A method, apparatus, system and computer program is provided for controlling an electric power system, including implementation of voltage measurement using paired comparison analysis applied to calculating a shift in average usage per customer from one time period to another time period for a given electrical use population where the pairing process is optimized using a novel technique to improve the accuracy of the measurement.

A device for electrically connecting a direct current (DC) microgrid to a DC bus of an electrical power network, which is operating at a higher voltage than the microgrid, comprises a pair of electrical port each configured for connection with either the DC bus or the microgrid; a DC-DC power converter operatively interconnecting the electrical ports for power transmission therebetween from a first voltage at the port connected to the DC bus to a lower second voltage at the port connected to the DC microgrid; a DC circuit breaker connected between the DC-DC power converter and one of the electrical ports for selectively conducting current therebetween; and a controller which is configured to communicate with constituent devices in the DC microgrid as well as a control center representative of the electrical power network in order to exchange information about electrical energy consumption in the DC microgrid and the larger network.

Systems and methods for financial settlement of transactions within an electric power grid network are disclosed. A multiplicity of active grid elements are constructed and configured for electric connection and network-based communication over a blockchain-based platform. The multiplicity of active grid elements are operable to make peer-to-peer transactions based on their participation within the electric power grid by generating and executing a digital contract. The multiplicity of active grid elements generate messages autonomously and/or automatically within a predetermined time interval. The messages comprise energy related data and settlement related data. The energy related data of the multiplicity of active grid elements are based on measurement and verification. The energy related data and the settlement related data are validated and recorded on a distributed ledger with a time stamp and a geodetic reference.

Methods and systems for self-healing fault recovery in an electrical power distribution network, particularly distribution networks employing a mesh configuration. When a power source circuit breaker is tripped one or more virtual paths is traced throughout the mesh network, each virtual path originating at the power source that is offline, terminating at an alternate power source, and containing one or two open load switches. A restoration path is chosen from the virtual paths. Power can be transferred to other segments of the mesh network by isolating the fault and closing the open load switch in the chosen restoration path. Some or all of the method and system can be automated.

Systems, methods, and messages of the present invention provides IP-based messages associated with the grid elements, wherein each IP-based message includes an internet protocol (IP) packet that is generated autonomously and/or automatically by the grid elements, intelligent messaging hardware associated with the grid elements, at least one coordinator, and/or a server associated with the electric power grid and its operation, energy settlement, and/or financial settlement for electricity provided or consumed, transmitted, and/or curtailed or reduced. The IP packet preferably includes a content including raw data and/or transformed data, a priority associated with the IP-based message, a security associated with the IP packet, and/or a transport route for communicating the IP-based message via the network.

A voltage monitoring control system includes voltage control apparatuses controlling voltage on a power distribution line, a local voltage control device adjusting a voltage value controlled by the voltage control apparatuses such that it is maintained within a range between voltage upper-and-lower-limit values updated every first cycle, a voltage and power-flow measurement device calculating and transmitting fluctuation-band information indicating fluctuation band of the voltage every third cycle longer than a second cycle based on voltage on the power distribution line measured every second cycle shorter than the first cycle, and a centralized voltage control device. The centralized voltage control device includes a voltage-fluctuation-band calculation unit calculating fluctuation band within the first cycle, an optimal-voltage-distribution determination unit determining a threshold value for allowance for each of upper and lower limits of an appropriate voltage range and acquiring an optimal control amount, and a voltage upper-and-lower-limit-value determination unit.

A network system is provided. The network system includes: at least one component selected from an energy receiving unit receiving energy and an energy management unit managing the energy receiving unit. The energy receiving unit or the energy management unit receives energy rate related information; an energy usage amount or a usage rate of when the component is controlled on the basis of at least the energy rate related information is less than that of when the component is controlled without the basis of at least energy rate related information; if the energy rate related information is high cost information, a function of one component constituting the energy receiving unit is limited; and an operating time or an output of the energy receiving unit is adjusted in correspondence to the limited function of one component.

A power distribution management apparatus (10) includes acquiring the amount of demand obtained by forecasting the amount of power to be used by load equipment of a customer, and the amount of power generation obtained by forecasting the amount of power to be generated by power generation equipment of the customer, and setting a plurality of voltage values as a plurality of candidates for a transmission voltage from a substation of a power distribution system, and calculating a voltage at a connection point of the load equipment of the customer and equipment of the power distribution system at each of the plurality of candidates by utilizing a difference between the demand amount and the power generation amount of each customer, and determining the transmission voltage of the substation from the plurality of candidates based on a result of the calculating.

An intelligent electronic device (IED) includes memory and a processor operatively coupled to the memory. The processor is configured to establish, over a communication network of a power system, a connection association (CA) with a receiving device using a MACsec Key Agreement (MKA). The processor is configured to automatically send an announce message indicating a set of enabled application protocols on the IED to the receiving device.

Systems include one or more critical datacenter connected to behind-the-meter flexible datacenters. The critical datacenter is powered by grid power and not necessarily collocated with the flexboxes, which are powered “behind the meter.” When a computational operation to be performed at the critical datacenter is identified and determined that it can be performed at a lower cost at a flexible datacenter, the computational operation is instead routed to the flexible datacenters for performance The critical datacenter and flexible datacenters preferably shared a dedicated communication pathway to enable high-bandwidth, low-latency, secure data transmissions.