INTRO TO

ELECTRICAL POWER
SYSTEMS
EECE 3311
CHAPTER 1
 General background
1. Electrical power systems is regarded as one of the most complicated
infrastructure systems human have come up with in history

2. The electrical power system is a means of converting and transporting

energy, making it available whenever it is needed.

3. The modern power system consists of several crucial components:

◦ Generation plants
◦ Substations
◦ Transmission network
◦ Distribution network
◦ Load entities
 General background
1. Different energy resources can be used to produce electricity through generators

2. Transformers are device that changes the voltage and current levels at their input
and output terminals.

3. The distribution systems connect all the individual loads at substation, which then
perform the voltage transformation and switching function.
Brief Historical Review of Electricity
◦ In the history of electricity, no single defining moment exists. The way we produce,
distribute, install, and use electricity and the devices it powers is the culmination of
nearly 300 years of research and development.
◦ Efforts to understand, capture, and tame electricity began in the 18th century. For the
next 150 years, dozens of "natural scientists" in England, Europe, colonial America, and
later the United States analyzed electricity in nature, but producing it outside of nature
was another matter.
◦ That didn't happen on any large scale until the late 19th century. Setting the stage for
widespread commercial use of electricity were international researchers engaged in
pure scientific research, and entrepreneurial businessmen who made their own major
discoveries or produced, marketed, and sold products based on others' ideas.
Brief Historical Review of Electricity
◦ Prominent contributors to today's electrically energized world (listed in alphabetical
order) include:
 Andrè-Maire Ampére (1775-1836), a French physicist who developed the Systéme
International d'Unités (SI).
 Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922), inventor of the telephone. A mostly home-
taught member of a Scottish family interested in issues of speech and deafness, Bell
followed his father, Alexander Melville Bell, as a teacher of the deaf. In the 1870s,
funded by the fathers of two of his students, Bell studied how electricity could
transmit sound.
 Ferdinand Braum (1850-1918), a German physicist who shared a Nobel Prize with
Guglielmo Marconi for contributions to the development of radiotelegraphy.
Brief Historical Review of Electricity
 Henry Cavendish (1731-1810), a reclusive, unpublished English scientist whose work was
replicated several decades later by Ohm.
 Thomas Doolittle, a Connecticut mill worker who, in 1876, devised a way to make the first
hard-drawn copper wire strong enough for use by the telegraphy industry, in place of iron
wire. The young commercial electric and telephone industry quickly took advantage of the
new wire.
 Thomas A. Edison (1847-1931), the most productive electrical explorer. He invented the
electric light bulb and many other products that electricians use or install.
 Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), an American diplomat and natural philosopher, he proved
that lightning and electricity were the same.
 Luigi Galvani (1737-1798), an Italian physician and physicist, his early discoveries led to the
invention of the voltaic pile.
 Guglielmo Marconi (1874-1937), an Italian physicist who won the Nobel Prize for his invention
of a system of radiotelegraphy.
Brief Historical Review of Electricity
 Georg Simon Ohm (1789-1854), a German physicist and the discoverer of Ohm's Law,
which states that resistance equals the ratio of the potential difference to current.
 Nikola Tesla (1856-1943), a Serbian-American inventor who discovered rotating
magnetic fields. George Westinghouse purchased Tesla's patent rights.
 Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta (1745-1827), an Italian physicist who
invented the electric battery. The electrical unit "volt" is named for Volta.
Brief Historical Review of Electricity
George Westinghouse (1846-1914), an able adapter of other people's research,
purchased their patents and expanded on their work. His first patent was received for a
train air brake. In 1869, he formed the Westinghouse Air Brake Company. Eventually, he
held 360 patents and founded six companies. He lost control of his companies in the
1907 panic, but went on working for them for another three years.
The experiences of electricity's founding fathers parallel in many ways the electronic
technology breakthroughs of the past half-century that have brought us a whirlwind of
innovation in computer hardware, software, and Internet communications.
 Just as a wave of electrical inventions dramatically changed the world as the 20th
century progressed, so can we anticipate a steadily escalating rate of innovation in
these emerging electronic disciplines beyond the dawn of the 21st century.
Electric Energy Generation and
demand
◦ Electricity is generated at power plants and moves through a complex system,
sometimes called the grid, substations, transformers, and power lines that connect
electricity producers and consumers.

◦ Most local grids are interconnected for reliability and commercial purposes, forming
larger, more dependable networks that enhance the coordination and planning of
electricity supply.

◦ The stability of the electricity grid requires the electricity supply to constantly meet
electricity demand, which in turn requires coordination of numerous entities that
operate different components of the grid.
Transmission vs distribution lines
◦ There are 2 different types of
electric lines for the transportation
of electricity: transmission and
distribution lines.
◦ Transmission lines are for
large distances, their voltage is
higher, and they can transport
more electricity.
◦ Distribution lines are for short
distances, their voltage is lower,
and they transport electricity
locally. You can see them on the
side of the street.
Transmission vs distribution lines
◦ Power travels from power sources to residential, commercial and
industrial customers. During this, the electricity goes through transmission lines
and distribution lines. From one type of line to another, the electricity goes
through transformers which modify the voltage in order to optimize the energy
lost through electromagnetic fields.
◦ Distribution lines are low voltage ( 4KV to 69KV) lines which bring
electricity from substations to your home. The lines are smaller, and
cover shorter distances. The whole distribution network is not directly
connected: they are connected through the substations which connect them
to the transmission network.
◦ Transmission lines go from power plants to substations at a high voltage (69KV
to 765KV) . They can bring electricity from one end of the country to the other,
using interstate connections. There can also be transmission lines between
countries.
System Protections
◦ The power systems usually include various components such as generators,
transformers, busbars, transmission lines and motors plus other equipment and
loads.
◦ System protection is the art and science of detecting problems with power
system components and isolating these components.
◦ Problems on the power system include:
1. Short circuits
2. Abnormal conditions
3. Equipment failures
System Protections
◦ Purpose of system protection
1. Protect the public
2. Improve system stability
3. Minimize damage to equipment
4. Protect against overloads
5. Employ relay techs and engineers
Stability studies
◦ The ability of a power system to maintain synchronism during normal operation
and after being subjected to some disturbance is called power system
stability.
◦ Stability studies which evaluate the impact of disturbances on the
electromechanical dynamic behavior of the power system are of two types :
1. transient :
◦ involve large disturbances
2. steady state :
◦ involve small disturbances such as a small continuous change in load
Load studies
◦ A load study is the determination of the voltage, current, power
and power factor or reactive power at various points in an
electric network under existing conditions or normal operation.
◦ Load studies are essential in planning the future development of
the system because the satisfactory operation of the system
depends on the new load, new generating stations and new
transmission lines before they are installed.
 Power system operations and control
◦ Power systems are large and
complex electrical networks.
◦ In any power system,
generations are located at few
selected points and loads are
distributed throughout the
network.
◦ In between generations and
loads, there exist transmission
and distribution systems. In the
power system, the system load
keeps changing from time to
time as shown.
Power system operations and control
◦ Properly designed power system should have the following characteristics:
1. It must supply power, practically everywhere the customer demands.
2. It must supply power to the customers at all times.
3. It must be able to supply the ever changing load demand at all time.
4. The power supplied should be of good quality.
5. The power supplied should be economical.
6. It must satisfy necessary safety requirements.
Power system operations and control
◦ The delivered power must meet certain minimum requirements with regards to
the quality of the supply. The following determine the quality of the power
supply.
i) The system frequency must be kept around the specified 50 Hz with a
variation of ±0.05Hz.
ii) The magnitude of bus voltages are maintained within narrow prescribed
limits around the normal value. Generally voltage variation should be limited
to ± 5%.
◦ Voltage and frequency controls are necessary for the effective operation of
power systems.
Power system operations and control
◦ Frequency fluctuations are detrimental to electrical appliances.
◦ The following are a few reasons why we should keep strict limits on frequency
deviations.
* Three phase AC motors run at speeds that are directly proportional to the
frequency. Variation of system frequency will affect the motor performance.
* The blades of steam and water turbines are designed to operate at a
particular speed. Frequency variations will cause change in speed. This will
result in excessive vibration and cause damage to the turbine blades.
* Frequency error may produce havoc in the digital storage and retrieval
process.
Power system operations and control
◦ Both over voltage and under voltage are detrimental to electrical appliances.
◦ Electric motors will tend to run on over speed when they are fed with higher voltages
resulting vibration and mechanical damage. Over voltage may also cause insulation
failure.
◦ For a specified power rating, when the supply voltage is less, the current drawn is more
and it will give rise to heating problems.
◦ Therefore it is essential to keep the system frequency constant and the voltage
variation within the tolerance.
Smart grid
The electrical grid is an
interconnected network of
generation, transmission
and distribution elements
that delivers electricity from
suppliers to consumers. The
“smart grid” generally
refers to the technology
that brings utility electricity
delivery systems into the
next century using
computer-based remote
control and automation.
These systems are possible
because the grid is
becoming computerized
and smart meters are
being utilized.
Smart grid- What Makes up a Smart
Grid?
 Smart grid- What Makes up a Smart
Grid?
◦ Just like traditional grids, smart grids have a number of moving components. However, smart
grids have parts that are more efficient in terms of design and functionality. For instance, there
are intelligent appliances that are capable of deciding when to consume power based on
the pre-set user preferences. There are also smart substations that control critical and non-
critical operational data, such as power factor performance, breaker, battery and
transformer status.
◦ Another critical component of a smart grid is the smart power meter that is capable of two-
way communication between the consumer and power provider. This makes detection of
power outages, billing, data collection and dispatching of repair crews easier and faster.
There is also smart distribution characterized by automated monitoring and analysis tools,
superconducting cables for long-distance transmission, self-healing, self optimization and self
balancing.
◦ Smart generation is another key component of a smart grid. The system is capable of
“learning” the unique behavior of power generation resources to optimize energy production
and to automatically maintain voltage, frequency and power factor standards based on
feedback from multiple points in the grid. There is also universal access to affordable, low-
carbon electrical power generation and storage solutions.
Smart grid- Why Do We need Smart
Grids?
◦ Smart grids are not only aligned perfectly with the needs and demands of our time,
they are also predicted to have significant long-lasting effects.
◦ For instance, the technology will overhaul aging equipment and bring things up to
speed. This will help to reduce the likelihood of blackouts, burnouts and power surges.
◦ The technology will also reduce both the cost of energy consumption and production.
◦ With its full implementation, smart grids will make renewable power feasible and equip
the grid to meet increasing energy demands.
◦ More importantly, however, the technology will give consumers near real-time control
of their energy bills and facilitate large-scale electric vehicle charging.