Use of Smart Metering Data for Distribution Network Operational Status Assessment

The initial scope of smart meter installations were to provide energy measurements for billing purposes. However, the exploitation of these measurements could create new paradigms for future distribution grid management. This paper presents a framework developed in the eeRIS (electric energy Residential Informational System) research project that could help distribution network operators incorporate smart metering data into their day to day business. These important data can be used to evaluate the quality of voltage supplied at each customer as well as to detect abnormal situations on the distribution grid. It is shown that smart metering data on the low voltage (LV) network can be used to mitigate several abnormal states occurring on the medium voltage (MV) network through distribution management system (DMS) functions and to detect tripping of non-telecontrolled protection devices. These functions were validated on test cases from the Greek distribution network.