SynchroPhasor-based Automatic Real-time Control

I det fremtidige bærekraftige kraftsystemet vil det være en stor andel fornybar kraftproduksjon, men også flere endringer i forbruk og mer kraftoverføring mellom land. Driften av kraftsystemet blir dermed mer utfordrende, og det kreves bedre metoder og verktøy for å drifte systemet. Anvendelse av en spesiell type måleinstrument (PMU) vil gi fordeler. En PMU måler spenning og strøm, og basert på disse målingene beregnes parametere som frekvens, aktiv effekt (MW), reaktiv effekt (MVAR) og fasevinkel. PMUene kan installeres på knutepunkt i overføringssystemet. De vil være tidssynkronisert ved hjelp av GPS, og tilby sanntidsinformasjon som er nyttig for systemoperatørene. Erfaringen med bruk av slik "SynchroPhasor-basert" informasjon (dvs. tidssynkronisert PMU data) i driften av kraftsystemet er imidlertid fortsatt relativt begrenset, og potensialet er ikke fullt utnyttet. Gjeldende SychroPhasor-baserte anvendelser er stort sett begrenset til passiv overvåking og ikke for automatisk kontroll av kraftsystemet. SPARC-prosjektet har utforsket eksisterende kunnskapshull og bidratt til utvikling av metoder og verktøy for automatisk kontroll og systemvern i kraftsystemet. Eksempler inkluderer kildelokalisering ved tvungne pendlinger basert på datadrevne metoder, motvirkning av effektpendlinger ved omfordeling av produksjon, og systemvern for demping av effektpendlinger ved hjelp av en vindpark. Prosjektet utviklet et eksperimentelt oppsett i det Nasjonale Smart Grid Laboratoriet for «hardware-in-the-loop» testing av PMU-baserte metoder. Testoppsettet inkluderer en sanntidssimulator og «Intelligent Electronic Devices» (IED) med PMU-funksjonalitet. De utviklede metodene har blitt testet i laboratoriet for å nå TRL 4/5. Dette er et viktig bidrag til å sikre effektiv og stabil drift av det fremtidige bærekraftige kraftsystemet. Prosjektet har støtte fra alle de nordiske systemoperatørene (TSOene) som allerede sikter på utnytte mer PMU-teknologi i sine kontrollrom i fremtiden. SPARC-prosjektet begynte sommeren 2018 og ble avsluttet i 2023. Prosjektet ble ledet av SINTEF Energi med NTNU og KTH som forskningspartnere. Brukerpartnere / industrideltagere i prosjektet har vært de fem Nordiske systemoperatørene (Statnett, Affärsverket Svenska Kraftnät (Svk), Energinet.dk, Fingrid Oyj og Landsnet hf) og GE Power Norway AS.

The project has delivered excellent results in fulfillment of the defined primary and secondary objectives. The project developed methods for automatic control and wide area protection aiming at assisting the grid operators to prevent or mitigate the effects of oscillations or instabilities in the voltage and in the frequency. Examples include the location of the sources of forced oscillations based on data driven methods, the mitigation of oscillations by production rescheduling, a special protection scheme for damping power oscillations induced by a wind farm. The project developed an experimental setup in the National Smart Grid Laboratory for hardware in the loop testing of wide area technologies. The test setup includes a real time simulator and Intelligent Electronic Devices with Phasor measurement units. The methods developed have been tested in a laboratory environment to reach a TRL 4/5. All industry partners have been very participative to the project and contributed with their feedback to align the research to their internal development strategies. Results from the project and the experimental test configuration are being further developed in other existing projects (e.g. NEWEPS, ECODIS). The project contributed to strengthening the national knowledge base and long-term research capability within the areas of power transmission and power system stability research-based education. Two Ph.D. grants have been financed and the candidates submitted or already defended their thesis. The research activities within the project have resulted in 2 Ph.D. theses, 1 MS thesis, 6 published journal papers, and 2 journal manuscripts that are currently under review. The project has also produced 13 conference publications. Results from the project were also disseminated in international workshops and meetings (e.g. a panel session for the SGSMA conference in 2021 and 2022). Thus, it is considered that the initial targets for scientific publication and public dissemination of results from the project have been reached.

An increasing future share of wind and solar power will lead to highly variabile and less controllable generation affecting the power system frequency and voltage. This will require changes in transmission system operation and management. Transmission system operators (TSOs) will have to adapt their operational strategies, protection schemes, adequacy assessments, and planning tools to quickly identify the operating conditions by online state estimation and to increase situational awareness by online monitoring. Furthermore, there is an increased interest in automatic actions based on wide area control and protection to help TSOs maintain secure and reliable operation of the power systems. Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) ensure precise synchronization of readings by relying on the GPS system. Thus, PMU data from multiple locations spread in the power system can be aggregated and processed to create an accurate representation of the status of the network in real time. PMUs are widely recognized to offer relevant benefits for the operation of transmission systems, and this is reflected in the ongoing worldwide research. However, the operational experience on PMU is still relatively limited, and their potential is not fully exploited. Current applications based on PMU are mostly confined to passive monitoring of the power system and are not integrated yet in the automatic control for primary and secondary regulation. The SPARC project will address present gaps in the existing knowledge by contributing to the development of methods and tools for automatic control and wide area protection in transmission systems. The project has strong support from all Nordic TSOs which are already aiming at exploiting PMU technologies for their control rooms in the future. SPARC will be a timely and highly relevant project for developing tools and methods for studying how services and control strategies enabled by the presence of PMUs can make the future transmission system smarter.