Phaser measurement units applied to controlled separation of power systems

Abstract

Controlled grid separation is an emergency preventative measure performed on a system suffering from voltage, frequency or angle instability that is predicted to lead to unplanned system separation. Recent advance in technology has brought about the concept of Wide Area Measurement Protection and Control (WAMPAC) which is based on Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs). PMUs have the ability to measure voltage and current phasors which are referenced to an accurate time signal provided by the Global Positioning System (GPS). This is one of its main advantages over traditional supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems which use state estimation (SE) to approximate voltage angles and therefore system state. Controlled grid separation using PMUs has received little attention. In this paper, WAMPAC concept based on PMUs is used for controlled separation of a power system so as to prevent cascading blackouts. Simulation results show that WAMPAC concept can be successfully applied to achieve the requirements of controlled separation of the power grid.