Modeling Work Processes and Decisions in Grid Operation

Grid operations plays a critical role in ensuring a reliable power supply ranging from the control center to the field units. Developments due to the decarbonization of the energy, transport and heat sectors are leading to a more complex power grid and an increasing workload for grid operations staff. The increasing workload needs to be addressed by optimizing the grid operations work processes. This can be done by assessing the optimization potential of each process with all the underlying process steps. An important step in this assessment is the description and analysis of the work processes. This paper presents an approach to model work processes in grid operations. The model aims to describe work processes, their components and function in the context of grid operations. The model consists of a mathematical definition, a visualization approach and a decision model. The decision model allows the estimation of decision outcomes based on the available information. Accompanying our model, we introduce an evaluation method by defining different metrics for evaluating and comparing multiple processes. Finally, we demonstrate the application of our model on a case study. For our case study we collaborated with two grid operators and created a model for the fault management process in distribution grids. Based on that, we evaluate the influence of information source outages on the process.