Intelligent Distribution Load Shedding

Intelligent Distribution Load Shedding (iDLS) solution is an integrated model-driven controller with real-time operational digital twins to validate, optimize, predict, and manage load shedding for geographically dispersed systems such as Transmission & Distribution networks and Industrial production fields.

iDLS offers a centralized load management and shedding solution that monitors and makes proactive decisions as to when and how load shedding should be executed to minimize the impact to the grid and its connected customers.

Centralized the load shed management
Prediction based on operating conditions
Minimization of reliability indices impact
Optimal load preservation
Demand side management
Load shedding validation

Rotating outages
Critical application within DERMs
Load curtailment logging & auditing
Coordinated with transmission requirements
Service restoration
Intelligent Controller

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Concerns & Challenges

Solutions

iDLS addresses key concerns and challenges in implementing strategies to perform the desired and coordinated load shedding and generation curtailment in geographically dispersed systems in response to load demand changes, and the impact of distributed energy resources on the grids while preventing power blackouts and unplanned outages.

Determine load shed requirements under various operating conditions and disturbances.

iDLS maintains visibility of the entire network using a model-driven foundation to calculate the required load shed under different conditions including the change in network topology, system reconfiguration, loading levels, and online generation capacity, and power reserves including overload, underfrequency, or undervoltage operating scenarios.

The use of the operational digital twin model further enables the real-time monitoring and assessment of the network component capacity, as well as proactive knowledge of the location and type of the disturbance to make intelligent decisions as how much load/generation to drop and where to drop it.

Minimize impact on Quality of Service (QoS) and avoid unplanned blackouts, regulatory violation, penalties, and loss of revenue.

iDLS tracks the total connected load and number of customers connected per feeder to determine the dynamic load priority per customer / feeder classifications such as Critical, Industrial, and Residential. The dynamic priority algorithms calculate the optimal selection of rotating schedules and automatically adjust planned rolling outages based on number of feeder trips, number of pervious outages, and restoration times to optimize the reliability indices and quality of supply while improving the response to customer service inquiries.

Impact of Distributed Energy Resources (DER).

As more DERs are added and mixed into the grid, the load shed system must be able to evaluate and validate the system response as load and generation grows and measure the unbalance of generation vs. load when load shed happens.

iDLS is integrated with ETAP DERMS solution to consider the impact of voltage support on high DER feeders, and to provide volt-var optimization and feeder capacity calculations to determine the best strategy of load shedding in coordination with DER dispatch and operating load.

Coordinate demand transaction limits between ISOs with RTOs.

The implementation of a load shed system must include load forecasting, so the distribution utility can share the demand schedules and coordinate interconnection capacity with the ISO / RTO.

iDLS continuously calculates and updates the demand schedules based on short-term and long-term load forecast calculations and automatically transfers the transmission demand limit schedules via built-in communication protocols to protect and enforce set demand schedules.

Key Features

As part of a unified electrical Digital Twin platform, etap iDLS model-driven load curtailment solution utilizes optimization techniques to shed the minimum-required distribution feeder loads based on reliability indices, quality of supply, and availability of distributed generation.

Protection & Capacity Assessment

iDLS evaluates and determines the capacity of all system components and operating constraints in order to protect the network under steady-state and dynamic conditions.

Transmission grid capacity and power transfer limits
Under-frequency triggers at transmission subs
System over-demand at transmission interconnects
Transformer overload for sub-transmission transformers

Optimized Load Curtailment

iDLS utilizes distribution customer’s historical information, priority, and restoration time to determine the optimal combination of loads to shed. Load shedding combinations are selected such that customer satisfaction indices and reliability are not significantly impacted. Customer priority, number of previous outage incidents, and restoration times are considered in the optimal selection of feeders or loads to be curtailed.

Load Priority Definitions
Capability of components
Complete year schedule
Operator execution management

Integrated Distributed Energy Resources Management

iDLS is integrated into the DERMS solutions of etap ADMS. iDLS continuously evaluates and validates load versus generation unbalance while considering the impact on voltage support, including monitoring and coordination of DERs to calculate the available reserves.

Monitoring and assessment of available distributed generation
Coordination with DER’s dispatch
Impact on voltage support on high DER feeders
Total available reserves from DERs
Provide coordination with DER dispatch and operating load

Integrated-Distributed-Energy-Resources-Management

Load Curtailment Logging & Auditing

All load shedding events, reasons for curtailment, protection alarms, devices and customers affected are logged. Contingency and its effects are available in a chronological table allowing planners and operators to assess and minimize load curtailment requirements to improve overall network reliability, quality of services, and security.

Rotating Outages

iDLS can be configured to automatically or manually initiate a controlled load curtailment based on load priority blocks, classification, time-of-day, peak demand, and more.

Rotating schedules and planned outages
Rolling blackout pre-defined optimized schedules
Complete year schedule
Operator execution management
Rotation based on operating conditions, type, priority schedule

Intelligent Controller

Intelligent Controller includes a rugged programmable control hardware integrated with etap iDLS applications for optimal performance, fast response, redundancy, and cybersecurity.

Logic Validation

Quickly and easily evaluate, verify, and confirm load shedding requirements, decisions, and logic in real-time, using the integration of iDLS Controllers and ETAP Digital Twin model and analysis platform.

Software & hardware controller logic validation
Deploy, tune & validate logic in Hardware
Optimize & hot-swap logic