Centralized Network Control Center for Power Grid Computational Services
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Solution Overview
Problem
The high cost and redundancy of computational hardware and software in multiple network control centers within a power grid, leading to duplicated expenses across thousands of centers, necessitate a centralized solution for managing substation data and providing electrical network computational services.
Innovation Solution
A remote centralized network control center is established to lease electrical network computational services to network control centers, utilizing multi-core processors, I/Os, and a hypervisor to process substation data in parallel, executing electrical network applications such as state estimators and power flow analyses, and providing real-time results to mitigate hardware and software costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If computational hardware and software are deployed in multiple distributed network control centers, then real-time data processing capability is improved, but hardware and software costs increase due to duplication across thousands of centers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent consolidates computational hardware and software resources from multiple distributed network control centers into a single centralized control center. This merging eliminates redundant deployments across thousands of centers while maintaining real-time processing capabilities through centralized computational power, directly resolving the contradiction between processing speed and resource costs
Solution Approach 2:
The centralized control center is designed to provide universal computational services to multiple substations and network control centers simultaneously. By creating a multi-functional platform that serves various computational needs (state estimation, power flow analysis, contingency analysis) for multiple clients, the system achieves economies of scale that reduce per-center costs while maintaining service capabilities
2Quantity of substance
If computational resources are centralized in a single control center, then hardware and software costs are reduced by eliminating duplication, but system complexity increases due to centralized management requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The centralized control center is segmented into distinct functional modules including state estimation, power flow analysis, contingency analysis, and user interface components. This modular segmentation manages system complexity by organizing the centralized resources into manageable, independent functional units that can be operated and maintained separately while working together as a unified system
3Reliability
If computational hardware is consolidated into fewer centers, then redundancy and reliability may improve, but the risk of single point of failure increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements local quality by providing dedicated computational service instances for different functional requirements (state estimation, power flow, contingency analysis) and different client groups within the centralized center. This creates localized service domains with specialized resource allocation, ensuring that failures in one functional area do not propagate to others, thereby maintaining reliability while consolidating resources
Data Source
AI summary
Among other things, one or more techniques and/or systems are provided for leasing electrical network computational services to one or more network control centers. A power grid may comprise one or more substations. Network control centers disposed within the power grid may be configured to manage the substations within the power grid. A remote centralized network control center may be configured to lease electrical network computational services to the network control centers (e.g., which may mitigate costs associated with including computational hardware and/or software within respective network control centers for performing such electrical network computational services). In this way, substation data received from a network control center may be processed by the remote centralized network control center according to a level of service subscribed to by the network control center. Computational results may be provided back to the network control center (e.g., in real-time).