The permeation of intelligence into the medium-voltage network is continuing apace, bringing the reality of the Smart Grid ever closer. One target of the Smart Grid is to improve service continuity by recognizing, locating, and isolating faults as quickly as possible.

Concurrently, the amount of equipment taken out of service should be minimized in order to keep energy provision to the consumer at a maximum. Although faults and outages have always occurred in the power network, their frequency has increased with the growth of renewable energy sources connecting to the power grid. In order to mitigate the effects of faults and outages, improve continuity and quality of electrical service, and increase the network energy efficiency while minimizing losses, it becomes necessary for network monitoring equipment to work in real time and intelligently.