Backup communication system for emergency situations in electrical energy distribution networks

The most common solution for remote monitoring and control of the protection relays used in modern electrical energy distribution systems relies on GSM/GPRS communication. In practice, however, the emergency situations in energy distribution systems usually occur in special weather conditions (storms, massive snowfalls, etc.), or in crisis situations (natural disasters, armed conflicts, etc.), when the GSM communication system is also disrupted. Thus, the fault localization and repair is often delayed, which results in significant losses for the electricity companies, and major discomfort for thousands of subscribers. This paper explores the technical feasibility of creating an alternative communication system, based on the Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) technology, able to substitute the GSM communication for monitoring the reclosers deployed along the energy distribution lines. This preliminary study suggests that the existing WSN devices and protocols allow the implementation of an emergency communication system capable to route relatively small amounts of data over wide geographic areas. Such a system is, in principle, capable to ensure backup communication for emergency fault diagnosis in electrical energy distribution systems.