Overview
This one of CCET's original projects and continued through 2009 with a focus on substation demonstrations of alarm processors, fault location, visualization systems for operators, phasors measurement systems and improved generator and load response modeling. Follow up work included considerable spin-off efforts resulting in the beginning of a synchrophasor network for the ERCOT market and a key component of a DOE supported Regional Demonstration Project under the ARRA program.
The technology developed and deployed in this project is a combination of newly developed networked embedded systems for data processing using customized hardware and software solutions coupled with the synchronization of power system monitoring using advance Global Positioning (GPS) system of satellites. This project will provide more timely information for power system operators for improved monitoring and interpretation of the dynamics of grid events and conditions resulting in prevention of outages, identification of impending faults and effective switching to minimize disruptions.
The development of tools of analysis for full understanding of the monitored phasor measurements as they relate to various disturbances on the grid will be undertaken by our university researchers. A university facility based phasor system was put in place as part of the ETF grant during 2008-2009 providing a data source for R&D on synchrophasor technologies.
The future benefits of phasor technology deployment will be substantial because it will lower the risks of blackouts through the ERCOT system. Importantly, this phasor technology system will be very valuable in managing the intermittent charter of the growing dependency on wind generation.
Background
The work was funded under the jointly funded project (by ETF, ERCOT, the U.S. Department of Energy, the Electric Power Research Institute and CCET member companies, along with in-kind contributions from the Texas Engineering Experiment Station and a Texas engineering firm, TLI, Inc.) and dealt in part with the use of phasor measurements for improved monitoring of the ERCOT electric grid and for development of new applications that promise improved operational capabilities by company operators and those of ERCOT. In a number of ways such measurements are useful to grid operators and individual utilities to more efficiently manage the grid, and importantly, to avoid black-outs costing $billions in lost economic activity like the ones experienced in the Northeastern U.S. in 2003 and in California in 2000 and 2001.
In support of the research and demonstration efforts of CCET's university partners (Texas A&M, UT Austin and UT Arlington) and ERCOT, CCET contracted with the Electric Power Group of California to introduce CCET to the Real Time Dynamics Monitoring System (RTDMS). As a result DOE funded the RTDMS installation and operations at ERCOT during 2008-2009. In addition, DOE committed to fund assistance from the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL) for the development of a Roadmap for phasor technology deployment in Texas.
During year 2009, CCET undertook the development of a major Stimulus grant application under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and was granted a $13.5 million grant by DOE in November 2009. The grant has a major component that will further develop the phasor network in ERCOT uniquely designed to help manage the development of 18,000 MW of wind resources on the ERCOT grid. The original ETF grant enabled us to leverage DOE funding of about one-half of the $13.5 million to further develop the phasor network in ERCOT. This grant will involve purchase of additional measurement units and investment in additional data concentrating computers and real-time transmission capability for reporting phasor data to ERCOT. These additions will take place during 2010-2013.
