Present and future communication technologies for distribution automation in rural Queensland, Australia

Abstract

This paper reviews the communication systems presently being used for distribution automation, control and monitoring of power supply in remote areas of Queensland, Australia. The study focuses on two of the electric utilities, South East Queensland Electricity Corporation (SEQEB) and South West Power. The utilities encounter various communication problems in implementing distribution automation (DA) and monitoring the supply in their rural networks. Two-way radio paging, wireless data network and satellite communications are identified as future potential communication technologies for DA applications.