Automated analysis systems for monitoring, maintenance and control of power systems

Increased demands on power systems reliability lead to more stringent requirements for power system monitoring, maintenance and control. Introduction of Intelligent Electronic Devices (IEDs) in substations allows more elaborate recording of field data that in turn may be used to enhance the analysis for monitoring, maintenance and control purposes. While the additional data recorded by IEDs provides more information than the classical solutions, the overwhelming amount of data makes manual analysis quite impractical. Automating the analysis becomes a crucial approach for improving reliability. The paper also illustrates how the overall solution may be implemented using various software and communication means. Commercial version of the solution is partially implemented at one of the EPRI member utilities and a fully expanded version is being planned at another.