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Projects: Projects for Investigator
Reference Number	NIA_UKPN0047
Title	HV Feeder monitoring to pre-empt faults
Status	Completed
Energy Categories	Other Power and Storage Technologies(Electricity transmission and distribution) 100%;
Research Types	Applied Research and Development 100%
Science and Technology Fields	ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Electrical and Electronic Engineering) 100%
UKERC Cross Cutting Characterisation	Not Cross-cutting 100%
Principal Investigator	Project Contact No email address given UK Power Networks
Award Type	Network Innovation Allowance
Funding Source	Ofgem
Start Date	01 February 2019
End Date	31 March 2023
Duration	ENA months
Total Grant Value	£2,107,303
Industrial Sectors	Power
Region	London
Programme	Network Innovation Allowance
Investigators	Principal Investigator	Project Contact , UK Power Networks (100.000%)
	Industrial Collaborator	Project Contact , UK Power Networks (0.000%)
Web Site	https://smarter.energynetworks.org/projects/NIA_UKPN0047
Objectives	January 2022 Update:This change request is for approval of a six-month extension to the project and to increase the overall budget of the project by £100,790, to cover additional project costs in Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN).Approval of the project extension will allow UK Power Networks (UKPN) and SSEN to achieve key project outcomes. • Complete all outstanding installations on the project (6 DFA devices in SSEN, and 5 ground-mounted FPIs in UKPN); delays to installations were due to limited resource availability and COVID-19.• Collate additional evidence to validate the use of the Distribution Fault Anticipation (DFA) solution as an effective means of pre-empting faults on the distribution network.• Collate, review, and finalise requirements for a potential transition of the solution to business-as-usual (BAU) activities.Approval of the additional funds will support additional costs to SSEN, during the six-month extension, and for a further six-month transition period, and will include:• Licensing and support costs for the DFA solution • Nortech project support costs • Internal labour costs for installations Similar costs in UKPN will be funded within the existing project budget and contingency.The scope of the project, including the aims and objectives, remain unchanged.This project involves the trial of the Distribution Fault Anticipation device, DFA-Plus, to pre-empt faults on the ED network. The DFA-plus is an on-line monitoring device typically installed at a substation and used to monitor outgoing feeders from the substation. The DFA applies sophisticated high-precision waveform analysis to the data (real-time current and voltage) that it captures. It compares the detected activity to an internal library of known activity characteristics including high impedance faults. The device then determines whether the data is normal or abnormal and if abnormal, matches the activity with the most likely fault type via proprietary analysis. It then reports findings via a web-based interface, emails or SMS. The aim of the project is to test the functionality of the DFA device alongside other network monitoring equipment such as fault passage indicators, to determine if it is an effective means of identifying and locating network anomalies on HV and 33kV feeders before they materialise into faults. Key activities that will be carried out during the project include:• Select 32 typical feeders across two DNO Groups (16 in UK Power Networks, and 16 in Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks) ensuring that we have a mix of predominantly underground feeders, overhead feeders and feeders with both underground and overhead sections. (Note: the original project plan was to select 47 feeders across three DNO groups – UKPN, SSEN and SPEN. However, SPEN withdrew from the project after stage one)• Install disturbance recorders (DFAs) at the source Primary or Grid substations for each of the selected feeders• Install fault passage indicators at strategic points on the feeders (for both underground and overhead sections and teed sections)• Monitor “events” (disturbances or significant changes to network characteristics) on each feeder and individual sections via the disturbance recorders and FPIs installed on the network• Compare “events” to a library of known activity characteristics for various types of faults (including high impedance faults).• Investigate “events” (field investigations) toidentify issues (emerging faults) on the network • Carry out proactive repairs to resolve pre-fault disturbances• Update library of known pre-fault disturbances August 2022 Update:This change request is for approval of a seven-month extension to the project (taking the project end date to 31 March 2023) and to increase the overall budget of the project by £192,202.78 to cover additional project costs in Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) and UK Power Networks (UKPN). The outstanding installations in SSEN and UKPN were as a result of technical challenges in some of the selected sites.The proposed scope for the time extension to 31st March 2023 is summarised below:• Installation of outstanding DFA-Plus units; 1 in UKPN and 5 in SSEN.• Redeployment of one or more units in SSEN, to feeders in Scotland.• Continuous monitoring of DFAs and FPIs via the DFA portal and the iHost platform respectively.• Field investigations of DFA and FPI notifications.• Comparison of DFA and FPI notifications to other network data to validate outcomes.• Completion of a final report outlining findings and post-project proposals.This project involves the trial of the Distribution Fault Anticipation device, DFA-Plus, to pre-empt faults on the ED network. The DFA-plus is a single-ended on-line monitoring device typically installed at a substation and used to monitor outgoing feeders from the substation (illustrated in Figure 1). The DFA applies sophisticated high-precision waveform analysis to the data (real-time current and voltage) that it captures. It compares the detected activity to an internal library of known activity characteristics including high impedance faults. The device then determines whether the data is normal or abnormal and if abnormal, matches the activity with the most likely fault type via proprietary analysis. It then reports findings via a web-based interface, emails or sms. The project will be carried out in three stages, over a two-year period, each stage dependent on the success of the previous stage. Details of the stages are given below:1. Stage one: Tests at the Power Networks Demonstration Centre (PNDC) managed by the University of Strathclyde. To include: o Trial of 2 DFA devices, 3 ground-mounted FPIs, 3 pole-mounted FPIs and ASPEN Distriview o Test process integration of the DFA devices with 3G/4G/other communications, FPIs etc. o Test four typical pre-fault scenarios which will be simulated on the test ED network o Duration – Two weeks2. Stage two: Network trials in UK Power Networks and Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks. To include:o UK Power Networks and Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks each with 11 DFAs, 10 ground-mounted FPIs and 10 pole-mounted FPIs. Note: the 2 DFA devices from stage one will be reused in the network trials alongside 20 new DFA deviceso Develop and test operational process and practicalities of the solution, develop operational experience, review performance.o Duration - Initially for 6 months and then through until the end of the project, if the project proceeds to stage three.3. Stage three: Extended network trial in UK Power Networks and Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks. To include:o Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks with 5 DFA devices, 10 ground-mounted FPIs and 10 pole-mounted FPIs;o UK Power Networks with 5 new DFA devices (in addition to the devices used in stage 2);o Refine operational process, increase operational experience; review performance; ando Duration - 18 months (this was the original plan; the project is now being extended to end on 31 March 2023). The proposed approach would enable us to demonstrate process-level integration with UK systems and gain operational experience in trying to pre-empt faults.  The objectives of the project are to:• Validate the process of sampling network characteristics (such as voltage and current), using DFA devices, in real-time to identify pre-fault disturbances;• Validate the process of analysing system performance, and sending notifications of pre-fault disturbances, in real-time;• Prove the analytical capability of the DFA devices to identify different types of pre-fault conditions in real-world environments;• Develop and validate a process to use outputs of multiple tools (DFA devices, FPIs, protection, modelling tools etc.) to identify the source and location of pre-fault disturbances;• Develop and validate an operational process for responding to DFA outputs and carrying out repairs to pre-empt faults.
Abstract	Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) experience faults on their ED networks, which result in Customer Interruptions (CIs) and Customer Minutes Lost (CMLs). Most CIs and CMLs are incurred on the high voltage (HV) network. DNOs implement a number of measures to reduce the amount of CIs and CMLs incurred, for example through switching via automation and or remote control, use of protection relays to identify faults and minimise impact. However, these measures mostly only address scenarios where the fault has already materialised. Further improvements in network performance and reduction in operating costs could be achieved if DNOs are able to monitor key network characteristics, e.g. voltage and current in real-time, and carry out interventions (e.g. asset or component repairs) before a fault materialises. Monitoring network characteristics in real-time presents some practical challenges and considerations. For example: • What are the typical network characteristics that are identifiable before different types of faults?• How would the location of the emerging fault be identified?• What are the operational processes and steps that would need to be followed to successfully pre-empt an emerging fault?This project aims to test a solution, “Distribution Fault Anticipation” (DFA), to monitor feeders to pre-empt faults. The DFA solution consists of a disturbance recorder (which can be installed on HV or 33kV feeders to monitor network characteristics) and a “Master station” (a cloud-based service which provides the secure conduit and main data repository between the DFA and the DNO). This will be trialed alongside a network analysis tool (ASPEN Distriview) and Fault Passage Indicators (FPIs) to monitor a selection of HV and 33kV feeders and expectantly identify the location of network issues before they manifest into faults.
Publications	(none)
Final Report	(none)
Added to Database	26/10/22