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Title: Structure Learning in Power Distribution Networks

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1167238· OSTI ID:1167238
 [1];  [2];  [2]
  1. Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)
  2. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Traditionally power distribution networks are either not observable or only partially observable. This complicates development and implementation of new smart grid technologies, such as these related to demand response, outage detection and management, and improved load-monitoring. Here, inspired by proliferation of the metering technology, we discuss statistical estimation problems in structurally loopy but operationally radial distribution grids consisting in learning operational layout of the network from measurements, e.g. voltage data, which are either already available or can be made available with a relatively minor investment. Our newly suggested algorithms apply to a wide range of realistic scenarios. The algorithms are also computationally efficient – polynomial in time – which is proven theoretically and illustrated computationally on a number of test cases. The technique developed can be applied to detect line failures in real time as well as to understand the scope of possible adversarial attacks on the grid.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC52-06NA25396
OSTI ID:
1167238
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-15-20213
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English