the best decision on how risk averse he wants to be in terms of the network modelling." With the advances in sen- sor and monitoring technology enabling this new, smarter ap- proach to network operations, the networks are able to capitalise on a wealth of opportunities, such as extending asset life and boosting operational efficiency. But such a change in approach also brings its challenges. Data-driven approach as Rachael Taljaard, techni- cal consultant at smarter grid solutions, points out, the ability to collect the data is only part of the process, developing the right approach and the capability to put it to good use, is just as important and challenging. "There's plenty of sensors and monitoring equip- ment out there, but what's really important is how you acquire that data, collect it and store it. you need to effectively store, it because what's the point in moni- toring everything if you don't do anything with the data at the end of the day?" Furthermore, this stronger de- pendence on information and data being fed remotely to the control centre also increases the critical role played by networks telecoms infrastructure. "Reliable comms is a biggie," she says, adding that the most common issue she encounters when working with clients is establishing a strong communications infrastructure. "The networks need to define how reliable a solution they need and how much they want to spend on it. When you have new generator sites going out or you know a constraint is going to appear in quite a remote feeder or transformer, there's usually a requirement for a new communi- cation solution. getting that right is the biggest challenge really." Overall, the opportunities presented by this new era of remote monitoring far outweigh the challenges they bring, and the networks are increasingly adopting levels of monitoring on the low-voltage networks that were previously the preserve of the transmission network. so just how common an approach has it become? according to Randolph Brazier, head of innovation and develop- ment at the Energy Networks association, its use is growing rapidly but is not yet standard across the DNOs. "With trans- mission in particular, it's pretty much business as usual at the moment, but with the distribution networks it's becoming more and more common, particularly on the higher voltage networks and especially where they connect to National grid." "They are all doing it in some way or another. I wouldn't say it's business as usual on every piece of kit yet – to do that would be exorbitant – but it's being installed where it is needed." Siemens is to supply 600 Fusesaver vacuum circuit-breakers and 200 remote control units to UK Power Networks for its overhead line system