Power System Stability Monitoring and Control Using Synchrophasors

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Blackout ! Blackout ! We really do not want it. In Canada, we take continuous electricity supply for granted. At the flip of a switch, we turn on lights, heat, air conditioners, ovens, microwaves, washers, dryers, etc. Blackouts cause significant economic loss, affect the well-being, safety and security of a society. Power companies like to reduce (if not eliminate) the frequency of blackouts or implement suitable measures to restore the system as quickly as possible. The challenge is to prevent events from spreading into cascading failure. The blackouts in different part of the world have shown clearly how the power system can become vulnerable, causing significant economic loss. Some of the trends in the electric utility industry that must be considered now are the aging electrical infrastructure, the aging workforce, and the growth of renewable energy sources etc. The tasks required to ensure a secure and reliable supply of electrical energy are very complex. Synchrophasor technology is the most significant electric grid monitoring and control center data improvement tool introduced over the past decade. Synchrophasors are time-synchronized phasor measurements. Phasor measurement units (PMUs) are the most widely used synchronized measurement devices for power system applications. Each PMU typically monitors 6-8 phasor quantities, such as voltages, currents, and frequency, all of which are time-stamp synchronized using a global positioning system (GPS) satellite. With the increasing number of PMU installations in different utilities, there is a need to develop real-time tools which utilize the potential of synchrophasor technology. This is the motivation behind the proposed research. Using a medical analogy, one can think of the conventional measurements (using Supervisory Control and Data Acquistion systems) as X-Ray and PMU measurements as MRI. The new and innovative approach in this proposal is an integrated approach to stability monitoring and control of power systems using available synchrophasor measurements. As an example, when the power system response is predicted to be unstable, remedial actions will be ordered by the stability controller. Time-synchronized measurements provide the starting point for the implementation of these controls. Voltage stability monitoring and control and transient stability monitoring and control will be the key focus of this research. The significant contributions of this research will be the development of strategies for power system performance enhancement using the capabilities of synchrophasors. This Discovery Grant will provide opportunities for many Graduate students to develop their skills and  become resourceful in applying synchrophasor technology for electric power utilities. Particularly for Canadian electric utilities the results of the research will be useful in operating the power system with a high level of security.