Analysis and Conceptual Framework for Monitoring Power Quality in Electrical Distribution Grids

Abstract

In the face of the challenges posed by climate change, there is a necessity for fundamental transformation in the operation of electrical energy grids. Distribution and transmission grid operators face additional issues as a result of the integration of decentralized renewable energy generation plants like wind and photovoltaics (PV). It is therefore necessary to advance the development of grid management and improve monitoring in order to address these challenges. The present work is motivated by the need of increasing digitalization in electrical distribution grids and by the lack of data acquisition on the low-voltage level. It examines different power quality measuring devices and develops and evaluates a concept for efficient power quality monitoring using different aggregation intervals in real-world applications. This concept combines several grid voltage quality parameters into a simple KPI using cubic averaging. The findings of this study suggest that distribution grid operators can effectively monitor the voltage quality across the entire distribution grid.