Grid Congestion Detection through Grid State Identification based on Real-Time Measurements in Low-Voltage Grids

Abstract:
To achieve the objective outlined in § 14a of the German Energy Industry Act, which mandates grid-oriented control of controllable energy-consuming devices in the event of a grid congestion scenario, it is essential to ensure highly accurate grid state identification, particularly during critical conditions. This work focuses on evaluating different measurement strategies to reliably detect grid congestion through grid state identification, based on real-time measurements in low-voltage grids. A grid state identification method based on the Weighted Least Squares algorithm is evaluated in synthetic and real low-voltage grids, incorporating different measurement equipment variants. The results reveal that the required amount of measurement equipment for reliable grid congestion detection is heavily influenced by the grid topology and the operational characteristics of its components. In many low-voltage grids, a transformer measurement combined with limited real-time measurements from installed intelligent measurement systems is sufficient for reliable and effective grid congestion detection. However, achieving reliable detection for all grid congestion types exclusively with real-time measurements from intelligent measurement systems remains unfeasible in the near future.