Operation support systems

Smart Grids

The growing demand, ageing of power grids infrastructure, expansion of distributed sources of energy and the incorporation of new communication and automation technologies, are only few of the numerous challenges power networks are facing today. More specifically, networks have become more fragile and vulnerable to extended blackouts causing millionaire losses and strong social impact.

Therefore, the incorporation of systems to prevent, avoid and control these interruptions become necessary, not only for network data acquisition, supervision and control, very typical of SCADA systems, but also for smart power grids management systems (EMS) to support the operator in decision making in real time and to allow optimal network operation even under critical situations.

Grupo AIA, throughout its 30 years´ history, has done research and developed methodologies for power networks. Our solutions for load flow analysis, network electrical state assessment and system restoration due to incidents and/or service interruptions are unique in the market. These applications have been designed to provide reliable results not only during normal operational conditions but also under critical or anomalous scenarios.

Grupo AIA has created its own methodologies for the development of unique applications to give support to distribution and transmission network operators in real time. Thus, HELM^TM (power grids flow analysis) has been combined with Artificial Intelligence.

Our experience gives our solutions a distinguishing mark in the market:

• Direct power load flow analysis method HELM^TM which, unlike other methods, HELM™ power flow is non-iterative and always guarantees finding the most desirable operating solution (and unambiguously detects when there is no solution).

This method has allowed us to develop numerous applications and advanced algorithms as follows:

• Restoration algorithm provides the utility operator the best and most reliable action plan to solve network blackout in a very short time, complying with the restoration time limits. Also carries out in real time the system´s evolution monitoring and plan recalculation.
• State estimator algorithm for active and reactive power decoupling to solve power flow equations and provide topology and parameters estimations.
• Constraints violation algorithm provides the best corrective actions to mitigate under and overvoltage as well as overloads in the network.
• OPF algorithm for power loss and reactive power margins optimization and reactive cycling flows minimization.
• Contingency analysis applications for future problems forecasting under hypothetical equipment failures.
• PV/QV Curves to assess distance to voltage collapse.
• Simulations in real time.

For network monitoring and advanced operation, Grupo AIA has developed AGORA (Advanced Grid Observation Reliable Algorithms). AGORA has been installed in control centers of major power grids in Spain, Mexico and the U.S.A.

We have developed  Nasa SBIR projects (phase I and phase II) and STTR (phase I and phase II) projects for adapting HELM^TM (Holomorphic Embedding Load Flow Method) power flow to the relevant basic devices of DC micro-grids The international Space station is taken as a model and projects management is carried out by EleQuant Inc. (subsidiary of Grupo AIA in the U.S.A).