A resilient distributed measurement system for smart grid application

Abstract

Since the production of energy from renewable energy sources is strongly increasing, the migration from the classical electric grid toward the smart grid is becoming a reality. Distribution System Operators, along with the control of the entire network and its stability, need to address the security and the reliability of the communication channels and the data itself. In this paper a solution is proposed to address these issues. It is based on a distributed measurement system that relies on a wireless network as well as a redundant Power Line communication system in order to transfer the electrical measures to a centralized SCADA server. The collected data are used to run a power flow algorithm in order to give the operator the whole picture of the network energy flow and to suggest specific actions aimed to keep the electricity network stable. An external computational layer has the role to check and validate the data collected using different approaches, in order to avoid that a malicious alteration of data tricks the operator into performing an incorrect action on the electrical network.