We all take a reliable power supply for granted. However, the energy transition poses challenges for electricity grid operators: Many decentralized power generators and new powerful consumers are being integrated, fundamentally changing the load and generation profiles of households. A powerful personal wallbox, for example, operates with a charging capacity of 22 kW, which corresponds to about ten washing machines. Typical photovoltaic systems on single-family homes can feed in up to 15 kW when the sun is shining.
More transparency for our electricity grids
Eva Buchta | Siemens Inventors of the Year | PhD
Eva Buchta is Inventor of the Year 2024: Her invention helps to stabilize the power supply
"In the past, when the electricity was mainly supplied by large central power plants, the consumption behavior of households could be estimated sufficiently well. Today there are many new punctual loads and generation peaks that make it increasingly necessary to monitor and control our local grids at the lowest voltage level," says Eva Buchta, winner of Inventors of the Year 2024 in the PhD category. "My invention provides a method for reliably estimating the current utilization of the power grid even in local distribution grids, where there are generally very few real-time measurments available."
Analysis of producers and consumers
As a first step, it’s crucial to precisely identify the individual players in an electricity grid. What power generators are present, where are they located, and how many are there? And what types of consumers are connected? For example, if there are several large PV plants next to each other, there’s a high probability that over-voltages will occur in this area in sunny weather; if there are many charging points in one area, the voltage there may drop under certain conditions. This background information can be used to create typical consumption profiles for households and generation statistics for PV plants. The correlations that are determined between consumers also enable a much more accurate estimate of the current status of the power grid.
Determining the probability of critical system states
"The goal is to achieve more transparency for the electricity distribution grid and be able to detect limit violations at an early stage," Eva says. Extensive prior knowledge, which can come from historical or statistical data, is combined with a few very precise real-time measurements to calculate the probability of limit violations in power lines and connection points. "If we’re smart about placing the measuring points within the power grid, we only need a few points to be able to assess the real-time status of the grid using the statistical model," says Eva. "The estimates are accurate enough for the grid operators to use the data to react to the current situation at an early stage, allowing the grids to be managed efficiently, sustainably, and safely."
