Grid Operation 2025 - Digitalisation for Distribution System Operators

Abstract

In the next decade, the requirements for grid operation will become more and more demanding. The challenges will be multifaceted: a further increase in decentralized infeeds, a constantly changing direction of the load flow, the installation of various smart grid applications and new market players for ancillary services even at lower voltage levels. To face this new demands, grid operators have to take prescient measures and appropriate efforts already at an early stage. One solution is the digitalisation of existing processes, the development of new applications and the installation of interfaces between the various grid operation tools.In 2017, the Austrian association of electricity companies, “Oesterreichs Energie”, established a working group containing representatives of ten DSO’s, to summarize the prospects regarding the digitalisation in grid operation. The results were compiled in a guideline, which was published in 2018 with a clear focus on the operation of distribution grids considering the expected developments in the coming years.Therefore, this paper introduces a guideline for digitalisation trends for distribution system operators with a main focus on the security of supply, a fast and efficient fault localization and restoration, new solutions for customer interaction and an emergency Management.