Making Distribution State Estimation Practical: Challenges and Opportunities

TL;DR

This paper reviews the challenges hindering practical adoption of distribution system state estimation and advocates for new research directions involving generalized formulations and workflows to enhance field applicability.

Contribution

It provides a systematic analysis of current limitations and proposes a shift towards more comprehensive problem specifications and algorithmic advancements for practical deployment.

Findings

Distribution system state estimation adoption is limited in practice.

Current research often relies on conventional approaches that lack generality.

New perspectives and generalized workflows are needed for practical implementation.

Abstract

In increasingly digitalized and metered distribution networks, state estimation is generally recognized as a key enabler of advanced network management functionalities. However, despite decades of research, the real-life adoption of state estimation in distribution systems remains sporadic. This systematization of knowledge paper discusses the cause for this while comparing industrial and academic experiences and reviewing well- and less-established research directions. We argue that to make distribution system state estimation more practical and applicable in the field, new perspectives are needed. In particular, research should move away from conventional approaches and embrace generalized problem specifications and more comprehensive workflows. These, in turn, require algorithm advancements and more general mathematical formulations. We discuss lines of work to enable the delivery of tangible research.