Wide-area protection and control using synchrophasors

- Supervisor Bruce A. Mork, Michigan Technological university (MTU)

Protective relays, transient event recorders, and dedicated PMU devices can provide and share synchrophasor data, essentially GPS time-tagged phasor measurement information. Usage thus far is more focused on slow-changing system operations or monitoring applications. Wide-area protection and control require higher speed real-time communications and several advancements in enabling technologies. The main issues to be addressed are:

• Protective relay application in the context of: Interoperability issues, substation automation (IEC 61850), Grid system operations, SCADA, impact of high-penetration of renewable sources, energy management (EMS)
• High-speed emergency control against power swings or voltage collapse.
• Synchrophasor applications for unbalanced disturbances, for example single-pole tripping and reclosing.
• Smart high-speed separation and optimal islanding when emergency control cannot hold the whole system together.
• Operation of separated islands as micro-grids.