Effects of distribution automation on distribution system reliability

Distribution automation (DA) has great effect on improving distribution system reliability when the reliability of power supply reaches a certain high level. The application of DA schemes in distribution system is mainly aimed at fast and precise detecting and handling of fault, to narrow fault coverage and shorten fault outage time,thereby enhancing the quality and reliability of customers. The effects of four kinds of DA schemes on distribution system reliability are compared and presented in this paper. The contribution of this paper is to provide quantitative measures of the reliability impacts of DA schemes, comparative case studies are conducted on a typical wiring method in real systems.