Distributed automation for electricity grid and DER management (INGA)

Electric power system is transforming towards renewable energy production, electrification of transportation, heating and industrial processes, more strict requirements for electricity delivery supply security and much more distributed decision making related to electricity production, usage and storage. At the same time, the digitalization of electricity infrastructure enables development of completely novel business models and processes for the management of electricity distribution grids and distributed energy resources (DERs).

The automation of electricity distribution grids is developing towards distributed, loosely-coupled and adaptive automation systems. Automation systems of critical infrastructure are very time-critical and require resilient solutions as a whole. The project investigates the entity of smart grid applications (communication based protection, large-scale monitoring and control), 5G and meshnet wireless communication networks and distributed automation systems based on edge-cloud solutions, which enables much more efficient utilization and integration of renewable energy sources and distributed energy resources into entire system.

The research is based on experimental methods, and the project will realize a demonstration of future distributed communication-based automation system for smart grid and will demonstrate the functioning and characteristics of it with real-time hardware and software-in-the-loop simulations. The results of the project are a number of sub solutions, but essentially the outcome will be the novel knowledge of applicability and benefits of smart grid applications, cybersecurity, resilient communication and distributed automation systems technologies for the management of electricity distribution grids and DERs.