Criteria Selection Using Machine Learning (ML) for Communication Technology Solution of Electrical Distribution Substations

In the future, as populations grow and more end-user applications become available, the current traditional electrical distribution substation will not be able to fully accommodate new applications that may arise. Consequently, there will be numerous difficulties, including network congestion, latency, jitter, and, in the worst-case scenario, network failure, among other things. Thus, the purpose of this study is to assist decision makers in selecting the most appropriate communication technologies for an electrical distribution substation through an examination of the criteria’s in-fluence on the selection process. In this study, nine technical criteria were selected and processed using machine learning (ML) software, RapidMiner, to find the most optimal technical criteria. Several ML techniques were studied, and Naïve Bayes was chosen, as it showed the highest performance among the rest. From this study, the criteria were ranked in order of importance from most important to least important based on the average value obtained from the output. Seven technical criteria were identified as being important and should be evaluated in order to determine the most appropriate communication technology solution for electrical distribution substation as a result of this study

Active Electric Distribution Network: Applications, Challenges, and Opportunities

Traditional electrical power grids are transitioning from centralised operation with unidirectional energy and information flows (from the generation domain to customers) to smart grids with decentralised mode of operation and bidirectional flows. This reversal of traditional power flow direction is due to the connections of active loads such as distributed energy resources (DERs) and renewable energy sources close to the distribution network. Through advanced and sophisticated information and communication technologies (ICTs), efficient DER management and various applications for reliable and secure power delivery are enabled. However, before the adoption of any ICT solution in the grid, several challenges remain, which include interoperability, security and privacy concerns, and the ever-increasing demands to support various services and applications. Although the information within the grid is becoming more visible because of bidirectional communication flow, this only applies to transmission networks and not active distribution networks, which house numerous smart grid applications. There is also little research that supports the automatic operation of active distribution networks. Hence, this article explores and reviews active distribution network communication technologies, as well as the applications and communication standards. This review paper also highlights issues and challenges with active distribution networks and opportunities and research trends in the distribution domain from an ICT perspective