Identifying reliability-driven asset management strategies in active distribution grids

Abstract

In this work, we propose a methodology to quantify the impact of medium voltage components on the overall system’s reliability. The focus of this work is on analyzing both the reliability impact of each component category, as well as their locational effect according to the current practice of the Distribution System Operators (DSOs). The proposed simulation – based approach performs a reliability sensitivity analysis, relying on calculations of common reliability indices. By considering real reliability and operational data of a European medium voltage ring, we identify the most critical type of components to the overall system’s reliability, and the specific elements having the highest potential reliability improvement contribution. Such a tool allows DSOs to optimize their asset management procedure, identifying the needed investments to achieve certain reliability goals.