Power System Simulator Demands for

Multiple Control Center Training

Mikhail Nesterenko

IEEE WGOT WorkshopOrlando, FL December 6-7, 2011

Motivation and Requirements

• complex interconnected power systems require management of multiple teams of operators in day-to-day and emergency conditions– adequate training is essential– potential training session types

• cooperation• joint system management under

non-emergency conditions• emergency response• competition

• simulation requirements– high fidelity is essential: instructor may

be remote cannot help trainee deal with simulation deficiencies and limitations

– need to provide networked training– support variety of industry SCADAs

Outline

• Monitor Electric, Finist introduction• demo power system: Finist Energy• transitional process modeling• multi-control center training setup and

operation • lessons and challenges

Monitor Electric Introduction• founded in 2003, core team together since early 90-ies

HQ in Pyatigorsk, Russian Federation (RF)130+ employees

• target market: information systems for control centers in electric power industry

• lines of business: software development, sales and 24/7 support

• products:– SCADA/EMS product line CK-2003, CK-2007, CK-11

installed in all RF System Operator control centers (CDO, IDO, RDO), all RF nuclear plants, Federal Grid Company offices and some individual utilities in RF and abroad

– operator training simulator Finist– electronic logbook, the standard for

operational record keeping in RF power companies

– online event and bids recording and clearance software for an electric powermanagement system

FINIST• advanced operator training simulator• power system model

– models transitional and long-term system dynamics (200 ms down to 14 ms integration steps)– continuously computes dynamics and loadflow on basis of it– no theoretical limitations on size, computed 40,000 bus system in real-time– sophisticated tools for adapting the model for specific power system– CIM/GID from the ground up

• training– role-based, with dedicated

role workplaces– multi-control center support– sophisticated scenario

development and execution

• functionality– ease of integration with

industry SCADA/EMS– its own GUI– model navigation processor

• installations: 60 control centers in RF System Operator, United Dispatch Agency of Belarus, pilot in the US

users in interact with Finist in roles; for each role Finist offers a workplace – a set of conveniently arranged tools; during training session Finist can play back pre-configured scenarios of faults or other external events

Finist Roles & Workspaces

• trainee – operator workplace presents standard tools for operator to control the system, used for backup of SCADA interface

• instructor – conducts training, provides responses of peer operators; workplace allows to start/stop/speedup simulation, launch scenarios, introduce disturbances, etc.

• examiner – evaluates training; workplace automates evaluation, maintains log, shows and plots “ground truth” system parameters, accumulates aggregate statistics about trainee’s performance

• technologist - configures and debugs technological parameters of a training session; catalogues scenarios and scenario components for quick access and reuse; contains two main components:

• scenario editor - configures and debugs a training scenario

• initial case editor – designs and troubleshoots starting case, presents the power system as hyper-linked set of objects

training time roles and workplaces

configuration workplaces

6

7

power system modelCIM

server side

FINIST clients

Finist server

computation engine

Technologist’s Workplace

Instructor’s Workplace

Examiner’s Workplace

Trainee’s Workplace

SCADA/EMS

simulation time module

scenario playback module

HSDA module

external control center representation and communication module

GES module

GDA server

protection relay and otherequipment simulation modules

GID-compliant application

training session configuration package

scenarioXML

external clients

processing modules interface modules

client side

GDA

IEC 870.5.104IPC, OPC rtdbcon

HDSA GESGDA

HDSA GESGDA

system stateinstantiation

XML

training session clients

configurationclients

Finist Agent

FINIST Architecture

scenarioeditor

initial caseeditor

Finist Multi-Site Training Setup

examiner

instructor

Finist serverSCADA/EMS

trainees

traineestrainees

SCADA/EMS

SCADA/EMS

site A site C

site Bphone communication

HSDA/GES

HSDA/GES

OPC

IPC

IEC 870-5-104

8

Outline

• Monitor Electric, Finist introduction• demo power system: Finist Energy• transitional process modeling• multi-control center training setup and

operation • lessons and challenges

Demo Power System: Finist Energy

Finist Energy (FE)• 3525 MW generation, ~4500 MW load• 7 power plants (nuclear, hydro, coal, gas)• 54 substations (138, 230, 500 kV)• 5 regions: Center, East, North, South, West• 5 flowgates• synchronous condensers, shunt reactors and

capacitors, SVC, phase-shifters

neighbors• Interconnection: 90 GW gen. 79+ GW load• Balancing Areas

1. 3.5 GW generation, 3.2 GW load2. 3.2 GW generation, 3.2 GW load3. 4 GW generation, 3.1 GW load

500 kV500 kV

230 kV 230 kV

500 kV500 kV

Balancing Area-2

230 kV230 kV

Finist Energy

Balancing Area-1

Interconnection

500 kV

Balancing Area-3

Finist Energy Overview Diagram

energized linede-energized line

substation

500 kV

nuclearpowerplant

energized linede-energized line

substation

230 kV

thermal, hydropowerplant

energized linede-energized line

substation

138 kV

thermalpowerplant

238.8 voltage59.987 frequency 82 active power flow48 reactive power flow

neighbor area

137 flowgate

Finist Energy Overview Diagram

energized linede-energized line

substation

500 kV

nuclearpowerplant

energized linede-energized line

substation

230 kV

thermal, hydropowerplant

energized linede-energized line

substation

138 kV

thermalpowerplant

238.8 voltage59.987 frequency 82 active power flow48 reactive power flow

neighbor area

137 flowgate

North

West

East

South

Center

FE Regions

Finist Energy Overview Diagram

energized linede-energized line

substation

500 kV

nuclearpowerplant

energized linede-energized line

substation

230 kV

thermal, hydropowerplant

energized linede-energized line

substation

138 kV

thermalpowerplant

238.8 voltage59.987 frequency 82 active power flow48 reactive power flow

neighbor area

137 flowgate

Neighboring Areas

Finist Energy Overview Diagram

energized linede-energized line

substation

500 kV

nuclearpowerplant

energized linede-energized line

substation

230 kV

thermal, hydropowerplant

energized linede-energized line

substation

138 kV

thermalpowerplant

238.8 voltage59.987 frequency 82 active power flow48 reactive power flow

neighbor area

137 flowgate

Powerplants

Outline

• Monitor Electric, Finist introduction• demo power system: Finist Energy• transitional process modeling• multi-control center training setup and

operation • lessons and challenges

simulation time increment

incoming event processing

system model parameter adjustment

topology change?

conversion to bus-branch form

yes

no

to next time period

external eventsfrom other modules

model state publication

model state infoto other modules

island processing thread

transitional dynamics

powerflow calculation

differential equation integration

long-term dynamics

powerflow calculation

differential equation integration

Transitional Process Modeling

• transitional dynamics – models rotation of each generator rotor with

separate system of differential and linear equations

– allows greater fidelity in simulating critical events: islanding, topology changes, emergency system states

– requires significant computational resources and time, traditionally not modeled

• long-term dynamics – assumes all rotors in same island rotate with the

same speed, rotor acceleration is averaged across island

– may lead to lack of powerflow convergence, incorrect system behavior

– faster, simpler to simulate

energized linede-energized line

substation

500 kV

nuclearpowerplant

energized linede-energized line

substation

230 kV

thermal, hydropowerplant

energized linede-energized line

substation

138 kV

thermalpowerplant

238.8 voltage59.987 frequency 82 active power flow48 reactive power flow

neighbor area

137 flowgate

• contains two lines – Interconnection-Tidd 500 kV line– Delaware-Crook 230 kV line

• connects East, South, BA-2 and BA-3 to rest of the system

• reliability constraint: 750 MW in either direction

Flowgate 2

Example Contingency• loss of 500 MW generation unit at BA-3 overloads Flowgate 2: ~750 MW flows East

• breaker CB-10 at substation Tidd is under scheduled maintenance

• potential transformer at 500 kV Bus 1 at Tidd explodes

• bus protection system de-energizes Bus 1, opens connected breakers:

– tripping Interconnection-Tidd 500 kV line

– leaving Flowgate 2 with only Delaware-Crook 230 kV line

• critical contingency: lack of state stability,

• rest depends on simulation method:

1. long-term dynamics only: forces powerflow computation convergence, leads to unrealistic single-island state with large voltage drop across Delaware-Crook 230 kV line

2. transitional processes, no out-of-step protection: all generators in East area trip out due to loss of synchronism

3. transitional processes, protection engaged (realistic): out-of-step relay executes at Delaware-Crook, line trips out, splitting system into two islands: main and East (with over 1000 MW deficit)

1. Long Term Dynamics Only3180 A

after Interconnection-Tidd 500 kV line trips• power flow across remaining Delaware-Crook 230 kV line goes

from ~12 MW to over 843 MW (unrealistic)• system remains connected, no generator trips, no swings, no outages

generator trips at BA-3 Interconnection

-Tidd trips

activ

e po

wer

flow

acr

oss

Del

awar

e-Cr

ook,

MW

2. Transitional Processes, No Relays

500 kV line trip causes • out-of-step operation, • critical current swings across Delaware-Crook 230 kV line, • all East region generators eventually trip, system remains connected

generator trips at BA-3

Interconnection-Tidd trips

activ

e po

wer

flow

acr

oss

Del

awar

e-Cr

ook,

MW

3. Transitional Processes, Relay Engaged

500 KV line trip leads to• out-of-step relay at Delaware-Crook 230 kV line detects out-of-step operation

and trips the line• system splits into two islands

generator trips at BA-3

Interconnection-Tidd trips

activ

e po

wer

flow

acr

oss

Del

awar

e-Cr

ook,

MW

relay islands East

Outline

• Monitor Electric, Finist introduction• demo power system: Finist Energy• transitional process modeling• multi-control center training setup and

operation • lessons and challenges

Wi-Fi

Demo Multi-Control Center Configuration

Finist serverinstructor

FE Simulation SupportComputing Center

FE South Regional Control Center trainee

trainee

third party SCADA

FINISTOperator’s Workplace

(emulating remote SCADA)

Laptop 3

Laptop 1

Laptop 2

FE Central DispatchHSD

A/GES

/GDA file exchange

responsibilities• maintains area interchange, frequency regulation• coordinates powerflow across 500 kV lines, implements switching on 500 kV substations and powerplants • contingency analysis, reliability maintenance

responsibilities• maintains voltage and reactive powerflows in the region• does operational switching on 138, 230 kV lines, substations, powerplants

Example Training Session: East Split

after outage Finist Energy split into two islands: main and East (with ~1200 MW deficit)

Regional Control Center operator’s actions:

• orders New Tech Plant and Philo Plant to emergency generation pickup at 110% capacity

• sheds 50 MW load at Torrey substation

• resynchronizes with main island by closing Delaware-Crook line breaker at Crook

• eliminates low voltages by switching on banks capacitors

FE Central Dispatch operator’s actions:

• requests 200 MW generation pickup at BA-3

• requests 200 MW load shedding at BA-2

• assigns load frequency regulation at East island to BA-2

Outline

• Monitor Electric, Finist introduction• demo power system: Finist Energy• transitional process modeling• multi-control center training setup and

operation • lessons and challenges

Multi-Center Training: Lessons and Challenges• advantages compared to single site

– significantly greater realism of operator’s work environment:no visual feedback – only SCADA/EMS and phone communication

– distributed training sessions are not as disruptive to operator work schedule

• distributed training session preparation– instructors from multiple sites need to participate in initial case and scenario preparation and

troubleshooting

• instructor cannot keep up with controlling and evaluating multiple trainees operating at once– split roles: instructor/examiner– automate examiner’s functions: separate workplace– examiner at every site

• to engage lower level operators (substations, powerplants) – need to incorporate switching simulator

• data model too complex for instructor– hard to understand: two many levels for dispatcher at any level to be familiar with – need to hide

complexity– hard to control: upper levels rely on lower-level human operators for details – need to replace with

sophisticated scenarios

• need to balance system realism with usability– realistic power plant pickup takes hours;– acceleration throws protection systems and generator controls off trackmajor goal: maximum effectiveness of operator training

Thank youAny questions?