Innovative Techniques for Intelligent Power System Mobile Data Management

Most electric power networks will include a variety of protection/IED technology. Migration from electromechanical to digital relays created a huge increase in the volume of acquired data, & in the authors´ experience relay records will be a mix of paper and digital media; protection data is rarely consolidated or used for decision making in asset management processes once testing is completed. The authors submit that increasing product & data complexity, in conjunction with multiple generations of equipment is further exacerbated by the observed reduction in the number & skills of many test and maintenance staff: these factors can have a significant impact on overall power system reliability. Elektro Ljubljana D.D. has adopted a new intelligent mobile approach for secondary systems maintenance, enabling advanced data management together with access to rapid, automatic and reliable testing procedures. This paper describes the solution & how it provides documentation optimization with automatic synchronization of the mobile data throughout the enterprise. Cost implications are also considered. Maintenance of modern protection devices must be adapted to existing and future technologies (e.g. IEC61850). The authors present new developments in protection testing methodology termed SOR (stabilization-operation-reset). SOR is a standard, simple and vendor-independent test methodology. This paper presents practical experience of SOR at Elektro Ljubljana, its specific adaptation to numerical devices & implications for future trends in mobile data management.