Smart grid functionalities for improving reliability of rural electricity networks

摘要

Most of the ongoing and planned “smart grid” activities are aimed either at densely-populated urban and highly urban areas (e.g. “smart cities”), or at sparsely-populated isolated off-grid areas (e.g. small islands and remote mountain regions). Rural areas, which are generally denoted as “thinly-populated”, are somewhere in between these two and are to a large extent neglected in the anticipated transformation of existing networks into the future “smart grids” (SGs). It is currently not clear which of the SG technologies and functionalities could be successfully implemented in rural areas and how specific characteristics of rural networks will impact implementation of SG solutions developed for urban and isolated off-grid areas. This paper considers a number of options for improving reliability performance of rural LV and MV networks, including those that are generally denoted as SG functionalities. The considered options include: provision of alternative supply points, implementation of remote control, automation and reconfiguration capabilities, as well as adding redundant components and reducing fault response and supply restoration times. The results for standard reliability indices are calculated using analytical approaches and then evaluated in order to identify the best options for improving reliability performance of considered LV/MV rural networks.