The Role of Distribution Automation in the Energy Transition

The energy transition is a transformational change that encompasses macrotrends in how energy is generated, transmitted, distributed, and consumed. Catalyzed by historic federal funding in electrical infrastructure and technological innovation on both sides of the meter, key drivers of the energy transition include renewables integration, electrification, load as a resource, digitalization, and cybersecurity. 

This article summarizes a recent paper published by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) about these levers and the role of distribution automation technologies in creating an electrified energy system that is more resilient, sustainable, decarbonized and connected.

Key Drivers Accelerating the Energy Transition

Renewables Integration

The shift from fossil fuels to carbon-free and renewable generation is well underway. Improved policies and global climate goals have the potential to further increase renewable energy’s role in the overall generation mix, driven by increased penetration of solar PV and wind. The growth of renewable capacity is expected to accelerate over the next five years, accounting for almost 95% of the increase in global power capacity through 2026 – and globally, renewable energy capacity is expected to increase by over 60% between 2020 and 2026.[1]

Electrification

End-use sectors such as industrial, transportation, and buildings are becoming more electrified. Industrial applications include conversion of direct-fuel-consuming processes like heating to electricity, the use of robotics and advanced automation, and electrified material/inventory transport. Transportation applications include electric vehicle charging infrastructure, vehicle-to-grid interaction, and fleet, public transportation, and rail electrification. Buildings include electrifying space heating and cooling, water heating, and cooking.

Load as a Resource

Historically, system operators have adjusted the rate and quantities of power to match load. However, given the introduction of increasing amounts of variable, non-dispatchable renewable energy onto the grid, system operators are now beginning to adjust load (through curtailment, load matching, demand response, and other means) to match generation.

Digitalization

Digital technologies are making energy systems around the globe more connected, resilient, efficient, reliable, and sustainable. Advances in data, analytics, and connectivity are enabling a range of new digital applications such as smart appliances and shared mobility. Digitalized energy systems in the future may be able to identify who needs energy and deliver it at the right time, in the right place, and at the lowest cost. However, digitalization is also raising new security and privacy risks and changing markets, businesses, and employment.  

Cybersecurity and Interoperability

Cybersecurity and interoperability remain important technical challenges for modernizing electric distribution systems. Standards, protocols, tools, and techniques are needed for ensuring secure and interoperable technologies and systems. Success in these areas involves ongoing activities for government and industry, including changes in regulations, business practices, and consumer data privacy protections

Distribution Automation To Improve Power System Efficiency

Against this backdrop of a rapidly evolving energy system and the accelerating pace and scale of progress toward electrification, distribution automation (DA) technologies can improve the speed, cost and accuracy of these efforts to modernize grid infrastructure.

DA is a family of technologies, including sensors, processors, controllers, information and communication networks, switches, and software systems that can help utilities optimize data and manage the energy transition in real time.[2]

DA can offer a number of business operations advantages:

Enhanced Monitoring & Communications

• Allows for utilities to monitor transformer loading and to determine how much additional load they can pick up in response to grid events, avoiding harm to costly assets.
• Operates on a variety of industry standards and communications protocols across diverse physical media and networks. 

Seamless Integration

• Eliminates the need for additional hardware with easy device integration. Utilities can leverage existing field devices and communication equipment from many switching device manufacturers. Vendor solutions allow utility systems to evolve as new devices emerge on the market.
• Requires minimal lineman training. Linemen and other personnel shouldn’t need to be become experts to safely do their jobs.  Manufacturers provide safe switching options for events, and additional restraints can be added so the system works within existing safe working practices.
• Integrates with distributed energy resources (DERs) and can account for bi-directional current flow introduced by DERs.

System Ownership and Useability

• Allows for scalability from small pilot projects to system roll outs featuring hundreds of devices controlled by a single server.

• Offers event feedback summaries that allow anyone to review and conduct root cause analysis to help with continuous improvement programs. It is vital that utilities are able to fully understand the events that occur across their networks to continually improve the quality of their service. DA software has detailed event logging that can easily investigate and audit the events that occur across entire service area from one centralized location, which mitigates the need for staff to expend valuable time and labor during field investigations.
• Supports efficient training and operation. Utilities have created training facilities that simulate real-time grid conditions and demonstrate how their employees can utilize manufacturer software to quickly identify isolated circuits in the event of an outage, pinpoint the outage cause and optimize recovery processes.

• Enables complete system ownership which is easy to use and understand so utilities can maintain and confidently grow automation as needed without imbedded vendor personnel.

In addition, DA boasts a number of case studies that can be useful when considering how to best leverage distribution, asset and demand optimization.

Improved Grid Integration of DERMS

Con Edison’s distributed energy resource management system (DERMS) was used to monitor and control a variety of supply and demand resources, including distributed generation and storage, building management systems, and demand response customers. Pepco’s DERMS measured voltage fluctuations from an 18-megawatt photovoltaic array connected to the distribution grid. Inverters were able to provide voltage management that reduced voltage fluctuations and helped prevent voltage sags or collapses if large amounts of solar were to trip offline at one time.[3]

Voltage Optimization

More than 52,000 circuits now have voltage optimization, or about 26% of all U.S. distribution circuits as of 2022.[4] The potential energy savings from voltage optimization varies from circuit to circuit. However, case studies show that even a modest voltage reduction of 1% to 3% can deliver significant energy and cost savings. Several utilities participating in Department of Energy–funded projects realized energy savings of 2% to 4% on affected feeders using conservation voltage reduction methods. For example, Duke Energy used integrated volt/VAR controls with an advanced distribution management system to achieve a consistent 1% to 1.58% voltage reduction on more than 700 circuits across Ohio.[5] These reductions saved fuel and lowered customer bills, with no detrimental effects on service quality. Duke’s continuous voltage reduction strategy—which targeted a 2% voltage reduction—made up the most significant portion of those expected benefits, valued at more than $155 million over 20 years.[6]

Improved Restoration Capabilities

The use of fault location, isolation, and service restoration (FLISR) results in fewer and shorter outages, lower outage costs, reduced equipment failure, and fewer inconveniences for consumers. For example, feeder automation software and 190 intelligent electronic devices installed at Carroll Electric Membership Corporation (EMC) can automatically isolate damaged distribution network sections to restore power to as many members as possible until repairs can be made. In 2022, Carroll EMC reported that a NEMA member’s Feeder Automation software led to a significant reduction in outage time for its members, with an estimated 75-minute decrease. The utility expects an overall 41% reduction in outage duration, comprising a 34% reduction from the three-phase deployment and an additional 7% reduction from the single-phase project.

Next Steps Toward Transition

For the role of DA to expand and enable a successful energy transformation, a concerted effort is needed from utilities, state policymakers, public utility commissions and manufacturers to drive the investment and deployment of DA technologies. Utilities have traditionally relied on supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems to enable remote monitoring of generation and transmission systems. Until recently, utilities had limited visibility into the thousands of miles of distribution power lines that serve their customers, relying on customer notifications to learn about power disruptions on their systems. Now, with smart sensor technologies, communications, and data acquisition, utilities have the capability to bring a higher level of monitoring and control to power distribution assets beyond the substation. Updated DA assets are needed to reflect this evolving electricity delivery landscape.

The full version of a white paper on the role of distribution automation technologies in the energy transition is available on NEMA’s website.  An interactive map on the energy transition is also available on NEMA’s website.

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) represents over 300 electrical equipment and medical imaging manufacturers that make safe, reliable, and efficient products and systems. Together, our industries are responsible for 1.65 million American jobs and contribute more than $200 billion to the U.S. economy.