Netbeheer Nederland: Power Quality Information through monitoring and data analysis

Challenge

Netbeheer Nederland is the association representing all electricity and gas network operators in the Netherlands, responsible for ensuring the reliability and efficiency of the country’s energy infrastructure. The Netbeheer Nederland Power Quality Monitoring (PQM) project is aimed at monitoring the quality of the Dutch electricity grid voltage. This project, involving all grid operators in the Netherlands, began in 1989 and periodically measures Power Quality to evaluate the national grid’s performance. On all high- and extra-high-voltage connections, measurements are continuously carried out. On low- and medium-voltage networks, 250 measurements are taken annually at randomly selected locations. This means a truly huge amount of data is generated. Based on collected data and analyses, information on voltage quality can be gathered and shared with customers. However, this requires data that is fully current, accurate, and comparable. Also, for each of the four voltage categories, the requirements are slightly different.

Goal

• Consolidating huge amounts of data in a variety of formats
• Review data for accuracy and completeness
• Analyze data to assess Power Quality
• Process results into reports and explain in presentations

Solution

On behalf of Netbeheer Nederland, HyTEPS supports this process with independent comprehensive analysis of data and clear reporting, checking whether measurements comply with the Dutch Grid Code. One part of the project deals with data management, including cleansing, processing, and organization. This is essential, as multiple parties generate truly huge amounts of data in different formats. The other part focuses on analyzing data and making sure it is presented in the most accurate, clear, and timely manner. Validating that data and checking whether Power Quality limits are exceeded requires extensive automation. Especially since all stakeholders use their own meters, and therefore provide input in varying formats.

“Knowing exactly how electrical installations and grids work and being able to translate that into software is, in my opinion, an important differentiator for HyTEPS,” says Hugo Lebre, Electronics Engineer, HyTEPS. Tim Huang, engineer and project leader, HyTEPS, adds: “For a project like this, there are no off-the-shelf solutions – you really have to build everything yourself. We do something we do for other customers, but on a much larger scale, with a much higher level of complexity.”

Result

Thanks to continuous measurements, analyses, and clear presentation of data, grid operators can comply with all relevant legal requirements and demonstrate that the voltage they supply is of good quality. Monitoring of systems also helps identify problems and their causes, allowing grid operators to resolve them immediately or develop long-term strategies to prevent them from occurring again. The PQM project also promotes cooperation and exchange of knowledge and best practices between grid operators, suppliers, manufacturers, and users. It supports development of power quality regulations, policies, and standards based on data and uniform measurement and assessment methods and criteria.

“We’re very proud to have been awarded this assignment,” states Professor Sjef Cobben (TU/e). Professor Cobben has years of experience in advanced analytics and working on standards committees and is closely involved in this project on behalf of HyTEPS. “The aim is to develop increasingly advanced data correlation and dashboards together with grid operators. By working closely with all stakeholders, we can extract more insights from collected data. HyTEPS is happy to contribute to this and is always thinking about new measurements or new presentation methods to further improve the process. When we inform the ACM or grid operators, we need to be sure that our analyses are 100% accurate.

Anil Kumar, Electrical Engineer, HyTEPS adds: “Problems in one part of the power grid can affect other systems. We enable grid operators to act quickly. In the future, combining data from multiple parties can show how different sections affect each other.”

Download the reports of the voltage quality measurements carried out for the Voltage Quality in the Netherlands project here.