Open Data in the Development of Future Electricity Distribution Systems

Successful electricity distribution business requires management of a wide variety of data. Long-term planning, construction, and operation of networks as well as customer services are all based on analysis of different kinds of data. Future trends of distributed generation and electrification of transportation raise expectations of having more information available in planning and operation of electricity infrastructure.Traditionally, the amount of data used by Distribution System Operators (DSO) has been limited. However, the amount of both internal and external data has increased rapidly in the past decade because of smart meters and other measuring devices installed in the grid. Smart grids produce large amounts of data but also require significant amounts of external data to operate efficiently. External data can also be widely exploited in the network planning process, for instance by providing a significant resource for estimating the impacts of future trends. Therefore, it is increasingly important to make use of open data resources and recognize their value for the DSOs in their processes. However, businesses have not yet made use of the potential of open data to the fullest despite of the significant value they could bring.This paper describes how to enhance distribution system asset managment by incorporating novel data sources into different stages of grid development and operation processes.