A Reliability Assessment Method For Advanced Metering Infrastructure

With the increasing pressure of the global resources and environment, and the power users’increasing demand for electric reliability and power quality, more and more countries want to put forward the construction of smart power grids what are of flexible, clean, safely, economically, and all agreed that the smart grid is the future direction of the grid. The advanced metering infrastructure is a complete network system that can measuring, collecting, storing, analysing, using and transferring the data of users’Power consumption, electricity price information, System operating conditions. As the foundation of the smart power grids and the key technology which can make the power system and power users to achieve two-way interaction, AMI’reliability is very critical. On the basis of comprehensive analysing of reliability assessment method, this paper presents a reliability assessment method that can be used for AMI system.This thesis first introduced the function of the AMI system, the typical structure and composition object of it, proposed two kinds of reliability evaluation indices for users and system respectively. Considering that the AMI system can make power system and power users to achieve two-way interaction, AMI system can be devided into3modules:AMI system master station, the main network and communication subsystems. And then different reliability assessment models can be constructed according to the different structural characteristics of each sub-module. The problem that the subsystem reliability indices are difficult to calculate, because of the large number of users, can be solved through the method of "equivalent user" Finally, take a case of AMI system for example to analyze, we can get the reliability indices for users and the expression of general availability, rendering the time-varying curve for overall availability of AMI system by mathematic software. The results show that the reliability assessment method this thesis proposed can be used in AMI system reliability assessment, and provide some reference value for the follow-up study, reliability analysis and wider application of AMI system.