Public defence in Power Systems and High Voltage Engineering, M.Sc.(Tech.) Petra Raussi Chauhan

The title of the thesis: Wireless 5G for Medium-Voltage Grid IEC 61850 based Protection Communication

Doctoral student: Petra Raussi Chauhan
Opponent: Prof. Mohamed F.M. Abdel-Fattah, Reykjavik University, Iceland
Custos: Prof. Matti Lehtonen, Aalto University School of Electrical Engineering, Department of Electrical Engineering and Automation

Power system protection means a system consisting mainly of protection relays and breakers, with which the impact of the electrical faults detected in the power system can be limited by separating segments of power lines from the electrical grid with breakers. Protection relays compare measurement data from the electrical grid to the pre-defined setting parameters and trip the breakers if the setting parameters are exceeded. Some of the protection applications in the protection relays require or benefit from communication connection to other protection relays. In this doctoral thesis, it has been investigated whether wireless 5G technology could be used in the communication between the protection relays. Wireless communication technology would be beneficial as it reduces the need for cabling, increases ease of maintenance, and enables fast deployment. 

Compared to earlier research on this topic, this thesis is based on controller-hardware-in-the-loop simulation accurately representing power system protection, to which commercial 5G networks and their services have been interconnected. Thus, the results of these experiments better represent reality in practice and are more realistic compared to earlier studies, in which the used methodology has been pure simulation or hardware-in-the-loop simulation, into which a simulated 5G network has been integrated.

The results of this thesis show that it is feasible to use a 5G standalone network in the communication between protection relays and that 5G standalone fulfills the communication and operational requirements of some protection applications. This research provides new information on the implementation of power system protection application communication with the existing commercial 5G networks and the reliability of protection applications when the communication is implemented with 5G. 

The information from this thesis can be used when deploying new protection applications at electrical distribution system operators, and protection relay manufacturers can use the results in their own product development and offering. Additionally, telecommunication providers can, based on these results, develop their offering on 5G technology to be better suited for power system applications.

Based on the results, it can be said that wireless 5G technology can be used with specific protection applications depending on the communication requirements.

Thesis available for public display 10 days prior to the defence at: https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/doc_public/eonly/riiputus/

Contact information:

See also:

Doctoral theses in the School of Electrical Engineering: https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/53

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