Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Apr. 21 EPES Seminar

 

Students, faculty, and staff are invited to attend the following Electric Power and Energy Systems Seminar:

Topic: Technological Breakthroughs in Line Protection and Controls and System Integrity Protection Schemes

Speaker: Vahid Madani, Principal Protection Systems Engineer, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E)

Date: Monday, April 21

Time: 1:10 p.m.

Location: 2222 Coover Hall

Abstract: The effective operation of power systems in the present and the future depends to a large extent on how well several emerging challenges are met.  The electric power industry globally recognizes the importance of a revitalized 21st century grid with considerations and measures to ensure adequate supply, transmission and distribution capacity, and reliability.

Understanding the complexities of the interconnected power grid, need for proper planning, good maintenance, and sound operating practices are the key to preventing the problems of tomorrow for this modern day necessity.

Advanced monitoring, protection and control technologies enable implementation of “smart” future electrical grids to realize the needs of the electricity users for sustainable energy delivery and enhanced power system performance.

The recent newsworthy wide area electrical disturbances have raised many questions about the causes and cures for such occurrences. Congestion management, balancing of load and on-line generation, spinning reserve capacity, and reactive power support are some of the elements of successful power system operation.

Although the complexity of the blackouts has been extensively studied, many questions still remain unanswered.  Controversies exist about the mechanisms of disturbance propagation, how market influences affect security of the power grid, as well as the importance of certain aspects of system modeling necessary for accurate studies.  These studies are required for planning and operation purposes, as well as for implementation of intelligent based schemes to minimize impact of disturbances and, equally important, enable efficient restoration efforts.
 
Technological advancements in measuring equipment for real time power system parameters and use of secure high-speed telecommunication networks provide opportunities for implementing intelligent protection and control schemes, with advance warning signs that would minimize occurrences and impacts of wide area disturbances.
 
Selection of equipment for such schemes should provide real time data to enable:

• Monitoring of the system as it approaches instability
• Accurate analysis of disturbances
• Validation of modeling tools to improve simulation and analysis of power system stability
  

 

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