Distribution Optimization with Digital Transformation

This blog was originally published on LinkedIn.

Digital transformation is accelerating the journey to clean, reliable, affordable electricity, delivering distribution optimization with GE’s scalable, performant distribution apps.

The energy value chain is becoming more complex as the global need for clean, reliable and affordable electricity continues to grow. After all, electricity is the cornerstone to just about everything billions of people worldwide do daily. For distribution operators to succeed in today’s changing environment, the ability to adapt and optimize operations at an ever-increasing rate is essential — digital transformation holds the key.

Distribution operators face an ongoing increase in grid complexity and rising uncertainty due to changing business and regulatory models. These utilities seek to:

• Protect and increase current reliability levels
• Decrease outage response times
• Improve power quality
• Manage a rapidly changing energy mix
• Integrate the growing volume of distributed energy sources (DERs) safely and securely
• Perform and scale during blue or black sky scenarios.

As the volume of smart sensors and meters deployed on grid increase by multiple orders of magnitude, so does the volume and speed of the data generated by the grid. Yet, overall power producers and utilities are analyzing less than 2% of their available data.

Without optimizing operational processes and equipment functionality, or taking advantage of software algorithms delivering greater automation and control, utilities are missing opportunities to better connect and orchestrate, and thus deliver network level optimization.

Powering distribution optimization with digital energy

GE has the proven solid foundation. With scalable and performant distribution power apps currently in production worldwide, utilities are empowered to solve current challenges as well as position themselves for the future. GE’s systems have gone well beyond pilots to full-scale production rollouts, delivering valuable outcomes to our customers daily during business as usual as well as severe weather events via Distribution Power Flow (DPF), Distribution State Estimator, Integrated Volt-Var Control (IVVC), and Fault Location, Isolation and Service Restoration (FLISR).

In one example, a North American IOUs runs our core network analysis engine to locate the complex voltages at all nodes and the power flows through all feeder segments in the distribution system. They currently have 850 distribution substations continuously solving real-time DPF with BLA/SCADA inputs on a periodic basis and upon switching events.

They’ve been impressed with how close the estimated solutions of the DPF are matching up with the SCADA measurements.

Another North American GE IOU customer is running FLISR in production with closed loop operation on every one of its 2200 feeders. Plus, the solution was implemented in less than a year. During a single thunderstorm, FLISR restored 9488 customers in less than 2 minutes; the following week it restored 5308 customers in less than 1.5 minutes.

In a single year, this customer had 32 successful FLISR events with a 3-minute average restoration time, with approximately 20,000 customers restored automatically.

 GE customers have seen positive outcomes. Some highlights include:

• Up to 30% additional reduction in SAIFI over scripted automation programs
• Up to 3% reduction in voltage for greater network efficiency
• Up to 20% increase in renewable exports onto the grid

Electric grids around the world must transform to perform and excel with increasing volumes of DER, new technology deployment trends, environmental concerns, weather patterns, regulatory requirements and changing consumer needs and engagement models. GE’s distribution optimization solution solves these challenges today and works to future proof your utility for changes to come.