E.ON plans to commission 2500 digital transformer stations in the service areas of its four German distribution grid operators — Avacon, Bayernwerk, E.DIS and Hansewerk — by the end of 2019. Starting this year, E.ON will solely install digital transformer stations in Germany. This way, the smart grid would quite naturally be integrated into E.ON’s distribution grids.
With these transformer stations at the center of the smart grid, it would be possible to monitor and control any situation in the power grid from the grid control center. This would help maintain a more balanced utilization of the grid and, with increasing complexity, ensure continued security of supply.
Until now, the current and voltage parameters required for safe grid operation could usually only be determined at the beginning of a power line, where there is usually a substation. Controlling current flow and voltage in the downstream system was physically impossible.
In the future, grids will have to function in both directions: they will bring electricity to the customer and at the same time collect and transmit more and more green electricity. This would require physical data to be made available along the entire route. To ensure security of supply, voltage fluctuations would have to be kept within narrowly defined limits and the current flow should not be exceeding the specified value. To manage this challenge, it is necessary to install digital technology.
The possibility of remotely controlling grids also reduces downtimes in the event of faults. With the new technology, grid operators can quickly and easily access the stations of the affected line. The grid control centers can thus limit and eliminate faults on individual line sections within a very short span of time.
