ELE 5451 - Grid Stability

Recent Bulk Electric System disturbances are reviewed, and relevant stability issues that arose are studied via dynamic power system simulations. A disturbance could be as minor as a frequency deviation resulting from the sudden loss of generation or system separation, or as severe as a wide area blackout. Topics include frequency and angular stability, voltage stability, protection system impacts on stability, and frequency and voltage regulation techniques. There is no required textbook. Course material is taken from bulk electric system events - blackouts, separations, frequency excursions, etc. - and the EPRI Power System Dynamics Tutorial. The reading is supplemented with technical assignments that reinforce concepts introduced in the event reports. (prereq: graduate standing)

• Apply N-1 operating criteria to simulated power systems
• Outcomes related to system protection
• Simulate the impact of delayed fault clearing on system stability
• Simulate the impact of UnderFrequency Load Shedding (UFLS) systems on system stability
• Calculate generator governor frequency response
• Simulate generator governor response
• Simulate the impact of generator or load loss on system frequency
• Calculate Area Control Error (ACE) for a balancing authority area
• Understand the importance of spinning and supplemental reserves
• Simulate inductor impacts on voltage regulation
• Simulate capacitor impacts on voltage regulation
• Simulate generator impacts on voltage regulation
• Simulate load impacts on voltage regulation
• Create PV and QV curves
• Calculate the theoretical maximum power transfer between two buses
• Simulate loss of synchronism due to exceeding the maximum power transfer between two buses

• Ohm’s law
• Kirchoff’s current law
• Kirchoff’s voltage law
• Passive sign convention
• Complex numbers
• Frequency domain concepts: phasors and impedance
• AC circuit analysis
• Complex power
• Three-phase balanced systems
• Transformers
• Synchronous machines

• 5 to 8 analyses from published event reports
• Frequency control
• Voltage control
• N-1 operating criteria
• Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA)
• State Estimators (SE) and Real Time Contingency Analysis (RTCA)
• Maximum power transfer - angular stability
• Transmission system protection schemes
• Situational awareness
• Capacitor compensation - shunt and series
• Inductor compensation
• Static VAR compensation
• Synchrophasors and FNET
• Standing phase angles
• Cyber attacks