Enline and Red Eléctrica de España (REE): Dynamic Line Rating
Enline collaborated with Red Eléctrica de España (REE) to optimize power line management in mainland Spain and Ibiza, a highly touristic area with fluctuating energy demands. Facing ampacity challenges due to weather variations, Enline's specialized consulting service, utilizing sensorless Dynamic Line Rating (E-DLR) software, accurately evaluates and quantifies maximum power transmission capacity since 2021. By integrating electrical and meteorological data, Enline empowered REE to optimize energy transmission on the lines without exceeding maximum admissible cable temperatures, ensuring reliable supply despite dynamic demand fluctuations.
Enline’s Technology: Sensorless Digital Twins and A.I-driven
Enline uses Digital Twins as the baseline of the technology, which involves creating virtual replicas of physical assets, such as Distribution/transmission lines, in a digital environment. These replicas are not static models but dynamic simulations that mirror the behavior and characteristics of their real-world counterparts in real-time span by span.
According to the needs and challenges the asset manager encounters, Enline applies different algorithms to the platform to solve them. Having as the basis a monitoring system, then it is applied the algorithms parametrization of specific tools such as dynamic line rating, fault detection and vegetation monitoring and it’s management.
Enline also uses artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques in order to make forecasts, generate alerts, understand the root cause of a fault, detect underperforming assets, among others. For this particular case, AI assists optimization tools dynamically, as the models learn about the operation of a facility as the assets lose performance over time.
The Distribution Sector
The energy sector has been shifting from the traditional methods of production to an ecosystem where energy production may be anywhere. Added to the fact that many grids are challenged from the integration of renewable sources, including the DER (Distributed Energy Resources), which are intermittent. When not monitoring and managing a power line with predictive algorithms, congestion on parts of the existing distribution becomes inevitable.
However, there are other struggles in the sector, including variability in voltage and fluctuation in load, fault detection and its localization. Moreover, these issues may also be interconnected, meaning that one could cause or influence the other; thus, it is important to proactively manage the grids, using tools such as predictive DLR, and create an overall efficient infrastructure.
Enline and REE: the challenges to be addressed
Enline’s Dynamic Line Rating and Monitoring System was implemented for REE in 2021; the year after, Enline did a consulting study for REE as a means to calculate the impact of the technology in its grids. The customer uses the platform up to this day.
Enline employed its technology with Red Eléctrica de Espana, managing thousands of kilometers of power lines in mainland Spain and its islands, namely Ibiza. These power lines fall under particular conditions, as they are the providers for a highly touristic area. Thus energy demand rises during the peak tourist season, which coincides with the highest temperatures.
Additionally, due to continental and maritime climate impacts, REE has to deal with harsh ampacity changes over the year, which coincide with the high demands of tourism. The developed project involved four transmission lines: a 400 kV, a 220 kV and two 66 kV city-nested medium voltage distribution lines.
All lines had their specific characteristics that challenged the ampacity calculation over the entirety of 2022 as year of reference for the study. The demand for the line is very close to its theoretical capacity, so the company has decided to evaluate the re-powering of the line and challenged Enline to make a calculation of the maximum capacity that the line can transport.
The main goal of the project was to answer the following challenges:
- Heavily loaded 66kV distribution lines in Ibiza due to the number of tourists during the summer;
- Hybrid terrain type (part dense vegetation, part dense urban) that heavily influenced the installation parameters and ampacity;
- Wind and high air temperature areas due to urban constructions and mountain areas;
- Critical infrastructure not allowing too much sagging.
The Solution
Enline proposed specialized consulting service for the evaluation of the maximum power capacity of the transmission line. This service uses the Enline Dynamic Line Rating (E-DLR) software-based application that combines customized electrical, electromechanical and meteorological information to assess power quality in terms of ampacity and finally quantify the maximum carrying capacity of the asset for different simulated scenarios.
Therefore, to answer the specific challenges of the customer, DLR was implemented in order to increase grid capacity, by monitoring the power lines in real-time and 7 days ahead and adjusting power flow considering meteorological conditions.
The Digital Twin consists of an algorithm based on all physics formulas related to thermodynamics, electromagnetism and mechanics necessary to represent the real-world asset inside a digital simulation. The algorithm is calibrated on multiple IEEE standard scenarios which are heavily studied to maintain the best possible accuracy and precision. By simulating all physics-related phenomena, the Digital Twin enables grid operators to have numerous electromechanical measurements without the need for fieldwork. One of these measurements is the Dynamic Line Rating, which has an accuracy of over 95% when compared to conductor-mounted sensors. All data transmission for the Dynamic Line Rating is done exclusively via our web platform. Weather data is gathered from specialized weather data providers i.a using satellites that have 100% coverage due to redundancies and due to the ability to cover the entire length of the asset.
No downtime is needed to install and maintain Enline’s system. Enline’s sensorless solution guarantees over 95% of accuracy on any transmission line deployment. This data is validated with on-field measurements of conductor temperature by the client’s engineers. A further example for the accuracy of the sensorless technology is annexed as a report for another European utility using Enline’s DLR, in which Enline’s platform results were compared with conductor-mounted sensors on the same line.
Enline’s Dynamic Line Rating allows the evaluation and quantification of the maximum energy transmission power considering the physical, regulatory and operational limitations of each electric asset. Enline uses customer-supplied real-time electrical data from the two connecting substations. These data consist of electrical phasors of the substations. In addition to the electrical information of the substations, the software calculates the different thermal contributions that affect the temperature and the arrangement of the conductors. The meteorological data hub combines the different meteorological sources acquired from virtual and/or physical weather stations (if any) that meet the parameterization requirements of Enline's digital twins.
Dynamic Line Rating is an example of a technology that influences the way the customer operates and maintains their assets. It leverages operation planning and operational efficiency, whilst supporting risk management and maintenance planning also. All by being a data-driven technology, offering insights for better operations and maintenance. Furthermore, Enline’s technology is also used to design new grids, having the digital twin as a means to simulate optimal network design, and even forecast possible DLR. Thus, the platform is directed to asset managers, operation managers, maintenance teams, and planning departments.
So, to summarize Enline’s solution is a software-based platform with a monitoring system, based on dynamic digital twins, which combined with artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other algorithms, give insights for optimal management of the grids.
Implementation of Enline’s Solution
As mentioned previously, the Enline basis is the construction of a digital twin, this is, replicas of the energy assets. Then, there is the implementation of the required features and algorithms parameterization in close cooperation with the operator. Upon the implementation of the necessary tools within the platform, Enline gives training on the platform so that the customer can use it to its full potential, even though it is very intuitive to navigate. The implementation is fast, as it is a sensorless and digital solution and it is easily scalable to other assets.
The implementation of the solution requires data from the utility, namely data regarding the infrastructure and real-time data, such as electromechanical. Although the data might be provided through different sources, that is a common theme that is thoroughly discussed with the customer, in order to respect the customer’s preferences and cybersecurity requirements. Data may be provided through email data packages, IP addresses, among others.
Moreover, Enline took into account the Spanish regulation when parametrizing the algorithms, so that the results were in conformity with the regulations. Notably, different countries or regions must comply with different standards, so Enline’s platform personalizes each customer space, so it is compliant with their specific regulatory requirements.
Key Performance Indicators
Taking into account the specific challenge the customer was facing, the expected results of using Enline’s platform was to increase the line capacity and efficiency. Directly correlated with congestion, bottlenecks, and deficient efficiency, DLR is fundamental to understanding the state of the line and taking action to solve those problems.
The customer saw an average increase in power transmission of 21.1% and a decrease of 10 to 15% in OPEX operations due to better data visualization and reduction of outages and faults, and improved efficiency of power assets.
Other benefits associated with it are real-time and predictive operating information of the power line, all information to be stored for asset management, O&M cost reduction, improved availability, and increased reliability. Moreover, even as a digital solution, Enline demonstrated an accuracy superior to 95%, which was proven by a field test carried out by the customer.
Conclusion
The implementation and operation since 2021 of Enline’s DLR successfully supported and benefitted the needs of REE, especially by increasing the power flow capacity.
Moreover, the main result of the study will allow the client to review and optimize their future investments in CAPEX with respect to the line evaluated.
Digitalization of power assets, namely distribution grids, are future-driven solutions that encompass a great number of tools. Building digital twins for simulation and asset monitoring is key to the optimal management of the grids.
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