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PhD Thesis
T | Ricard
R Aq
quilué de Pedro
Pow
wer Line Comm
munications for the Electrical Utility: Physiccal Layer Design and Channnel Modeling
2
Abstract
3
Pow
wer Line Comm
munications for the Electrical Utility: Physiccal Layer Design and Channnel Modeling
4
Abstract
ABSSTRACT
The world of Pow wer line commuunications (PLC C) can be divvided into threee main typess: low voltage e PLC (LV-
PLC), medium voltage PLC (MV-PLC) and high voltage PLC C (HV-PLC). Thhese last years, LV-PLC has attracted
a great expectation since its wiideband capa abilities has made
m this technnology a suitaable choice for last-mile
acceess and in-hom
me communicattions. Moreoveer, LV-PLC also o includes a uttility oriented low frequencyy and low
speeed applicationns, such as autoomatic meter reading (AMR R), load distribbution, dynamic billing and so on. On
the other
o hand, MV-PLC
M and HV V-PLC, historiccally oriented to teleprotecction and teleccontrol tasks, are being
consiidered as a reliable coommunication channel. The e development of digital equipment and the
standdardization efforts are making thosse channels an attractivve medium for electrica al utilities
teleccommunicationns services, sincce the networkk, as well as inn LV-PLC, is already deployyed.
This work
w walks arround the three topologies, specifically, CENELEC
C band d utility orienteed applicationns, channel
measurement and modeling and d channel meaasurement and physical layeer design, rega arding LV-PLCC, MV-PLC
and HV-PLC resp pectively. Exissting CENELECC compliant systems
s deliveer low or none frequency y diversity
mechhanisms, yield ding in a low w robustness against
a coloreed noise and interference.. This work proposep a
multiicarrier based physical layer approa ach that, whiile keeping the complexiity low, delivers high
performance allow wing a greatt level of freqquency diverssity. Focusing on MV-PLC, a hybrid detterministic-
statisstical channel model for urbban undergrouund rings is de eveloped and,, finally, in HV V-PLC systems,, this work
propposes, based on o measuremeents and field tests, a wideb band physical layer in ordeer to increase data rate
whilee keeping low w both the pow wer spectral deensity and posssible interfereence to other systems.
5
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wer Line Comm
munications for the Electrical Utility: Physiccal Layer Design and Channnel Modeling
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< Contentss
CON
NTENTS
Absttract ........................................................................................................................................................... 3
Conttents ........................................................................................................................................................... 7
List of
o figures and
d tables ................................................................................................................................ 9
Acro
onyms ...................................................................................................................................................... 11
Ackn
nowledgemen
nts ...................................................................................................................................... 15
Auth
hor’s presenta
ation ................................................................................................................................... 17
1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 19
1..1. Historyy of power linee communicatioons for the ele
ectrical utility ................................................................ 19
1.1.1. Power Line Carrrier................................................................................................................................. 19
1.1.2. Ripple Carrier Signaling ....................................................................................................................... 22
1.1.3. Toowards the sta
andardizationn of the accesss and in–homee PLC technology ............................... 23
1..2. Contents of the thesiss ....................................................................................................................................... 25
2. Power line networks
n ............................................................................................................................ 27
2..1. High vooltage level ........................................................................................................................................... 28
2..2. Medium
m voltage netw
works .............................................................................................................................. 32
2..3. Low vooltage networkks ..................................................................................................................................... 36
3. Automatic meter
m reading and low com
mplexity robust modem dessign ............................................... 41
3..1. Introduction........................................................................................................................................................ 41
3..2. Suitable modulationss for CENELEC A band................................................................................................. 42
3.2.1. N
Narrowband m
modulations ..................................................................................................................... 42
3.2.2. W
Wideband mod
dulations ........................................................................................................................ 42
3..3. Manufa
acturer solutions .................................................................................................................................... 44
3..4. Multica
arrier proposa
al for AMR systtems ........................................................................................................ 45
3.4.1. Zero crossings as
a a time refeerence ..................................................................................................... 45
3.4.2. SC-BPSK perfoormance in front of windowinng errors: Lea
ading to the M
MC approach .............. 46
3.4.3. M
MCM and mainns zero-crossinng jitter ................................................................................................... 46
3.4.4. Residual inter-ssymbol interfeerence: cyclic prefix
p and posstfix ...................................................... 47
3.4.5. Frrequency offseet and system
m perfomance......................................................................................... 49
3.4.6. Phase recoveryy ....................................................................................................................................... 51
3..5. Conclussions ........................................................................................................................................................ 51
4. Medium voltage channel measuremen
nts and its detterministic-sta
atistical modeel .............................. 53
4..1. Introduction........................................................................................................................................................ 53
4..2. Characcterization and
d modeling ap
pproaches .............................................................................................. 53
4..3. Measurrements ................................................................................................................................................... 54
4.3.1. Fiield measurem
ments ............................................................................................................................... 55
4.3.2. La
aboratory measurements .................................................................................................................... 60
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wer Line Comm
8
List of figures and
d tables
LISTT OF FIGUR
RES AND T ABLES
9
Pow
wer Line Comm
munications for the Electrical Utility: Physiccal Layer Design and Channnel Modeling
Figure 38
8 Measured and real reflecction coefficiennt ..................................................................................................... 63
Figure 39
9 MV channel input impedance .......................................................................................................................... 64
Figure 40
0 MV model ............................................................................................................................................................ 65
Figure 41
1 Simulated toopology .......................................................................................................................................... 65
Figure 42
2 Measured and simulated attenuation
a chharacteristics .................................................................................. 66
Figure 43
3 110 kV 4 cirrcuits line ........................................................................................................................................ 69
Figure 44
4 Link attenuation ................................................................................................................................................. 70
Figure 45
5 Background noise .............................................................................................................................................. 71
Figure 46
6 Background noise statisticss............................................................................................................................... 71
Figure 47
7 Channel delay profile ...................................................................................................................................... 72
Figure 48
8 Frequency autocorrelation
a n function ................................................................................................................ 73
Figure 49
9 OFDM framee and symbol parameters .......................................................................................................... 75
Figure 50
0 OFDM perfoormance.......................................................................................................................................... 76
Figure 51
1 MC-SS perfoormance ......................................................................................................................................... 77
Figure 52
2 Long link atttenuation characteristic ................................................................................................................ 78
Figure 53
3 Long link delay spread .................................................................................................................................... 78
Table 1 Typical
T transp
port levels ....................................................................................................................................... 29
Table 2 Skin
S and soil effect
e attenuattions ........................................................................................................................ 31
Table 3 Main
M AMR PLC
C chip manufa
acturers.................................................................................................................... 45
Table 4 Zero-crossing
Z jiter parameteers ........................................................................................................................... 46
Table 5 Proposed
P systeem characterisstics ......................................................................................................................... 51
Table 6 MV
M PN sounding parameterrs ............................................................................................................................. 56
Table 7 Main
M HV poweer line carrier manufacturerrs...................................................................................................... 68
Table 8 MC-CDMA
M pa
arameters ........................................................................................................................................ 75
Table 9 MC-DS-CDMA
M A parameters ................................................................................................................................. 76
Table 10
0 Short link sysstem performa
ance ......................................................................................................................... 77
Table 11 Long link systtem performance .......................................................................................................................... 79
10
Acronyms
ACR
RONYMS
AM: A
Amplitude Moodulation
AMRR: A
Automatic Meter Reading
ASK:: A
Amplitude Shift Keying
AWG
GN: A
Additive Whitte Gaussian Noise
N
BPSK
K: Binary Phase Shift Keying
CEPC
CA: C
Consumer Elecctronics Powerrline Communiccation Alliancee
CP: C
Cyclic Prefix
CPE: C
Customer Prem
mises Equipmeent
DCTSS: D
Departament d Comunicacions I Teoria deel Senyal, Dep
de partment of Coommunicationss and
SSignal Theory
DHC
CP: Dynamic Host Configurationn Protocol
DPLC
C: Digital Power Line Carrier
EMC
C: Electromagnettic Compatibillity
GPS: G
Global Positiooning System
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HE: Head
d End
MC: Multiicarrier
MC-CDM
MA: Multiicarrier – Code Division Mulltiple Access
MC-DS-C
CDMA: Multiicarrier – Direect Sequence – Code Divisio
on Multiple Acccess
PHY: Physiical
12
Acronyms
PN: Pseudo-Noise
N:
PTSN Public Telephoone Switched Network
QAM
M: Q
Quadrature A
Amplitude Keyying
RE: Repeater
RMU
U: Ring Main Uniit
SCM
M: S
Single Carrierr Modulation
S-FSK: S
Spread – Freq
quency Shift Keying
K
SS: S
Spread Specttrum
SSB--AM: S
Single and – Amplitude Modulation
Side Ba
TS: T
Transformer S
Station
V:
UHV Ultra High Voltage
VoIPP: V
Voice over Intternet Protocol
VSF--OFCDM: V
Variable Spreeading Factor – Orthogonal Frequency and Code Divission Multiplexiing
XLPEE: C
Cross-Linked P
Polyethylene
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munications for the Electrical Utility: Physiccal Layer Design and Channnel Modeling
14
A
Acknowledgem
ments
ACK
KNOWLEDG
GEMENTS 1
First of all, many thanks to Dr. Joan Lluís Pijjoan, who enccouraged me to pursue the PhD at the end e of my
Mastter studies and for doing hish best while pushing me thhrough this exxciting, lonely and fulfilling journey. I
don’tt want to forgget the rest off the Researchh Group in Ele
ectromagnetism
m and Commuunications (GRECO) and
Communications and Signal Theeory Departmeent staff: Carlles Vilella, Miq quel Ribó, David Badia, Joan Ramón
Reguué, David Miralles, Simó Graells,
G Javieer Pajares, Paablo Rodrigueez and Alberrt Miquel Sánnchez, for
makiing my PhD a great and unforgettablle adventure. I would likee to have a special mention to my
officcemates and friends,
f Ismaeel Gutierrez, Pau Bergada a and Marc Deumal,
D greatt engineers and
a better
persons, for sharinng those funny moments, those great illusioons… Good luuck and may tthe force be with
w you…
Furthhermore, I would
w like to express myy gratitude to t the “Powerliners” at Institut für Inndustrielle
Inforrmationstechnikk (IIIT), Universsität Karlsruhee, in Germanyy, Timo Kistner and Michael Bauer, and to o the other
IIIT sttaff, especiallly to Prof. Dr. Klaus Dostert for his hospita
ality and the others
o PhD stuudents for makke me feel
as if I were at hom me.
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16
Auuthor’s presenttation
AUTTHOR’S PR
RESENTATIO
ON
Ricarrd Aquilué recceived the BScc and MSc deg grees in Telecommunicationss Engineering from La Salle School of
Enginneering, Ramoon Llull Universsity, in Barceloona, Spain, in 2003 and 20 004, respectivvely. Since 200
06 he is a
FI PhhD Fellow fromm the Catalann Governmentt (Departament d’Universitatts, Recerca i Soocietat de la Informació
I
de laa Generalitat de Catalunyaa). He joined the Research Group in Eleectromagnetism and Comm munications
(GREECO) that belongs to the Department
D off Communications and Signa al Theory (DCCTS) in 2003, where he
has participated in i several pub blic and privaate research projects,
p mainly in high freqquency (HF) ioonospheric
comm munications annd power line communicatioons. Nowaday ys he continuess in the DCTS at the same university,
comb bining researcch and manag gement activitiies, mainly focused on the fields of pow wer line commuunications,
adap ptive multicarrrier systems annd software defined
d radio.
From
m September 2003,
2 he partticipated activvely into the Antarctic projecct “Characterization and mo odeling of
the Antarctic
A ionospheric channel: Advanced HF communiccations” fundeed by the Minnistry of Education and
Sciennce from the Spanish
S Goveernment, wheree he worked in the design and implemenntation on the e software
radioo based channnel sounding system and data d transceivver. Also, rela
ated to this prroject, from January to
Marcch, 2006, he realized
r a twoo months stay in the Spanishh Antarctic Ba ase “Juan Carlos I”. (For more details,
the reader
r is referrred to refereence [1] and Appendix
A A.1, where previoous work relateed to HF can be b found).
At thhe beginning of o 2006, conssequence of a private fund ded project froom Endesa Diistribución Elécctrica S.L.,
the author
a movedd to power linne communica ations, specificcally on low voltage
v poweer line automa atic meter
readding technolog gy. Related too this researcch field, he did d a three months
m researcch stage at Institut
I für
Indusstrielle Informaationstechnik (IIIT), Universitäät Karlsruhe, Germany.
G Theen, due to a second projectt, this time
from
m Endesa Netw work Factory S.L.,
S he focused his researchh activities to mediumm and hhigh voltage power
p line
comm munications, reegarding modulation designn and channel modeling.
17
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18
Introductionn
CHAPTTER 1
1. INTRODUC
CTION
1.1.. HISTORY OF
O POWERR LINE COM
MMUNICATI ONS FOR THE ELECTRRICAL UTILI TY
The power grid has been used as a communnications mediium since the beginnings of 20th century, when the
power grid main exploitation
e p
purpose was thhe transmission of voice in the
t high voltage (HV) netwo ork [2][3].
Rapiidly, other appplications suchh as operatioons manageme ent, monitoring
g and troubleeshooting, thatt required
bidirrectional flow of messages,, took an imp portant role inn the HV comm munication sceenario. Since telephone
netw
work could not be found in every
e point annd its reliability
y was not enoough to cope wwith the requirrements of
the services
s mentiioned before,, these services were deployed on the power lines. Moreover, the use of
telep
phony or any other
o kind of leased
l line woouldn’t be ecoonomical for la
arge distances.
The electrical
e utilitties (EUs) operrations on the high voltage lines can be grouped into thhree classes:
1. Operatioon managemennt
2. Monitorinng
3. Limitationn and removall of failures
Opeeration management tasks ta ake care for the optimum ennergy distribuution, trying to generate wha at is to be
consuumed, keeping g enough energy to cope with
w demand peaks p and avooiding the exccess of reserves around
the network.
n In ca
ase of failure in the HV nettwork, the fasst and reliablee exchange of data betwe een power
plants, transformer stations and substations, switching equippment and couupling points tto neighboring
g networks
is a key
k factor when trying to minimize
m the im
mpact of that failure
f to the rest
r of the network. The monnitoring of
that data, regardiing the network state, is carrried out by means
m of tracking energy reequirement, voltage and
frequency, yielding to a fast reaaction capability in front of networks failures.
In the past, the data was transsmitted by ann operator thrrough the teleephone network but, in the course of
time,, the automatic, reliable annd fast transm
mission of all the
t data mentioned beforee became an important
issuee of the EUs. Since
S most of them
t have alwways seen the e HV network as its natural medium to tra
ansmit the
mana agement and monitoring innformation, EU Us, pushed by the necessity of having theeir own data networks,
led to
t the quick deevelopment off power line caarrier (PLC) sy
ystems [4].
t task handlling was donee by means of voice. The voice frequency band (300 - 2400 Hz)
At thhe beginning, the
had to be transmiitted successfuully under marrginal conditio
ons. Only amp plitude modulaation (AM) waas suitable
to transmit data through
t the HV links. The equipment
e req
quirements forr transmitting and receiving
g a simple
doub ble-sideband AM (DSB-AM)) without supp pressed carrier are considerrably less than the ones req
quired for
the same approa ach with suppressed carriier. Although suppressing the carrier means a red duction of
interrmodulation rissk when dealiing with multip
ple channel PLLC, this approoach was not cconsidered for PLC due
to the high receiveer cost, and DSSB-AM withoutt suppressed carrier
c was used until aboutt 1940.
The increasing lacck of free frrequency rangge, forced thee EU to repla ace their DSBB-AM links wiith single-
sidebband AM (SSBB-AM). An SSBB-AM system occupies
o half the
t bandwidthh that a DSB-A AM does. This migration
to SSSB-AM systems caused the current
c typical 4 kHz channeelization of thee HV frequenccy range.
19
Pow munications for the Electrical Utility: Physiccal Layer Design and Channnel Modeling
wer Line Comm
Nowadayys, PLC system ms are based d on the comb bination of annalog and dig gital techniques. This prese
ents a
higher deegree of flexxibility for thee customer. At A the same time,
t it solvess the problemm of relatively
y low
reliabilityy of the digita
al PLC for taskks such as teleeprotection annd overcomes the rate limitaation of the annalog
PLC.
If focusing in data transmission, the state of the art of PLC still comprises both
b analog and digital sysstems.
Analog systems
s (designed by analoog or digital technology)
t usse SSB-AM with
w suppressed d carrier on 4 kHz
channels in order to keeep compatible with legacyy equipment. These
T analog systems
s allow the transmissiion of
voice and d data by meeans of a digital modulatioon stage befo ore the SSB-AM M modulator, with speeds up to
2400 bp ps. On the otheer hand, digita
al systems alloow access to data
d servers, data
d networkss and manage ement
applications (Figure 1).
20
Introductionn
Line trap
Coupling
C
device
Matching
M
device
M
Management u
unit
PLC transceptor
Voicce lines
Data servers
IP network
n
Besid
de traditional core servicess mentioned before,
b (opera
ation manageement, monitorring and limitation and
remooval of failurees), EUs would
d like to satisfy increasing need
n of new internal
i servicces, taking benefit from
the use
u of their owwn power grids, like [9]:
• Demand prediction
• mer overload analysis
Transform
• Outage Localization
L
• Support for
f advanced grid control & automation
• Network Optimization
• Security related
r commuunication (videeo / audio)
Nowwadays, the sttandards rega arding HV coommunications are obsoletee. IEC-TC57 W Workgroup 20 0 recently
startted to work on
o the new sta andard includ
ding HV digita
al carrier trannsmission overr power line (DCTP) or
digittal power line carrier (DPLC
C).
21
Pow
wer Line Comm
munications for the Electrical Utility: Physiccal Layer Design and Channnel Modeling
While thee HV level prresents a rela atively easy too match (200 0 – 400 Ω) frriendly overheead lines for data
transmissiion for frequeencies up to 500 kHz and d even 1 MHz, MV and LV V are hostile environmentss with
unpredicttable branchinng (LV) and coonnected load ds that decreaase the channeel input impeddance down to o tens
even tentths of ohm. Thiis scenario calls for a high power
p injection dimensionedd for the network peak load d (this
causes the impossibilityy of transmitting data in thee uplink), in order to cover the maximum m MV and LV area.
Since eveery active consumer adds itts load to the network, a hig ghly populateed network can represent a very
low loadd. Due to the large number of differentt network connfigurations, thhe exact trannsmit power values v
cannot bee given, but trransmission poowers between 10 and 100 0 kW are com mmon. To let thhe informationn flow
from the power supply to the custoomers, the aud dio band freq quency rangee was chosen for signaling.. That
frequencyy (often beloow 1 kHz) pa assed throughh the MV to LV transform mers experiencing only a minor
attenuation. The data a rates were obviously very low, but enough e for ta
ask regarding g load distribbution
command d transmission.. However, thiis transmission has to be hig ghly reliable, even with no feedback channel
availablee.
22
Introductionn
PTSN Internet
A
Autoconfiguration Database
D RAD
DIUS Database
DH
HCP Server FTP Server RADIUS Server VoIP Gatew
way ISP PO
OP
Core Network
POP
Optical Backbone
B LV Cell
PLC to Optical
O Bridge
PLC to Op
ptical Bridge MV node / LV HE
MV Ring MV
V Ring
MV nod
de / LV HE
M node / LV HE
MV E
CPE
LV
V Cell
LV RE
POP P: Point of Presen
nce
HE:: Head End LV Cell
C
CPE E: Costumer Prem mises Equipment L RE
LV
RE:: Repeater
CPE
C
ISP: Internet Service
e Provider
VoIPP: Voice over IP
IP: Internet
I Protocol
PTSSN: Public Telephhone Switched Ne etwork LV RE
R
FTPP: File Transfer Protocol CPE
DHC CP: Dynamic Hos st Configuration Protocol
P
RAD DIUS: Remote Au uthentication Dial--In User Server CPE
Figure 2 OPERA
O powerlinee access topology
y
1.1 .3. TOWARRDS THE STTANDARDIZZATION OF THE ACCE SS AND IN –HOME PLC
C
TECHNO LOGY
Standardization makes
m devices be compatib ble with each others.
o Devicees compliant w
with different standards
will not
n be able too coexist in thee same grid. This
T is a seriouus impairment for power linne communicattions (PLC)
indusstry developm
ment and an inconvenient forr end-users.
23
Pow
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2. Homeplug. Firstly
F focused
d on in-homee networking (version1.0 and recentlyy version AV V for
audiovisual applications) Homeplug
H has also released
d specifications regarding a
access (versionn BPL)
and control (vversion CC). Within
W others, Homeplug
H has the following members:
4. OPERA (Open PLC Europeean Research Alliance). OP PERA project 1 has finished
d with a com
mplete
specification for
f access netw
works, involvinng both the LV
V and the MV grid. Within others, OPERA
A has
the following members:
24
Introductionn
Figure 3 Th
he four main entities involved in PHY and MAC PLC
P specificationss
Rega arding access and in-home services, PLC technology ne eeds, in a short time frame,, the specifications from
the previous
p organizations to yield
y in one, or
o several well accepted sta andards, in orrder to avoid a serious
damage to the PLC P industry. Currently,
C onee internationa
al standardiza ation body, i.e. the IEEE (Innstitute of
Electtrical and Elecctronics Engineeers), and twoo European bodies,
b i.e. thee ETSI (Europeean Telecommmunications
Standards Institutte) and the CENELEC (European Comm mittee for Electrotechnical Standardiza ation) are
concerned with acccess, in-homee and their cooexistence. ETTSI and CENELEC work on same field addressing a
diffeerent standardd aspects [9][11][12].
Afterwards, the MV
M channel measurements and a the formuulation of a deterministic-st
d tatistical channel model
will be introduced
d. Current MV channel topoology model proposals
p al with particular issues or are
dea a based
on behavioral
b aracterization (multipath moodels), providinng a non complete or an im
cha mprecise channnel model.
2 Eleectromagnetic Compatibility
3 Rad dio Equipmentt and Telecom
mmunications Teerminal Equipm
ment
25
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munications for the Electrical Utility: Physiccal Layer Design and Channnel Modeling
For this kind of scennario and foocusing on thhe channel trransfer function, by meanns of a strucctural
characterrization of thee MV network devices, this work will prop
pose a low coomplexity and
d high versatile
e MV
network channel
c transfer function moodel.
Then the reader will be driven to the HV measureements and fie eld tests, show
wing the charaacteristics of thhe HV
communiccation channeel and the performance
p of a multicaarrier spread d spectrum m modulation in such
environment. This workk will show whhy the evolution of HV-PLC C should pointt to the use of large bandwidth
modulatioons in order too enhance thee link capacityy while keepinng the power spectral denssity low, two of o the
main handicaps in the current
c HV-PLC implementations. Moreover, the readerr will see how the combinatiion of
multicarriier modulationns with spread
d spectrum tecchniques can beat
b all the existing and deeployed syste ems in
terms of user
u data ratee while delivering high adaptive and qua ality of servicee capabilities.
Then, two extended versions of the two latter papers reccently accepteed for publiccation on the
e IEEE
Transactions on Power Delivery will follow:
f
As well as
a the paper regarding
r HF ionospheric communicationss, which can be
b considered as an introduuctory
work to frequency
f seleective and inteerference limiteed environmennts:
26
Poower line netw
works
CHAPTTER 2
2. POWER LIN
NE NETWO RKS
The EU
E power grid
d can be divid
ded into three stages:
1. Generatiion stage
2. Transportt stage
3. Distributioon stage
The generated
g energy flows froom the powerr plants throug gh the power line grid (Figuure 4) until reaaching the
final customer. Tyypically, poweer is generateed at tenths of o kV. Before transporting this power to owards its
consuumption point,, a step-up eleectrical substa
ation (ES), usua
ally located cloose to the genneration point,, increases
the voltage
v to thee high voltagee (HV) levels, decreasing thhe current flow w in order to reduce the tra ansmission
lossees [21]. At this point, one can
c define the frontier bettween the geeneration and the transportt network.
Those HV levels ra ange from 10 00 kV up to 400
4 kV appro oximately. Althhough every lline transportiing power
with voltages oveer 100 kV cann be considerred HV, transm mission levels over 500 kV V are often pa articularly
referrred as ultra HVH levels. Steep-down transformation cann be done proogressively as the power ap pproaches
its coonsumption point in step-d down ESs. Thee ESs that tra ansform MV levels
l to LV levels are referred as
Transform Substations (TS) [22].
ES
TS
TSS TS
TS
ES
Mete
er
Mediuum voltage (≈ 10
0
Highh voltage (>100 kV)
k Low voltage
e (<400 V)
kV
k - 30 kV)
F
Figure 4 Power liine grid
27
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In Figure 5 one imagee of the “Egarra” distributioon ES (Endesa)) is shown. At the right, thee 110 kV to 25 2 kV
step-dowwn transformerr can be found d. At the left, there
t is a 110
0 kV to LV trannsformer. This one is in charge of
feeding the
t ES. Behind d, the switching
g, buses and protection
p devvices can be seen,
s as well a
as the incominng HV
line that feeds
f the ES.
Usually, an
a ES is operaated remotelyy, so a reliable communicatiion network iss mandatory. A
An ES can perform
one or moore than one of
o the followinng functions:
• Voltage transsformations.
• Switching funcctions:
o Switcching transporrt and distribuution circuits intto and out of the power griid.
o Connnecting and diisconnecting power plants to o the power network.
o Provviding automattic disconnectioon of line segm ments experieencing faults.
• Measure of thhe electric pow
wer quality thrrough measure ement transforrmers.
• Provide proteection against power grid faaults and other unexpected events such ass lightings.
• Coupling of thhe communicattions equipment.
2.1. HIG
GH VOLTAG
GE LEVEL
4 Only HV
V Alternating Current (HVAC) levels are took
t into account
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