Real time fault level monitoring to increase electricity distribution network utilisation

A novel Real Time Fault Level Monitor device has now been fully developed and commissioned within a UK electricity distribution network. Fault level – the worst-case electrical current that will flow through a network in the event of a fault – is becoming a greater challenge to manage due to increasing energy demands and changing profiles for electricity generation, making the need for accurate fault level data essential. For the first time, continuous monitoring data has been obtained that demonstrates network fault level as a dynamic value, with daily, weekly or even hourly fluctuations evident in the data. This opens possibilities for new ways of planning and operating networks to maximise network utilisation, accommodating the influx of distributed renewable generation and to facilitate the Net Zero transition.