Abstract:
The electric power utilities play a vital role in the generation, transmission and distribution of the electrical power to the end users. The power utilities generally face two major issues – firstly, power systems are expected to operate close to the maximum capacity, and secondly, there is a need for accurate monitoring and control of the power system network using the modern technological advances together with their associated configuration tools. These two issues are interconnected as better monitoring allows for better control of the power system. The development of the new standard-based power system technologies contribute to concept of building of a smarter grid. The challenge is that this process requires the development of new control and operation architectures and methods for data acquisition, data transfer, and control computation. These methods require data for the dynamic state of the entire power system in real-time, which allows for the introduction of synchrophasor-based monitoring and control of the power system. This paper describes the research work for integration of the newer existing power system technologies to build fully automated systems for the real-time solution of power system energy management problem, incorporating data measurement and acquisition, data transfer and distribution through a communication network, and data storage and retrieval in one complete system. The paper further details the developed methods, algorithms, procedures, software and hardware tools for implementation of a lab-scale prototype of the power system and the acquisition and transfer of the data to the control center in order to allow for the solution of the optimal power dispatch problem in real-time using real-time data.
The developed prototype systems are tested for the five-bus power system model, and the system operation test results are presented. The model is developed within the RSCAD software environment and the output signals are fed to the software-based PMU. The data from the GTNET-PMU is transferred to the Phasor Data Concentrator (PDC) using the Ethernet. The developed data acquisition, data transfer, data retrieval and data storage system algorithms and software programs can be expanded for use in the power grid energy management system for the economic dispatch solution in regional or national control centers, smart grid applications, educational courses and postgraduate research at universities.
S Krishnamurthy • Cape Peninsula University of Technology