Transitioning to Smart MV/LV

Substations as the Cornerstone

of Your Smart Grid

by Yves Chollot, Renzo Coccioni, and Laurent Guise

Executive summary
Utilities face increasingly higher expectations to maintain
power quality and achieve greater service continuity. With
the widespread integration of distributed energy resources
all along the network, more Smart Grid capabilities are
being introduced into MV/LV substations to meet these
expectations. Therefore, transitioning substation assets to
host these new capabilities is becoming the neuralgic
998-2095-11-30-15AR0

aspect of any Smart Grid deployment. This paper describes

which architectures and components will have the greatest,
most effective impact on utilities’ transition to smart MV/LV
substations.
 Transitioning to Smart MV/LV Substations as the Cornerstone of Your Smart Grid

Introduction Utilities today face increasing pressure to improve the reliability and efficiency of the electric
grid while simultaneously enhancing power quality. They must also support a higher ratio of
distributed energy resources (DER) — such as renewable energy sources, distributed
storage, and electric vehicle charging stations — connected to medium voltage (MV) or low
voltage (LV) distribution levels.

Innovative Smart Grid solutions exist today to help meet these challenges. As the heart of
any electrical power distribution system, MV/LV substations house the switches, capacitors,
transformers, and other assets used to keep grid power flowing, balanced, and routed
appropriately. These substations, located most closely to the vast majority of grid users, are
becoming the cornerstone of the electricity grid evolution. Transitioning MV/LV substations’
assets to host these new smart capabilities is becoming the neuralgic aspect of any Smart
Grid deployment.

Specifically, MV/LV substations can leverage this smart technology to:

• Improve the quality of service

• Better balance LV feeder loads
• Manage voltage limits
• Optimize assets and reduce field site visits
• Improve smart meters return on investment
• Avoid unwanted “islanding”

This paper discusses how different electromechanical and communications architectures

affect MV/LV substations’ ability to meet these 6 challenges, explores various Smart Grid
components, identifies which equipment offers the best opportunities to have the highest
impact, and explains the advantages of deploying pre-engineered solutions.

Real-life Many cases of Smart grid deployments have been in existence worldwide for 15 years.
However, they have often been limited by the cost of implementation and communications
examples of challenges. Over the last few years these obstacles have been largely overcome, as the
Smart Grid Internet of Things (IoT) has made better communication feasible and devices like smart
sensors are now more affordable. Some examples of Smart Grid solutions that are already in
deployments place to meet today’s challenges follow:

• One of the largest utilities in the Netherlands, with over 2 million customers, needed to
reduce the duration of power outages. The challenge was to come up with a high-
quality, cost-effective means of quickly re-energizing the MV network in case of a fault.
By introducing smart capabilities to the existing MV/LV substations, in the case of a
fault, the system cuts the time to re-energize the unaffected parts of the grid from an
average of 2 hours to around 20 seconds.
• Regulated distribution transformers (smart MV/LV transformers that control the tap
changer based on information received from several LV monitoring points along the
grid) are being used to control voltage fluctuations induced by distributed energy
resources. Some of these transformers have been installed in France for over a year
with positive results.
• Greenlys, a full-scale Smart Grid demonstration pilot project in France involving 1,000
residential customers and 40 commercial building sites, has found that smart meter
communication architecture helps monitor the LV feeders and the phases on which
loads are connected. This allows easy phase rebalancing to allow higher level of
integration of photovoltaic energy.

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• One of the largest utilities in Middle East, with over 6 million customers, is modernizing
part of its distribution network. As the area is very wide — more than 10,000 electrified
towns and villages — the duration of network outages caused by faults may be lengthy
because maintenance staff need to drive to often-inaccessible faraway locations to
manually isolate the faulty sections. The modernization project will limit outage duration
through smart monitoring and remote control features. Motorized ring main units
equipped with fault passage indicators, connected to remote terminal units and
supervised by a SCADA system, immediately identify and isolate the faulty sections
remotely, i.e., from the control room.

Some Defining common terms avoids any possible confusion when discussing concepts and best
practices. Below are a few terms that are utilized in this white paper and their definitions.
terminology
• The Smart MV/LV concept is discussed from a historical point of view, relating to the
presence of ring main units (RMUs) with remote terminal units (RTUs). This concept
can be extended to topologies with reclosers and pad-mounted units, such those used
in United States.
• Distributed energy resources (DER) include a variety of supply-side and demand-
side resources such as distributed generators (renewable or not), controllable (or
flexible) loads used for demand response, energy storage (electrical or thermal), and
electric vehicles (which play a dual role in both load and energy storage).
• High presence of DER significantly influences the design of the feeder and its
protection. The presence of DER is said to be “high” when the current contribution from
DER downstream from the considered grid location for a fault located upstream (even
on another MV feeder connected to the same HV/MV or MV/MV transformer) is
comparable to short circuit current generated by a fault located downstream.
• “Islanding” is where a distributed generator (DG) or a set of DGs continues to power a
portion of the grid when the connection to the main public electrical grid power is no
longer present.

6 Smart Grid 1. Improving quality of service

opportunities & As electricity is the primary source of energy for homes, buildings, and industry worldwide,
utilities are increasingly sensitive to quality of service. The quality of utilities’ supply of
challenges electricity is measured and published in indexes, e.g., the Council of European Energy
Regulators (CEER) Benchmarking Report on the Continuity of Electricity Supply. An analysis
of this report shows that the average annual interruption time for customers connected to
distribution network varies, depending on the country, from 10 to 700 minutes per year.
Although all countries have shown a downward trend since 1998, some still have an average
annual interruption time of more than 100 minutes per year — too high for end users in
homes, buildings, and industry. Utilities often use other reliability indicators — specifically,
the System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI), which calculates the average outage
duration for each customer served, and System Average Interruption Frequency Index
“The Internet of Things (SAIFI), which calculates the average number of interruptions that a customer would
(IoT) has made better experience — to track and benchmark their reliability performance. See Figure 1.
communication feasible
and devices like smart One of the primary factors impacting quality of service is whether the distribution grid is
sensors are now more overhead or underground. In general, underground grid have much better performance than
affordable.” overhead ones; however, using smart technologies is one of the first ways to reduce the
difference in performance.

Traditional MV/LV substations in public distribution applications are equipped with ring main
units (RMUs) with switch-fuse solutions or circuit breakers for MV/LV transformer protection,
and manually operated load break switches for cable switching. When a fault occurs, a crew

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has to be sent into the field in order to identify the location of the fault, possibly helped by
checking the position of the fault passage indicator (FPI) in different substations, if such
devices are installed on the concerned feeder. This is time-consuming and costly, and may
lead to long outages. The presence of DER makes the detection of faults even more
sophisticated, and may require these FPIs to be of the directional type. When a distribution
network is operated as an open loop, strategic electrical nodes (including the normal open
point) need to be equipped with specific remote capabilities, including motorized switches
and FPIs. In countries using a long-line radial design (e.g., United States, South America,
Middle East, Australia), smart reclosers can clear electrical faults closest to where they
happen, rather than exclusively clearing them at the primary substation, requesting then that
these smart reclosers be connected to the outage management center to communicate that a
fault has occurred. Otherwise, the grid operator may miss the event and many grid users
would be left without power.

Figure 1
Unplanned SAIDI, excluding
exceptional events

2. Better balancing LV feeder loads

The LV ends of distribution networks are often heavily unbalanced between transformers,
between LV feeders within a transformer, and between the three phases of one given
transformer. With the massive injection of distribution energy resources (e.g., photovoltaic
panels), these imbalances are amplified. These imbalances cause joules losses in wires and
transformers due to the higher current level on the more heavily loaded part of the network
and to current flow in neutral wires that were usually not designed for such a situation.

In the case where LV feeders are equipped with energy meters connected to the remote
terminal unit (RTU) in the substation, the system is able to calculate imbalances on LV
feeders in real time (every 10 minutes, on average) and to locate each LV consumer on the
network, feeder, and phase. The re-balancing of loads may be performed by repartition units
installed along the LV feeder that switch a targeted group of grid users from one phase to
another.

Imbalances also create unexpected voltage drops (see “Managing voltage” below).

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3. Managing voltage
One of the main responsibilities of utilities around the world is to maintain voltage fluctuations
within limits as contractually agreed to (i.e., +/- 10% of agreed-upon target as requested in
network codes). Voltage control has traditionally been performed by transformers, using on
load tap changers and capacitor banks that inject reactive power into the grid, located at the
HV/MV substation level. The distribution system operator (DSO) fixes a setpoint and prepares
scenarios and ranges based on forecasted load and production curves, for example.

As a result of the massive integration of DER into the MV/LV grid, voltage management now
presents DSOs with major challenges. Cases may differ depending on whether the DSOs’
coverage area is urban or rural, and on the type and density of DER connected. They now
have to manage situations where voltage may be rising on one part of the grid while
decreasing on another, or deal with the unexpected behavior of DER due to weather
conditions. Consequently, DSOs are deploying sensors to monitor the voltage all along
feeders, new actuators that are able to regulate the voltage at different levels, and centralized
or distributed intelligence to optimize voltage control — for example, equipping the MV/LV
substation with a regulated distribution transformer (smart transformer) with on load tap
changer and an associated controller that receives information from several LV monitoring
points along the grid. See Figure 2.

Figure 2
Smart transformers regulate
voltage

4. Optimizing assets & reducing field site visits

Utilities are facing increased pressure to reduce their capital expenditures (CAPEX) and
operational expenditures (OPEX). With a huge portfolio of valuable assets, distribution
utilities look for any means to optimize the use of existing assets, extend their lifetime, and
reduce the cost of operating and managing them. This pressure is even more pronounced in
light of the changes needed to support a higher rate of DER.

Deploying smart capabilities on the feeder increases utilities’ ability to manage assets
remotely. Sophisticated, meaningful data are shared among mobile field crews, remote
operators, and maintenance centers thanks to smart communication standards. More
accurate information about asset behavior enables utilities to not only reduce the number of
costly field maintenance visits but also more proactively keep equipment operating efficiently.

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5. Improving smart meters return on investment

Because in many cases deploying the communication infrastructure to manage smart
metering and installing these smart meters may not provide sufficient financial benefit from a
billing perspective (vs. a traditional process), many utilities are seeing greater return on
investment by leveraging smart meter data to optimize their distribution networks. Smart
meters that communicate through Power Line Carrier (PLC) technology allow utilities to
deploy a full set of functions simultaneously, better regulate MV voltage, optimize the
integration of DER with local load and production flexibility, and better monitor the LV network
and solve LV phase balancing. Aggregated measurement may also help detect non-technical
losses at the feeder level.

MV/LV substations are the critical point of PLC-based smart metering measurement
“MV/LV substations are aggregation because, by design, all connected smart meters communicate through the PLC
the critical point of PLC- with the substation they are attached to. When measurements are given to the concentrator
based smart metering located in the MV/LV substation — and assuming the grid operator is granted the right to
measurement.” treat such data (under cyber-security rules) — it can automatically verify/adapt the voltage
profile along the LV feeders, verify/adapt the load balance between phases, and compute
potential non-technical losses.

6. Avoiding unwanted islanding

“Islanding” is where a distributed generator (DG) or a set of DGs continues to power a portion
of the grid when the connection to the main public electrical power grid is no longer present.
Unwanted islanding appears when the concerned part of the grid and the connected users
have not been specified to run in such a way. Two circumstances primarily cause such a
situation:

• Protection devices located at a DER site may be blind: they cannot properly detect the
occurrence of this case and then do not trip.
• Incorrect operation of a switch or breaker may create islanding conditions, such as
opening a feeder breaker without having requested all concerned DER to disconnect.

It is important to avoid unwanted islanding not only because it may lead to safety hazards for
utility field personnel but also because DG units and network components may be damaged
as a consequence of unsynchronized reclosing of the islanded circuit, unregulated voltage
and frequency, overloaded DER, and undefined earthing. In addition, customer loads in the
islanded circuit may be damaged due to poor/unmanaged power quality or to the change of a
non-adapted earthing system.

Anti-islanding protection, also known as loss-of-mains protection, has traditionally been

installed only at industrial sites connected to the primary substation. But the massive injection
of DER, combined with the increased number of microgrids connected at any point along the
distribution network, has led utilities to reconsider. For example, very tight voltage and
frequency settings reliably detect islanding but now pose a risk to system stability since the
voltage and frequency will drop even more after the tripping of the DG. Therefore, protection
based on communications with the MV/LV substation creates a more flexible, localized option.

One effective way to avoid unwanted islanding involves communication capabilities between
components attached to a feeder. The principle is to force a disconnection by asking the feeder
components — which have the knowledge of islanding conditions — to communicate with all
attached DER. In the case of a feeder fault, this is known as a “trip transfer” function. It consists
of downstreaming a “disconnect/zero power” request, through digital communication links, to all
MV/LV substations located along the concerned feeder, as well as to all MV-connected DER
and then from these MV/LV substations to all LV-connected DER.

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A high degree of DER significantly influences the design of the feeder and its protection. As
Types of electro- defined previously, the presence of DER is “high” when the current contribution from DER
mechanical downstream from the considered grid location for a fault located upstream (even on another
architecture MV feeder connected to the same HV/MV or MV/MV transformer) is comparable to short
circuit current generated by a fault located downstream.

Circuit-breaker only at the primary substation

Traditionally, distribution networks have been operated as either open rings or radial feed
networks. See Figure 3. The network design was largely influenced by legacy network
architecture and/or by the objectives and restrictions of the DSO: power quality targets (such
as SAIDI and SAIFI), voltage quality, budget limitations, geographical distribution of loads
and DER, targeted value for maximum short circuit current, and possible future expansion.

Without a high presence of DER, network topologies use components with basic protection:
protection devices for the main circuit breaker feeders of the primary substation, load break
switches along the distribution networks and in the switching substations, fuses or circuit
breakers for the distributed MV/LV transformers, fuses and/or circuit breakers on each LV
feeder. With a high presence of DER, directional features are added to every protection and
fault location device. For both ring and radial networks, if no additional means are provided to
field crews, detecting a fault, locating the fault, and restoring power may take a long time.

Figure 3
Distribution networks have
been operated as either open
rings (left) or radial feed
(right) networks.

Open ring distribution network Radial distribution network

Open rings are often used to increase the availability of power. A first level of improvement
consists of connecting the two ends of the ring to two possibly different primary substations.
This architecture offers redundant supply for each ring, with a smaller proportion of the load
disconnected in case of a primary substation blackout.

A radial distribution network is the simplest system configuration for widely distributed loads
over a large area — e.g., rural MV networks. The occurrence of a single fault results in the
complete loss of supply to the load, but it is easy to protect with time-graded overcurrent.

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Circuit breakers vs. switch-along feeders

Centralized feeder protection vs. distributed feeder protection
Network topologies using circuit breakers only at primary (HV/MV) substations affect all end
users along the feeder in case of a fault leading to outages. This leads to poor SAIDI and
SAIFI performance numbers. With a high presence of DER in several distribution networks,
this may lead also to a significant financial loss due to “non-produced energy” for prosumers
or “non-distributed energy” for DSOs.

Adding circuit-breakers (reclosers) in distribution network feeders, mostly in overhead

networks where transient self-cleaning faults occur frequently, is an efficient way to (1)
decrease the number of end users affected by an outage and (2) reduce the amount of non-
produced energy and non-distributed energy, respectively. Protection attached to the circuit
breakers needs to be set adequately to discern the fault most closely to where it occurs
(chronological selectivity or logic selectivity). Protection devices need to communicate to the
grid operator to ensure that the outage is known to the control center and that the outage for
the concerned users won’t last too long.

Fuse switches vs. circuit breakers to protect MV/LV transformers

In public distribution applications such as MV ring network configurations for substations that
are dispersed over a large geographical area, utilities look for the simplest repetitive
approach. The power of an MV/LV transformer is generally limited to 630 kVA or less.
Compact and often non-extensible three-function switchgear are often specified by the
utilities. In these cases, and if DER presence is low, protection of MV/LV transformers by MV
fuses offers an optimized solution.

Protecting MV/LV transformers with circuit breakers is usually done for large commercial,
industrial, and building applications — especially when the transformer power exceeds 800
kVA. In these instances, switchboards made of modular units provide great flexibility.

The protection chain of each unit may include self-powered relays with optimized current
sensors, which bring a high level of availability and safety. This solution provides
maintenance benefits and improves protection of the transformer, discrimination with the LV
installation, insensitivity to the inrush currents, and detection of low earth fault currents.

Directional features for high DER presence

In case of a fault, DER will feed the fault current even if the fault is not located downstream of
the MV/LV transformer. A consequence of this situation is a reversed current flow direction.
This may lead the fuse or the circuit breaker in charge of protecting the loop to trip. Avoiding
such a situation may require protection/fault location devices that are able to discriminate the
direction of the energy flow.

Local transfer switch (such as ATS)

Automatic transfer switching (ATS), or automatic changeover, is the traditional scheme used
to improve local power availability, allowing the utility to balance loads from one incomer to
another incomer in case of an outage. See Figure 4.

Double radial distribution network

The scheme called “double radial” is a kind of native self-healing network that uses redundant
cables. This architecture is used in Paris, Moscow, and other cities to dramatically increase
the availability of the network — but with an additional cost.

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Figure 4
Automatic transfer switching
(ATS), or automatic
changeover, balances loads
from one incomer to another
in case of an outage.

Local automatism in the substation

ATS is used by large grid users to secure a critical load with two or more incomers fed by
different sources. Buildings, hospitals, malls, or other local infrastructure such as small ports,
small airports, and campuses usually have a dedicated controller hosting the ATS function. It
automatically resupplies the loads from the backup incomers or from the generators,
providing transfer within few seconds. It may also automatically optimize the use of local
generators during peak demand and maintenance periods.

Automatic transfer switch for industrial customers

In the case of large industrial customers, ATS is included in the substation automation
functions and is managed in a consistent way with the generators and busbar coupling
protection to resupply the critical loads in about 200 ms.

VVAR regulation at main substation

Volt-VAR (VVAR) regulation must maintain acceptable voltages at all points along the feeder
under all loading conditions and also efficiently optimize the reactive power and the voltage.
The Volt-VAR of the distribution network is controlled mainly at the primary substation level
with a load tap changer (LTC) and capacitor banks.

The LTC changes the rate of the HV/MV transformer and then regulates the substation bus
voltage by means of an LTC controller called an automatic voltage regulator (AVR). The AVR
regulates the voltage using an estimation of the end of lines based on loads, and in some
cases also using a reference setpoint calculated by the distribution management system
(DMS). LTCs are not sufficiently flexible to accommodate the massive integration of DER and
require costly maintenance because of the increased frequency of changing orders due to the
fluctuating availability of solar and wind power.

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One major source of system losses is the reactive load, which is created mainly by load
devices with electric motors. Examples are washing machines and air conditioning units. VAR
load also increases the need for system capacity. Consequently, utilities have been using
locally regulated capacitor banks to reduce the amount of VAR on their systems. However,
the voltage and VAR controls are generally not coordinated, resulting in underperforming
distribution systems.

Distributed VVAR
Some Volt-VAR control devices may also be distributed along the feeder or at the customer
connection. These devices can adapt the rough regulation made at the primary substation,
taking into account the local network specifics in terms of length and capacity of the lines,
loads and generation, storage, and load curtailments.

Traditional solutions are fixed line capacitors and fixed tap changers of MV/LV transformers.
These devices are tuned in order to have an acceptable voltage under loading conditions on
each end of the feeders. Nowadays, due to DER, more devices are installed along feeders to
compensate for voltage fluctuations.

Different from the traditional distribution transformers, smart transformers meet dynamic
voltage regulation needs and are an attractive option for utilities to meet their future
distribution network challenges. Furthermore, such smart transformer equipment may
improve visibility into the distribution grid thanks to their ability to communicating with remote
centers.

New types of power electronics devices, like the mid-line power regulators or other static
VAR units, enable renewable generation connections without affecting existing power quality.
These devices, while more expensive than traditional solutions, combine significant
advantages like voltage regulation under forward and reverse power flow, fast reactive power
compensation, current harmonic cancellation, power quality improvement, and phase
balancing.

Architecture Smart Grid abilities

Circuit breaker only at the primary substation, • (1) Improve quality of service, but limited
RMU with switches
Table 1 Breaker only at the primary substation, • (1) Improve quality of service
Different electromechanical RMU with controlled switches • (4) Optimize assets & reduce field site visits
architectures and how they
help realize the 6 Smart Grid • (1) Improve quality of service
Circuit breakers vs. switch-along feeders
opportunities • (4) Optimize assets & reduce field site visits
Local transfer switch (such as ATS) • (1) Improve quality of service
Smart regulated distribution transformers &
Volt-VAR devices • (3) Manage voltage

Boldfaced capabilities denote high impact

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Types of No digital communication

communication In architectures with no digital communications (see Figure 5), fault passage indicators
(FPIs) allow the operator to manually identify the faulty section. However, such identification
architecture takes time because it forces the operator to go into the field and travel from FPI to FPI,
possibly all along the feeder.

Figure 5
Without digital
communications, operators
need to go from FPI to FPI to
find the faulty section.

Digital communication with remote monitoring

An architecture (see Figure 6) that relies on a central supervisory control and data
acquisition (SCADA) software and related components (such as advanced distribution
management system [ADMS]) enables an operator to know the status of each FPI remotely.
Control is still performed manually on the field, but maintenance activities may be optimized
by immediately focusing the field crew on the faulty section.

Figure 6
Communications that
leverage SCADA software
provide greater visibility into
the status of each FPI
remotely.

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Digital communications with remote monitoring and control

This architecture (see Figure 7) presents all the advantages of the previous one plus the
ability to control remotely. It also offers the possibility of optimizing the reconfiguration
process based on the topology as well as load and generation status.

Figure 7
LV controllable switches
enable not only the ability to
monitor FPIs remotely but
also control them remotely.

Peer-to-peer communication
Peer-to-peer architectures (see Figure 8) offer stand-alone capabilities which very often are
more reactive than architectures based on central means. Each smart component located
along the feeder can benefit from communicating with its neighbors to perform distributed
automation such as fault location, fault isolation or Volt-VAR control without been requested
to communicate with a remote control center.

Figure 8
Peer-to-peer communication
is usually more reactive.

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Architecture Smart Grid abilities

• (3) Manage voltage , but limited
No digital communication
Table 2
Different communication • (1) Improve quality of service
architectures and how they • (2) Balance LV feeder loads
Digital communication with remote
help realize the 6 Smart Grid • (3) Manage voltage limits
monitoring – more observability
opportunities • (4) Optimize assets & reduce field site visits
• (5) Improve smart meters return
Digital communication with remote • (1) Improve quality of service
monitoring and control – more • (3) Manage voltage limits
controllability • (4) Optimize assets & reduce field site visits
• (1) Improve quality of service
• (3) Manage voltage limits
Peer-to-peer communications
• (4) Optimize assets & reduce field site visits
• (6) Avoid unwanted islanding

Boldfaced capabilities denote high impact

When looking to match the appropriate communication technologies to the different

architectures, it is important to differentiate the communication layer (protocol specification)
1
from the information layer (i.e., data model and semantics). See Table 3.

In any case, choosing the technology from an international standardization body offers the
utility the possibility to deploy multi-vendor solutions and finally secure their investment.

Communication Information
Architecture layer
layer
• IEC 60870-5-101 or 104 IEC 61850*
Digital communication with
• DNP3 (IEEE 1815)
remote monitoring
• In future IEC 61850-8-2
Table 3
Communication technologies Digital communication with • IEC 60870-5-101 or 104 IEC 61850*
and standards to remote monitoring and • DNP3 (IEEE 1815)
interconnect the smart control • In future IEC 61850-8-2
MV/LV substation, per typical IEC 61850*
architecture • IEC 61850-90-5
Peer-to-peer •For observability and control IEC 61850*
communications • IEC 60870-5-101 or 104
• DNP3 (IEEE 1815)
• In future IEC 61850-8-2

*Using the IEC 61850 helps bringing semantics to the communication making the integration of the subsystem much easier.

1
IEC 61850 can be easily mapped over IEC 60870-5-101/104 thanks to the TS IEC 61850-80-1, or
DNP3 thanks to the IEEE 1815-1. Such a mapping can fully benefit from the IEC 61850 system
configuration language, to get a formal machine readable description.

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Low power voltage sensors: Low power voltage transformers (LPVT) for voltage metering
Smart offer new convenient (low cost, weight, footprint) ways to measure voltage and to calculate all
components associated data needed for advanced automation, such as active and reactive power, power
factors, and energy and fault direction.

Smart FPI: Electronic and communicating FPI not only notify operators of a fault but also
indicate the type of fault and count the number of faults per period. Because of its location on
a specific point of the feeder, a smart FPI may also help monitor the usage of the feeder by
providing the circulating current, its direction, the voltage, and the amount of power (active
and reactive). It may also receive from remote the feeder status and warn connected
distributed generation sources of the feeder status and then help avoid islanding part of the
grid.

Smart ring main units (RMUs) are MV actuators (switches and circuit breakers) present on
the feeder which can be operated remotely — to isolate a faulty section, for example. Very
often motorized, they can also be operated with a minimum of available energy. RMUs
become “smart” with embedded electronic and sensors. Such smart RMUs may provide
additional pre-engineered integrated functions (such as FPI, power measurement, switch
control, and protection) with the same footprint. Being instrumented, they may also monitor
conditions and support condition-based maintenance.

Smart reclosers: One schema could be to clear electrical faults the closest to where they
occur, rather than exclusively at the primary substation. This is particularly relevant in the
case of overhead distribution. Smart reclosers, capable of communicating with control
centers, can then inform these centers of customer outages. By offering peer-to-peer
communication with other reclosers, they enable automatic fault isolation and service
restoration without involving the control center.

Smart power supply is an uninterruptable power supply controlling an external battery and
equipped with communication capabilities to the local RTU. The local power supply is needed
both to communicate and to operate the switches remotely. Having the capability to monitor
and test the health of the local battery and the battery charger contributes to reaching SAIDI
“ADMS is crucial to realize objectives and to reduce battery maintenance costs.
the maximum benefit from
Smart transformers include actuators that could help manage voltage and active and
smart MV/LV substations.”
reactive power. They are most often installed at the HV/MV substation level (on load tap
changers within HV/MV transformers, capacitor banks, and voltage regulators) but can also
be installed along MV lines or even further downstream. These transformers can help
automatically regulate the MV voltage in order to increase or decrease the LV voltage, and
keep it within the allowed range. Such regulation can take into account line drop
compensation and/or weather forecasts. In the case of intermittent production down on the
feeder, voltage changes may be requested at a very high rate, compared to traditional usage.
One requirement of such a smart transformer would be to withstand 1 million operations
during its life cycle with limited maintenance. When communicating either to remote centers
or peer-to-peer with other field devices, they can optimize their functioning.

In-line power electronics are used more and more frequently for the same reasons as smart
transformers. They may be located either at end user site or along the feeders at the MV or
LV level. They can be very efficient, contributing to power factor management, voltage
management, phase rebalancing, and even frequency regulation in the future.

Smart LV sensors: The presence of active consumers or producers (especially intermittent

ones) on the LV part of the grid raises the need to monitor it. Retrofit solutions are available
to easily spread smart sensors on existing installations.

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 Transitioning to Smart MV/LV Substations as the Cornerstone of Your Smart Grid

Smart MV/LV controller (feeder RTU): The MV/LV substation is becoming the cornerstone
of distributed automation to help utilities improve power quality and assets’ lifespan. Smart
controllers can maximize the benefits of smart assets by hosting some local automation — or,
in the case of conventional assets (RMUs, transformers), a dedicated function — and by
communicating with control centers or with other substations using standard protocols (IEC
61850). This also includes the capability to accurately monitor the quality of delivered energy.
One interesting aspect is that such an approach may also apply to existing substations,
retrofitting them to open a new field of smart applications. To ensure robust, reliable remote
control of the MV network, the RTU and each connected electronic device, like the smart
power supply and smart FPI, have to meet a high level of electromagnetic compatibility
immunity (EMC standards) that traditional industrial controllers do not reach .

Advanced Distribution Management System (ADMS): ADMS (including SCADA and

topological display and calculation, flow monitoring and remote control of switches) enables a
level of grid monitoring and control that is crucial to realize the maximum benefit from smart
MV/LV substations. Volt-VAR control gives operators the ability to centrally and remotely
manage voltage at the feeder level by controlling field actuators such as tap changers and
smart transformers. Fault location, isolation and supply restoration (FLISR) centrally and
remotely manages all smart devices located on the feeders, with the objective of locating
faults accurately and quickly, isolating the faulty section, and restoring power to a maximum
number of grid users. ADMS offers ways to handle asset databases and connect real-time
data retrieved from the field to the corresponding assets. It can then efficiently contribute to
optimizing the use of assets (extending their life duration by avoiding assets operating
beyond their limit) as well as reducing the costs of maintenance.

Smart component Smart Grid abilities

• (2) Balance LV feeder loads
Low power voltage transformers • (3) Manage voltage
• (6) Avoid unwanted islanding
• (1) Improve quality of service
Smart FPI • (4) Optimize assets & reduce field site visits
• (6) Avoid unwanted islanding
• (1) Improve quality of service
Smart Ring Main Unit (RMU)
• (4) Optimize assets & reduce field site visits
• (1) Improve quality of service
Smart recloser
• (4) Optimize assets & reduce field site visits
• (1) Improve quality of service
Smart power supply
• (4) Optimize assets & reduce field site visits
• (3) Manage voltage
Table 4 Smart transformers
• (4) Optimize assets & reduce field site visits
Various smart components
• (2) Balance LV feeder loads
and how they help realize the In-line power electronics
• (3) Manage voltage
6 Smart Grid opportunities
• (1) Improve quality of service
• (2) Balance LV feeder loads
Smart LV sensors • (3) Manage voltage
• (4) Optimize assets & reduce field site visits
• (5) Improve smart meters return
• (1) Improves quality of service
Smart MV/LV controller • (4) Optimize assets & reduce field site visits
• (6) Avoid unwanted islanding
• (1) Improves quality of service
• (3) Manage voltage
ADMS
• (4) Optimize assets & Reduce field site visits
• (5) Improve smart meters return

Boldfaced capabilities denote high impact

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The key concept behind pre-engineered solutions is to build smart features upon an existing
The benefit of electrical network. For example, it is difficult to deploy a new self-healing system on a live
pre-engineered network because installing, testing, and commissioning the system would cause so many
outages.
solutions
A pre-engineered solution is well adapted to a distribution network with a large number of
homogeneous devices and repetitive network topologies. A solution that has been
standardized, industrialized, and fully factory-tested beforehand saves commissioning time,
reduces the number of voltage outages during installation, and is flexible enough to
accommodate future network development.

Self-healing solutions
A decentralized, pre-engineered self-healing solution is well adapted for an open ring
distribution network. One such solution was recently deployed in Rotterdam on an
underground feeder. The concept is simple and easy to extend with a meshed network using
peer-to-peer digital radio communication services between each RMU. In January 2015, a
major outage incident was avoided: 14 secondary substations (affecting 600 customers) were
reconfigured and reconnected in 18 seconds rather than the previous average of 2 hours.

Due to their higher vulnerability, a self-healing solution for overhead lines that uses a
combination of reclosers and sectionalizers would be recommended. Traditionally the so-
called loop automation solution that uses recloser cycles and delays to reclose the ring on the
tie point allows for isolating the fault and reconfiguring the ring without any communication
between controllers. A new self-healing solution has been successfully deployed using some
short communication bandwidth between feeder RTUs to better manage the grading system
of reclosers and to reduce the stress of the lines.

Volt-VAR control solutions

Volt-VAR optimization (VVO) consists of adjusting the voltage setting of Volt-VAR devices to
meet certain objectives and criteria, such as to maintain voltage limits as contractually agreed
upon with customers, to reduce system losses, to optimize demand reduction, or to achieve
peak shaving. Many utilities do their planning calculations and simulations simply with power
engineering software, and use these results to set up the settings of Volt-VAR devices
without closed-loop real-time control.

Traditionally the real-time control of Volt-VAR devices is done by advanced functions of the
distribution management system (ADMS). The VVO function computes the real-time network
topology with data such as the load profiles of customers and producers, measurements of
the main substations, measurement of some end-of-line points, switched capacitor banks
status, and other network characteristics (line impedance, transformers rate settings).

But such powerful DMS are meant primarily for large utilities. New dedicated and pre-
engineered solutions are now available to control a group of feeders where voltage
excursions arise, in order to optimize the existing assets while increasing DER integration.

These solutions are a combination of software and communicating devices:

• Smart MV/LV transformers to regulate the voltage of the LV network

• Dedicated algorithms, using EOL (end of line) smart meters to adjust the on load tap
changer (OLTC) settings, notify the unbalanced LV circuits, and achieve peak demand
shaving or conservative voltage reduction (CVR)
• Smart capacitor banks and voltage regulators to flatten the voltage along the line

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 Transitioning to Smart MV/LV Substations as the Cornerstone of Your Smart Grid

Where within the network to locate the feeders for upgrading is one of the first challenges.
Deploying pre-
engineered For self-healing solutions, it consists of identifying the weak feeders or the feeders with
solutions critical customers that can be resupplied by a backup feeder.

For Volt-VAR solutions, a financial analysis of each area has to evaluate the benefits of
reinforcing the network or optimizing the Volt-VAR. This may be done by experts from a
solution manufacturer and the utility through analyzing the feasibility of using a single line
diagram, feeder loads, network characteristics, the protection plan, and any installation
issues.

The next step would be to equip a small part of the network with a field pilot project to adjust
the internal process of the utility with the new system, including training staff, establishing
maintenance procedures, and upgrading communication infrastructure.

A deployment of such solutions may be managed locally with a minimum of risk and with a
scalable investment. Heavy remote control capabilities are not required for such a solution to
run, and having such a solution running doesn’t prevent setting up remote control center
project.

Utilities today face ever higher expectations to maintain power quality and achieve greater
Conclusion service continuity. With the widespread integration of distributed energy resources all along
the network, more Smart Grid capabilities are being introduced into MV/LV substations to
meet these expectations. MV/LV substations lie at the heart of the needed evolution of the
electrical distribution network. Now is the time for utilities to formalize their roadmap for
MV/LV substation and grid transformation.

Smart technologies are now available to enable such a transformation affordably. However,
some smart components have a greater impact on realizing smart capabilities than others.
The type of electromechanical and communication architecture at substations plays a role in
how much Smart Grid capability a utility can achieve. Substations with automatic transfer
switching (ATS), Volt-VAR control devices, and digital communication infrastructure are
better positioned to take advantage of the new Smart Grid technologies. An advanced
distribution management system (ADMS) is crucial to realizing the full potential of a Smart
Grid. An important subject to address is integrating and managing all these connected smart
objects within the utility’s IT systems for greater security.

Industrial specialists in power equipment and associated IT applications can help utilities
identify the most appropriate solutions and advise them on the most suitable and safest
deployment process. Pre-engineered solutions offer the benefit of commission time savings,
reduce the number of voltage outages during installation, and are flexible enough to
accommodate future network development.

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About the authors

Yves Chollot is a Senior Expert in electrical distribution networks within Schneider Electric’s
Energy Division. He manages offer solution creation for the utility segment and addresses the
Smart Grid topic from a field, feeder automation, and substation automation perspective. He is
graduated in electrical engineering from the Grenoble Institute of Technology (INPG-ENSIEG).
He has served successively as a product marketing manager and a solution architect for Smart
Grids.

Schneider Electric. All rights reserved.

Renzo Coccioni is Industry & Government Relations Director at Schneider Electric’s Energy
Division. He holds a degree in electrical engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology Zurich (ETH). Renzo started his career 1980 at Sprecher & Schuh / Sprecher
Energie in Oberentfelden, Switzerland, where he held various positions in the development of
SF6 high voltage circuit breakers and medium voltage switchgear. He was Unit Managing
Director of Alstom / Areva T&D in Linz, Austria, before moving to central business functions to
lead marketing of medium voltage products. He participates in several task forces focused on
Smart Grids, REACh, Smart Cities, and SF6 in T&D Europe / ORGALIME / ZVEI and at the
European Commission level.

Laurent Guise graduated from the Ecole Supérieure d’Electricité (ESE SUPELEC Engineering

© 2015
school) in 1981 has been working for Schneider Electric in electrical network protection,
monitoring and control systems for more than 20 years. Within Schneider-Electric, Laurent has
been awarded as Senior Expert in Smart Grids and IEC 61850. He is leading, at the corporate
level, the definition, co-ordination, and implementation of the Smart Grids standardization
policy. Laurent is the convenor of IEC TC 57 WG17 in charge of feeder automation based on
the leading IEC 61850 standard. He also leads the group in charge of the IEC roadmap within
the IEC Smart Energy System Committee 1. At the European level within the CEN-CENELEC-
ETSI Smart Grid Co-ordination Group, he acted as the convenor of the "Smart Grid - set of
standards" group, in charge of delivering one of the packages expected from the M/490
mandate issued by the European Commission.

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