Power System Operation &

Control
Interconnections of grids
 Synchronized Grids of India
• Northern Regional Grid
• Southern Regional Grid
• Western + Eastern + North-eastern Regional
(WR-ER-NER) Grid
• Total generating capacity:2,35,000 MW (in
2013)
 Example of a large power system
Western Region of the WR-ER-NER Synchronous Grid
• This region has the largest inter-connected network in the
country, comprising the states of Chattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat,
Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, besides Union territories of
Daman and Diu, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli
• In 2002, the installed capacity was 31.5 GW with 13.8%
hydro, 66% thermal- coal, 15.9% gas/liquid fuel, 2.4%
nuclear and wind 1.9%
• The generation is owned by State Electricity Boards,
NTPC(National Thermal Power Corporation) and
NPC(Nuclear power corporation), besides some
Independent Power Producers (IPPs)
 Advantages of interconnections
• In modern power systems, the grids are interconnected

• Reliability and Economy are the main reasons for

interconnecting power systems

• Reliability implies that with a large interconnected grid, the

loss of a system component like a major transmission line
or generator will have minor impact on system. When one
device fails, another one makes up for the loss. In a
practical grid, there exists more than one path connecting a
load to each generator. Thus the loss of one transmission
line or tripping of one generator does not usually interrupt
power to a load.
 Advantages of interconnections of
grids
• Economy implies that electricity can be obtained from where it is cheap
• Base load stations :
• It is more economical to operate large generators 24 hours a day at full
capacity, catering not to a particular load, but pooling power into the grid
and to be used by many connected loads
• Peak load stations:
• A few generators which can be started almost instantaneously can then
act as reserves to cater to sudden increases in load. Generally steam
stations are run as base load stations while reservoir based hydro-stations
and gas stations act as peak load stations. The possibility of sharing
reserves in interconnected systems also results in smaller reserve
requirements
• Different regions in a grid may face peak demand at different times of the
day. Therefore the total system peak demand is smaller than the sum of
the individual peaks of various regions.
 Disadvantages of interconnections of
grids
• Extensive interconnections also mean that a disturbance in
one part of the system may quickly spread to the entire
system, leading to tripping of loads/generators, and may
even make interconnected system operation unviable
• Some large disturbances may make it impossible for
generators to run in synchronism
• In case interconnected system operation becomes
unviable, the system must "gracefully" split into smaller
systems (islands).
• If the control and protection systems are inadequate to
face this eventuality, a complete blackout may also occur,
leading to loss of service to millions of consumers
• However, grid failures are very rare
 How does the whole system work so
well?
• After all, for well designed power systems, power
is available on demand and can be obtained by
simply "paralleling" the load on the grid
• Similarly, a synchronous machine driven by a
prime-mover can be synchronised with a grid and
may supply power to it (all this is subject to
certain constraints)
• A great deal of prior planning and control during
operation is required to make an inter-connected
network capable of catering to a certain level of
power flow and prevent blackouts.
 Operational Objectives of a Power
System
1. Continual matching of load demand
• Electrical energy cannot be conveniently stored in
sufficient quantities
• System must be able to meet the changing
demand in active and reactive power
• Spinning reserve should be sufficient to meet the
sudden variations in the demand
• However in many developing countries, there are
shortages of generation resulting in load
curtailment
 Operational Objectives of a Power
System
2. Reliability and quality
• The power system should provide for a certain
level of reliability
• Power quality should meet certain standards
with regard to frequency, amplitude and wave
shape (frequency and magnitude of voltages
should lie in a narrow, pre-defined range).
 Operational Objectives of a Power
System
3. Economical
• The electrical energy should be at low cost
and have a low environmental impact

To achieve the above operational objectives,

several levels of controls are integrated in a
complex way
 Hierarchy of controls in a power
system
1. Excitation control:
• To keep the generator voltage at the desired
levels
2. Prime mover control:
• To maintain the frequency at the desired level
• It is concerned with regulation of speed of
generator, controls are for the associated
parameters such as water discharge quantity,
boiler pressure, temperature ,flows etc.
 Hierarchy of controls in a power
system
3. Power System Stabilizers:
• Employed to damp low frequency oscillations
of the generator following a disturbance
• A stabilizing signal is injected into the exciter
system to damp these oscillations
• Rotor speed, frequency and real power are
commonly used input signals for PSS
 Hierarchy of controls in a power
system
4. Automatic Generation Control(AGC):
• Maintains the required active power balance
in the system, which in turn is required to hold
the frequency around the nominal value
• AGC also maintains the scheduled power
flows in the tie-lines, which are responsible for
power transfers between different control
areas
 Hierarchy of controls in a power
system
5.Transmission controls:
• Include power and voltage control devices to
maintain the voltage within limits, maintain
system stability, protect the system and result
in reliable operation of the system
• Examples:Tap changing transformers,FACTS
controllers, shunt reactors, shunt capacitors,
phase shifting transformers and HVDC
controls
 Hierarchy of controls in a power
system
6. Controllers to provide quality power:
• Devices to maintain the system voltage at the
correct frequency and amplitude, and also
help in removing harmonics injected into the
system or load
• Distribution level controls such as capacitors,
wave shaping circuits etc.
 Hierarchy of controls in a power
system
• Control objectives are to be defined properly
• Under normal operating conditions, we just need to
keep tracking the load to match with generation,
maintain frequency around the nominal value and
regulate the voltage
• Under a disturbance, control actions are needed
prevent catastrophic collapse of the system
• Control action depends on the state of the system
 Hierarchy of controls in a power system
Operation and control of the system should ultimately
maintain:
i) Stability: continued operation of the system following a
disturbance
ii) Security: Degree of risk in the power system’s ability to
survive contigencies without interruption to the customer
iii) Reliability :
• Probability of satisfactory operation over a long period
• Denotes the ability of the system to supply adequate service
on a nearly continuous basis, with a few intermittent
interruptions over an extended time period
 Key Concepts for Reliable Operation
North American Electric Reliabilty Corporation
(NERC) has proposed the following key concepts:
1. Balance the generation and the load
2. Balance reactive power generation and demand
3. Ensure thermal limits are not exceeded
4. Maintain system stability
5. Meet N-1 reliabilty criterion
6. Plan,design and maintain to operate reliably
7. Prepare for emergencies
 Major Threats to System Security
• Transient Instability: Inability of the system to maintain
stability when subjected to large disturbance. Depends on
the initial operating point, duration and nature of the
disturbance
• Small-Signal Instability: Inability of the system to maintain
stability when subjected to small disturbance. It depends
on operating point
• Frequency Instability: Inability of the system to maintain
the frequency within prescribed limits. Arises due to an
inability to match the generation and the load
• Voltage Instability: Arises when disturbances or increase in
load demand can cause uncontrollable voltage collapse
• Cascading effects of outages and overloads
 Operating States of Power System &
Nature of Control Actions
The state (or condition) of a power system can be
judged from the answers to the following
questions:
• Is the demanded load being met? (i.e., is there a
real and reactive power balance?)
• Are all equipment within their current and
voltage limits?
• Can the system withstand stresses due a possible
contingency (leading to a loss of equipment)?
 Operational Constraints
• The system operation is governed by
constraints
• Equality constraints (E): Power balance
between generation and load
• Inequality constraints(I): Set the limits on
different operating parameters viz., voltage,
generation limits, currents etc.
Operating states of a power system
(Due to DyLiacco and Fink and Carlson )
 1. Normal operating state
(secure)

• A normal (secure) state is the ideal operating

condition, wherein all the equipment are operating
within their design limits and the demanded load is
being met
• Also, the power system can withstand a contingency
without violation of any of the constraints
• Both the equality(E) and inequality(I) constraints are
satisfied
• The power system has reserve capacity (generation
and transmission) sufficient to provide security for
normal stresses
 2.Alert state
(Insecure)
• If the reserve capacity is reduced, or the possibility of
major multiple contingencies increases due to adverse
weather, then the system is said to be in
the alert (insecure) state
• Although equipment are within their limits and load
demand is met, the system is "weaker" and may not be
able to withstand a contingency
• Both the equality(E) and inequality(I) constraints are
satisfied
• Preventive Control actions like shifting generation (re-
scheduling) are required to get the system back to the
normal state.
 3. Emergency State
(system still intact)
• If preventive control actions do not succeed, a power
system remains insecure (in the alert state)
• If a contingency occurs, the system may go into
the emergency state where overloading of equipment
(above the short term ratings of the equipment) occurs
• This could be due to imbalance between generation
and loads
• Inequality constraints are not met
• The system can still be intact and can be brought back
to the alert state by Emergency Control actions like
fault tripping, generator tripping, load tripping, HVDC
power control etc
 4.In extremis state
(system disintegrated)
• If the emergency measures do not work, integrated
system operation becomes unviable and a major part
of the system may be shutdown due to equipment
outages (In extremis state)
• Load shedding and "graceful" or controlled system
separation (islanding) is necessary to prevent spreading
of disturbances and a total grid failure
• Both the equality and the inequality constraints are
violated
• Emergency measures must be taken to prevent a total
grid collapse
 5.Restorative state
(Resynchronization)
• If there is a widespread or partial blackout, the surviving or
restarted generators are connected to local loads
• The restarted / surviving small power systems (islands) are
reconnected to restore the power system to alert or normal
state(Restorative Control)
• Inequality constraints are satisfied by emergency control
actions taken, but the system has not come to normalcy in
terms of equality constraints
• Preventive and restorative actions are "directed" by a
system operator and usually involve manual control actions
• However, emergency control actions are usually done by
fast acting control or protective relays
 Preventing Controls
• Preventive control is meant to keep the system in
normal state or bring it back from the alert state
to the normal state
• Automatic controls are provided for frequency
and voltage control
• Commonly used preventive controls are:
a) Rescheduling of active power generated by
various units, to match the changing loads
b) Start-up of generation units and providing
adequate spinning reserve
 Preventing Control Measures
c) Switching of shunt elements for reactive
power control to maintain the voltage within
desired limits
d) Change of reference points of controllable
devices such as FACTS controllers, phase
shifters, etc
e) Change in the voltage reference points of
generators and voltage control devices
f) Change in substation configuration
 Emergency Control Measures
• These measures are taken to stop worsening
of the situation, prevent degradation of the
system and cascading failure effects
• Under-frequency and under-voltage load
shedding schemes are used
• Common emergency control measures are:
a) Tripping of generators
b) Load shedding
 Emergency Control Measures
c) Fast valving or fast water diversion which
leads to a fast reduction in generation
d) Controlled disconnection of interconnected
systems, to prevent spreading of frequency
problems
e) Controlled islanding to create local generation
– load balance
f) Fast HVDC power transfer control
 Control Problems
1. Modeling of power system components
2. Economic operation of power systems
3. Unit commitment
4. Hydro-thermal coordination
5. Automatic generation control(Frequency
control)
6. AGC for interconnected systems (to maintain
tie-line inerchanges at scheduled values)
 Control Problems
7. Voltage and reactive power control
8. Power system security
9. Load forecasting techniques
10. State estimation
11.SCADA:
• Built with different technologies and protocols
• Used to detect currents, measure voltages,
monitor circuit breaker status & turn on off
equipment
12. Trends in power system operation and control
Energy Management Centres(EMS)
• Energy management centres comprise both
hardware and software to monitor and control
the system
• Sophisticated computers and tools have
enhanced the system operation and control
• Subsystems Functions of EMS :
1. Dispatch subsystem: Involves the functions of
unit commitment, economic dispatch, AGC
and demand forecasting
Energy Management Centres(EMS)
2. Data subsystem: For data acquisition and
processing. Subsystem will contain the units of
SCADA, state estimation and all the associated
alarms and displays
3. Security subsystem:
• Oversees the secure operation of the power
system
• Functions included: Security monitoring,
contingency analysis, decision control actions
based on the state of the system