Distribution Automation

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Distribution Automation
Spencer Murray, Sr. Telecom Eng.
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Why FortisAlberta choose Distribution Automation?

• Reliability (SAIDI, SAIFI)
• Operational benefits
• Load balancing between substations.
• Real-time load values of the system.
• Remote Switching
• Reducing Customer Outage time

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FortisAlberta Restoration

• Permanent short circuit (fault) occurs on a
  distribution feeder, all or some of the customers
  served by the feeder will experience a loss of
  power until field crews are able to restore
  service.
• Field crew activities
• 1) Traveling to the general vicinity of the
  feeder fault, based on customer calls and feeder
  protective devices
• 2) Patrolling the feeder to determine the exact
  location of the fault
• 3) Isolate the damaged section by performing
  manual switching and restoring customers as
  quickly as possible.
• 4) Repairing the damage
• 5) Performing manual switching to restore the
  feeder to its original configuration.
• This restoration can take 30 minutes or longer.

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Distribution Automation Restoration

• Distribution automation provides a means to
  perform activities 1 through 3 listed on the
  previous page.
• With SC Electric automated switches and the
  IntelliTeam software will restore some of the
  customers on the feeder in one minute or less.
• The fault is isolated between two switches which
  decrease the patrolling and the restoration time.
• Fewer customers are affected by the fault and the
  customers that are affect are restored quicker.
  This improves our customer satisfaction, SAIDI
  and SAIFI.

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Our Obstacles

• No Control Center
• No Communications Infrastructure
• No Substation RTU
• How do we know a switch operated or Normally
  Opened moved because of fault
• How can we perform switching operations remotely?

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Monitoring Control Application (MCA)

• Requirements
• Reported a switches status and also something we
  could use to operate the switches.
• Accessible by our PLTs from their trucks because
  we have no control center.
• Visual of the substation and real time load
  values of the feeders, but no control of anything
  in the sub.

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Bow Networks

• eLAn Front End Processor (FEP)
• Acts as a SCADA master retrieving point data from
  the field devices
• Issues control commands to the field devices
• eLAN HMI
• Provides a secure web-launch visualization of the
  field data
• Provides a single line diagram of Airdrie and St.
  Albert
• Universal DNP Gateway (UDG)
• Collects real-time data from the GE D20s in the
  substation

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Airdrie MCA
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199s Substation
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5803 Control/Padmount PMH-11
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View Detail Summary
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IntelliRupter PulseCloser
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St Alberta MCA
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Communications Switches

• Airdrie DA
• UtiliNet Radio 902-928Mhz
• 9.6Kbps
• Node Identification is a GPS coordinates
• St. Albert DA
• SpeedNet Radio 902-928Mhz
• 650Kbps
• Node Identification is a IP Address

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Communications Head End

• HeadEnd Radio at the Service Point Office
• Backhaul the data to master server where Bow
  Networks host our MCA for Airdrie and St. Albert
• PLTs all have a Laptop and EVDO modem in there
  truck which allows them to log on to the server.

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Reliability

• Airdrie DA installed late 2007
• 2008
• Only a couple of operations in the first year
• Lots of adverse wind conditions in 2008
• 2009
• Added 2 new feeders from 186S Dry Creek sub in
  2009
• We have had a couple of operations due to public
  contact and weather

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Our Experiences

• PLTs use it as a remote switching tool
• PLTs use it to look at loading conditions
• New set of tools required for Metering Group
• Radios
• Ethernet Addressing
• Training