Efficient cloud-based digital-physical testing method for feeder automation system in electrical power distribution network

A feeder automation (FA) system is usually used by electricity utilities to improve power supply reliability. The FA system was realized by the coordinated control of feeder terminal units (FTUs) in the electrical power distribution network. Existing FA testing technologies can only test basic functions of FTUs, while the coordinated control function among several FTUs during the self-healing process cannot be tested and evaluated. In this paper, a novel cloud-based digital-physical testing method is proposed and discussed for coordinated control capacity test of the FTUs in the distribution network. The coordinated control principle of the FTUs in the local-reclosing FA system is introduced firstly and then, the scheme of the proposed cloud-based digital-physical FA testing method is proposed and discussed. The theoretical action sequences of the FTUs consisting of the FTU under test and the FTUs installed in the same feeder are analyzed and illustrated. The theoretical action sequences are compared with the test results obtained by the realized cloud-based simulation platform and the digital-physical hybrid communication interaction. The coordinated control capacity of the FTUs can be evaluated by the comparative result. Experimental verification shows that the FA function can be tested efficiently and accurately based on our proposed method in the power distribution system inspection.