Estimation of Power Grid Topology Parameters through Pilot Signals

Abstract

The distribution grid has been the source of an increased amount of electricity production in recent years. Coupled with the adoption of open energy markets, this event has significantly complicated the powerflows on the distribution grid, urging network operators to invest in advanced control and monitoring tools in order to optimize the efficiency and reliability of the system. In this context, a method to estimate the connection status of distributed generators and the system topology is proposed in this paper, the goal being to obtain up to date information on the power system network’s configuration. This will enable grid operators to have visibility on the status of the distribution grid and react proactively to problematic situations that might arise. The proposed topology estimation method relies on injected pilot signals through generators feeding in power. Pilot voltage stimulations are injected from distributed generators and the induced currents effects are measured at several nodes in the system. The measured data is evaluated through correlation, and a weighed least-square algorithm, applied to the network’s dynamic model, estimates those unknown parameters and provides an accurate snapshot of the power network topology. The performance of the proposed method is evaluated on a small scale distribution network.