Voltage Measurements integrated in Broadband Power Line Communication Infrastructure compared to Conventional Measurement Infrastructure

Abstract:
This paper compares the acquisition cost for the conceptual use of integrated voltage monitoring equipment in an existing communication infrastructure and conventional measurement infrastructure. Both are used to estimate the electrical power grid state for use in decentralized grid automation systems. Grid State Identification is an important part of any low voltage (LV) grid automation system and varies in precision depending on the number of monitored cable currents and voltage nodes in the grid. For grid operators to consider LV grid automation technology the cost benefit has to be substantial compared to conventional grid reinforcement, therefore costs need to be reduced further. This can be achieved by reducing the number of measurements. To assess if this approach has any chance of being adopted for future use, an acquisition cost comparison between this new approach and a conventional approach has been conducted. The results for the analyzed grids show that acquisition cost savings can be substantial and other research indicates that the loss of precision can be counteracted by using voltage measurements in grid state identification.