Revolutionizing Power Grid Management: PMU-Based Distributed Wide Area Monitoring Implementation

Revolutionizing Power Grid Management: PMU-Based Distributed Wide Area Monitoring Implementation

A PMU, or Phasor Measurement Unit, is a device used to estimate the magnitude and phase angle of an electrical phasor quantity (such as voltage or current) in the electricity grid using a common time source for synchronization. Time synchronization is usually provided by GPS or IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol, which allows synchronized real-time measurements of multiple remote points on the grid.

PMUs are capable of capturing samples from a waveform in quick succession and reconstructing the phasor quantity, made up of an angle measurement and a magnitude measurement. The resulting measurement is known as a synchrophasor1. These time synchronized measurements are important because if the grid’s supply and demand are not perfectly matched, frequency imbalances can cause stress on the grid, which is a potential cause for power outages.

A typical commercial PMU can report measurements with very high temporal resolution, up to 120 measurements per second1. This helps engineers in analyzing dynamic events in the grid which is not possible with traditional SCADA measurements that generate one measurement every 2 or 4 seconds. Therefore, PMUs equip utilities with enhanced monitoring and control capabilities and are considered to be one of the most important measuring devices in the future of power systems.

Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) are used in power systems to significantly improve the possibilities for monitoring and analyzing power system dynamics. Here are some of the ways PMUs are used in power systems:

1. Monitoring Power Quality: PMUs provide a detailed and accurate view of power quality across a wide geographic grid. The data collected tells the system operator if the voltage, current, and frequency are staying within specified tolerances.

2. Improving System Modeling: The capability of PMUs is used to improve the accuracy of modeling system conditions.

3. Integrating Renewable Generators: In time, applications for PMUs may include integrating intermittent renewable generators and automating controls for transmission system and demand response equipment3.

4. Developing Efficient Use of Infrastructure: PMUs can help in developing increasingly efficient use of electric power system infrastructure.

5. Synchronized Measurements: Synchronized measurements make it possible to directly measure phase angles between corresponding phasors in different locations within the power system.

6. Improved Monitoring and Remedial Action Capabilities: Improved information allows fast and reliable emergency actions, which reduces the need for relatively high transmission margins required by potential power system disturbances.

7. Applications in Modern Power Systems: The applications of PMU in modern power systems include state estimation, voltage and transient stability, oscillation monitoring, event and fault detection, situation awareness, and model validation.

This part of the current page talks about the implementation of wide area monitoring and the challenges it faces. Some of the main points are:

• Wide area monitoring is a technique to monitor and control power systems using synchronized measurements from PMUs (Phasor Measurement Units) that can capture the dynamic behavior of the system.

• Challenges of wide area monitoring include dealing with the large amount of data generated by PMUs, ensuring the reliability and security of the communication network, and developing effective algorithms for data analysis and decision making.

• Implementation of wide area monitoring requires a suitable architecture for data collection and processing. The paper proposes a distributed PMU-PDC (Phasor Data Concentrator) approach that can overcome the limitations of traditional centralized architectures. The paper also evaluates the performance of the method in terms of the stability of the power system and the accuracy of the measurements.

Summary:

This part of the current page talks about:

• The paper’s topic: The paper discusses the challenges and solutions related to monitoring and controlling power systems with a high penetration of solar photovoltaic sources (PVs).

• The paper’s proposal: The paper proposes a distributed PMU-PDC (Phasor Measurement Units - Phasor Data Concentrator) architecture approach to overcome limitations of traditional centralized data handling architectures.

• The paper’s methodology: The work is divided into two parts: analysis of power system stability in terms of the total number of PVs in the system and the percentage of PV penetration and testing the accuracy of the method in terms of the number of PMUs in each area along with their channel capacities.

• The paper’s additional facts: The paper also provides some additional facts related to the topic, such as the government of India’s projects for the deployment of PMUs, the communication between consumer and supplier in smart grid, and the use of advanced sensors in the present grid.

Inspired by Implementation of PMU-Based Distributed Wide Area Monitoring in Smart Grid | IEEE Journals & Magazine | IEEE Xplore

“Implementation of PMU-Based Distributed Wide Area Monitoring in Smart Grid”. This paper discusses the challenges and solutions related to monitoring and controlling power systems, especially those with a high penetration of solar Photovoltaic Sources (PVs).

Key points from the paper include:

The integration of a large number of solar PVs into the power system can cause instability issues due to these sources of energy being inertia less generations.

Precise monitoring and control of such systems with higher PV penetration is a critical issue.

The paper proposes a distributed PMU-PDC (Phasor Measurement Units - Phasor Data Concentrator) architecture approach to overcome limitations of traditional centralized data handling architectures.

The work is divided into two parts: analysis of power system stability in terms of the total number of PVs in the system and the percentage of PV penetration and testing the accuracy of the method in terms of the number of PMUs in each area along with their channel capacities.

Additional facts related to the topic:

PMUs, with their time synchronizing abilities, have made the task of monitoring and controlling power systems a bit easier1.

The government of India has initiated various projects for the deployment of PMUs across the grid on a larger scale.

Communication between consumer and supplier in both directions is the essence of Smart Grid.

Advanced sensors are being used in the present grid to collect and analyze data from the grid network.

by Marwan Ahmed Abdullah Sufyan; Mohd Zuhaib; Mohd Anas Anees; Abul Khair; Mohd Rihan All Authors & Microsoft Bing. Subscribe for more, thanks!