Suwanee Valley Electric Cooperative (SVEC) has achieved its first successful automated restoration of power following the installation and implementation of an Advanced Distribution Management System (ADMS). An ADMS enables a utility to automate the fault location, isolation and power restoration process. The provider of the system, Advanced Control Systems (ACS), believes that SVEC is among a select group of about 10% of the nation’s electric cooperatives that have adopted ADMS technology.
ADMS automatically detects the location of an electrical fault, automatically performs switching to isolate the fault, and then reroutes the flow of electricity to restore power to customers who are out, but are not in the section of lines where the fault is located. The entire process happens in less than a minute, greatly reducing the amount of time many consumers are without power.
“The ADMS is just one part of a larger initiative to improve the reliability of service to our consumer-members, says SVEC Director of Engineering Kurt Miller. “We plan to complete system-wide ADMS implementation in the second quarter of 2019, with other improvements to reduce the duration of outages and the number of “blinks” on the system to follow,” says Miller.
“The decision to move to an ADMS platform is a big decision for any utility” says Kevin Sullivan, CEO of ACS. “We’re honored that SVEC chose ACS as their partner in this effort, and it’s always exciting to see a utility reach the milestone of their first automated restoration. Now SVEC can look forward to vast improvements in their service reliability for years to come”.
SVEC’s original announcement is at the utility’s website at this link.
