Radial restoration

A method for restoring power in a power distribution network, said network including at least two power sources, a primary feeder, at least one secondary feeder coupled to the primary feeder and a plurality of switching devices positioned along the primary and secondary feeders and being in communications with each other, wherein two of the power sources are at ends of the primary feeder and one of the sources is at an end of the at least one secondary feeder opposite to where it is connected to the primary feeder, said network being represented by a plurality of teams where each team includes one side of adjacent switching devices and loads and power line sections therebetween, said method comprising:

• determining that there is a power loss in the network and one or more of the teams is not receiving power;
• determining a plurality of possible power restoration solutions by performing a graph search from each team including an available power source outward to other connected teams to identify what teams each of the power sources that are available to provide power can provide power to based on a power capacity of the sources and a load requirement of the teams;
• eliminating those possible solutions that allow power to be applied to the same team from different power sources;
• applying predetermined selection criteria to the remaining possible solutions to determine which of the possible solutions will be used as an actual solution;
• and
• selectively switching the switching devices between open and closed states to apply the actual solution.

A system for restoring power in a power distribution network, said network including at least two power sources, at least one feeder and a plurality of switching devices positioned along the at least one feeder and being in communications with each other, said network being represented by a plurality of teams where each team includes one side of adjacent switching devices and loads and power line sections therebetween, said system comprising:

• means for determining that there is a power loss in the network and one or more of the teams is not receiving power;
• means for determining a plurality of possible power restoration solutions that identify what teams each of the power sources that are available to provide power can provide power to based on a power capacity of the sources and a load requirement of the teams;
• means for applying predetermined selection criteria to the plurality of possible solutions to determine which of the possible solutions will be used as an actual solution;
• and
• means for selectively switching the switching devices between open and closed states to apply the actual solution.