The blackouts on

30th and 31st July

2012
A.M.Kulkarni
IIT Bombay
"Except for a few islands and some small isolated systems, the
entire electric grid is really one big circuit.
The humble wall outlet is actually a gateway to one of the largest
and most complex objects ever built. The grid encompasses
billions of individual components, tens of millions of miles of wire
and thousands of individual generators "

Thomas Overbye,
Re-engineering the Electric Grid, American Scientist, 2000, Vol. 88, Iss. 3.
Bulk Power Systems
Indian Power System : Among the Largest in the World
National Grid (UK)
PJM (USA) 68GW SO - UPS (Russia)
165GW 146 GW

MidWest ISO (USA)

159GW SGCC (China)
900GW

RTE (France)
93GW
Tepco (Japan)
64GW

Red Electrica (Spain)

93GW
KPX (South Korea)
70GW
ONS (Brazil)
100GW
Terna (Italy) PGIL (India)
57GW Eskom 163GW
(South Africa)
43.5GW

Source: VLPGO (~2011)

Some Typical Numbers (~2011)
 Generating Units :~ 1600
 400kV & above Trans. Line :~ 700
 Transformers (High Voltage) :~ 2000
 Busses (Extra High Voltage) :~ 5000
 Control Areas :~ 100
 Inter-State Metering Points :~ 3000
 Open Access transactions typical daily :~ 100
 Captives participating in market :~ 125
 The Indian Grid Installed Capacity: ~ 180 GW

By 2027: ~575 GW
NEW
grid Thermal 65%
Hydro 21 %
South Nuclear 3%
grid
Renewable 11 %

Renewables: Wind, Small Hydro, Biomass etc

Wind Energy: 14 GW (Fifth Largest)

~2014 one synchronous grid

Courtesy: Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. / Ministry of Power

 Courtesy: POSOCO
August 2006
Five Regional Grids North synchronized
Two Frequencies
With Central Grid
March 2003
West synchronized NEW Grid
With East & Northeast

October 1991 South

East and Northeast Grid
SR Synch
synchronized By 2013-14

Central Grid
MERGING
OF
MARKETS
North

East
West
Northeast
South
Installed Capacity: ~ 180 GW
Inter – Regional
Capacity:
Five Regional Grids 22 GW
By 2027: ~575 GW
Five Frequencies
Synchronous Links

 Synchronous Grid:
 Synchronous machines interconnected with
AC lines
 Power Flow in AC lines - function of Voltage
phase Angle Difference (determined by the
relative rotor position in synchronous
machines)
 Frequency throughout grid is the same
Asynchronous Links

 Asynchronous Interconnects
 HVDC links: Power flows not a function of
Phase Angle Difference
 Frequencies of connected regions could
“happily” be different
Lack of Synchronism in AC ties

Not Acceptable !
Distance Relays trip

Uncontrolled
System Separation
Synchronous Links
(AC)

Tie Line 2 (AC)

(PGEN1-PLOAD1) - (PGEN2-PLOAD2) = P1 + P2

Frequency of Area 1 and 2 is the same (in steady state)

Asynchronous Link

Frequency of Area 1 and 2 need not be the same

Synchronous or Asynchronous ?

(PGEN1-PLOAD1) - (PGEN2-PLOAD2) = P1 + P2

Frequency of Area 1 and 2 is the same (in steady state)

The Indian Grid: HVDC

(1500 MW)

HVDC (Long Distance)

1. Rihand – Dadri
2. Chandrapur – Padge
1. Talcher – Kolar
1. Balia - Bhiwadi

BACK To BACK
1. Vindhyachal
1. Bhadravati
2. Gazuwaka
1. Sasaram
 The Indian Grid

Major
Load
Centres

Courtesy: Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. / Ministry of Power

 Courtesy: POSOCO
765 KV RING MAIN SYSTEM
THE POWER
‘HIGHWAY’

Cheap Thermal

CHEAP HYDRO POWER FROM

THE NORTH-EAST AND PIT
HEAD THERMAL POWER
FROM THE EAST ENTERS THE
RING AND EXITS TO POWER
STARVED REGIONS
Present SCADA/EMS – Multi way information Flow
Unified Load National NLDC
Despatch & Level
Communication
Region
5 Nos. RLDC
Level

31 State HQ
Nos. Level SLDC

Group of
51 District
Nos. Level SUB LDC

1649 Plant/Sub
Nos. Station RTU
Level
Dynamics in a Synchronous Grid

Centre of Inertia motion

( depends on sum of forces : Fg1+Fg2+Fg3-FL1-FL2-FL3 )

FL1 Fg1
FL3 Fg3 FL2 Fg2

Relative motion Relative motion

(swing) (swing)
 Dynamics in a Synchronous Grid

Sudden Load Throw Off Sudden Generation Trip

Stable Common and Relative Motion Stable Common and Relative Motion

Small Disturbance Angular

Large Disturbance Angular Instability : Growing Oscillations
Instability : Loss of Synchronism (triggered by any disturbance: big or small)
System Separation: Typical Cut Set

Uncontrolled
Controlled separation
Islanding
(Mumbai)
 Large Power Swing / Loss of Synchronism

Va

Ia

Vb

Ib

Vc

Ic

Courtesy:
Western Regional Power Committee, Mumbai
30th July 2012

2:33:11:9 hours
 ~02.34 hrs

MP antecedent trippings
overload

00.20 hrs
Hand tripped

00.05 hrs trip, 01.35 hrs

revived Xmer

00.10 hrs
overload

00.10 hrs
overload
 2710 MW 1192 MW Bhutan
2650 MW 3123 MW
-33 MW
95 MW
-278 MW
2654 MW

835 MW (asynchronous tie)

(asynchronous tie)
832 MW 962 MW
975 MW

Scheduled vs Actual Flows

Demand met > 70 GW 02:30 hours
in NEW grid Frequency : 49.68 Hz
Zone3 tripping of Main-II

DR of Bina-Gwalior

Approx impedance seen: 110 ohm

“Distance Protection”

Normal

V1 ZL V2

V1 is normally much greater than the impedance of the line ZL.

I
Distance Protection
Fault

V1 Z

I
Voltage at fault point is ~zero

V1 will be equal to Z
I
Relay setting to detects fault on this line V1 < ZL ; immediate trip
I

Relay setting (back-up) for faults on neighbouring line V1 < ZL + ZL1

(Slow trip setting) I
PMU data 30-7-2007, 2:33 hours
30-7-2007: WAFMS (NTP synchronized)
PMU data 30-7-2007, 2:33 hours

(Zone 1)

(Zone 1)
First Conclusion
 The critical event leading to large angular
separation was Gwalior-Bina 400 kV trip
 From DR, PMU, WAFMS : Tripping time is
established to be 2:33:11:9
 Trip was NOT on fault.
 Zone3 tripping (back-up protection)
 “Load encroachment”
x
Event at RKL-JMSHDP-I (Rourkela end tripped)
DR time at Jamshedpur end was incorrect

Ckt-II trip
Zone-1 trippings at ~2:33:15, due to large angular
separation ---- NR becomes an island

Balia-Biharsharif
Balia-Patna
Grkpr-Muzzpr.
Zone -1 tripping (Gorakhpur-Muzaffarpur)

Zone 1 implies V1/I < ZL

Cut-Set
Birds-eye view (WAFMS)

System separation at
this point.

Most generators will

trip at 47.5 Hz
Issues
 Extreme Insecure Operation due to multiple line
outages (forced/planned).
 Tripping on overload (220 kV) -
 Tripping on load-encroachment (Zone 3) – Audit
of settings. Technological solution – use of
PMUs
 Reactive Power Absorption: Lines opened on
HV (eg Barh Balia) – reduced security
Issues
 NR : U/f relaying – very little
 WR-ER-NER : Inadequate governor
response
 HVDC/TCSC power boost (angular
stability controllers) ?
Restoration

Hydro-units require very little startup power

Restoration
31th July 2012

13:00:13 hours
 1170 MW 850 MW
2400 MW 2044 MW
-21 MW
150 MW
73 MW
1822 MW

894 MW
830 MW 900 MW
830 MW

Scheduled vs Actual Flows

13:00 hours
Total load being
met in NEW grid at that time Frequency 49.84 Hz
~ 77 GW
PMU data 31 July
WAFMS (birds eye view)

Gwalior Bina
Event
System separation
31.07.2012
Bina-Gwalior-I

DR of Gwal-Bina (Load Encroachment)

Main-I

LOWER VOLTAGES OBSERVED ON THIS DAY

Observations
 Initiating time correlates well ~13:00:13
 Again : Gwalior-Bina line trip
 Load encroachment again!
 Antecedent trippings

SLDC timings (not synchronized)

Sets of Events: Multiple trippings before separation

Gwal-Bina
 Trippings at around ~13:00:15
 Trippings at around ~13:00:18 – Large Swings: This is
the tipping point
 WR system separation (PS trippings): Cut-Set are the
lines emanating from Rourkela
Separation Cut Set

Courtesy : POSOCO
Observations
 Subsequent Over-voltage trippings in WR

 400 kV Raigarh - Rourkela -1 Overvoltage at Raigarh end

400 kV Raigarh - Rourkela -3Overvoltage at Raigarh end
400 kV Raigarh-Raipur -3Overvoltage at Raigarh end
400 kV Raigarh-Sterlite -1 Overvoltage at sterlite end
 TIME: 13:00:26

400 kV Seoni-Khndwa-1 Overvoltage at Khandwa end

 Direct Trip at Seoni end
400 kV Raipur-Sipat -1Overvoltage at Sipat end Direct Trip at Raipur end
400 kV Raipur-Sipat -2Overvoltage at Sipat end Direct Trip at Raipur end
400 kV Sipat-Ranchi-2Overvoltage at Sipat end Breaker at Ranchi end tripped first &
subsequently o/V at sipat
 Generator trips in WR save WR TIME: 13:00:26

 ER-NR seems to collapse after: 13:01:20 (not analyzed here in

detail)
WAFMS

GENERATOR
TRIPPING
In WR
Concluding Thoughts about the Blackout

 Back to Basics
 Technology:

Wide Area Measurement Systems

Power Electronics based interconnects
 The excitement of observing system-wide
dynamic phenomena !