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Energy & Grid Management
Mujeeb Shittu
Mujeeb Shittu
 · Posted in Energy & Grid Management

Powering the Future: How FLISR, Microgrids, and Big Data Are Reinventing Grid Resilience for Aging Infrastructure

 

With aging power grids worldwide, the risk of outages, equipment degradation, and service disruptions rises. Much of the equipment such as transformers, transmission lines, and switchgears are far past their design life and represent reliability issues. At the same time, electrification trends, weather events, and distributed energy sources represent new burdens on infrastructure initially constructed decades ago. This weakness could be avoided by utilities changing from a reactive to proactive approach in grid resilience with three main technologies: Fault Location, Isolation and Service Restoration (FLISR), microgrids, and big data analytics.

FLISR: Self-Healing through Fault Location, Isolation and Service Restoration

FLISR systems use sensors, automated switches, and real-time communication to detect faults, locate them accurately, isolate the faulted section, and reroute power through alternate paths. This automated fault response occurs within seconds or minutes, drastically reducing outage duration and minimizing the number of affected customers.

By automating decisions that traditionally required human intervention, FLISR improves distribution reliability and increases performance measures such as SAIDI and SAIFI. Utilities such as Pacific Gas & Electric have demonstrated FLISR’s effectiveness on rural circuits, improving response to outages caused by storms and wildlife. As a component of next-generation Advanced Distribution Management Systems (ADMS), FLISR not only accelerates restoration but also enables dynamic reconfiguration of the grid and coordination with distributed energy resources.

How FLISR works: Modern FLISR schemes act as a smart brain in utility control centers. They typically perform the following steps to enable a self-healing grid:

  • Detect a fault on a feeder via sensors or smart meters (e.g. detecting a loss of voltage).
  • Locate the faulty segment of the line between remote-controlled switches.
  • Isolate the faulty section by opening switches to cut off the problem area.
  • Restore service by re-energizing intact sections of the feeder, using alternate supply paths (tie-lines or neighboring feeders) to reroute power.

 

Microgrids: Decentralizing and Strengthening Grid Segments

Microgrids are local combined energy systems comprising loads, generation, and storage. They may be connected to the grid or run in “island mode" in case of power failure. This aspect is important for the generation of power to critical services like hospitals or emergency buildings even in extensive grid failure.

Besides emergency operation, microgrids alleviate load from aging infrastructure by managing loads locally and providing peak loads. Microgrids facilitate power grid decentralization and achievement of local reliability as well as enhanced the integration of renewable energy. Microgrids have been successfully implemented in the U.S., Europe, as well as remote villages in Africa and Asia in combating resilience, sustainability, and rural electrification.

Big Data Analytics: Predictive Grid Intelligence

With the rise of smart meters, sensors, and IoT, modern power grids produce vast amounts of data. Utilities are increasingly employing big data analytics and AI to convert this data into predictive data. By examining trends in transformer temperature, vibration, or load, analytics software can predict failure and allow predictive maintenance that prevents expensive unplanned outages.

This is especially valuable in managing aging assets, allowing utilities to prioritize replacements and repairs where risk is highest. Data analytics also support grid optimization, outage detection, and load forecasting. Globally, more than 70% of utilities now apply predictive analytics to improve reliability and reduce operational costs.

Conclusion

Together, FLISR, microgrids, and big data analytics form a comprehensive, proactive approach to strengthening grid resilience particularly in aging infrastructure networks. While FLISR provides rapid automated fault handling, microgrids offer localized energy security, and data analytics deliver foresight into failures. Together, they create a smarter, more responsive, and decentralized grid that is built for the demands of the future. With increased investments in grid modernization globally, these technologies are at the forefront of establishing resilient, dependable 21st-century power systems.

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