The SUMO Platform

The primary input for SUMO's dynamic rating calculation are the ambient conditions along the line, obtained from a combination of a weather service and local weather stations when the terrain demands it. The ampacity of every line span is calculated, and the minimum determines the ampacity of the whole line.

Line currents for N and N-1 provide the line loading percentages, the line temperature along the whole line, and the time it takes to reach maximum allowed temperature. Line sensors allow validation of prediction quality. SUMO is vendor-agnostic, with a rich set of bridging technology to integrate seamlessly with systems such as SCADA/EMS. It is built on a robust enterprise-grade software stack and comes with its own system monitoring.

With Dynamic Line Rating, an operator can increase total line capacity by 20% or more. Precise numbers are line-specific and depend on local terrain, climate and prior static-rating assumptions. As an example, PPL Electric (Pennsylvania) adopted DLR after comparing it to reconductoring and rebuilding: in less than half the time, for far less cost and without line outages, GETs led to a 10%–30% increase in capacity and an estimated $64 million in congestion savings.

More important than the exact number: DLR offers extra flexibility when it is needed, and the possibility to increase revenue from market participation in a safe and controlled manner.