Automating the distribution grid to best supply power to customers

That is the emphasis of the President and CEO of Vietnam Electricity - Mr. Tran Dinh Nhan at the Distribution Network Automation Workshop on March 9 in Da Nang. The workshop organized by Vietnam Electricity aims to exchange the implementation of remote control centers, unmanned substations, SCADA/DMS systems, and share experiences in the automation development of distribution grids of member units.

Delegates attending the workshop

In the context that Vietnam's electricity industry currently has a high penetration of renewable energy sources, the implementation of the distribution grid automation will have to be coordinated and inseparable between the National Load Dispatch Center and the power corporations.

EVN President and CEO Tran Dinh Nhan sharing about the development orientation of the units in the coming years

According to EVN's Technical-Production Board, there are many aspects to consider and assess the degree of automation in the operation of the distribution grid. Some main items include automatic monitoring, automatic protection, remote control of 110kV substation equipment; remote control of medium voltage equipment; automatic device control; telemetry; automatic stoppage or restoration of the power supply to the load; control of the consumption of the load; remote power quality monitoring; automatic control of the processes of generation, distribution, and storage to optimize the operation of renewable energy; IoT and AI applications in source forecasting, load, and operation optimization, and so on.

When applying the distribution grid automation solution, equipment and power stations are connected and monitored through automated systems, which makes the system management and operation simpler and more efficient, and at the same time minimizes problems caused by human errors.

EVN’s Vice President Ngo Son Hai chairing the workshop

According to EVN's Technical-Production Department, power corporations have currently deployed most of the distribution grid automation applications. Some automation items reached 100% implementation level at all 5 Power Corporations such as automatic monitoring of substations; automatic protection (substation and line protection systems in the event of a failure); remote control of 110kV substation equipment; 110kV substation automatic adjustment of voltage, etc.

For the deployment of SCADA/DMS/DAS systems at their units, currently, power corporations have invested in equipping SCADA/DMS systems for the distribution grid, but the exploitation of DMS (Distribution Management System) function at power corporations is performed at different levels.

Mr. Le Viet Hung - Deputy Head of EVN's Technical-Production Department reported on some indicators of automation assessment of distribution grid

Regarding the roadmap for automation of the distribution grid, EVN's Technical-Production Department outlined some orientations such as: continuing to research smart grid applications in the field of energy management, grid management, and load management. At the same time, research and application of solutions on management and control of virtual power plants (VPP); research and application of microgrid (microgrid), and so on.

Concluding the workshop, EVN’s Vice President Ngo Son Hai said that, in general, the level of automation of the unit depends a lot on the characteristics of the grid connection, the number of switchgear, the number of remotely controlled devices, the degree of automation integration, etc. In fact, depending on the conditions of the power grid, the units implement appropriate automation contents so as to improve the reliability of the power supply to serve customers, optimize system operation and ensure investment efficiency.


  • 09/03/2023 05:46
  • evn.com.vn
  • 207